Back at ya again with a question I was asked on Twitter
Any shot Rich Rodriguez could steal a few pieces if he takes the Ole Miss job? I don’t think there would be a starter who leaves for Ole Miss straight up. It would have to be someone already prepared to transferred and at that point they probably aren’t good enough to compete at the SEC level, especially at Ole Miss where they’re recruiting top 15 classes already. I also don’t think that any defensive guys would go simply because that’s a lot harder for Rich to vouch for their implementation. At least on offense he can get a guy who he knows fits and how he can work. But I’ve looked over the scholarship tracker and I see some guys who could potentially leave. One, obviously is Rhett. He likely wouldn’t be on scholarship at Ole Miss, but he could transfer, sit out a year, be the quarterback room guy and be closer to his dad once again. Luckily as a university of employee, Rich could get Rhett on a qualified tuition reduction rather than a scholarship, which is what should have happened at Arizona but that’s beside the point. I still think there’s a chance that he would stay at Arizona tho. It ultimately depends on what the family wants to do. Now onto number two, Nathan Tilford. The former four-star running back, top 250 kid who has now had a pair a running back coaches say that he just didn’t understand the concepts and system. He’s the only Arizona player with great talent that is buried on the depth chart. He wouldn’t have to sit out a year, and perhaps a fresh start would do him good anyways. And here’s the thing, Ole Miss doesn’t exactly have a whole lot of talent at the position. It looks like they’re currently trying to plug a hole there and fill in with junior college guys. It makes too much sense. Now that I’ve gone through the list again I’m adding a bonus name so if you’ve made it this far congrats. Jamie Nunley is potentially someone to watch. A fantastic hybrid tight/receiver that worked well when he was utilized. Tight ends got little run at Arizona this season. He won’t have to sit out a year, so it’s something to think about. I think Rich is a slam dunk hire for Ole Miss. Great offensive mind that did a lot on offense with not a lot of options. I’ll die on a hill saying that it wasn’t Rich’s talent level that he recruited, it was his lack of player development and retention. Just let him call the plays and draw stuff up. Plus, at Ole Miss the talent comes to you. Mississippi is one of the most talent dense states in the nation. It doesn’t hurt to be in the SEC. Now that I’m thinking about it, does Jace Whittaker potentially leave? I don’t think so, but that is another interesting one to think about.
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Fellas and Lady Fellas, it’s Gabe again.
Hope you all had a terrific Christmas loaded with Cats gear, some practical electronic device and of course socks. So my last post ran much longer than I expected so it’s bonus blog time. “Where is Bijan on the targets list????” one reader asks. Our tracker is 100% up to date now and we’re still trying to figure out the formatting and all that stuff since we have no idea how to make a website. I imagine this is how my parents felt trying to change the input to our DVD player growing up. Anyways, he is on the tracker under must land, but he did drop to a 4-star so he is a little further down on the list. In terms of where he is in his recruitment, it appears as if it’s going to be hard to keep him in the city, which is a damn shame. If it were my guess, I’d say it’s USC, Michigan, UCLA, Arizona, Alabama, probably in that order. However, there is a crystal ball pick for UCLA on 247Sports. Reggie Bush is his idol and USC was his “dream offer”, he took an unofficial visit to Michigan already, a Chip Kelly offense has been very appealing in the recruiting process, then comes the hometown, Alabama I imagine there is some genuine interest. But DeMarco Murray could be a huge influence to help keep Robinson at home, and the offer is on the table waiting to be signed. If he doesn’t accept soon then I imagine this thing gets drawn out closer to National Signing Day. Arizona just doesn’t have that appeal or prestige for local guys to stay. Very few elite talents would take pride in being the hometown hero for a program that isn’t great historically when you have Alabama, USC, Oregon, UW, Texas, elite programs or places that send guys to the league. You also have to think, in the mind of the recruits, they think they’ll win the job and start anywhere. So why not do it at the programs that get all the attention to begin with instead of fighting for attention and respect at Arizona when it comes to the national level. That’s where the coaching staff really has to come in and close on a guy, and that’s a huge test for Sumlin’s staff to see how high of an elite level they can recruit at. 2020 is the year everyone said that you need to watch, and despite being a kid who literally plays maybe 4 minutes away from campus, I think it’s an uphill battle that really is unfortunate. I don’t think Rich Rodriguez would have landed him, and I don’t think Kevin Sumlin does either, tho. Rich I just don’t think would have had the appeal. Sumlin has the appeal but I just don’t think that he closes on it. Arizona hasn’t done enough yet to show an elite prospect that they’re turning the tide, and I think Bijan is more likely to want to go out of state and play for a big time program than play the local hero. I’ll take Demarco Murray tho, that should hopefully be coming soon. My thought process is that the two parties will meet sometime after Christmas or New Years to decide whether both parties should move on. If Arizona wants to keep the elite in-state talent they just need to win more to make it a desirable place over the bigger programs. But it only takes one game-changing in-state prospect who has home state pride to really turn the tide for Arizona and become the poster child. Sup everyone,
Howdy folks, Gabe here
Welcome to our first blog post! What our vision for the blog portion of this site is really to just spew as much information as possible with you all. Brandon and I DM each other probably every day about Arizona football and we just want to share our conversations, thoughts and various information that we hear. I'm gonna be super informal here and talk to y'all how I would with Brandon on Twitter or our podcast, our writers at AZDS, my friends or anyone that would tweet at me. Just trying to keep it 100% authentic and casual. I imagine Brandon will be the exact same too. I honestly have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to web design and we’re still updating the site with more information so if you have any recommendations or comments let us know! Excited to start this up!! So now onto the post.. With Early Signing Period over, I've finally updated my scholarship tracker. Based off my numbers, Arizona is over the scholarship at 87. That will naturally start to go down as all the way through spring ball and even in the summer. I imagine there are potentially about eight guys who could transfer or be forced out depending on how these pre-spring ball practice conversations go. Also, I am unsure if Joshua Szott will be on scholarship this semester, but the plan when he walked-on according to the staff was that he would be on scholarship come spring. It's an exciting time for Arizona, there's an influx of youth and talent and if you know me I'm always interested to see how pieces will fit together on the field. Shout out to @catSZN for the idea, requesting that I make a way-too-early depth chart because I love doing this stuff. So here it is. Special teams is included too! I think you can add comments to these blog posts so feel free to share your thoughts down there or just on the Twitters when I post all of this later tonight. O-line looks really good. Wide receivers could use some development. Am I being too edgy at quarterback??? If we're being honest tho I could see Khalil getting hurt and Gunnell taking over for the season. RB's are stacked. D-line looks pretty solid. Linebackers are itching for depth. Corners look solid. And safety is as deep as ever. I'm not a huge Chris Roland at cornerback fan (should be a Cam Denson 3.0 on offense) but I would absolutely love to see him in the return game. I hope that Ostendorp wins the punting job for the sake of not having a scholarship punter on the bench. Alright, that's all I got for ya today. |