Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
#826      
And nickel-back!
tom hiddleston loki GIF
 
#827      
Agreed. For example, on my wish list I'd applaud us picking up an experienced ILB/MLB, especially one with speed to challenge for a starting spot, if we have a chance at one. I liked where we finished the season, but getting a dude there would put a bow on the defense in my opinion.
My point is the label "difference makers" - the main contributors/sure starters of this team are already gathered, now it's just depth pieces and retention.

But with that, you have to consider the totality, like roster budget/space as well as returning pieces and development -

for example, TE was a huge need going into the off-season and, I mean, all we're going to add is the 10 catch guy from SDSU.
 
Last edited:
#828      
I hate to break it to you though, your post proves his point. By citing Franklin’s record in “big-time games” as 1-15, you, yourself, are saying that Penn St is in a tier where 2 wins in CFP aren’t even considered big time games. Illini are still in a tier that aspires to making CFP. I’ll bet you all the mythical beach houses on Loyalty that the board’s reaction to winning even one CFP game no matter the opponent wouldn’t be “ho hum, wake me when we win a big time game.”

No doubt that this year and the bowl win have helped close the gap. And I wouldn’t be shocked if we win a recruiting battle over PSU, but I doubt very much that their loss last night would be the deciding factor. Their pitch is come here and help get us over the hump. Ours is essentially come here and help us get to the hump. And, yes, I know development and such are also a big part of our pitch.
Not really, that was the exact stat posted last nigh on SVP. Big time could mean, games vs higher ranked or big name conf foes. 1-15 stands out. Lots of media outlets circle back to Franklin not coming thru when they were receiving all the hype.
 
#829      
My point is the label "difference makers" - the main contributors/sure starters of this team are already gathered, now it's just depth pieces and retention.

But with that, you have to consider the totality, like roster budget/space as well as returning pieces and development -

for example, TE was a huge need going into the off-season and, I mean, all we're going to add is the 10 catch guy from SDSU.
We sure this is set in stone? Still got lots of portal left. Am intrigued to see how the staff views the position.
 
Last edited:
#830      
My point is the label "difference makers" - the main contributors/sure starters of this team are already gathered, now it's just depth pieces and retention.

But with that, you have to consider the totality, like roster budget/space as well as returning pieces and development -

for example, TE was a huge need going into the off-season and, I mean, all we're going to add is the 10 catch guy from SDSU.

WRT TE, Rusk is a big add (albeit not via the portal), provided he's healthy
 
#832      
Not really, that was the exact stat posted last nigh on SVP. Big time could mean, games vs higher ranked or big name conf foes. 1-15 stands out. Lots of media outlets circle back to Franklin not coming thru when they were receiving all the hype.
The 1-15 stat is for games against top 5 teams. You usually expect to lose to top 5 teams. The worse stat for Franklin is 3-10 vs top 10 teams when PSU was also ranked in the top 10.
 
#833      
rankings are for the fans, they mean squat to staff

he got beat out by a walk on
Ehhhhhhhhh... Sure, but if we were to get the 2nd ranked high school QB in the nation and he leaves because people are saying he'd never beat out a QB the quality of say, Miles Osei, there's bound to be some questions.

Rankings are far from perfect but it is surprising that a kid who supposedly can punt a ball over 50+yds with over 5second hang time with consistency out of high school, suddenly can't average over 40yds with far lower hang time (Pinton's stats). It'd be like finding out your 5star QB can't throw balls over 30yds, or your 5 star RB can't beat your offensive linemen in a foot race.

Again, not saying, Duley wasn't 3rd on the punting depth chart this year (he was), so clearly he wasn't beating out Robertson or Pinton, despite them having awful numbers, but it does lead to people wondering what the heck happened.

The good news is that we picked up a really good punter in Crimmins, so this will all go to bed fairly quickly.
 
#835      
Ehhhhhhhhh... Sure, but if we were to get the 2nd ranked high school QB in the nation and he leaves because people are saying he'd never beat out a QB the quality of say, Miles Osei, there's bound to be some questions.

Rankings are far from perfect but it is surprising that a kid who supposedly can punt a ball over 50+yds with over 5second hang time with consistency out of high school, suddenly can't average over 40yds with far lower hang time (Pinton's stats). It'd be like finding out your 5star QB can't throw balls over 30yds, or your 5 star RB can't beat your offensive linemen in a foot race.

Again, not saying, Duley wasn't 3rd on the punting depth chart this year (he was), so clearly he wasn't beating out Robertson or Pinton, despite them having awful numbers, but it does lead to people wondering what the heck happened.

The good news is that we picked up a really good punter in Crimmins, so this will all go to bed fairly quickly.

sorry, I should have stated once the players are in the program (arrive on campus). accolades at best are a tie-breaker
 
#836      
Oh, so you cited a stat that you have no idea exactly what it means? Well why didn’t you say so initially? 🙄. And you gave it the label “big time games.”

The stat refers to games against top 5 opponents I believe. I’m not even sure all of those are while he was at Penn St. Bret’s record at Illinois in those games is 0-2.

Point is still the same, PSU is winning games in CFP, while Illini are still aspiring to get there. They’ve gone to a bowl game every year under Franklin and are 2-1 in CFP. Whether Franklin gets fired as some outlets are calling for doesn’t change the fact PSU made it to a level Illinois only aspires to at this point. We’re closing the gap but not there yet.
 
#837      
No doubt we have definitely closed the gap, technically, based on all the things you mentioned. However, the talent gap between us and the upper echelon of college football (the remaining teams in the CFP was the barometer) was pretty huge.

Building an overhanging observation deck on one side of the Grand Canyon technically gets you closer to the other side, but probably not a good idea to try and jump to the other side from that deck.

EDIT: Which isn't to say that I am by any means disappointed in the strides that we have made. They are huge for us as a program; just being realistic that we have a LONG way to go to catch up to the talent level of those programs.
We certainly have less talent but I don't think it's the size of the grand canyon between us and the second tier CFP teams like Penn state. We went on the road and held Penn states offense to roughly the same number of points and yards as ND did and Penn state was dominating their O line similarly to what they were doing to us. I think our talent next year will get us close enough to have more than a punchers chance against those 5-12 ranked CFP teams. As we saw against Oregon we still have a big gap between the truly elite teams though.
 
#841      
We certainly have less talent but I don't think it's the size of the grand canyon between us and the second tier CFP teams like Penn state. We went on the road and held Penn states offense to roughly the same number of points and yards as ND did and Penn state was dominating their O line similarly to what they were doing to us. I think our talent next year will get us close enough to have more than a punchers chance against those 5-12 ranked CFP teams. As we saw against Oregon we still have a big gap between the truly elite teams though.
I think this conversation of “talent” is a bit misguided. It seems most are defining talent as 4 and 5 star recruits- yes we have a large gap there because we have like 2 of those on the roster. But was Pat Bryant “ talented”? Is Jalas “talented” we would all say yes. We beat Michigan 21-7 and they have a boatload of 4 and 5 star kids

The fact that we’ll have a senior QB, experienced OL, one of the best pass rushers in the big ten- experienced defensive backfield etc should mean we can compete against anybody next year. Talent only takes you so far

The point is valid that we won’t always have the luxury of getting 17 starters back and our recruiting needs to catch up, no doubt but we can have just as good of a team next year without that
 
#847      
I think this conversation of “talent” is a bit misguided. It seems most are defining talent as 4 and 5 star recruits- yes we have a large gap there because we have like 2 of those on the roster. But was Pat Bryant “ talented”? Is Jalas “talented” we would all say yes. We beat Michigan 21-7 and they have a boatload of 4 and 5 star kids

The fact that we’ll have a senior QB, experienced OL, one of the best pass rushers in the big ten- experienced defensive backfield etc should mean we can compete against anybody next year. Talent only takes you so far

The point is valid that we won’t always have the luxury of getting 17 starters back and our recruiting needs to catch up, no doubt but we can have just as good of a team next year without that
For the you listed, I think we'll be really solid and "in" just about all our games. That said, I just don't see a WR that would scare most defenses - a "gamebreaker." I think if we had that we'd be a Natl Championship contender. Also a beast DT would be nice.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back