Summer Evaluation Period

[AuburnNTexas 7,366]

We better take Jeremy Johnson. If Loefler is as good a QB coach as everyone claims, he should be able to turn Johnson into a first round draft pick with the kids natural athleticism

With KF looking good so far and progress we have seen with Pike this year we should have time to develop him and possibly end up with QB with most upside long term.

[Rednilla 5,449]

We better take Jeremy Johnson. If Loefler is as good a QB coach as everyone claims, he should be able to turn Johnson into a first round draft pick with the kids natural athleticism

I would take him right now if we're taking two. I would like Bateman or Rettig and then have Johnson as a project.

Bateman: Outstanding prospect with a live arm. Questionable competition in Utah football.

Rettig: A huge risk right now due to his knee injury. Very good arm and a questionable scouting report.

Johnson: Very raw but has a huge upside for a program willing to take time to develop him. Less risky than Rettig and is not a "project" at all.

By saying he is very raw is the same thing as saying he is a project.

Absolutely not!!! Johnson throws a beautiful deep ball, buys time in the pocket with his feet, and he is very athletic. He needs work on his throwing mechanics but that's what QB coaches get paid for. Johnson is rated a 4* by at least one major recruiting service, and is rated higher than Rettig in at least two of them.

Kevin Olsen plays in a spread offense where he never lines up under center. He only have to make one or two reads. Does that make him a project of a QB? I'll answer my own question. Absolutely not!!!!

You can't be raw and not be a project. Raw, by definition, means you need work to reach your full potential. Now, that is true of all high school athletes to some extent, but Johnson needs a great deal of work before he'll be ready to play in the SEC. That's the point.

[auwrx 0]

Well, since JJ has an entire senior year and probably several qb camps to attend (some probably at Auburn with CSL!), I think I personally from the outside looking in, would rather have a QB like Johnson with some wheels. Read and option plays are in CSL's playbook and were used with great effectiveness at temple. I don't think that "pro-style offense" means that you have to have a pocket statue. Don't get me wrong, if Payton Manning had anouther 2 or 3 years of college ball left I'd love to have him, but the college game is different. The wide hashes give some serious room for athletic QBs to hurt a defense.

[Rednilla 5,449]

Well, since JJ has an entire senior year and probably several qb camps to attend (some probably at Auburn with CSL!), I think I personally from the outside looking in, would rather have a QB like Johnson with some wheels. Read and option plays are in CSL's playbook and were used with great effectiveness at temple. I don't think that "pro-style offense" means that you have to have a pocket statue. Don't get me wrong, if Payton Manning had anouther 2 or 3 years of college ball left I'd love to have him, but the college game is different. The wide hashes give some serious room for athletic QBs to hurt a defense.

Is Olsen not athletic? His best physical asset is his ability to scramble and complete passes on the run.

And don't try to compare Temple's offense too closely to what we're going to be doing this year. From what I understand, Temple didn't have a QB who could pass worth a crap.

[auwrx 0]

Well, since JJ has an entire senior year and probably several qb camps to attend (some probably at Auburn with CSL!), I think I personally from the outside looking in, would rather have a QB like Johnson with some wheels. Read and option plays are in CSL's playbook and were used with great effectiveness at temple. I don't think that "pro-style offense" means that you have to have a pocket statue. Don't get me wrong, if Payton Manning had anouther 2 or 3 years of college ball left I'd love to have him, but the college game is different. The wide hashes give some serious room for athletic QBs to hurt a defense.

Is Olsen not athletic? His best physical asset is his ability to scramble and complete passes on the run.

And don't try to compare Temple's offense too closely to what we're going to be doing this year. From what I understand, Temple didn't have a QB who could pass worth a crap.

Olsen and Johson are imo like comparing aaron murray and Cam newton as far as athletisim goes.

Temples Offens is all I have to go on. And if I'm not mistaken, Their QBs were much more efficeint than ous last year. So if there QBs couldn't pass worth a crap, to this point going game to game, ours can't either.

This is just my personal preference. It might not be the coaches. At the end of the day whoever we take is fine with me. I pull for the name on the front of the jersey not the back.

[ArmchairAthlete7 21]

Well, since JJ has an entire senior year and probably several qb camps to attend (some probably at Auburn with CSL!), I think I personally from the outside looking in, would rather have a QB like Johnson with some wheels. Read and option plays are in CSL's playbook and were used with great effectiveness at temple. I don't think that "pro-style offense" means that you have to have a pocket statue. Don't get me wrong, if Payton Manning had anouther 2 or 3 years of college ball left I'd love to have him, but the college game is different. The wide hashes give some serious room for athletic QBs to hurt a defense.

Is Olsen not athletic? His best physical asset is his ability to scramble and complete passes on the run.

And don't try to compare Temple's offense too closely to what we're going to be doing this year. From what I understand, Temple didn't have a QB who could pass worth a crap.

Olsen and Johson are imo like comparing aaron murray and Cam newton as far as athletisim goes.

Temples Offens is all I have to go on. And if I'm not mistaken, Their QBs were much more efficeint than ous last year. So if there QBs couldn't pass worth a crap, to this point going game to game, ours can't either.

This is just my personal preference. It might not be the coaches. At the end of the day whoever we take is fine with me. I pull for the name on the front of the jersey not the back.

Johnson isn't that mobile. He is definitely closer to how Campbell was, can move enough to make a little time in the pocket and can pick up some yardage on a bootleg if he has some space. He isn't a QB you want running any zone read type offense.

[Rednilla 5,449]

Well, since JJ has an entire senior year and probably several qb camps to attend (some probably at Auburn with CSL!), I think I personally from the outside looking in, would rather have a QB like Johnson with some wheels. Read and option plays are in CSL's playbook and were used with great effectiveness at temple. I don't think that "pro-style offense" means that you have to have a pocket statue. Don't get me wrong, if Payton Manning had anouther 2 or 3 years of college ball left I'd love to have him, but the college game is different. The wide hashes give some serious room for athletic QBs to hurt a defense.

Is Olsen not athletic? His best physical asset is his ability to scramble and complete passes on the run.

And don't try to compare Temple's offense too closely to what we're going to be doing this year. From what I understand, Temple didn't have a QB who could pass worth a crap.

Olsen and Johson are imo like comparing aaron murray and Cam newton as far as athletisim goes.

Temples Offens is all I have to go on. And if I'm not mistaken, Their QBs were much more efficeint than ous last year. So if there QBs couldn't pass worth a crap, to this point going game to game, ours can't either.

This is just my personal preference. It might not be the coaches. At the end of the day whoever we take is fine with me. I pull for the name on the front of the jersey not the back.

Seems like I remember Temple moved a player from another position to play QB, and efficiency could well have more to do with the distance the ball was thrown than the ability of the QB to throw the ball, not to mention the offensive line (every time you throw the ball away to keep from getting sacked, that's an incompletion).

Also, while I'm not sure I agree that Johnson wouldn't be good for the zone read, he's not Cam Newton, and if you expect him to be then you will be sorely disappointed. He is a good prospect, but he's just not on Cam's level. Not a knock on him; there just aren't a whole lot of people in the history of the world who are on Cam's level.

[auwrx 0]

No doubt he's not Cam. No one is. Possible no one ever will be. That was just a comparison that everone would be familiar with their respective athletisim. I'm not looking for the next Cam. I just like the way guys like Tyrod Taylor, Robert Griffen, and perhaps our own Mr. Frazier force defenses to account for them or pay.

It's cool if we agree to disagree about what we like. I always respect your opinion and enjoy the debate Red.

[auwrx 0]

Also, the QB that ended the season was injured at the begining in fall camp. He wasn't moved just really athletic.

[Rednilla 5,449]

No doubt he's not Cam. No one is. Possible no one ever will be. That was just a comparison that everone would be familiar with their respective athletisim. I'm not looking for the next Cam. I just like the way guys like Tyrod Taylor, Robert Griffen, and perhaps our own Mr. Frazier force defenses to account for them or pay.

It's cool if we agree to disagree about what we like. I always respect your opinion and enjoy the debate Red.

My issue is more with the disparity of athleticism between Murray and Newton, tbh. And it's not so much that I disagree, because I, too, prefer mobility, I just think we can get a better fit for Loeffler's style. We shall see though; I mean, we're really picking nits more than anything else. It's not as if I'd be disappointed if Johnson were the only QB we signed or anytihng.

[blazetiger 0]

Johnson is just a pass first qb. He's very mobile though u can see that even on the b ball court

[criscomilk 0]

noone knows if he will be like cam or not.  Cam wasn't great until the last two years of college.  Noone could have predicted that when he was in high school.

[Rednilla 5,449]

noone knows if he will be like cam or not.  Cam wasn't great until the last two years of college.  Noone could have predicted that when he was in high school.

...Cam was a five star out of high school. They may not have known exactly how good he was going to be, but they knew he was going to be good. He was Tim Tebow's primary backup the year Tebow won the Heisman, and we all remember that clip of him running somebody over late in a game Florida was winning handily, when Tebow was jumping up and down getting excited about how his backup was playing.

[dpwspringer 0]

noone knows if he will be like cam or not.  Cam wasn't great until the last two years of college.  Noone could have predicted that when he was in high school.

...Cam was a five star out of high school. They may not have known exactly how good he was going to be, but they knew he was going to be good. He was Tim Tebow's primary backup the year Tebow won the Heisman, and we all remember that clip of him running somebody over late in a game Florida was winning handily, when Tebow was jumping up and down getting excited about how his backup was playing.

Cam was behind not only Tebow, but John Brantley as well when he left Florida.  The way it was set up when he left Florida, he was not likely to see the field except in mop up duty until his senior season, if then.  Brantley was recruited in the same 2007 Florida class as Cam but Cam was redshirted his sophomore year or so because of an injury, I think.  Anyway things did not go too well for Cam at Florida.  Cam got a lot better after he left Florida, at both Blinn and Auburn.  I went back and read a Florida blog when he left Florida and they didn't figure it was that big of a loss because his rep was that he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn on down field throws and Brantley could.  Florida folks thought Brantley was head and shoulders better than Cam when he left Florida. 

[aupops2 9]

Don't believe that Cam Newton is on Coach Loeffler's target list for 2013.  We digress.  My guess is that CSL was at the Elite 11 Camp in Atlanta this week.  After looking at "wish" lists on other sites, and compare them to some on here, they all seem remarkably similar.  Of course, we could all be wrong, but it's shaping up to be a great year.  I still would like to know where the coaches visited this week;  only thing I've seen is Trooper at Autauga to see OJ.

[Rednilla 5,449]

noone knows if he will be like cam or not.  Cam wasn't great until the last two years of college.  Noone could have predicted that when he was in high school.

...Cam was a five star out of high school. They may not have known exactly how good he was going to be, but they knew he was going to be good. He was Tim Tebow's primary backup the year Tebow won the Heisman, and we all remember that clip of him running somebody over late in a game Florida was winning handily, when Tebow was jumping up and down getting excited about how his backup was playing.

Cam was behind not only Tebow, but John Brantley as well when he left Florida.  The way it was set up when he left Florida, he was not likely to see the field except in mop up duty until his senior season, if then.  Brantley was recruited in the same 2007 Florida class as Cam but Cam was redshirted his sophomore year or so because of an injury, I think.  Anyway things did not go too well for Cam at Florida.  Cam got a lot better after he left Florida, at both Blinn and Auburn.  I went back and read a Florida blog when he left Florida and they didn't figure it was that big of a loss because his rep was that he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn on down field throws and Brantley could.  Florida folks thought Brantley was head and shoulders better than Cam when he left Florida. 

Trust me, I remember all that. And you're right that it was leaving Florida that made Cam realize that he had to buckle down. But you're acting as if Newton was just an average joe player at Florida, and that's simply not accurate.

As for the Florida folks talking about Brantley moving ahead of him on the depth chart, yeah, I heard all about that, and to this day I question it. Oh I'm sure the coaches had shuffled the depth chart around. Cam had started to slip with regard to taking things seriously; they were probably trying to get his attention. You remember that after the laptop incident, Meyer was very clear that Newton left of his own volition, that he was still welcome on the team. I have a feeling that if he'd stuck around, then when push came to shove he would have been the one going in.

But, again, he backed up Tebow during his Heisman campaign, so what did you expect him to show that was so great during his freshman year? He redshirted the following year, while Tebow was leading Florida to the national championship, and then he himself won a JUCO title and the BCS before going to the NFL early.

Now, to be fair, no, no one knew how great he was going to be. That's because no one had ever done what he did before. But back the original conversation, no, I suppose I cannot be 100% certain that Jeremy Johnson will not undergo some life altering experience that causes him to buckle down and push himself to the absolute limit, like Cam did, and if he does so then I cannot be 100% certain that he will not reach the same level of success that Cam did. However, it's not such a stretch to consider that Johnson will almost certainly never do that, and moreover, right now I simply do not think his mobility compared to Olsen's is anything like Cam Newton's mobility compared to Aaron Murray's mobility...which was the point I was making in the first place.

[aupops2 9]

BM has an article up on 247 that pretty much mirrors my thoughts in the OP.  CSL will probably have his QB or QBs at the end of the 4-week Spring Evaluation period; safety IS a position of need and we will try to get, maybe even three depending on the final numbers of class size;  Adams is the "biggest" target on this years board; Ty Dye is our top RB prospect and if we get him, we are through there; and finally, the "flippers" could make all the difference in where we wind up rankings-wise.  He indicated, regarding the safeties, that we are still after Nick Washington (which I had heard) and Trey Matthews, as well as Vonn Bell ( who may be OSU bound).  The three QBs he named as leaders right now are Bateman, Johnson, and Buchanan, but agreed that could change quickly after CSL's evaluation.  But this really sheds a lot of light on Jonesy's comments about there being only 10 or so "committable" offers, because if you look at most people's lists of probable signees, they are very similar.  We have our targets, are zoning in on them, and seem to have an excellent shot at most of them.

[au_bsci_04 407]

Glad they're being selective, but I hope we don't miss out on some. Seems we are limiting our options...

[aupops2 9]

With the limited number of slots we have this year, one may wonder why we took early commits from comparatively lower -ranked kids such as Melton and Jarrad Davis.  Answer:  look for both to zoom upward on most board rankings (not 247);  hash tag/ Van Gorder, Martinez.

[JFDTiger80 812]

BM has an article up on 247 that pretty much mirrors my thoughts in the OP.  CSL will probably have his QB or QBs at the end of the 4-week Spring Evaluation period; safety IS a position of need and we will try to get, maybe even three depending on the final numbers of class size;  Adams is the "biggest" target on this years board; Ty Dye is our top RB prospect and if we get him, we are through there; and finally, the "flippers" could make all the difference in where we wind up rankings-wise.  He indicated, regarding the safeties, that we are still after Nick Washington (which I had heard) and Trey Matthews, as well as Vonn Bell ( who may be OSU bound).  The three QBs he named as leaders right now are Bateman, Johnson, and Buchanan, but agreed that could change quickly after CSL's evaluation.  But this really sheds a lot of light on Jonesy's comments about there being only 10 or so "committable" offers, because if you look at most people's lists of probable signees, they are very similar.  We have our targets, are zoning in on them, and seem to have an excellent shot at most of them.

On the RB position, you named Ty Dye as our top pick. I was hoping for another Ty, Ty Isaac. He has US on his list and from what I hAve seen, he is incredible.

I have seen the Dye video too. He is a nice sized very good back. I would call him a bruser.

I think the Isaac kid is a big back game changer.

[ArmchairAthlete7 21]

BM has an article up on 247 that pretty much mirrors my thoughts in the OP.  CSL will probably have his QB or QBs at the end of the 4-week Spring Evaluation period; safety IS a position of need and we will try to get, maybe even three depending on the final numbers of class size;  Adams is the "biggest" target on this years board; Ty Dye is our top RB prospect and if we get him, we are through there; and finally, the "flippers" could make all the difference in where we wind up rankings-wise.  He indicated, regarding the safeties, that we are still after Nick Washington (which I had heard) and Trey Matthews, as well as Vonn Bell ( who may be OSU bound).  The three QBs he named as leaders right now are Bateman, Johnson, and Buchanan, but agreed that could change quickly after CSL's evaluation.  But this really sheds a lot of light on Jonesy's comments about there being only 10 or so "committable" offers, because if you look at most people's lists of probable signees, they are very similar.  We have our targets, are zoning in on them, and seem to have an excellent shot at most of them.

On the RB position, you named Ty Dye as our top pick. I was hoping for another Ty, Ty Isaac. He has US on his list and from what I hAve seen, he is incredible.

I have seen the Dye video too. He is a nice sized very good back. I would call him a bruser.

I think the Isaac kid is a big back game changer.

The problem with Isaac is that his film is mostly him running free. You never see him fight for the tough yards or really break any tackles. It's just him running the same play over and over. Not to mention there's a chance he outgrows the RB position. I like Isaac and think he could be a good RB, it's just that IMO Dye is your more prototypical RB.

[tsande07 271]

BM has an article up on 247 that pretty much mirrors my thoughts in the OP.  CSL will probably have his QB or QBs at the end of the 4-week Spring Evaluation period; safety IS a position of need and we will try to get, maybe even three depending on the final numbers of class size;  Adams is the "biggest" target on this years board; Ty Dye is our top RB prospect and if we get him, we are through there; and finally, the "flippers" could make all the difference in where we wind up rankings-wise.  He indicated, regarding the safeties, that we are still after Nick Washington (which I had heard) and Trey Matthews, as well as Vonn Bell ( who may be OSU bound).  The three QBs he named as leaders right now are Bateman, Johnson, and Buchanan, but agreed that could change quickly after CSL's evaluation.  But this really sheds a lot of light on Jonesy's comments about there being only 10 or so "committable" offers, because if you look at most people's lists of probable signees, they are very similar.  We have our targets, are zoning in on them, and seem to have an excellent shot at most of them.

Thanks, Pops! 

[TigerPaw1 0]

BM has an article up on 247 that pretty much mirrors my thoughts in the OP.  CSL will probably have his QB or QBs at the end of the 4-week Spring Evaluation period; safety IS a position of need and we will try to get, maybe even three depending on the final numbers of class size;  Adams is the "biggest" target on this years board; Ty Dye is our top RB prospect and if we get him, we are through there; and finally, the "flippers" could make all the difference in where we wind up rankings-wise.  He indicated, regarding the safeties, that we are still after Nick Washington (which I had heard) and Trey Matthews, as well as Vonn Bell ( who may be OSU bound).  The three QBs he named as leaders right now are Bateman, Johnson, and Buchanan, but agreed that could change quickly after CSL's evaluation.  But this really sheds a lot of light on Jonesy's comments about there being only 10 or so "committable" offers, because if you look at most people's lists of probable signees, they are very similar.  We have our targets, are zoning in on them, and seem to have an excellent shot at most of them.

On the RB position, you named Ty Dye as our top pick. I was hoping for another Ty, Ty Isaac. He has US on his list and from what I hAve seen, he is incredible.

I have seen the Dye video too. He is a nice sized very good back. I would call him a bruser.

I think the Isaac kid is a big back game changer.

The problem with Isaac is that his film is mostly him running free. You never see him fight for the tough yards or really break any tackles. It's just him running the same play over and over. Not to mention there's a chance he outgrows the RB position. I like Isaac and think he could be a good RB, it's just that IMO Dye is your more prototypical RB.

I like dye too. He to me looks like a guy that given solid blocking at Auburn can grind out some yards. That's what we need some guys that can carry the ball 20-25 times a game and pound teams. It's gonna be interesting to see how this year's class plays out. We are trying to flip a host of kids and we have some pretty big names on our board

[Rednilla 5,449]

BM has an article up on 247 that pretty much mirrors my thoughts in the OP.  CSL will probably have his QB or QBs at the end of the 4-week Spring Evaluation period; safety IS a position of need and we will try to get, maybe even three depending on the final numbers of class size;  Adams is the "biggest" target on this years board; Ty Dye is our top RB prospect and if we get him, we are through there; and finally, the "flippers" could make all the difference in where we wind up rankings-wise.  He indicated, regarding the safeties, that we are still after Nick Washington (which I had heard) and Trey Matthews, as well as Vonn Bell ( who may be OSU bound).  The three QBs he named as leaders right now are Bateman, Johnson, and Buchanan, but agreed that could change quickly after CSL's evaluation.  But this really sheds a lot of light on Jonesy's comments about there being only 10 or so "committable" offers, because if you look at most people's lists of probable signees, they are very similar.  We have our targets, are zoning in on them, and seem to have an excellent shot at most of them.

On the RB position, you named Ty Dye as our top pick. I was hoping for another Ty, Ty Isaac. He has US on his list and from what I hAve seen, he is incredible.

I have seen the Dye video too. He is a nice sized very good back. I would call him a bruser.

I think the Isaac kid is a big back game changer.

The problem with Isaac is that his film is mostly him running free. You never see him fight for the tough yards or really break any tackles. It's just him running the same play over and over. Not to mention there's a chance he outgrows the RB position. I like Isaac and think he could be a good RB, it's just that IMO Dye is your more prototypical RB.

Honestly, I haven't watched film on either, but the way you're describing it sounds exactly like I described the difference between Keith Marshall and Tre Mason.

And for the record, from what I hear the coaches are much harder after Dye. Not sure if it's because Isaac has too many stars in his eyes or if they sincerely like Dye better, but I've got a feeling he's going to be our running back in this class.

[aupops2 9]

Looks like next week will be an important one for evaluation of QBs and safeties.  Coach Loeffler spent this week primarily in and around the campus, but is going to see most of our QB targets over the next two weeks.  We could have our QB of choice within a month.  Safety seems to have suddenly become a position of high focus;  but I can't figure out if that's because of concern over our current talent or a depth issue.  Maybe they are more worried about EF's injury than first thought, but the fact that Trent Fisher is pushing for a starting job is interesting.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Trent fan, followed him in high school, and the same with his Dad, but with all we've heard about Erique, Therieze, and possibly Whitehead, it's still intriguing.  Anyway, Coach Martinez will be evaluating safwties next week.