illinidarrin
- from parts unknown
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
How does Morales compare to Olano coming out of HS?
illinidarrin
- from parts unknown
Olano was selected to US Army game....so probably a top 3-5 kicker coming out. Olano exceeded expectations, hit all the tough kicks under pressure. One os several reasons we won the last two bowls because Olano was the better kicker.
Morales is rated7th best kicker, still pretty high. Big shoes to fill.
Pretty sure Olano was an All American. Think he kicked a 50 yarder in the All American game(??). He was also recruited by some heavy hitters.
My guess is that the two don't compare favorably, but at that position, it really doesn't matter. There aren't a ton of measurables outside of leg strength and that will change over time. If his leg strength is good(not necessarily great) and he's accurate....... that'll do. Can't have guys missing 5 yards left/right on a 45 yard kick or with a wind in your face. If you have leg from 52+......huge bonus.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
Stepp is a great recruiter (and coach), but I think we're the runner-up here (I'd love to be wrong)
I think we need to see how he does with kickoff distance this year & fg accuracy . Prep kickers just don’t get many chances tho
what’s good is he can punt also .
he goes to OakForest, which is a medium sized school playing in a medium sized conference , so it’s not easy to know exactly how he translates. my guess is pretty well . my nieces graduated from there 15 years ago & I know that area well . I doubt we would have offered if had we not been impressed with him physically & mentally
Let's remember that Ulysses has another year to play in High school and will likely be longer and stronger in '27. Many kids are not done maturing at 17 and he could improve his made field goal lengths next year.
I liked the trajectory of his kicks; we need to hang on to this kid!
Wish i could hit my golf balls as high as he kicks the football....
That might just be the weirdest transfer story out there
Illinois prediction for Knowles 
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
he's trained by the same guy that trained Olano. this guy states that Morales is of similar caliber to Olano (at this age). it sure doesn't seem like staff is taking a flyer on him, they've vetted him pretty heavily
Where exactly is he rated a 4 star?
I wish I could hit my golf balls as high as literally anyone rolls a bowling ball.
He’s done a great job. What’s funny is South Carolina fans tried to say he couldn’t recruit. If we get Knowles this will be a very good recruiting class for the offense
Something to keep an eye on as well ...
Beamer is an idiot ... I could say a lot more but that's the summary ...
Stepp is a future OC ... Without a doubt ... Great dude ... Great family ... We are lucky to have him ...