'16 FL WR Kevin Stepherson (Notre Dame Early Enrollee)

[GoldenDomer]

Don't get the negativity...

 

[Luckylucci]

I'm not hating this offer and commit, at all, but don't lie to yourselves.

His offer list sucks. LSU, a shitty Florida team, sort of WVU and Mich St. That's it. Those are the only marginal to good teams on there. MAYBE Miami.

He's a Florida kid w/o an FSU offer. That tells you a lot.

I hope he isn't like Chris Brown, because Chris Brown hasn't done much on the field (1 whole TD in 2014!).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Junior film was okay, but he looked great at Irish Invasion tonight!!! <a href="https://t.co/B0EVUlNISX">https://t.co/B0EVUlNISX</a></p>— Bryan Driskell (@BGI_CoachD78) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD78/status/612077396913717250">June 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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"Junior film was ok." Maybe he is getting better. Maybe. This just seems like a guy they could have held out on and if they missed, oh well... Especially w/a small class.

Both 247 and Rivals have said that HS coaches down in Florida are shocked he isnt getting more attention. Food for thought, he could be getting better, that wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a 16-17 year old kid to mature and get better at his craft. Also, Will Fuller's best offer outside ND was what PSU, Maryland? He was the composite ranked 37th best WR and 247 had him as the 46th. From your vantage point we might have missed out on him. Lowly ranked/poor offer list, why not wait.

I like his tape better than Bryan D but as he stated he's doing very well at camps including last night. I liked this kid before last night and like him even more now.

 

[Sweetness34]

I'm not hating this offer and commit, at all, but don't lie to yourselves.

His offer list sucks. LSU, a shitty Florida team, sort of WVU and Mich St. That's it. Those are the only marginal to good teams on there. MAYBE Miami.

He's a Florida kid w/o an FSU offer. That tells you a lot.

I hope he isn't like Chris Brown, because Chris Brown hasn't done much on the field (1 whole TD in 2014!).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Junior film was okay, but he looked great at Irish Invasion tonight!!! <a href="https://t.co/B0EVUlNISX">https://t.co/B0EVUlNISX</a></p>— Bryan Driskell (@BGI_CoachD78) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD78/status/612077396913717250">June 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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"Junior film was ok." Maybe he is getting better. Maybe. This just seems like a guy they could have held out on and if they missed, oh well... Especially w/a small class.

Who cares what his offer list is like. It's what the coaching staff sees in him that matters. You can be a 5 Star kid and be a bust or a 2 Star kid and be a stud. It's all about player development.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

I'm not hating this offer and commit, at all, but don't lie to yourselves.

His offer list sucks. LSU, a shitty Florida team, sort of WVU and Mich St. That's it. Those are the only marginal to good teams on there. MAYBE Miami.

He's a Florida kid w/o an FSU offer. That tells you a lot.

I hope he isn't like Chris Brown, because Chris Brown hasn't done much on the field (1 whole TD in 2014!).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Junior film was okay, but he looked great at Irish Invasion tonight!!! <a href="https://t.co/B0EVUlNISX">https://t.co/B0EVUlNISX</a></p>— Bryan Driskell (@BGI_CoachD78) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD78/status/612077396913717250">June 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


"Junior film was ok." Maybe he is getting better. Maybe. This just seems like a guy they could have held out on and if they missed, oh well... Especially w/a small class.

Do you think touchdowns accurately reflects Chris Brown's contributions to the Irish in 2014? He was second on the team in receiving yards with 548.

Amir had 3 touchdowns. Do you think Amir was three times more valuable than Brown last season?

 

[Irish YJ]

Do you think touchdowns accurately reflects Chris Brown's contributions to the Irish in 2014? He was second on the team in receiving yards with 548.

Amir had 3 touchdowns. Do you think Amir was three times more valuable than Brown last season?

Exactly. CB may have not translated into the rock star I thought he might be, but he's been a valuable asset to the team, has stretched the D, and still has a year to break out (not saying he will be a TD machine). The fact he's staying in front of some awfully talented young guys says a lot.

I'll take any receiver with the upside that CB had when he came in.

 

[Huntr]

Also, Will Fuller's best offer outside ND was what PSU, Maryland? He was the composite ranked 37th best WR and 247 had him as the 46th. From your vantage point we might have missed out on him. Lowly ranked/poor offer list, why not wait.

This dude is #97 WR Composite and #102 WR per 247. That's 60 spots lower. That's not an insignificant difference between his ranking position and Fuller's. So, no, per my vantage point they're not the same.

Who cares what his offer list is like.

People in this thread.

Amir had 3 touchdowns. Do you think Amir was three times more valuable than Brown last season?

No, and I'm not sure why you would think that I would.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

My bad. I thought you were using touchdowns to indicate the value of WRs.

 

[Irish YJ]

but he does have time to climb the ratings.
verdict not totally in.

 

[Luckylucci]

This dude is #97 WR Composite and #102 WR per 247. That's 60 spots lower. That's not an insignificant difference between his ranking position and Fuller's. So, no, per my vantage point they're not the same.




People in this thread.




No, and I'm not sure why you would think that I would.

That's your rebuttal, that our top 10 WR in the country (as a sophomore) who was rated 46th best coming out was at least in the top 50. So, does that make this kid half as good. Will that make him top 20 by his sophomore year. Do you really believe that they accurately scouted the differences between WR 46, 60, and 90. At some point they are just putting numbers next to players some have never seen. They haven't in person scouted 600 players like they'd like you to believe.

Breakdown his film for me and tell me what you see? Watch his tape from last night and tell me what you see? There is also some rivals camp footage on the front page. Don't make silly statements based off rankings, watch for yourself. Give intelligent thought to it and maybe you'll be met with a different reaction.

Something to consider, Bryan Driskell (I would consider fairly stubborn) said that he didn't believe Kevin was a take going into last night. He said something very different after his camp

 

[NDinL.A.]

This dude is #97 WR Composite and #102 WR per 247. That's 60 spots lower. That's not an insignificant difference between his ranking position and Fuller's. So, no, per my vantage point they're not the same.

Dude, it's June, BEFORE his senior season. Guys climb and fall down the rankings all the time. We have people that were actually there to see him in person (not arm-chair star-gazers) who were not overly impressed with his junior film who are legitimately excited with his commitment after watching him live.

You want to know a big reason why TX has sucked the past 5+ years? Because they got all these 4 and 5 star studs to commit in the middle of their junior years...guys who had either peaked early or stopped having the hunger to succeed, and they never panned out like their rankings said they would. WHat you're doing is the exact same thing, saying a guy is stuck with his rankings (and his play) as a high school junior, which is nonsense.

Now, I get having some trepidation. We are quick to bag on Michigan for getting 3 stars and quick to praise our "underrated 3 stars" lol. But to rip on his offer list (why don't you go and look at the receivers LSU has put in the league, their draft status, their production, etc...and then tell me that's not a huge offer) and basically rip on the commit, without at least conceding that this staff has done quite well with 3 star receivers (Corey Robinson is on the minds of lots of NFL scouts already) is a bit premature IMHO.

No, and I'm not sure why you would think that I would.

Well, maybe it's the fact that the ONLY stat you highlighted to prove Chris Brown wasn't any good was his TD's last year. You ignored his yards, catches, yards per catch, catches per game towards the latter half of the season (signifying an upward trend in his play), etc etc. You chose ONE stat, which of course would make him look bad. Call me crazy but that's probably why Pops went there...

 

[Luckylucci]

Maybe better put, what happened to WR's 1-45 from Fullers class. There clearly isn't 45 better WR's in the country so if what your basing your opinion on is his rankings, if ask. Why the heck after looking at that info above would you trust rankings. They were over 40 spots off on Fullers eval, why couldn't they be 70-80 off on Kevin's

 

[IrishFanJMercy]

I like this pick up and I think the kid could have a bright Future, Everyone remember Fuller being our lowest recruit ranked by ESPN in his class? This is a nice pickup. A kid who isn't going to expect to come in and play his first here. We can red shirt him and give him time to develop

 

[texbender]

I like this pick up and I think the kid could have a bright Future, Everyone remember Fuller being our lowest recruit ranked by ESPN in his class? This is a nice pickup. A kid who isn't going to expect to come in and play his first here. We can red shirt him and give him time to develop

Agree, should only get better and a redshirt is OK.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Coach D is an old wide receivers coach. If he says Stepherson is good, he's good.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[ResLife Hero]

I get why people are referencing Fuller in the rankings comparison, but maybe a better example of how these early rankings can be off is Deontay Greenberry. He was just "Tee's cousin" and an under the radar guy around this point in his recruitment. Ended up being a 5 . The staff picked up on him earlier than others so maybe they've got something here as well.

 

[KyfightingIrish36]

From what I saw of his film that BGI posted from last night I loved his route running ability. He really left some of those guys standing on his cuts. Combine that with his speed in the straight stretch plus his probable 6'2 frame. I think we may have got a steal here.

 

[Old Man Mike]

The brief film on Stepherson at the II looked tremendous. His quick twitch looked FAR faster than anyone else on that film. If he gets the rest of wide receivership down, he looks to me like he's going to be a nightmare [especially on quick opening routes, which Kelly loves].

 

[GoldenDome]

Perfect fit in Kelly's offense.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Dude, it's June, BEFORE his senior season. Guys climb and fall down the rankings all the time. We have people that were actually there to see him in person (not arm-chair star-gazers) who were not overly impressed with his junior film who are legitimately excited with his commitment after watching him live.

You want to know a big reason why TX has sucked the past 5+ years? Because they got all these 4 and 5 star studs to commit in the middle of their junior years...guys who had either peaked early or stopped having the hunger to succeed, and they never panned out like their rankings said they would. WHat you're doing is the exact same thing, saying a guy is stuck with his rankings (and his play) as a high school junior, which is nonsense.

Now, I get having some trepidation. We are quick to bag on Michigan for getting 3 stars and quick to praise our "underrated 3 stars" lol. But to rip on his offer list (why don't you go and look at the receivers LSU has put in the league, their draft status, their production, etc...and then tell me that's not a huge offer) and basically rip on the commit, without at least conceding that this staff has done quite well with 3 star receivers (Corey Robinson is on the minds of lots of NFL scouts already) is a bit premature IMHO.



Well, maybe it's the fact that the ONLY stat you highlighted to prove Chris Brown wasn't any good was his TD's last year. You ignored his yards, catches, yards per catch, catches per game towards the latter half of the season (signifying an upward trend in his play), etc etc. You chose ONE stat, which of course would make him look bad. Call me crazy but that's probably why Pops went there...

REPS!

The brief film on Stepherson at the II looked tremendous. His quick twitch looked FAR faster than anyone else on that film. If he gets the rest of wide receivership down, he looks to me like he's going to be a nightmare [especially on quick opening routes, which Kelly loves].

REPS!

Perfect fit in Kelly's offense.

AND FINALY, REPS!

"Work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. Hello boys. Have a good night's rest? I missed you."
Governor Le Petomane

 

[NDPhilly]

I'm not hating this offer and commit, at all, but don't lie to yourselves.

His offer list sucks. LSU, a shitty Florida team, sort of WVU and Mich St. That's it. Those are the only marginal to good teams on there. MAYBE Miami.

He's a Florida kid w/o an FSU offer. That tells you a lot.

I hope he isn't like Chris Brown, because Chris Brown hasn't done much on the field (1 whole TD in 2014!).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Junior film was okay, but he looked great at Irish Invasion tonight!!! <a href="https://t.co/B0EVUlNISX">https://t.co/B0EVUlNISX</a></p>— Bryan Driskell (@BGI_CoachD78) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD78/status/612077396913717250">June 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


"Junior film was ok." Maybe he is getting better. Maybe. This just seems like a guy they could have held out on and if they missed, oh well... Especially w/a small class.

Need help getting the sand out of your vagina bro?

 

[GrangerIrish24]

I like this kid cause he has a lot of control with movements. His running doesn't looked forced or sloppy. Very smooth athlete. These are the type of kids that start to separate themselves from the rest after some time in the weight room.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

This dude is #97 WR Composite and #102 WR per 247. That's 60 spots lower. That's not an insignificant difference between his ranking position and Fuller's. So, no, per my vantage point they're not the same.




People in this thread.




No, and I'm not sure why you would think that I would.

That was his final rankings, right? If Kevin is still ranked this low next February then maybe there is some cause for concern but he could very well sky rocket over the next 8 months or so. Welcome aboard, Kevin!

 

[irishfan]

How is there possibly any negativity? The closest thing Kelly has to a "miss" on a WR recruit here is Neal/Ferguson transferring. If Kelly thinks he can play WR, then that should be good enough for anyone here.

 

[Sweetness34]

This dude is #97 WR Composite and #102 WR per 247. That's 60 spots lower. That's not an insignificant difference between his ranking position and Fuller's. So, no, per my vantage point they're not the same.




People in this thread.




No, and I'm not sure why you would think that I would.

Then a lot people don't know how the offers are given out. Yes, the absolute studs get offers without being on a schools campuses or coaches seeing them in person. For the majority of kids, offers go out to people who have seen them at their schools camps or a Nike/Under Armour/Addidas camp. Basing the talent of a kid based off of an offer list isn't the best way to judge the talent of the kid.

 

[TheSunIsRising]

This dude is #97 WR Composite and #102 WR per 247. That's 60 spots lower. That's not an insignificant difference between his ranking position and Fuller's. So, no, per my vantage point they're not the same.

Right, Justin Blackmon endorses the above message.

6 spots in recruiting rankings is the difference between 2 Biletnikoff's, 2 consensus AA selections, and a 5th overall NFL pick......

AND.....

1 receiving TD per season

(italics not required)

 

[Grahambo]

*Check's thread*

*See's debate about ranking*

*Sprints out of thread*

 

[TheTurningPoint]

You negative peeps know that kids can improve right? Stepherson is a very good receiver. I think he is better overall and a bigger playmaking threat than Corey Holmes coming out. He doesnt run as good of routes as Holmes at this stage, but he is improving.

He was a tough guard last night at Invasion and he stuck out even with the likes of Claypool, Callaway and Palmer in attendance.

You can do much worse than Kevin Stepherson. He gets ND and wanted to come here since they started recruiting him. That is hard to find. Those kids will leave it all on the field.

 

[Booslum31]

Kelly knows WR talent when he sees it...he will do well IMO. Welcome to the Family Kevin!

 

[Huntr]

Now, I get having some trepidation. We are quick to bag on Michigan for getting 3 stars and quick to praise our "underrated 3 stars" lol. But to rip on his offer list (why don't you go and look at the receivers LSU has put in the league, their draft status, their production, etc...and then tell me that's not a huge offer) and basically rip on the commit, without at least conceding that this staff has done quite well with 3 star receivers (Corey Robinson is on the minds of lots of NFL scouts already) is a bit premature IMHO

This is the only post in this whole circlejerk that really addresses my OP. I didn't bring up rankings 1st and I didn't say I was better at evaluating talent. Further, for the reading impaired or "negativity"-averse, I never ripped the kid or that ND accepted his commit. In fact, I expressly said I didn't hate the commit, but that I thought ND could have waited on him and if they missed on him in the future, well, he's not making or breaking the class.


That out of the way, if you want to say, "you know, LSU knows what they're doing in evaluating WR talent," fine, sure. I even said they're a good team that have offered him. But, really, his offer list is not "impressive" as someone posted above my OP. There are a few good to really good teams on there. Feel free to point out the teams, other than the ones I mentioned that are "good" on his offer list. Michigan? Ga Tech? UNC? ok... I mean, LSU knows that they're doing but Bama, FSU, Ohio St, USC, Oregon don't? Sure, he can get better, maybe he will. If/when that happens, his offer list and rankings will grow. Never said they wouldn't. But, we could have waited until that happens, especially w/such a small class.

Also, someone said he reminds of them Chris Brown. I indicated I hoped he's better than Chris Brown. Oops, my bad.

 

[Irishnuke]

One guy doesn't love the commit and everyone goes full Sean on his ass.