'14 CA TE Tyler Luatua (Back in Blue)

[T Town Tommy]

Lynard Skynard would disagree with that statement.

Who cares if they are really from Florida.

Anyway, back to Luatua. The last BOL update didn't even mention his recruitment. That's why I think he ends up Irish in a few weeks.

 

[dwshade]

Everyone has said he will pop shortly after this visit. The staff is apparently open to him playing either position.

Staff loves him at TE and the main reason Luatua is so high on ND is because of the way they utilize TE's in their offense. Chances of him at LB are slim.

 

[Ironman8]

Who cares if they are really from Florida.

Anyway, back to Luatua. The last BOL update didn't even mention his recruitment. That's why I think he ends up Irish in a few weeks.

If Alabama doesn't really recruit him on his visit then I have to imagine he could and will commit in a matter of days after that visit, rather than weeks.

 

[T Town Tommy]

If Alabama doesn't really recruit him on his visit then I have to imagine he could and will commit in a matter of days after that visit, rather than weeks.

I thought he announced a date to announce shortly.

 

[IrishLax]

Staff loves him at TE and the main reason Luatua is so high on ND is because of the way they utilize TE's in their offense. Chances of him at LB are slim.

Define slim. Coaches put players where they need to go. Depends on how all the different position groups are shaking out and he'll play where he's need most.

 

[Luckylucci]

I thought he announced a date to announce shortly.

He told rivals that he's looking to announce around the middle of November. No specific date. I would assume next week or the week after.

 

[dwshade]

Define slim. Coaches put players where they need to go. Depends on how all the different position groups are shaking out and he'll play where he's need most.

Coaches put players at the positions they are best suited to play. To take the guy the staff believes is the best TE in the country and one they feel is going to be a star in their offense and move him to OLB, which isn't his best position, makes no sense. You only move a kid to a position of need as a last resort. TJ has been very clear that the staff loves Luatua at TE and that is the main reason ND is going to get him. Tyler loves the way we use our TE's. TJ also said he isn't sure how the LB stuff got started. Can he play there? Sure. Is it his best position for success? No. Is it the position the staff envisions him excelling at? No.

 

[IrishLion]

there's gonna be a logjam at TE lol.

Niklas
Koyack
Heuerman
Smyth
Luatua
Weishar
(Maybe Welch if there's a schollie?)

 

[IrishLax]

Coaches put players at the positions they are best suited to play. To take the guy the staff believes is the best TE in the country and one they feel is going to be a star in their offense and move him to OLB, which isn't his best position, makes no sense. You only move a kid to a position of need as a last resort. TJ has been very clear that the staff loves Luatua at TE and that is the main reason ND is going to get him. Tyler loves the way we use our TE's. TJ also said he isn't sure how the LB stuff got started. Can he play there? Sure. Is it his best position for success? No. Is it the position the staff envisions him excelling at? No.

Sorry I didn't know you were clairvoyant when it comes to how people will be used when they get on campus. We've seen players in every single class so far get moved from a position the coaches projected them at during recruiting because there is a need and that's where they fit. Russell was never intended for CB. Niklas was never intended for TE. Atkinson was recruit with WR in mind. Farley started at WR. Prosise was recruited as a safety. Need I go on?

 

[chubler]

It's been said before over and over but I'd count every single 5Y as a serious possibility at this point given our recent post-NSD history

 

[Irish Steeler]

I had a meeting with two Alabama graduates this week that were traveling to Tuscalusa for the game.

They said by Wednesday, the population will increase by 50,000. By Thursday, 100,000, and by Saturday 200,000- a quarter million, simply because of the LSU game.

I'm sure they were exaggerating, but people down there are crazy by football. It's literally maddening. They said outside of football, Alabama is the worst place in the world, lol.

Yeah, that's quite an exaggeration but tuscaloosa is a dump

 

[Domina Nostra]

Yeah, that's quite an exaggeration but tuscaloosa is a dump

Agreed.

OT: Id be surprised if the Sabans aren't thinking about that. Austin is to Tuscaloosa what Chicago is to Detroit.

 

[ACamp1900]

Never been to T Town but Austin and the surrounding areas are awesome.

 

[CanadalovesND]

there's gonna be a logjam at TE lol.

Niklas
Koyack
Heuerman
Smyth
Luatua
Weishar
(Maybe Welch if there's a schollie?)

But after Koyack and Niklas are gone, it's open season. Depth chart is cleared completely and then everybody gets a shot in positioning themselves in the pecking order.

 

[IrishLion]

But after Koyack and Niklas are gone, it's open season. Depth chart is cleared completely and then everybody gets a shot in positioning themselves in the pecking order.

Oh I agree, but as I started to include something along those lines I found myself typing about Luatua/Weishar waiting a year to get involved with four guys with experience ahead of them, but that begins a whole new discussion.

 

[cody1smith]

Sorry I didn't know you were clairvoyant when it comes to how people will be used when they get on campus. We've seen players in every single class so far get moved from a position the coaches projected them at during recruiting because there is a need and that's where they fit. Russell was never intended for CB. Niklas was never intended for TE. Atkinson was recruit with WR in mind. Farley started at WR. Prosise was recruited as a safety. Need I go on?

Tommy was recruited to play inside linebacker

 

[dwshade]

Sorry I didn't know you were clairvoyant when it comes to how people will be used when they get on campus. We've seen players in every single class so far get moved from a position the coaches projected them at during recruiting because there is a need and that's where they fit. Russell was never intended for CB. Niklas was never intended for TE. Atkinson was recruit with WR in mind. Farley started at WR. Prosise was recruited as a safety. Need I go on?

Name your bet on Luatua. No price is too high. He will play TE. None of the guys you mentioned were considered the best at their position coming out of HS by the staff. Prosise and Niklas were essentially signed as athletes with position to be determined. Farley as well as he was mainly a soccer player until his SR. year in HS. Russell was one of those I mentioned that gets moved as last resort. We simply didn't have anyone else. Atkinson was an offensive athlete who we tried first at WR but didn't have the skill set. There is no doubting Luatua's skill set.

 

[IrishLax]

Name your bet on Luatua. No price is too high. He will play TE. None of the guys you mentioned were considered the best at their position coming out of HS by the staff.

If you actually believe that the staff thinks Luatua is the inarguable #1 TE in the country and no one is close to him then you're buying the coach speak. In the rare bet that he is interested, they'd take Shultz even with Luatua onboard and they are extremely high on Weishar as an offensive pass catching weapon.

Prosise and Niklas were essentially signed as athletes with position to be determined.

That's not true. Prosise was recruited as a safety. This comes firsthand from him and a multitude of other places. Niklas was recruited with more flexibility, but they talked to him specifically about playing DE/OLB as the primary position. This is evident from the reporting when he signed and the quotes he gave. TE was probably the 4th position down the "probable" list behind DE/OLB/OT. He never mentions it as his projected position.

Farley as well as he was mainly a soccer player until his SR. year in HS. Russell was one of those I mentioned that gets moved as last resort. We simply didn't have anyone else. Atkinson was an offensive athlete who we tried first at WR but didn't have the skill set. There is no doubting Luatua's skill set.

So in summary... coaches put players where they're needed. Glad we could clear that up.

All I said is that they are open to him playing either position. Not that they would start him off on defense. Not that it was likely he would play defense. Just that they view him as a superior athlete that has the ability to play multiple places if that was needed. The reason I said "define slim" is because that's really the question... it's far more likely he ends up being a major contributor at TE, but he has the ability to play D if it came down to it. There is no argument that you can make that the above isn't true. I fully expect him to start off at TE and likely be a big time player, but if for some reason he were to get buried and there was a need on the other side of the ball he has the ability to make an impact there.

 

[Irish#1]

Name your bet on Luatua. No price is too high. He will play TE. None of the guys you mentioned were considered the best at their position coming out of HS by the staff. Prosise and Niklas were essentially signed as athletes with position to be determined. Farley as well as he was mainly a soccer player until his SR. year in HS. Russell was one of those I mentioned that gets moved as last resort. We simply didn't have anyone else. Atkinson was an offensive athlete who we tried first at WR but didn't have the skill set. There is no doubting Luatua's skill set.

If you actually believe that the staff thinks Luatua is the inarguable #1 TE in the country and no one is close to him then you're buying the coach speak. In the rare bet that he is interested, they'd take Shultz even with Luatua onboard and they are extremely high on Weishar as an offensive pass catching weapon.



That's not true. Prosise was recruited as a safety. This comes firsthand from him and a multitude of other places. Niklas was recruited with more flexibility, but they talked to him specifically about playing DE/OLB as the primary position. This is evident from the reporting when he signed and the quotes he gave. TE was probably the 4th position down the "probable" list behind DE/OLB/OT. He never mentions it as his projected position.



So in summary... coaches put players where they're needed. Glad we could clear that up.

All I said is that they are open to him playing either position. Not that they would start him off on defense. Not that it was likely he would play defense. Just that they view him as a superior athlete that has the ability to play multiple places if that was needed. The reason I said "define slim" is because that's really the question... it's far more likely he ends up being a major contributor at TE, but he has the ability to play D if it came down to it. There is no argument that you can make that the above isn't true. I fully expect him to start off at TE and likely be a big time player, but if for some reason he were to get buried and there was a need on the other side of the ball he has the ability to make an impact there.

Don't make me put you two in a timeout.

 

[Son of Kenmare]

Name your bet on Luatua. No price is too high. He will play TE. None of the guys you mentioned were considered the best at their position coming out of HS by the staff. Prosise and Niklas were essentially signed as athletes with position to be determined. Farley as well as he was mainly a soccer player until his SR. year in HS. Russell was one of those I mentioned that gets moved as last resort. We simply didn't have anyone else. Atkinson was an offensive athlete who we tried first at WR but didn't have the skill set. There is no doubting Luatua's skill set.

I'd go all in if I were you. Double up your stack. Of course you'll still need to double up on him another hundred times before he notices any negative impact to his bank.

 

[pumpdog20]

Name your bet on Luatua. No price is too high. He will play TE. None of the guys you mentioned were considered the best at their position coming out of HS by the staff. Prosise and Niklas were essentially signed as athletes with position to be determined. Farley as well as he was mainly a soccer player until his SR. year in HS. Russell was one of those I mentioned that gets moved as last resort. We simply didn't have anyone else. Atkinson was an offensive athlete who we tried first at WR but didn't have the skill set. There is no doubting Luatua's skill set.

Looks like you've maybe had a lot of these, and came out on the wrong end if your Vbucks is any consideration.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I think Luatua could consider OLB when he gets to college simply because of his height. He is listed at 6'4", so I assume he is a little shorter: say 6'3.5", like Heuerman.

That makes him 2" shorter than the NFL average, and shorter than at least 4 other TEs on our roster: Niklas, Koyack, Smyth, Weishar, and Welch (if he comes back).

I am not questioning his college potential (you don't have to be a top pro porspect to be a dominate college player), or his ability to be an outlier, but if the future of NFL TEs is basically as jumbo recievers that can block, its seems that you need to be both (1) bigger than most WRs and (2) either (a) taller than an average WR or (b) fast like a WR. Is he either?

On the other hand, he would likely be a CAT and we have no real issues there. It would be nice if he became an ILB. That is my dream for all of our recruits, including McKenzie.

 

[chubler]

I think Luatua could consider OLB when he gets to college simply because of his height. He is listed at 6'4", so I assume he is a little shorter: say 6'3.5", like Heuerman.

That makes him 2" shorter than the NFL average, and shorter than at least 4 other TEs on our roster: Niklas, Koyack, Smyth, Weishar, and Welch (if he comes back).

I am not questioning his college potential (you don't have to be a top pro prospect to be a dominate college player), or his ability to be an outlier, but if the future of NFL TEs is basically as jumbo recievers that can block, its seems that you need to be both (1) bigger than most WRs and (2) either (a) taller than an average WR or (b) fast like a WR. Is he either?

On the other hand, he would likely be a CAT and we have no real issues there. It would be nice if he became an ILB. That is my dream for all of our recruits, including McKenzie.

Couldn't you make the same argument for moving Heuerman to LB? I don't follow rankings or recruiting all that closely, but I'd think if you can bring in the #1 TE in a year, it'd make more sense to move the TE with less upside to LB.

 

[chubler]

I am not sure if Heurman has the overall athleticism of Luatua, so I don't think its makes equal sense. But I do think Heuerman has the longest way to go to get on the field of any of our TEs.

I don't know a whole lot about it, I'll defer to your expertise haha. Still, unless he shows something exceptional, I think we've got sufficient TE depth to at least give him a try.

I'm not on the staff obviously, but I can't imagine they're not considering raiding the TEs for ILB depth next year. We've had a glaring lack of athleticism at ILB this year, and we've been bringing in more athletic specimens than we can ever use for years at TE. Seems like a no-brainer.

 

[dwshade]

I'd go all in if I were you. Double up your stack. Of course you'll still need to double up on him another hundred times before he notices any negative impact to his bank.

Same here my friend.

 

[Pa Golden Tate Fan]

Per TV Luatua will be Irish after the Bama trip.

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

Btw dwshade, Loy said in the TV comments that Luatua is still be evaluated and his position won't be set until he is on campus. That's why we will still take Schultz and why we might offer another TE

 

[IrishLax]

Btw dwshade, Loy said in the TV comments that Luatua is still be evaluated and his position won't be set until he is on campus. That's why we will still take Schultz and why we might offer another TE

 

[ryno 24]

I like this he could definitely play linebacker and I would like it if they try him inside.

 

[Grahambo]

Btw dwshade, Loy said in the TV comments that Luatua is still be evaluated and his position won't be set until he is on campus. That's why we will still take Schultz and why we might offer another TE

Yeah, like Bo's cousin.