So I'll take a break from whining about Brian Toal's lack of news and talk about our recruiting situation.
First I'll start with my take on recruiting in the pass couple years. I'm a member of the class of '10 so I came in with the TOB's last class (HS '06) which was a decent class and produced some greats but wasn't up to snuff with TOB's other classes. I think TOB might have known he was on his way out and didn't put his heart into it. The class of '07 was weak due to the coaching change and then '08 showed us that Jags wasn't a recruiter. I honestly believe that Jags made a phenomenal coach from the X's and O's but he never got the recruiting thing. The '09 class suffered even worse from coach change syndrome but now we're coming into the '10 class
So heres the deal it looks like we might see the first real class that BC is capable of putting together. Spaz is going early after some of the big names, something we haven't seen in quite some time.
The first pick-up was Joe Boisture, a pick that excited and terrified me at the same time. Here's my take on Boisture, he could be ridiculously good, or he might have been playing against a weak competition. He's switching to Prep this year and he'll also be at the Elite 11 camp and Army All-American Game so we should find out if hes the real deal which is the exciting/terrifying part. Boisture got some interest from the big schools, but not overwhelming, we were one of the first offers. I am a little concerned that if he really takes off as a recruit he might de-commit, he has voiced his opinion that BC is now his place but unless he follows Haden and tattoos an Eagle on his chest I'll be worried until he signs his LOI.
Kevin Pierre-Louis originally committed under Jags and decommitted when he was dismissed, Spaz and company showed that this was still the place he wanted so he re-committed. He should help out with the LB core and looking at the Depth Chart he could be an immediate contributor.
Seth Betancourt- rumor has him committing during a press conference that occurred about half hour ago. This could be a sign of things to come as Spaz plays up the o-line U to bring in some really elite guys, Betancourt should be at least a 3-star a 4 and looks to be great. This could also suggest that we might have a strong case for the current #1 recruit in the country Seantrel Henderson.
And now we move into the "Recruit this guy section"
This will be reserved for those non-blue chip players which have interest in BC but BC might not be sold on.
First up is NJ LB Ryan Cobb, physically he's not a real specimen, but if theres ever a "BC guy" this is him, hard working, football knowledge guy, and get this HE WANTS TO COME HERE. We've had a great relationship with Don Bosco Prep and they turn out some elite prospects in NJ, why not make DBP a pipeline school for BC. This guy could be the Jamie Silva of Linebackers, speaking of which...
Ryan Silva RI S. So we've signed a lot of near-blue chip DBs in the past couple classes, we have plenty of extra scholarships and Jamie got the last scholarship of his class when HE came in. Why wait, the oldest Silva holds the rushing record @ Holy Cross, Jamie was a force for BC, theres good bloodlines here, the kid is smart (interest from Stanford and Dartmouth) and HES JAMIE SILVA'S BROTHER
Last up is QB Griffin Murphy, We've got the Blue-Chip in Boisture, now time to take a flyer on a guy that could be great. I'm familiar with Murphy because he goes to my alma mater (which also makes me biased in this situation) His numbers are pretty solid for 5 games in 08, after which he was out with injury. His injury and lack of competition have really only grabbed looks from UConn but Murphy could be great and it would be frustrating to have what little in-state talent MA has taken out from under our noses.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
More NFL Recaps
I've been trolling blogs and other sources since Sunday trying to find where our guys have been going. Obviously Raji is with the Packers, Brace the Pats and Francois signed incredibly quickly with the Vikings.
News has come down the wire that a player that I completely forgot about has also signed a FA contract, Brandon Robinson. While B-Rob's hands might be a little suspect now that I think about it I would say that he could very well last in the NFL, he has decent speed and a great leaping ability despite his size, if he works on his hands and isn't afraid of going over the middle he could definitely make it. The trouble comes with the fact that he signed with the Eagles, a team laden with a number of good-not-great WR like Jackson, Curtis, Baskett and I'm pretty sure they signed a number of WR over the weekend.
Kevin Akins agent claimed that he got one offer "but it wasn't right for him" so he got an invite to the NYJ mini-camp in the hopes of picking up a contract.
Still no news about Toal, Purvis or Crane. At this point I would say Crane is going to Med School, I can only imagine that Toal is looking at a similar situation to Akins, where he'll head into a mini-camp, just as of right now we don't know which one.
News has come down the wire that a player that I completely forgot about has also signed a FA contract, Brandon Robinson. While B-Rob's hands might be a little suspect now that I think about it I would say that he could very well last in the NFL, he has decent speed and a great leaping ability despite his size, if he works on his hands and isn't afraid of going over the middle he could definitely make it. The trouble comes with the fact that he signed with the Eagles, a team laden with a number of good-not-great WR like Jackson, Curtis, Baskett and I'm pretty sure they signed a number of WR over the weekend.
Kevin Akins agent claimed that he got one offer "but it wasn't right for him" so he got an invite to the NYJ mini-camp in the hopes of picking up a contract.
Still no news about Toal, Purvis or Crane. At this point I would say Crane is going to Med School, I can only imagine that Toal is looking at a similar situation to Akins, where he'll head into a mini-camp, just as of right now we don't know which one.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Draft is done...
Raji went 9th to Green Bay, right where I expected him. Some are suggesting him as an early pick for Defensive rookie of the year, time will tell but I think he's got a 75% chance of being phenomenal and a 25% chance of never living to the billing.
Brace went 40th to New England. Bittersweet for me because it means that one of the best talent evaluators in the history of football thought as highly of Brace as I always did. It is a little unfortunate however because Brace is clearly a NT space filler, big one dimensional kind of guy (perfect for that position) but a position that the Patriots have filled with a pro-bowl caliber guy in Wilfork. Being such big guys they get worn out easily so Brace will still see plenty of playing time, and I presume it will come early but I don't think you'll ever get a chance to see him really shine.
No one else got drafted but Francois got snapped up quickly by the Vikings, no surprise there considering his special teams prowess and some killer numbers he put up during the pro-day
I feel like Purvis should get a shot somewhere but doesn't have the stand-out capabilities of a NFL tight end.
What really bothers me right now is that I have not sniffed any news on Toal since the Jets talked to him early in the month. Unless it means that hes got multiple offers that he's trying to decide between, this boggles my mind. Ok, I get it you don't want to waste a draft pick on a guy that will in all likelihood may get hurt again. But really his numbers were absolutely stellar, I went back and simulated what his stats would have looked like if he continued at the pace he was going (98 tackles, 9TFL, 4.5 sacks, and a few break-ups). In all probability these numbers would have been higher because we played some easier teams down the stretch (could you imagine Toal against Jimmy Clausen? or Maryland?) and if memory serves me right Toal was outshining the beast himself who finished with 110 tackles and the ACC Def player of the year. Teams were also impressed by his versatility at the pro-day as he both ran and caught balls. So I really have to wonder what the deal is here. Toal is a great player, yeah maybe a little undersized and not as fast as he was when he came in, but the guy clocked a 4.6 which is plenty fast enough for an LB and he has been a heat-seeking, bone-crushing amazing player when hes on the field, even if he was hurt. He deserves a chance, someone needs to give him one.
Brace went 40th to New England. Bittersweet for me because it means that one of the best talent evaluators in the history of football thought as highly of Brace as I always did. It is a little unfortunate however because Brace is clearly a NT space filler, big one dimensional kind of guy (perfect for that position) but a position that the Patriots have filled with a pro-bowl caliber guy in Wilfork. Being such big guys they get worn out easily so Brace will still see plenty of playing time, and I presume it will come early but I don't think you'll ever get a chance to see him really shine.
No one else got drafted but Francois got snapped up quickly by the Vikings, no surprise there considering his special teams prowess and some killer numbers he put up during the pro-day
I feel like Purvis should get a shot somewhere but doesn't have the stand-out capabilities of a NFL tight end.
What really bothers me right now is that I have not sniffed any news on Toal since the Jets talked to him early in the month. Unless it means that hes got multiple offers that he's trying to decide between, this boggles my mind. Ok, I get it you don't want to waste a draft pick on a guy that will in all likelihood may get hurt again. But really his numbers were absolutely stellar, I went back and simulated what his stats would have looked like if he continued at the pace he was going (98 tackles, 9TFL, 4.5 sacks, and a few break-ups). In all probability these numbers would have been higher because we played some easier teams down the stretch (could you imagine Toal against Jimmy Clausen? or Maryland?) and if memory serves me right Toal was outshining the beast himself who finished with 110 tackles and the ACC Def player of the year. Teams were also impressed by his versatility at the pro-day as he both ran and caught balls. So I really have to wonder what the deal is here. Toal is a great player, yeah maybe a little undersized and not as fast as he was when he came in, but the guy clocked a 4.6 which is plenty fast enough for an LB and he has been a heat-seeking, bone-crushing amazing player when hes on the field, even if he was hurt. He deserves a chance, someone needs to give him one.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Thoughts on the Spring Game
#1 Next time remember to wear sunscreen
#2 Our Offense looks awful...or
#3 Our Defense looks amazing
But realistically I was surprised by what I saw today, reading other peoples first hand experiences doesn't really work because I was caught off guard after reading all about the 1st and 2nd scrimmages, so if you can head over and check out the spring game stream from bceagles.com. Either way here is what I took away.
Offense:
Quarterback
Dominique Davis is the clear front runner @ QB, they all looked pretty poor to be honest but Davis was the least of 3 evils, Boeks numbers were inflated for some reason and he showed that in his line today but even more so in his play. Tuggle, was in all honesty, just as bad another blog is reporting him as saying he just hit a cold streak today but his passes were off target, he looked uncomfortable and made some poor decisions.
Davis meanwhile seems to have added some zip to his passes, we aren't seeing the same 5-yard touches that he threw last year. He had some amazing throws but there was pretty much nothing really over 10 yards though there were attempts. I just get the feeling this might be an offense similar to Dana Bible and TOB.
Running Backs
Surprisingly did not look good, Haden was pulled out early which suggests that he might be injury prone again, Harris made one or two solid runs and the rest were 1-2 yard flops. Smith rattled off one very impressive 13 yarder. Most of our rushing came from the QBs though, which might not be a horrible thing considering most of the "tackles" came from tags that would never bring them down in a real game
O-Line
Pass protection looked good, run blocking looked weak, not much else to say really
Receivers
Oddest surprise of the day. I had a feeling that we would really just see a cycle of about 6 guys and that seems to be the case. Clyde Lee was a disappointment but oddly enough Billy Flutie really impressed. He made some stellar catches and was DD's go-to-guy (I don't know why his numbers weren't reported but if I had to guess I would say 6-7 catches for 50-75 yards). The other stand-out was RS Fr Pantale, absolutely amazing plays on the ball, he went up for some, he grabbed and turned with others and looked decent in run-blocking.
Bad news: yeah Offense didn't score once, that can't be good
Defense:
No point in really doing a unit by unit break down the D-Line looks stout and I think we'll see a rotation of guys including a rather jacked individual prowling the sidelines (looked like Dillon Quinn, but if it wasn't there was one freak of a human that Herz and Scafe both seemed to be doing a lot of chatting with). Alex DiSanzo impressed at LB but look to Dan Williams and Darius Bagan to get a fair amount of snaps as well as the LeGrande on passing situations (probably the next Kevin Akins, smaller speedy S/LB hybrid). My sleeper pick, Distaso seems to have been relegated to 3rd-string, ahh such is the life of a walk-on.
One Bad note: We need to work on some hands drills with some of these boys, I'm talking 6-8 balls that should have been intercepted but were dropped instead (which speaks little about what our offense was doing.
I'll post more on the draft tomorrow in hopes that one of the other guys might go in a late round.
#2 Our Offense looks awful...or
#3 Our Defense looks amazing
But realistically I was surprised by what I saw today, reading other peoples first hand experiences doesn't really work because I was caught off guard after reading all about the 1st and 2nd scrimmages, so if you can head over and check out the spring game stream from bceagles.com. Either way here is what I took away.
Offense:
Quarterback
Dominique Davis is the clear front runner @ QB, they all looked pretty poor to be honest but Davis was the least of 3 evils, Boeks numbers were inflated for some reason and he showed that in his line today but even more so in his play. Tuggle, was in all honesty, just as bad another blog is reporting him as saying he just hit a cold streak today but his passes were off target, he looked uncomfortable and made some poor decisions.
Davis meanwhile seems to have added some zip to his passes, we aren't seeing the same 5-yard touches that he threw last year. He had some amazing throws but there was pretty much nothing really over 10 yards though there were attempts. I just get the feeling this might be an offense similar to Dana Bible and TOB.
Running Backs
Surprisingly did not look good, Haden was pulled out early which suggests that he might be injury prone again, Harris made one or two solid runs and the rest were 1-2 yard flops. Smith rattled off one very impressive 13 yarder. Most of our rushing came from the QBs though, which might not be a horrible thing considering most of the "tackles" came from tags that would never bring them down in a real game
O-Line
Pass protection looked good, run blocking looked weak, not much else to say really
Receivers
Oddest surprise of the day. I had a feeling that we would really just see a cycle of about 6 guys and that seems to be the case. Clyde Lee was a disappointment but oddly enough Billy Flutie really impressed. He made some stellar catches and was DD's go-to-guy (I don't know why his numbers weren't reported but if I had to guess I would say 6-7 catches for 50-75 yards). The other stand-out was RS Fr Pantale, absolutely amazing plays on the ball, he went up for some, he grabbed and turned with others and looked decent in run-blocking.
Bad news: yeah Offense didn't score once, that can't be good
Defense:
No point in really doing a unit by unit break down the D-Line looks stout and I think we'll see a rotation of guys including a rather jacked individual prowling the sidelines (looked like Dillon Quinn, but if it wasn't there was one freak of a human that Herz and Scafe both seemed to be doing a lot of chatting with). Alex DiSanzo impressed at LB but look to Dan Williams and Darius Bagan to get a fair amount of snaps as well as the LeGrande on passing situations (probably the next Kevin Akins, smaller speedy S/LB hybrid). My sleeper pick, Distaso seems to have been relegated to 3rd-string, ahh such is the life of a walk-on.
One Bad note: We need to work on some hands drills with some of these boys, I'm talking 6-8 balls that should have been intercepted but were dropped instead (which speaks little about what our offense was doing.
I'll post more on the draft tomorrow in hopes that one of the other guys might go in a late round.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Spring Game, NFL Draft
Only BC schedules Spring Games on the same day as the NFL Draft when they have guaranteed first rounders (Matty last year BJ this year) but alas thats the situation.
First Up: Spring Game Things to Watch
1. The QB Competition-If I had a blog last year you would have known how much I disliked watching DD play because I was positive that Tuggle would come in as the starter and do something great. After the first scrimmage it seemed like I was right... until last weeks scrimmage. Now I get that Tuggles seen limited number mostly against 2nd or 3rd team defense but the fact that the Staff felt Tuggle should only attempt suggests they either ran out of time or he might not be the leader after all. Boek's rise only adds to the confusion again this is against the 2nd and 3rd but I have to wonder why he hasn't seen more snaps against the 1st team defense
2. The Linebackers, everyone wants to see the new tackles but I think we have enough quality guys that barely get mentioned that we shouldn't have a problem, the LBs however present a different sort of problem. Herzlich has one OLB spot covered but McLaughlin's injury forced Thompson inside leaving the other side wide open. LeGrande's move to LB suggests hes the leading candidate and likely will get the nod in a manner similar to Akins. My personal preference goes to oft-injured RS JR Bagan or walk-on SR Distaso who both have much better size for the position.
3. Running Backs- While we won't see any of the incoming Freshman you have to wonder if Gary(Tranquill) will find a proper way to use the Haden-Harris Duo. What I saw last year was that when we started Haden he seemed to wear out the defense allowing Harris to bullrush his way through in the second half. Rumors of Haden's nagging injury also suggest that he might live up to his hype.
4. WR- A compelling story developing over who will stand out. You have to love Jarvis and Momah's size and while I don't think Gunnell will make for a great #1 receiver I think that's where you'll see him. In all reality we have a lot of options here including rapidly-rising RS FR Clyde Lee, Music City Bowl highlight Colin Larmond and Mr. Do-Everything Billy Flutie.
NFL Draft
1Rajis going top ten, hands down. There seems to be a lot of love for him going to Cleaveland @ 5 but I really think that his character concerns drop him to either Jacksonville, who doesn't seem to like him much or my pick Green Bay who would love to grab BJ @ 9.
2. Brace-Honestly I always liked Ron while he was @ BC more than BJ so I think that Ron will have a great career in some 3-4 defense who needs someone to clog up the line so the Linebackers can get in there. I don't see him sneaking into the 1st round like Kiwi but he should go pretty early in the 2nd round to a team like Denver or I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that you might see KC trade up for him to replace Dorsey who doesn't really fit into the 3-4 the Chiefs are trying to develop (either pushing Dorsey out to DE or possible trade fodder)
As much as I hate to say it I think thats all we're going to see for drafted eagles. Toal might go to a team that values versatility like New England or KC and Francois might go late do to his great Pro-day numbers and developmental possibilities. I love the G-Men connection for Ramsey that Atleagle suggested though I think if Giants pull the trigger it will be later, more than likely it will be Undrafted Free Agent. I think Purvis will get plenty of looks and pick up a FA contract somewhere. CC will get a shot to crack a practice squad and this might sound odd but I see a lot of similarities between Crane and Matt Cassell (now of KC) both are big guys who have strong arms with sub-average touch and can wheel when they need to. Look at teams with an open spot for a very developmental player (NYG, Indy, Chi, or Dallas)
First Up: Spring Game Things to Watch
1. The QB Competition-If I had a blog last year you would have known how much I disliked watching DD play because I was positive that Tuggle would come in as the starter and do something great. After the first scrimmage it seemed like I was right... until last weeks scrimmage. Now I get that Tuggles seen limited number mostly against 2nd or 3rd team defense but the fact that the Staff felt Tuggle should only attempt suggests they either ran out of time or he might not be the leader after all. Boek's rise only adds to the confusion again this is against the 2nd and 3rd but I have to wonder why he hasn't seen more snaps against the 1st team defense
2. The Linebackers, everyone wants to see the new tackles but I think we have enough quality guys that barely get mentioned that we shouldn't have a problem, the LBs however present a different sort of problem. Herzlich has one OLB spot covered but McLaughlin's injury forced Thompson inside leaving the other side wide open. LeGrande's move to LB suggests hes the leading candidate and likely will get the nod in a manner similar to Akins. My personal preference goes to oft-injured RS JR Bagan or walk-on SR Distaso who both have much better size for the position.
3. Running Backs- While we won't see any of the incoming Freshman you have to wonder if Gary(Tranquill) will find a proper way to use the Haden-Harris Duo. What I saw last year was that when we started Haden he seemed to wear out the defense allowing Harris to bullrush his way through in the second half. Rumors of Haden's nagging injury also suggest that he might live up to his hype.
4. WR- A compelling story developing over who will stand out. You have to love Jarvis and Momah's size and while I don't think Gunnell will make for a great #1 receiver I think that's where you'll see him. In all reality we have a lot of options here including rapidly-rising RS FR Clyde Lee, Music City Bowl highlight Colin Larmond and Mr. Do-Everything Billy Flutie.
NFL Draft
1Rajis going top ten, hands down. There seems to be a lot of love for him going to Cleaveland @ 5 but I really think that his character concerns drop him to either Jacksonville, who doesn't seem to like him much or my pick Green Bay who would love to grab BJ @ 9.
2. Brace-Honestly I always liked Ron while he was @ BC more than BJ so I think that Ron will have a great career in some 3-4 defense who needs someone to clog up the line so the Linebackers can get in there. I don't see him sneaking into the 1st round like Kiwi but he should go pretty early in the 2nd round to a team like Denver or I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that you might see KC trade up for him to replace Dorsey who doesn't really fit into the 3-4 the Chiefs are trying to develop (either pushing Dorsey out to DE or possible trade fodder)
As much as I hate to say it I think thats all we're going to see for drafted eagles. Toal might go to a team that values versatility like New England or KC and Francois might go late do to his great Pro-day numbers and developmental possibilities. I love the G-Men connection for Ramsey that Atleagle suggested though I think if Giants pull the trigger it will be later, more than likely it will be Undrafted Free Agent. I think Purvis will get plenty of looks and pick up a FA contract somewhere. CC will get a shot to crack a practice squad and this might sound odd but I see a lot of similarities between Crane and Matt Cassell (now of KC) both are big guys who have strong arms with sub-average touch and can wheel when they need to. Look at teams with an open spot for a very developmental player (NYG, Indy, Chi, or Dallas)
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