BillySee58

Sorge is my pick to click this year. He was on the travel squad and he definitely looks the part. As does my boy Truss. He has the strength and the size to really be a good one. Really pulling for him to put it together this spring. Proud of him either way, but I want to see him putting dudes on the grass.

Good to know. Pulling a guy from South Tennessee away from Ole Miss would be tough even if we were doing well. Not sure if he is Ole Miss bound, just assuming, which isn't always the best thing to do.

Exactly. But getting a big man this late in the process, you'd be lucky to get someone as productive as Colin Voss. Not saying that's the absolute best post we could get, but it's just hard with so many good guys off the board at this point. And that's getting a good 4 (power forward). Getting a quality center with legitimate center size would be quite the rabbit pull out of the hat.

Cooley, or ask NT03. We just offered a JUCO pg from Tennessee named Dequon Miller. I think he holds an offer from Ole Miss as well, and he has pretty good stats. I don't think he's playing great competition, but his stats are impressive nonetheless. He is only 5'10" though. http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2013-14/div1/players/dequonmiller8i7l

I don't think a transfer senior would be such a good idea. Then we'd have 8 seniors on next year's roster.

Yeah, they're solid. But Wilms is only averaging 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks a game. Don't get me wrong, he is a stud. But it's not like he's been averaging 14, 8, and 3 blocks a game like he got today.

Not looking good on either fronts.

Of course he won't be a long-term solution. But we need him to somehow be a go-to option his senior year. Basically, asking for Ward to be a semi miracle of a signee. If he isn't, then we will need a freshman or new guy to be our go-to guy. Again, I've talked about this way too much today. We need Benford to do something in recruiting that he has not been close to doing so far here. And with a lot of pitches no longer existing to pitch to kids, with our string of successful seasons, the novelty of changing conference, and Tony Mitchell all gone.

That's what I'm hoping from him as well. And, realistically, that's what we should hope from him. But we need him to be more. We need a primary option on offense, or we could be the worst team in CUSA in two years. That would be a terrible pit to have to dig ourselves out of. Guys like Mo are nice to have, but they aren't guys who are going to create their own offense and carry the team. More spot-up shooter types. If you're relying on those guys to shoulder the scoring load, combined with possibly relying on a freshman point guard to create for you and 6'6" posts, you have a recipe for a cellar dweller. Next year's recruiting class is beyond huge. Benford can't be signing guys who don't make it to campus, or late JUCO signees who slip through the cracks. He needs impact players, not just role players.

This kind of scares me. Yeah, I honestly think our team can be decent next year. We need guys to be able to pick up the slack when J Will isn't scoring a lot or in the game. We also need TJ to pick up where Alzee left off. We sorely need him to be our #2 option next year. But again, that's not what I'm scared about. It's when all those guys leave at once.

I do apologize for saying this ad nauseum, but what scares me is Benford replacing Jordan Williams, and Alzee Williams for that matter. Just 16-66 from the field and struggling to get above 50 points on a day where Jordan Williams struggles. What happens when we don't have Jordan Williams isn't on the team anymore? We NEED Carrington Ward to be a big-time scorer for us next year, and especially the year after. Incoming guys like Greg Wesley and Jeremy Combs are good-looking players, but they aren't guys who you lean on offensively and rely on to carry your offense.

No, redshirt isn't the answer IMO. Put some muscle on the kid, sure. But he's a slender kid. That's just the body God gave him. Plus, we need all our non seniors playing and getting experience for 2015-2016. After the mass exodus of 7 seniors, including CJ, J Will, and all of our current posts. Not to mention, we need some grade disparity in our roster. 7 guys in one grade classification is incredibly tough to recover from, once they leave. Unless you're a school like Kentucky and you can bring in 7 studs. Redshirting Combs and making him a freshman in 2015-2016 when we'll likely have about 4 other freshmen will create another cluster of players who will leave the team at once.

I'm excited about Combs, but he is 6'6" and very skinny. Not sure how much he'll be able to help against skilled big men like UTEP has.

Again, basically the only teams we've played worth a darn. Tulsa, La Tech, and Southern Miss also being solid teams we've played. A&M was as well, which was impressive, but anyone who watched that knows they were anything but a good team that day. But my point is, we'll just have to keep justifying these losses. Because we aren't even close against these teams. We have a very tough time scoring, and our top 3 leading scorers are JJ guys. I hate bringing up any kind of JJ vs. Benford subject, but I am very scared of how we will fare and scare points against these teams in two years once our team is made up completely of Benford players. Benford gets criticized for not bringing in quality posts, but I'm also scared of his inability to bring in much scoring help.

And again with the justifying our loss by hyping up the other team. I'm glad you can always spew this after we lose to good teams, because that's what'll continue to happen while Benford is here. Sure, we'll win some games against bottom-rung and some middle-of-the-pack CUSA teams, but lose to every team worth a darn. At least next year. In 2015-2016, after our 7 current juniors leave, who knows who we'll be able to beat with a roster made up completely of Benford signees. Likely at least half of which will be signed after the early signing period.

Marcus Smith starts all the way IMO. He has made great strides as a blocker. Not sure about Loving. Usually not a great sign when a JUCO guy redshirts without an injury, but hopefully he has put it together. I think Reinhardt will be a stud in the run-blocking game. I think it'll be Marcus Smith starting, backed up by Wylie Reinhardt, and then Chris Loving. As for the rest, I see them playing more in the backfield than on the line of scrimmage. Basically, Tanner Smith, Cooper Jones, Jarod Lynn, and Cade Carter are more like fullbacks to me and I think that's more how they'll be used. Although Jones has the height to play on the line of scrimmage if he can block well enough. Tanner Smith has the most experience here, as his playing time has come in the backfield in heavy packages the last two years. Cooper Jones could be a good fit in this role, especially as a pass-catching threat out of the backfield. I have Tanner Smith first up here, then Cooper Jones, followed by Jarod Lynn, then Cade Carter. I could see Reinhardt used in the backfield some and maybe Cooper Jones on the LOS. Tight end should definitely be fun to watch this spring.

Terrell, Kidsy, and Harris are the obvious likely starters heading into spring. The important thing to watch, with regards to the incoming freshmen, is the progression of Turner Smiley and Rod Lancaster. Smiley is a tweener (between slot and outside receiver) and Lancaster is our only other current receiver, besides Terrell, above 6' tall but he has been injured pretty much how entire two years here at UNT. Those are the mystery guys. Goree and Davis will almost assuredly not redshirt regardless, but if Smiley and/or Lancaster can provide the depth we need on the outside then Rutherford will be able to redshirt and likely Jalen Adams as well. Unless they absolutely show out and can be big impact guys right away.

What makes Mann interesting is that he has the height and the broad shoulders to add plenty of weight. This will allow him to gain plenty of weight, but he does not have the prototypical upper body bulk to play inside though. His arms and his chest, and upper body play don't scream DT to me, although he is still just a junior in high school. I think the best case for Mann is that he stays in the 250s and works on his speed and agility and stays at strong-side defensive end. In the end, this conversation is likely irrelevant, especially considering we are almost a year from signing day and Mann may not even considering us in the end, just makes for good discussion

I'm not sure how Dailon Holmes' name is pronounced, but the fact that there is a chance it is pronounced this way makes it mind boggling to me that Emmitt has not posted this video in Holmes' thread.

I think the main reason he is playing on the LOS in their 3-4 has more to do with Burleson needing him there. If he played on a loaded football team with an odd front, like Allen, then he'd probably be an even better fit at Rush/Jack/Leo outside linebacker in a 3-4. Burleson needs him inside the tackle. As for college, Mann looks like he'd best fit at end in a 4-3. I don't think he has the natural bulk/thickness (let's be mature guys, you can do it) to play inside. He could, but I think it'd be more forced than a natural transition. In the event that we were to land Mann, or ends like him, my hope is that we can also start landing guys with the size to play nose as well as guys like TJ Tauaalo, 275-295 with quickness, to play the 3-tech. Then, you only move the ends inside if the growth happens naturally, rather than forcing it. I talked about Dailon Holmes having the potential to play inside because I see the frame, bulk, and upper body that would translate inside. Not forced or out of necessity. I know you said you were kidding, MEANGREENCOACH2, but I was just giving my 2 cents on defensive position changes.

Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate it.

I like the move as well. We're looking pretty good at LB, and Akunne is our only scholarship guy who will be a senior this year. In 2015, when Richmond becomes eligible, we will only return 4 other scholarship defensive ends, at most, from our 2014 team. Those guys will be Chad Polk, Malik Dilonga, Jarrian Roberts, and Tillman Johnson. Polk is the only one who we have seen play meaningful snaps up to this point, and he is undersized so it'd be nice to start developing the others to get a good rotation and not need Polk to play 70 snaps a game.

SMU offered Kearns and Langley. Kearns likely to visit SMU soon, and a good chance Langley would join. Also, very early in the process. I doubt that's Kearns' last offer. Would be worth a try IMO, but I don't see the coaches doing this. Hope they do, and it'll be interesting to see what they do out of state this cycle. Outside of Texas and Oklahoma.

Yeah, the embedded links never work on mobile. You have to switch to "full version" on your phone. Anyways, trolled. It's Taylor Hooker of the women's team. She gave birth to her daughter in the fall. May have something to do with that, but just speculation.