'13 PA TE Adam Breneman (Penn State Verbal)

rtrn2glory

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if he opens back up i'd go after him without a doubt...too good to pass up especially if he's got interest in ND
 

Irishnuke

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No disrespect to Heuerman and Niklas, but Breneman is better. At least a better prospect anyways. I'd take him in a heart beat.
 

ab2cmiller

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No disrespect to Heuerman and Niklas, but Breneman is better. At least a better prospect anyways. I'd take him in a heart beat.

I would probably agree, but is he enough better that you are willing to lose both Heuerman and his blood brother Anzalone?
 

rtrn2glory

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heuerman was all about us going after that jerk mcneil when we were recruiting him...can't imagine this would be any different, plus anzalone was/is buds with Brenneman too
 

IrishLax

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No disrespect to Heuerman and Niklas, but Breneman is better. At least a better prospect anyways. I'd take him in a heart beat.

I don't disagree with this, but there is a lot to be considered. First, is there any scenario where you would risk upsetting the "feng shui" of an extremely closely knit class ranked in the top 5 by most services for a prospect with a torn ACL? Because, personally, if I were a coach at minimum I would talk to Heurman and pick his brain about adding another TE if I felt the prospect was too good to ignore.... and then I'd go from there.

Second, do you take a best available player over a position of need? Let's say we have 5 slots left... and we're looking at a WR, 2 DBs, and 2 pass rushers. Which of those would you sacrifice for a TE? The DB? The second pass rusher? I think we absolutely no matter what need another WR with how unknown the future is for Robinson. What if the staff already opts for a RB over a second DB? The number game, in general, is quite complicated. This is the complication with not doing things like Alabama or USC. Alabama would cut a current kid on the roster (in this instance, probably Jake Golic because of this injuries). USC would push out a kid already committed (in this instance, hard to say who.. but they'd pick one or wait for someone to get hurt).

Third, how do you evaluate a prospect after a knee injury? Brenneman was an absolutely dynamic pass catching TE prospect. I can't agree with you more on that. He was a rare talent and perfect for our offense. But what about Brenneman with a torn ACL? Does that change his value?

I think it's an interesting discussion. In the end, I think the safest route - and the one ND will pick - is focusing first and foremost on the positions of need (pass rusher, CB, WR) and not rocking the boat elsewhere. I think the staff is higher on Heurman than the services and thinks he's a legit top 5 player at his position. Definitely agree though that there isn't a player in this class that is truly comparable to Brenneman 9unijured) as a dynamic pass catching prospect.
 

woolybug25

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I would probably agree, but is he enough better that you are willing to lose both Heuerman and his blood brother Anzalone?

We wouldn't lose Heuerman and Anzalone if we got Breneman. Adam will need to sit a year regardless, so he is a player for down the road. We would run 2-TE sets with him and Heuerman later. If I were Heuerman, I would be psyched that the coaching staff is serious about using the TE position as a strength. This isn't 1984, we use two TE's as passing options in today's game.
 

NDhoosier

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No disrespect to Heuerman and Niklas, but Breneman is better. At least a better prospect anyways. I'd take him in a heart beat.

I dont know, Niklas has plenty of potential and beats Breneman is size, plus, with the torn ACL, ill take Niklas over Breneman every single time. Niklas has the size and the coaches have stated that he has good hands, why would you even consider taking a high school kid over Niklas?
Heuerman is a solid TE and has proven he can compete with the big boys, I like the Heuerman commitment quite a bit.
 

woolybug25

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I don't disagree with this, but there is a lot to be considered. First, is there any scenario where you would risk upsetting the "feng shui" of an extremely closely knit class ranked in the top 5 by most services for a prospect with a torn ACL? Because, personally, if I were a coach at minimum I would talk to Heurman and pick his brain about adding another TE if I felt the prospect was too good to ignore.... and then I'd go from there.

Anzalone is close friends with Breneman. So I think that Adam would fit in just fine.

Second, do you take a best available player over a position of need? Let's say we have 5 slots left... and we're looking at a WR, 2 DBs, and 2 pass rushers. Which of those would you sacrifice for a TE? The DB? The second pass rusher? I think we absolutely no matter what need another WR with how unknown the future is for Robinson. What if the staff already opts for a RB over a second DB? The number game, in general, is quite complicated. This is the complication with not doing things like Alabama or USC. Alabama would cut a current kid on the roster (in this instance, probably Jake Golic because of this injuries). USC would push out a kid already committed (in this instance, hard to say who.. but they'd pick one or wait for someone to get hurt).

The staff is supposedly still holding a spot for a RB. With Eifert leaving, Matuska/Mattingly being better defensive options and Niklas one concussion away from losing football forever, we should consider another TE if one like Breneman is interested. We would certainly take one in the next class, but if we got Adam who is certainly going to sit a year because of his ACL, then we can go after 2 RB's in next class.

In reality, our RB situation is really strong right now. Even stronger than our TE situation.

Third, how do you evaluate a prospect after a knee injury? Brenneman was an absolutely dynamic pass catching TE prospect. I can't agree with you more on that. He was a rare talent and perfect for our offense. But what about Brenneman with a torn ACL? Does that change his value?

I think it's an interesting discussion. In the end, I think the safest route - and the one ND will pick - is focusing first and foremost on the positions of need (pass rusher, CB, WR) and not rocking the boat elsewhere. I think the staff is higher on Heurman than the services and thinks he's a legit top 5 player at his position. Definitely agree though that there isn't a player in this class that is truly comparable to Brenneman 9unijured) as a dynamic pass catching prospect.

Adam is a pass catcher. A better one than any WR left on our board. We don't have any WR's that would be a better option left on our board, imo. We also already have spots that we are holding for CB's and pass rushers. Breneman could take the RB spot we have left.
 
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IrishLax

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heuerman was all about us going after that jerk mcneil when we were recruiting him...can't imagine this would be any different, plus anzalone was/is buds with Brenneman too

Or was he just taking the high road? I think if Heurman was actively in favor of adding Brenneman and told the coaches to go get him, it becomes a really interesting decision between a 4th DB, 2nd pass rusher, or RB; or taking Brenneman. Without a knee injury I'd say you take Brenneman over any of those. With a knee injury, I'd say you take him over any RB not named Tennpenny (obviously assuming Green, etc. aren't on the board) but not over a 4:s: CB or 4:s: pass rusher.
 

IrishLax

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Anzalone is close friends with Breneman. So I think that Adam would fit in just fine.



The staff is supposedly still holding a spot for a RB. With Eifert leaving, Matuska/Mattingly being better defensive options and Niklas one concussion away from losing football forever, we should consider another TE if one like Breneman is interested. We would certainly take one in the next class, but if we got Adam who is certainly going to sit a year because of his ACL, then we can go after 2 RB's in next class.

In reality, our RB situation is really strong right now. Even stronger than our TE situation.



Adam is a pass catcher. A better one than any WR left on our board. We don't have any WR's that would be a better option left on our board, imo. We also already have spots that we are holding for CB's and pass rushers. Breneman could take the RB spot we have left.

You make good points. But:

1. Even if buds with Anzalone, the more important person here is Heurman. If Heurman says "go get him!" that's one scenario; but if he was told something else early in the process then I think the situation is more complicated than you're stating.

2. Totally agree on the RB thing. Totally.

3. Disagree on this, WRs will pop up. I'm confident that if we hold a spot a 4:s: WR will be available down the road. Brenneman is a dynamic pass catcher for sure, but he's not a WR in the same sense Eifert isn't a WR. The value comes from being a matchup nightmare for LBs; you couldn't put Brenneman in Floyd's spot regularly and have equivocal results in the long run.
 

woolybug25

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You make good points. But:

1. Even if buds with Anzalone, the more important person here is Heurman. If Heurman says "go get him!" that's one scenario; but if he was told something else early in the process then I think the situation is more complicated than you're stating.

I'm not so sure. I remember them telling Heuerman that we would be taking two TE's in this class when we grabbed Matuska. We now know that Matuska will not be playing TE. We also have Niklas one bad play away from not playing at all. Heuerman shouldn't be off-putted by us taking another TE, especially one that is not going to be able to play next year.

2. Totally agree on the RB thing. Totally.

Werd

3. Disagree on this, WRs will pop up. I'm confident that if we hold a spot a 4:s: WR will be available down the road. Brenneman is a dynamic pass catcher for sure, but he's not a WR in the same sense Eifert isn't a WR. The value comes from being a matchup nightmare for LBs; you couldn't put Brenneman in Floyd's spot regularly and have equivocal results in the long run.

One may pop up, but we don't know that for sure. As of today, I think Breneman is a better pass catcher than any WR still considering us. I kinda see it as a bird in hand situation. With everybody going to two TE sets, it makes sense to have two elite TE's. In which case, we wont have that once Eifert leaves.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
 

MJ12666

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Let's see, the kid initially picked PSU, then tears his ACL. Why take the chance on possibly losing a currently committed TE recruit on damaged goods? There is no telling how good he will be in the future. No reason to risk the scholarship.
 
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DomeLover3

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The risk/reward is different than the picture youre painting MJ...
 

Irish YJ

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I'm with Lax. 4 star CB and pass rush first, or any other 5 star.... I do think there is great value in this young man, even on the mend... Matchup nightmare. With BK looking for 2 TEs early on, I'd say he would take him if he wanted to jump. Recruiting certainly took a jump up the drama meter today :). Better than my favorite shows some days!
 
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Buster Bluth

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Let's see, the kid initially picked PSU, then tears his ACL. Why take the chance on possibly losing a currently committed TE recruit on damaged goods? There is no telling how good he will be in the future. No reason to risk the scholarship.

This isn't the 1980's. People make complete recoveries from ACL injuries every day.
 

irishtrooper

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Did I miss something ? Is he a decommit at this point and do/would we lead if he is ?
 

irishandy

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Don't think this is going to happen

I am with Terry on this one. ND already has their TE for this class, this kid may be an elite talent, but we are stacked at TE. I think Koyack has the potential to be the next Rudy or Eifert.
 

Irish YJ

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Mixed thoughts here. BK said early on he was looking for two TEs this year. We clearly only have one pure TE, and two others that could be a TE if really necessary. If he wanted to come, I think BK would take him in a heartbeat. I'm not wishing bad on PSU, but it's likely this class starts to slowly erode, one here, one there, and then the bottom drops out. I think Adam will stick around for a while, but as other coaches start to pick off the talent (recruits and current players), I think Adam and his family will likely follow suit. Not saying it will be ND, but I don't think he stays at PSU.
 
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