'08 NC CB/S Robert "R.J." Blanton (Signed LOI to ND)

[irishunclebill]

Robert Blanton – CB (6'1"/177lbs)
Butler HS (Matthews, NC)

Combine
Forty: 4.5
Bench Reps:
Bench Max: 215
Squat Max:
Shuttle:
Vertical:
GPA: 3.0

Star Ratings
Rivals.com:
Scout.com:

Rankings & Accolades
2007 Rivals 250
Rivals #4 Safety

Statistics
N/A

Schools of Interest
Clemson
Duke
Florida
Louisville
Michigan
North Carolina
NC State
Notre Dame (Solid Verbal)
South Carolina
Virginia Tech

 

[irishunclebill]

 

[irishunclebill]

Rivals and Scout are both reporting that Blanton has received an ND offer. Blanton becomes the second Safety offered by ND in the 2008 class, and is the first 2008 offer to a recruit from North Carolina.

 

[RichardRiot]

He will need to bulk-up to grow into a safety; but I'm sure he will fill out another 15-20lbs in the next couple of years.

 

[Irishknight1023]

i read that hes a corner not a saftey

 

[irishunclebill]

i read that hes a corner not a saftey

Blanton plays Safety in High School. He is listed as a Safety by Rivals, and a S/CB by Scout. He will need to put on weight to play Safety in college, but with his height that should not be a problem. If he can not add the additional weight he will end up as a tall CB in college.

 

[BGIF]

We seem to have gotten into precise pigeon holing of positions based upon recruiting service data.

Is he 6-1 in shoes or socks?

At 6-1 175 he's one inch taller but the same weight McNeil was as a HS Senior. He's one inch taller and 3 pounds heavier than Walls was as a Senior.

He's the same height but 9 pounds lighter than Sergio Brown as a Senior.

Senior HT WT per Rivals
Bruton 6-2 180
Herring 5-10 187
Kyle McCarthy 6-0 172

Lambert 6-0 185 as a Senior.

Gardener 5-11 185
Hegemon 5-11 180
Parish 6-1 195
Wooden 6-1 190
Zbikowski 6-1 190

 

[irishunclebill]

Free Scout article on "Big Daddy Rob" Blanton:

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/628127.html

 

[d9cornel]

It was my understanding that we we're only going to be taking one safety this year and that McCarthy was the only offered. Also, it's been said that the reason Kris Johnston is waiting on an offer is because the staff is holding out for McCarthy. Is Johnston going to be recruited as a CB because it seems like they would have offered him before offering another safety.

 

[Irishknight1023]

problably because they are giving him a look at CB

 

[Freeman Ara]

We seem to have gotten into precise pigeon holing of positions based upon recruiting service data.

Is he 6-1 in shoes or socks?

At 6-1 175 he's one inch taller but the same weight McNeil was as a HS Senior. He's one inch taller and 3 pounds heavier than Walls was as a Senior.

He's the same height but 9 pounds lighter than Sergio Brown as a Senior.

Senior HT WT per Rivals
Bruton 6-2 180
Herring 5-10 187
Kyle McCarthy 6-0 172

Lambert 6-0 185 as a Senior.

Gardener 5-11 185
Hegemon 5-11 180
Parish 6-1 195
Wooden 6-1 190
Zbikowski 6-1 190

I'm not sure if your saying we should be looking at different types of guys or what but I think these are pretty average numbers for guys at their positions coming out of HS. For example the following 5 guys are probably the top 5 at their position in the upcoming draft and these are their numbers out of HS, these are Scouts, Inc. numbers.

Leon Hall 5-11 175

Micheal Griffin 6-0 178

Reggie Nelson 6-0 174

Darrelle Revis 6-1 180

Chris Houston 6-0 180

So again I wouldn't say we are really pigeon holing guys I think its just the average CB/S body type coming out of HS.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Many believe Robert to be a Michigan lock at this point, but some think the Irish might have a better shot than most believe.

 

[irishunclebill]

Robert Blanton & the snow both showed up at the ND practice today.

 

[goldenlid]

Was Posluszny at practice as well?

 

[irishunclebill]

Was Posluszny at practice as well?

According to Irish Eyes and B&G he was supposed to be there, but I have not seen any independent confirmation of that.

 

[irishunclebill]

There is an unconfirmed report that Blanton is also coming to the B&G game. If he does that would represent two separate visits in two weeks, which to me indicates a pretty strong interest in ND.

An interesting side note to Blanton is that the same day that he showed up at Spring Practice, Carolina Blue published an article about Blanton in which Notre Dame was not even mentioned, much less that Blanton was planning a visit to South Bend. The author of the article was the same guy who was behind "the conspiracy of silence" to keep Greg Little's true intentions secret. Blanton is from Matthews, NC, which is in the Charlotte area, and thus less exposed to the everyday Carolina Blue influence that the Durham based Little had to deal with, but I would guess that if Blanton were to commit to ND, that he would be getting a lot of follow-up calls to see if Butch and the boys are harrasing him.

"Fool me once Shame on you, Fool me twice Shame on me."

 

[MirageSmack]

On one hand, that "Little secret" they kept kinda pissed me off. What happened to journalistic integrity? On the other hand - it worked! We need to keep an eye on them.

Is carolnia Blue a school paer, local town rag, or what?

 

[Pete]

carolina blue is the rivals site nc page. like irish illustrated or irish eyes. no real affiliation with the school but....

 

[IrishCalves]

Word on DD is that a guy ran into Coach Lewis and Coach Brown at the airport after the B&G game. After talking with them, he found out they were flying out to North Carolina. Its pretty safe to assume they're going to talk to Blanton. Just trying to keep a pulse on him.

And from what I've heard from Mike Frank's power hours, they're recruiting him as a corner.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Recently picked up three more offers from Cal, Oregon, and Colorado to bring his total to around 20 offers. He also says he doesn't have any favorites.

 

[IrishCalves]

Blanton hopes to trim his list to 4 by July. Afterwards, he hopes to decide right around the time his senior season starts. FWIW, Michigan, Notre Dame, and UNC have all had buzz about being leading candidates for him.

 

[irishunclebill]

Corwin Brown & Bill Lewis visited Blanton at his High School on Monday. Blanton is getting a lot of attention, and deservedly so. He is going to be a big-time physical CB in college with great speed and the all too over-used athletic skills, but in his case, the term truly fits.

 

[grantphilly]

seen a teaser on rivals, didn't know if its looking goo or bad, for now anyway

 

[Irishknight1023]

Read another posted on another board mention how he never knows anything thats going on and he's never an insider so this would be his only time to contribue, but lives by Blanton and says he gave Weis is verbal yesterday....as of now an internet rumor so don't get mad at me im just relaying a good sounding "rumor" from the guy.

 

[irishunclebill]

Read another posted on another board mention how he never knows anything thats going on and he's never an insider so this would be his only time to contribue, but lives by Blanton and says he gave Weis is verbal yesterday....as of now an internet rumor so don't get mad at me im just relaying a good sounding "rumor" from the guy.

IK1023, no one should get mad because you are clearly stating what your source is and where the source is coming from, that's always good info, even if it does not turn out to be true. It's a clearer source than the "my connection at" which tends to turn into multiple connections who constantly change their tune.

Now, I'm going to get brownjk mad at me again, and I never said or implied that he should not post what "his connections" have to say, I merely said I don't put much stock in that type info. Personally, I put more stock in the type info that you just posted because the guy is not trying to act like he is "connected", he is just passing on what he heard.

In any case, I hope the rumor is true, it would be a great kickoff to the weekend. Blanton IMO is going to be a big time future college star.

 

[brownkj002]

IK1023, no one should get mad because you are clearly stating what your source is and where the source is coming from, that's always good info, even if it does not turn out to be true. It's a clearer source than the "my connection at" which tends to turn into multiple connections who constantly change their tune.

Now, I'm going to get brownjk mad at me again, and I never said or implied that he should not post what "his connections" have to say, I merely said I don't put much stock in that type info. Personally, I put more stock in the type info that you just posted because the guy is not trying to act like he is "connected", he is just passing on what he heard.

In any case, I hope the rumor is true, it would be a great kickoff to the weekend. Blanton IMO is going to be a big time future college star.

I agree with what you wrote. My person at MCHS is heavily involved in their athletics and has met CW on several occassions. He/she asked me to not say who he/she is. I don't want to be a guru or even act like one. I just figured I would let people know how Filer is feeling. I don't know how else I could word the sentence without putting "connections" in it or else I would be giving the person's name away. No hard feelings man.

 

[seniorle]

This is a very exciting rumor that I hope turns out to be true! Everyone has different sources, some are better than others and there is a wealth of knowledge to be shared, but it is sometimes hard to sift through the crap some people randomly create to throw people off track.

 

[irishunclebill]

I agree with what you wrote. My person at MCHS is heavily involved in their athletics and has met CW on several occassions. He/she asked me to not say who he/she is. I don't want to be a guru or even act like one. I just figured I would let people know how Filer is feeling. I don't know how else I could word the sentence without putting "connections" in it or else I would be giving the person's name away. No hard feelings man.

Right back at you, bud. Have a good one.

 

[johnnd05]

Wow that would be AWESOME. I think I'll go on believing it, just to brighten my day.

 

[IrishCalves]

I don't know if we'll hear from Blanton in a public forum anytime soon, but however you slice it, it sounds like ND is sitting very well with him, particularly after having Corwin, Bill Lewis, and Charlie pay him visits.