Another Perspective On Recruiting Needs

[MeanGreen61]

Another perspective on recruiting needs

Keith wanted to respond to the recruiting wish list I posted from another blog regular, but unfortunately our system is still not working. Here is what he had to say:

Commenting on "A recruiting wish list from a blog regular"

"NT should have anywhere from 6-8 ships left to offer. We need playmakers across the board on the defensive side. That being said here is the breakdown of what I would like to see happen:

1-RB Tre Newton

There have been grumblings that he is unhappy with UT. Chances are unlikely, but you never know. Tre or another highly rated recruit is the only reason to offer another ship here. Hopefully Cam gets his redshirt. "

You can never have too many running backs and hopefully we will get Tre Newton who looks like a great prospect but I wouldn't count out Cam Montgomery who only played in only 3 games and carried the ball only 3 times this year. As I recall he was the 3rd most productive Junior College running back in 2006. Freshman Micah Mosley was exceptional this year at running back and returning kickoffs. He has good speed and is a North - South runner that is hard to bring down, lots of second effort and punishes tacklers. He should be even better next year. He runs like the Cowboys Marion Barber.

"1- DT

Hopefully a JUCO who can step in and take a starting spot. Gumm would have been ideal, but not likely now. Otherwise go after a high school recruit. We're starting to get some depth here; lets keep in going. "

We do have good depth here and Troy Franklin from Celina is a big boy from a very good high school program and could make an impact next year.

"2- D-End

We need someone who can come in and take the spot opposite Gilmore, most likely a JUCO. It appears as though we should be able to land Anthony Barnes. Add a high schooler in there for much needed depth and we're good. Jaquies Smith would be nice but doubtful."

Let's not forget about redshirt freshman Kyle Russo who could make an impact at either defensive end or defensive tackle with his speed and agility. He doesn't have a lot of height being 6'3" but is very quick and fast and knows how to shed blocks. All Conference Jeremiah Chapman was only 6'4" and was listed at 243, which is lighter than Russo. He will probably be 20 lbs heavier next year, which would make him at about 265. He was awesome at Southlake Carroll. Freshman Jesse DeSoto could also step up and make a big impact.

"1-CB

Go after a JUCO who can step in and secure a troubled spot for NT. Then go after a kid from high school with speed. We got burned way to much this past season."

Looking at the list of commits and possible recruits it appears that is where the emphasis is and looks like we are recruiting players that can be switched to defensive back. The Safety from Vernon is a good player from a good program.

1-K

The comment about the kicking game killing us all year. I think that our Defense not being able to stop or hold our opponents was the real culprit and blocked punts were a big problem also. The comment about the kicker not being able to make an extra point or a field goal longer than 20 yards is a gross exaggeration. I think you need to be careful when allegedly stating facts. The facts are after checking the kicking stats of our present true freshman kicker he did make 34 of 36 extra points and as I recall from the game on TV with La. Lafayette, the miss in that game hit the goal post trying to kick out of the mud after a heavy rain that kept the teams off the field until game time and the other in the rain at Florida International that radio announcer George Dunham commented about the bad snap and later Mean Green Sports reported that the kick was partially blocked. Let's not forget the 8 PAT's against Navy and the 1 point win against Western Kentucky. In that game we had to kick the point the second time from 35 yards out because of a penalty. That 35 yard extra point in a cold rain was ultimately the difference. As far as field goals, 8 of 15 is not what you would like but 1 was blocked in the FAU game and as reported in the Denton Chronicle a bad snap caused another miss. Don't jump on the snapper because that job isn't easy either in the rain. All Field Goals made were from 20 yards or more. For fun I checked and they were 20, 28, 29, 29, 36, 37, 37, 37. Moreland was second on the team scoring with 58 points. Ranked 72nd out of the top 120 Division 1 Kickers in total PAT's. Lou Groza Award nominee Senior Garrett Hartley of OU missed 3 extra points this year. We must not forget that Kickers coming from high school have to adjust to kicking off the ground and the width of the goal post being narrow as compared to high school goal post