Who To Recruit To Start In 11

jimbob · December 12, 2010

UNT football has a nice base of starters going into 2011. However, we are losing some good starters too. Where do we need help most? Are JCs the answer for the respective lines? We need a mobile OT starter for sure and some back-ups for everyone on the O-line. D-line might need some JC help too. We seem to be solid at QB, RB, TE. What about WR, CB, S & LB? What else? I'm more concerned about 2011 than beyond. McCarney has to win with the group he has or recruits from JCs in 2011.

BIG DAWG · December 12, 2010

QB - Dodge/Thompson

RB - Some kid named Dunbar

U-Back - Prior

T - Tomlinson

G - Feeley

C - Johnson

G - Y'Barbo

T - Noble/Bean/Franklin

TE - Fitzpatrick

WR - Taylor

WR- Stratford

WR- Carey

WR - Baines

OL will be very young and inexperienced...WR depth will not be deep...Fitzpatrick is not a blocking TE..does Dodge move back to WR if he doesn't start at QB

DE - Akpunku

DE - Obi (McCoy backsup both)

DT - ???

LB - Phillips

MLB - Orr

LB - Prior (he started as a LBer then moved out of necessity

CB - Hill

CB -Ford

S - Cook

S - Grahm

We don,t have anything at DT...DE isn't in horrible shape...we are not deep anywhere...really looking for hill and ford to play together...when was the last time we had issues at LBer? We may be ok, but 2 of the 3 starters will be new...I think Orr will be a stud though

EastTexasMG · December 12, 2010

QB - Dodge/Thompson
RB - Some kid named Dunbar
U-Back - Prior
T - Tomlinson
G - Feeley
C - Johnson
G - Y'Barbo
T - Noble/Bean/Franklin
TE - Fitzpatrick
WR - Taylor
WR- Stratford
WR- Carey
WR - Baines

OL will be very young and inexperienced...WR depth will not be deep...Fitzpatrick is not a blocking TE..does Dodge move back to WR if he doesn't start at QB

I would expect for Adedipe to get a look on the OL and Olawale looked good at TE as well.

GrandGreen · December 12, 2010

QB - Dodge/Thompson
RB - Some kid named Dunbar
U-Back - Prior - Hope he is moved by to lb, Brown played here before injured
T - Tomlinson
G - Feeley
C - Johnson
G - Y'Barbo - Look for Fortenberry here
T - Noble/Bean/Franklin
TE - Fitzpatrick - Did he even play last year?, Olawale or MIller better options
-WR - Taylor
WR- Stratford
WR- Carey
WR - Baines - Chancellor is a good bet at one WR and Lewis should be back

OL will be very young and inexperienced...WR depth will not be deep...Fitzpatrick is not a blocking TE..does Dodge move back to WR if he doesn't start at QB

DE - Akpunku
DE - Obi (McCoy backsup both)
DT - ???
DT - ??? - Cantly and Abbe if they both lose weight, White a mystery last year
LB - Phillips
MLB - Orr
LB - Prior (he started as a LBer then moved out of necessity - Johnson and Herron available
CB - Hill
CB -Ford- McCord had a pretty good 2011
S - Cook
S - Grahm - With Wright, Downing returning

We don,t have anything at DT...DE isn't in horrible shape...we are not deep anywhere...really looking for hill and ford to play together...when was the last time we had issues at LBer? We may be ok, but 2 of the 3 starters will be new...I think Orr will be a stud though

My guess priorities

Defensive tackle - Abbe and Cantly are available but NT probably will hit the jucos

Defensive Ends - NT has numbers but still does not have the pass rush it needs

QB - Got to have more than Thompson and Dodge

TE- Olawale is good receiver will look for better blocking TE

LB - Need numbers, Orr, Johnson, Phillips, Herron, Prior but nothing behind them

WR - Again good group with Taylor, Bynes, Stradford, Chancellor, Carey and Lewis but no depth

RB - Set for 2011 but only one underclassmen

OL - Have descent numbers but need one player to join Fortenberry, Johnson, Freeley and Tomlinson as a starter

DB - Good rotation with McCord, Ford, Jackson and Hill at cb, Downing, Graham, Davis, Wright and Storer at safety

jimbob · December 12, 2010

QB - Dodge/Thompson
RB - Some kid named Dunbar
U-Back - Prior
T - Tomlinson
G - Feeley
C - Johnson
G - Y'Barbo
T - Noble/Bean/Franklin
TE - Fitzpatrick
WR - Taylor
WR- Stratford
WR- Carey
WR - Baines

OL will be very young and inexperienced...WR depth will not be deep...Fitzpatrick is not a blocking TE..does Dodge move back to WR if he doesn't start at QB

DE - Akpunku
DE - Obi (McCoy backsup both)
DT - ???
DT - ???
LB - Phillips
MLB - Orr
LB - Prior (he started as a LBer then moved out of necessity
CB - Hill
CB -Ford
S - Cook
S - Grahm

We don,t have anything at DT...DE isn't in horrible shape...we are not deep anywhere...really looking for hill and ford to play together...when was the last time we had issues at LBer? We may be ok, but 2 of the 3 starters will be new...I think Orr will be a stud though

Actually, the O-Line starters for 11 won't be young or inexperienced. Johnson-C-Sr, Fortenberry-G-Jr, Feeley-G-Jr, Tomlinson-T-Sr, Leppo-C-Jr. All have had good playing time in different seasons except Leppo, I think. You might make a case to put Leppo at C, Johnson at G and move Fort or Feeley to T and you have an experienced line of 5 starters. Back-ups will be the question.

Edited December 12, 2010 by jimbob

GrayEagle · December 12, 2010

My priority list would be:

DT - Cantly and Abbe got precious little playing time last year and they are the most experienced DTs returning. White is the only other squadman returning. Need a couple of JUCOs here immediately. If Anyiam is ever to play for us he needs to be moved to tackle.

LB - The loss of Robertson will be hard to replace and if we can get a quality JC player then I'd go there. Phillips is solid but the others are mostly unknown. Herron could be good as could Prior. I expected more from Johnson; maybe he'll have a better senior year. In addition to the quality JUCO I think that a couple of HS players are needed.

WR - Carey, Stradford and Bynes should do well and Taylor and Lewis aren't far behind but we need at least three freshmen. Chancellor is an outstanding returner and may be a good receiver as well. Stradford and Lewis are seniors.

RB - This is Dunbar's senior season so a quality replacement is a must. If Hamilton gets a redshirt we won't panic. Byrd is a little different in style but is a comer. We need the best high schooler available this year.

QB - We've seen what can happen. We need two quarterbacks since both possible starters for the coming year have missed considerable playing time.

OL - When you lose three starters you must replace them. We do have five experienced linemen who have started more than once and five more, including two redshirts, who have a lot of potential. So, it's not time to panic merely time to replace.

DB - This year looks good but there are five seniors-to-be in the group. JUCOs would be a waste here but five or six high school players would be great.

DE - We have plenty of quantity and decent quality but if an outstanding JUCO is available we could use a speed rusher with some size.

TE - We need a U-back; one who is a good blocker, receiver and can play on the line or in the backfield with equal ability.

LoveMG · December 12, 2010

the majority of the secondary needs replaced. we return a lot of players but they cant tackle or cover

GrayEagle · December 13, 2010

the majority of the secondary needs replaced. we return a lot of players but they cant tackle or cover

I can't argue about the coverage but the tackling improved considerably over the previous year. Downing, McCord and Graham all were in on 40-50 tackles last year. Cook and Ford were out for the year and Cook's a good tackler and Ford is our best at coverage. Let's hope that the new staff will stress tackling fundamentals.

SilverEagle · December 16, 2010

If we need some depth at safety, maybe we should look at trying Chase Baine at the position. At 6' X 210 he's certainly big enough, and he's fast enough for some people to suggest that he play WR.

UNTLifer · December 16, 2010

If we need some depth at safety, maybe we should look at trying Chase Baine at the position. At 6' X 210 he's certainly big enough, and he's fast enough for some people to suggest that he play WR.

I would agree that Baine is a good enough athlete to look at as a WR, DB or possibly putting on another 20 lbs. and moving to LB.

GrandGreen · December 16, 2010

If we need some depth at safety, maybe we should look at trying Chase Baine at the position. At 6' X 210 he's certainly big enough, and he's fast enough for some people to suggest that he play WR.

Safety is the deepest position on the field, Shorter, Graham, Downing, Wright, and Cook. As an aside I don't think NT's secondary was as bad as many think. Because of lack of pass rush and a lot of defensive sets designed to stop the run, the defensive backs were in a lot of single coverages and gave up a lot of long plays. The defensive backfield needs to improve, but IMO the defensive line and linebacker positions are much weaker going into 2011. NT was fifth in the league in pass defense and sixth in rushing defense last year, not stellar but not awful either.