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Wake Forest Football Recruiting

DEACS76 said:
We are thin at DT and DBs. Another WR would fine. Just count the number of guys at each position. Sometimes you just run out of bodies.
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i’m not worried at DT — the young guys should continue to get better and fingers crossed for miles fox being a contributor.
 
OL really comes down to LT. The interior should be Maginn - Tom - Nya. Maybe Suhren if he gets it together as a senior. Nash has the lead for next OT, but he's been primarily a RT so I imagine they'll keep him there. LT should be an open competition between Edwards, Clapp, and Rappleyea. Would be great to see Edwards win and lock it down for the next three years.

The bigger issue will be depth. That's basically all of our contributors in starting roles. We'll need guys like Jurgens, Gordon, etc. to step into rotational roles.
 
DEACS76 said:
It's the number of guys we have, not the quality I'm worried about.
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On the latest depth chart, our 3 deep on the DL will all be back next year, unless someone leaves early. We should be strong here next season, especially if Fox returns.
That being said, I’ll always take another good DT.
 
We're losing three OLs and bringing in 4. I don't think Fox will be back because some analysts say DT is still a need. With one WR (Banks), we'll have 9 for 3 spots. Another would help, especially if he can return kicks, and save Surratt. As for CBs, We'll lose two and bring in two, so we'll only have six. I've got Carson as a Safety. We have some really good passrushers on the way, can't wait to get them on campus.
 
The players we're bringing in for 2020 won't be expected to contribute until 2022 most likely. We're begging for Walker to get more carries and Clawson isn't giving them.
 
The good news is that Wake doesn't NEED incoming true freshmen to contribute. If they are ready to contribute right away, that is gravy.

It's a good problem when you're trying to figure out who is the better 3rd string DT.
 
Dekin said:
Shane Whittier plans to enroll early.
Can’t wait to see him on the field. He’s going to be a good one.
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Sounds like he could be part of the answer to "who follows Strnad?"
 
Ransom(sp) also a possibility. Chase Jones has been mentioned a lot was expected to play as a true freshman but I think he has been injured.
 
I have a hunch that we are going to be good for as long as Clawson is at Wake. 8+ wins. While I am concerned about losing Strnad because he is the heart and soul of this defense, everywhere else we have depth in place to move up. We can be derailed by injuries again, but even there Clawson is using new practice techniques I don't even understand. Do you think Mack Brown is over there in Chapel Hill counting snaps, etc... in practice like we do? Add to that our facilities are now on par or better than anyone in the ACC except Clemson and probably half of the SEC (guessing, admittedly).

My point is that losing Washington and Surratt is huge. But we do have 2 4-star receivers that cannot find the field yet this year because of our depth. Washington in particular was a project at best coming in and now he is a legit WR NFL prospect. I assume we are doing something right in practice. Surratt was not a 4-star recruit. He flew under the radar a bit because he was equally focused on basketball, but Clawson, god bless him, and his Northwestern metrics is particularly keen on guys who excel at multiple sports.

Anyway, my point is that in the midst of what seems like a remarkable season, we are worried the way we were in 2006. The difference is I don't think we are at risk of losing the lightning in a ball here.

The OL - Clawson has always said kids needs three years in the system before they can excel. When we sucked, we rolled out frosh and sophs. Now, just because Jurgen may not see the field for any meaningful snaps until he is a RS-JR does not mean he is not really good. Don's ask me why it takes that long, I don't get it, but it seems to be true

WR - our system that we have not deviated from once we got the OL needed is trending towards getting legit NFL prospects at this position. While our 4star RS frosh are NOT going to come in and replace Washington and Surratt, I have been blown away by our development here. Surratt wasn't Surratt last year, I'll remind you - but for only a few games. We are workmanlike in our development (it appears anyway)

RB - Beal has 2 more years of eligibility and Walker 3. We have kids we are excited about coming in behind them

QB - Even if Newman leaves, and I think he might - along with Surratt and Boogie, we look good here for obvious reasons I won't get into.

TE - Legit concern here as I have no idea if Whiteheart is ready next year

DE - I think we lose Boogie, but I feel like we have a lot of depth here from quality recruiting the last several years. Would love for the light to click on for Allen - his body language on the sidelines always seems to be positive when I get glimpses. Johns, Francis, and McCollum (less him admittedly) have all looked legit and again at this position we have been workmanlike in our development of kids through year 1, year 2, year 3, etc... All those guys just mentioned are in year 1 or 2 in the system.

DL - everyone coming back and I feel this has been a position of strength this year when I expected it to be a weakness

LB - Strnad is not really replaceable. Do not know enough about all the younger guys not playing. We have legit pieces redshirting, out injured, etc.... but our run defense is dependent on very good LB play

DBs, including safeties - We will certainly take a hit, but we honestly don't know what we have at the corners. I have been impressed with how our safeties have stepped up.

Clawson is like the reverse Manning. I think he expected to be where we are this year LAST YEAR. Losing Elko and Clark Lea to Notred Dame set us back at least a year. I am fascinated at what the next step brings. Clawson has leveraged his 4th/5th year success at small and then mid-major programs to get promoted. He says he wants to stay at Wake and there is nothing that has happened to challenge that - I haven't seen nary a rumor of his interest in this job or that job. So ... whatever his plan to take Wake into a legit annual top 10-15 program - he hasn't done that anywhere yet because the opportunity just wasn't there at Richmond, Bowling Green, etc... Is it there at Wake? Possibly, but it is tricky. I am reminded of what happened to Skip when he began recruiting a slew of 5-star recruits (and barely missing out), and where we ended up as a result. The safe choice is to essentially keep doing exactly what we are going and just win more kids that are that borderline 3-star/4-star recruit. It would be riskier to bump up our ambition a notch and focus on 4-star kids ...
 
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jaybone said:
I have a hunch that we are going to be good for as long as Clawson is at Wake. 8+ wins. While I am concerned about losing Strnad because he is the heart and soul of this defense, everywhere else we have depth in place to move up. We can be derailed by injuries again, but even there Clawson is using new practice techniques I don't even understand. Do you think Mack Brown is over there in Chapel Hill counting snaps, etc... in practice like we do? Add to that our facilities are now on par or better than anyone in the ACC except Clemson and probably half of the SEC (guessing, admittedly).

My point is that losing Washington and Surratt is huge. But we do have 2 4-star receivers that cannot find the field yet this year because of our depth. Washington in particular was a project at best coming in and now he is a legit WR NFL prospect. I assume we are doing something right in practice. Surratt was not a 4-star recruit. He flew under the radar a bit because he was equally focused on basketball, but Clawson, god bless him, and his Northwestern metrics is particularly keen on guys who excel at multiple sports.

Anyway, my point is that in the midst of what seems like a remarkable season, we are worried the way we were in 2006. The difference is I don't think we are at risk of losing the lightning in a ball here.

The OL - Clawson has always said kids needs three years in the system before they can excel. When we sucked, we rolled out frosh and sophs. Now, just because Jurgen may not see the field for any meaningful snaps until he is a RS-JR does not mean he is not really good. Don's ask me why it takes that long, I don't get it, but it seems to be true

WR - our system that we have not deviated from once we got the OL needed is trending towards getting legit NFL prospects at this position. While our 4star RS frosh are NOT going to come in and replace Washington and Surratt, I have been blown away by our development here. Surratt wasn't Surratt last year, I'll remind you - but for only a few games. We are workmanlike in our development (it appears anyway)

RB - Beal has 2 more years of eligibility and Walker 3. We have kids we are excited about coming in behind them

QB - Even if Newman leaves, and I think he might - along with Surratt and Boogie, we look good here for obvious reasons I won't get into.

TE - Legit concern here as I have no idea if Whiteheart is ready next year

DE - I think we lose Boogie, but I feel like we have a lot of depth here from quality recruiting the last several years. Would love for the light to click on for Allen - his body language on the sidelines always seems to be positive when I get glimpses. Johns, Francis, and McCollum (less him admittedly) have all looked legit and again at this position we have been workmanlike in our development of kids through year 1, year 2, year 3, etc... All those guys just mentioned are in year 1 or 2 in the system.

DL - everyone coming back and I feel this has been a position of strength this year when I expected it to be a weakness

LB - Strnad is not really replaceable. Do not know enough about all the younger guys not playing. We have legit pieces redshirting, out injured, etc.... but our run defense is dependent on very good LB play

DBs, including safeties - We will certainly take a hit, but we honestly don't know what we have at the corners. I have been impressed with how our safeties have stepped up.

Clawson is like the reverse Manning. I think he expected to be where we are this year LAST YEAR. Losing Elko and Clark Lea to Notred Dame set us back at least a year. I am fascinated at what the next step brings. Clawson has leveraged his 4th/5th year success at small and then mid-major programs to get promoted. He says he wants to stay at Wake and there is nothing that has happened to challenge that - I haven't seen nary a rumor of his interest in this job or that job. So ... whatever his plan to take Wake into a legit annual top 10-15 program - he hasn't done that anywhere yet because the opportunity just wasn't there at Richmond, Bowling Green, etc... Is it there at Wake? Possibly, but it is tricky. I am reminded of what happened to Skip when he began recruiting a slew of 5-star recruits (and barely missing out), and where we ended up as a result. The safe choice is to essentially keep doing exactly what we are going and just win more kids that are that borderline 3-star/4-star recruit. It would be riskier to bump up our ambition a notch and focus on 4-star kids ...
Click to expand...

Good summary and I agree with you. While we don't really know what we have at CB, I still worry a bit about our DB situation. A lot of it is who develops this off season. For now, lets enjoy the ride we are on and try to get 9+ wins.
 
jaybone said:
I have a hunch that we are going to be good for as long as Clawson is at Wake. 8+ wins. While I am concerned about losing Strnad because he is the heart and soul of this defense, everywhere else we have depth in place to move up. We can be derailed by injuries again, but even there Clawson is using new practice techniques I don't even understand. Do you think Mack Brown is over there in Chapel Hill counting snaps, etc... in practice like we do? Add to that our facilities are now on par or better than anyone in the ACC except Clemson and probably half of the SEC (guessing, admittedly).

My point is that losing Washington and Surratt is huge. But we do have 2 4-star receivers that cannot find the field yet this year because of our depth. Washington in particular was a project at best coming in and now he is a legit WR NFL prospect. I assume we are doing something right in practice. Surratt was not a 4-star recruit. He flew under the radar a bit because he was equally focused on basketball, but Clawson, god bless him, and his Northwestern metrics is particularly keen on guys who excel at multiple sports.

Anyway, my point is that in the midst of what seems like a remarkable season, we are worried the way we were in 2006. The difference is I don't think we are at risk of losing the lightning in a ball here.

The OL - Clawson has always said kids needs three years in the system before they can excel. When we sucked, we rolled out frosh and sophs. Now, just because Jurgen may not see the field for any meaningful snaps until he is a RS-JR does not mean he is not really good. Don's ask me why it takes that long, I don't get it, but it seems to be true

WR - our system that we have not deviated from once we got the OL needed is trending towards getting legit NFL prospects at this position. While our 4star RS frosh are NOT going to come in and replace Washington and Surratt, I have been blown away by our development here. Surratt wasn't Surratt last year, I'll remind you - but for only a few games. We are workmanlike in our development (it appears anyway)

RB - Beal has 2 more years of eligibility and Walker 3. We have kids we are excited about coming in behind them

QB - Even if Newman leaves, and I think he might - along with Surratt and Boogie, we look good here for obvious reasons I won't get into.

TE - Legit concern here as I have no idea if Whiteheart is ready next year

DE - I think we lose Boogie, but I feel like we have a lot of depth here from quality recruiting the last several years. Would love for the light to click on for Allen - his body language on the sidelines always seems to be positive when I get glimpses. Johns, Francis, and McCollum (less him admittedly) have all looked legit and again at this position we have been workmanlike in our development of kids through year 1, year 2, year 3, etc... All those guys just mentioned are in year 1 or 2 in the system.

DL - everyone coming back and I feel this has been a position of strength this year when I expected it to be a weakness

LB - Strnad is not really replaceable. Do not know enough about all the younger guys not playing. We have legit pieces redshirting, out injured, etc.... but our run defense is dependent on very good LB play

DBs, including safeties - We will certainly take a hit, but we honestly don't know what we have at the corners. I have been impressed with how our safeties have stepped up.

Clawson is like the reverse Manning. I think he expected to be where we are this year LAST YEAR. Losing Elko and Clark Lea to Notred Dame set us back at least a year. I am fascinated at what the next step brings. Clawson has leveraged his 4th/5th year success at small and then mid-major programs to get promoted. He says he wants to stay at Wake and there is nothing that has happened to challenge that - I haven't seen nary a rumor of his interest in this job or that job. So ... whatever his plan to take Wake into a legit annual top 10-15 program - he hasn't done that anywhere yet because the opportunity just wasn't there at Richmond, Bowling Green, etc... Is it there at Wake? Possibly, but it is tricky. I am reminded of what happened to Skip when he began recruiting a slew of 5-star recruits (and barely missing out), and where we ended up as a result. The safe choice is to essentially keep doing exactly what we are going and just win more kids that are that borderline 3-star/4-star recruit. It would be riskier to bump up our ambition a notch and focus on 4-star kids ...
Click to expand...

Great read and work.

Multiple sports - always found it interesting that Grobe and good OL coach, but awful offensive coordinator, Lobo, looked for
high school wrestlers for the OL.

Skip was always recruiting 5 star talents, per his “got to have NBA talent to win the ACC.” He did miss and I agree the boom/bust recruiting cost us. He would have won a lot with that Dino ranked number one group.

Safeties: good job by Grobe with Gattis, Vaughn and even more impressive now by Claw with Bates and Greer. I like Redd and Rucker, too. Greer may be my favorite player right now. Stud.
 
don’t forget woulard who i think was the spring starter — could allow davis to move back to cornerback which may be a position of need.
 
MikeDeac said:
Ransom(sp) also a possibility. Chase Jones has been mentioned a lot was expected to play as a true freshman but I think he has been injured.
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Don't forget DJ Taylor who played A LOT last year out with an ACL will still be a what junior or sophomore
 
We could use the LB they are trying to flip from Colorado to commit. Would help the LB depth. Still want that WR from UGA too. Flipping those 2 and keeping all of the current commits would be a huge class.
 
IAppreciateIt said:
don’t forget woulard who i think was the spring starter — could allow davis to move back to cornerback which may be a position of need.
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He was improving in the spring, but I don't remember him ever getting starter reps -- at least with the full assortment of first-team defense (they mix it up to see who can stand out).

The talk on here of "don't forget DJ Taylor" is spot on. The same I've said for losing Phil Haynes and Ryan Anderson, that you don't lose those two players and become better at their positions, will be true for Justin Strnad. Guy has been playing a high level of football for, really, 12 straight games.

But LB shouldn't be in dire straights next season. I'd expect Smenda to improve before the end of the season. Chase Monroe is getting snaps and seems OK. Ja'Cquez Williams doesn't hurt you when he's in there. They think big things will come from Chase Jones and Zach Ranson, who Clawson has compared to Strnad in the same fashion that he was a HS safety they knew they'd redshirt to put more weight on him.
 
Complacent Deac said:
Great read and work.

Multiple sports - always found it interesting that Grobe and good OL coach, but awful offensive coordinator, Lobo, looked for
high school wrestlers for the OL.

Skip was always recruiting 5 star talents, per his “got to have NBA talent to win the ACC.” He did miss and I agree the boom/bust recruiting cost us. He would have won a lot with that Dino ranked number one group.

Safeties: good job by Grobe with Gattis, Vaughn and even more impressive now by Claw with Bates and Greer. I like Redd and Rucker, too. Greer may be my favorite player right now. Stud.
Click to expand...

Wrerstlers understand the use of leverage, hand to hand combat and have strength and endurance. I think all five of Iowa's OL were wrestlers.
 
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