Is ND's 2006 (Junior) recruiting class really that good?

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wjasonp71

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I have been thinking about this. This will be the first year that Charlie is "playing with his players". I am looking at the junior class and I am wondering if it is truly that good? I am not trying to be pessimistic, just want some insight. You may not agree with my thoughts, so I would like yours thoughts and opinions:

Sam Young-Starting RT
Matt Carufel-transferred
Konrad Reuland-transferred
Dan Wenger-starting C
Will Yeatman-share duties with Ragone
Toryan Smith-???, might win the job but could easily lose it to Filer
Chris Stewart-who knows with this line but I dont have him penciled in as a starter
Richard Jackson-buried in depth chart
Morrice Richardson-may split time with J Brown
Sergio Brown-I have him starting at SS
Darrin Walls-Starting CB
Eric Olsen-starting LG/RG
George West-see R Jackson
Jashaad Gaines-Backup
Leonard Gordon-Backup
Ryan Burkhart-never can predict a kicker but no evidence of being the guy
Raeshon McNeil-Nickle Corner? or does Lambert/Gary Gray take this spot
Demetrius Jones-transferred
Bartley Webb-see R Jackson
Rob Parris-solid contributor I hope but could be buried as well
John Ryan-decent backup
Luke Schmidt-should be starting FB
James Aldridge-starting RB or does Hughes get him. Very SOLID!!!
Kallen Wade-what happened to him?
Paddy Mullen- Who? I dont know if he is still on the team???
Zach Frazier-transferred
Barry Gallup-buried on depth chart
Munir Prince-Walls, Lambert Gray, McNeil etc...

So best case scenario, in my humble opinion, you have 10-12 starters/solid contributors/backups out of this then top 10 rated class?
 
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stonebreakerwasgod

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The class was good enuf to be top 10. What happens after NSD is a crapshoot. But hell, unlike Florida, our players don't normally end up in jail...just transferring.
 
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SoCalDomer

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There are only 22 starting spots (24 if you count the punter and kicker). If the juniors project to have as many as 10-12 spots, that is pretty good. We don't have many starting seniors. I wouldn't have expected the offensive lineman in that class to contribute much prior to this point.

If we have 85 scholarship players, 61 of them are not starters.
 
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KamaraPolice

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it takes time. most the guys that have been on the bench will be pleasant surprises in 08.
 
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irish4ever

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I'd be happy to get 10-12 starters/solid contrubutors from EVERY class recruiter. After four years of recruiting you should definitely have a SOLID two-deep!!
 
daytonirish

daytonirish

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I think we have to wait until next season plays out before we can judge this class entirerly. Some of the guys you named as buried or don't know about might have strong Jr. and Sr. yrs. So I'm going to hold of judgementfor now. Like my mom says to me still today, If you can't say something nice about someone then don't say anything at all. That's why I don't let her near my computor when she stops over to make sure I'm still alive.
 
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Clausen2Kamara

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irish4ever said:
I'd be happy to get 10-12 starters/solid contrubutors from EVERY class recruiter. After four years of recruiting you should definitely have a SOLID two-deep!!
Click to expand...

exactly. That class was great. Like an above poster said, its basically a crapshoot after the letters are signed. That when you find out who has heart, who is a wuss and gets scared of competion, (not goin to name names), who wants to get better and which players have already reached their potential. The best players play and so what only 10 stepped up from this class? That just means CW and co. are recruiting even better players from the classes behind them. This should be looked at as a positive, not a negative.
 
patman1868

patman1868

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I think that this class has the potential to be good you have to remember that they were only sophs last year sometimes it takes guys 3-4 years before they develop. I think there have been some really good guys from this class. Darrin Walls looks like a shut down corner. Sam Young played well as a freshman not so much last year. Hopefully it was a sophomore slump because he has shown that he can play well. Olsen and Wenger look like good players for the oline. McNeil came on at the end of the year and looked pretty solid. I also was a big fan of Sergio Brown from that class I think he can do some good things at safety and I am looking for him to make an impact. A lot of the guys so far have not seen the field due to upperclassmen, so the jury is still out on a lot of them, hopefully they step up and play well. With all that said I think we should wait until they all graduate to fully evaluate how good the class was.
 
ColonialHead

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I really believe that Sam Young, Dan Wenger and Eric Olsen are going to show vast improvement.

O-line and D-line are two areas that seem to display great development from Soph-Jr. years... mainly because their strength and conditioning start to peak in their Jr. and Sr. years....
So I would be surprised if the O-line was anywhere near as bad as it was this year.

And as the "experts" say.... it all starts up front in the trenches.... I really believe that adage to be true. So in my opinion, no 3 players mean more to the success of this team over the next 2 years as those three guys.
 
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jonesman

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Guys,
I heard a recruiting analyst once say that most recruiting classes follow the 1/3 rule. This rule goes just like this. 1/3 will be starters. 1/3 will contribute as part time players and special team regulars. 1/3 will really never see the field. So if you look at this class, I believe that they will fall right into that category.
First, the top 1/3
Sam Young
Dan Wenger
Eric Olsen
Darrin Walls
James Aldridge
Rashon McNeil
Toryan Smith
Luke Schmidt
Will Yeatman
Chris Stewart

Middle 1/3 contributors
Munir Prince
Paddy Mullen
Richard Jackson
John Ryan
Mo Richardson
Kallen Wade
Sergio Brown
Jashad Gaines
So, if you look, this class will pan out, but they do not have real star power like we have in the freshman class and incoming recruits. I give them alot of kudos as they were the class that started our come back to elite. I believe the 07 and 08 class will outperform the 1/3 rule.
 
A

alexnd

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Legit Starter Material already:

Sam Young
Darrin Walls
James Aldridge
Dan Wenger

Legit Starter Potential next year:

Raeshon McNeil
Sergio Brown
Eric Olson
Will Yeatman
Rob Parris

On The Cusp (we've seen something that hints at starter material, but just not enough yet):

Chris Stewart
George West
Toryan Smith

Been Buried Behind Much More Experienced Players:

Leonard Gordon
Jashaad Gaines

Needs development - all came in as projects and we havent seen much of them:

Kallen Wade
Morrice Richardson
Munir Prince
Luke Schmidt

Legit Question Marks, but still have a chance to develop into real contributors:

John Ryan
Paddy Mullen
Barry Gallup
Richard Jackson
Bartley Webb

Move the guys around a little bit, but with 4 already looking like real starters as SOs with at least 5 more in a real good position to nab a starting spot as JRs, I'd say the top of this class is pretty solid. Add in those that just need time to grow into their bodies or just get out from behind the shadows of far more experienced players when they graduate, this class has the potential be a very good one once the story is written in a couple more years.

If next year's 4th and 5th year classes were larger and more talented we probably wouldnt see 9 potential starters from this group, but as it stands they arent just in line for starting spot b/c there is no one else. They've actually been getting better and better. The experience gained in this past season is going to pay incredible dividends in the near future.
 
Irishtat

Irishtat

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alexnd said:
Legit Starter Material already:

Sam Young
Darrin Walls
James Aldridge
Dan Wenger

Legit Starter Potential next year:

Raeshon McNeil
Sergio Brown
Eric Olson
Will Yeatman
Rob Parris

On The Cusp (we've seen something that hints at starter material, but just not enough yet):

Chris Stewart
George West
Toryan Smith

Been Buried Behind Much More Experienced Players:

Leonard Gordon
Jashaad Gaines

Needs development - all came in as projects and we havent seen much of them:

Kallen Wade
Morrice Richardson
Munir Prince
Luke Schmidt

Legit Question Marks, but still have a chance to develop into real contributors:

John Ryan
Paddy Mullen
Barry Gallup
Richard Jackson
Bartley Webb

Move the guys around a little bit, but with 4 already looking like real starters as SOs with at least 5 more in a real good position to nab a starting spot as JRs, I'd say the top of this class is pretty solid. Add in those that just need time to grow into their bodies or just get out from behind the shadows of far more experienced players when they graduate, this class has the potential be a very good one once the story is written in a couple more years.

If next year's 4th and 5th year classes were larger and more talented we probably wouldnt see 9 potential starters from this group, but as it stands they arent just in line for starting spot b/c there is no one else. They've actually been getting better and better. The experience gained in this past season is going to pay incredible dividends in the near future.
Click to expand...

good stuff :rock:
 
aaronb

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Richard Jackson missed last year with a wrist fracture. I imagine he would have played ahead of Paris and West if he'd been healthy. He was a higher profile recruit comming in.
 
johnnd05

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aaronb said:
Richard Jackson missed last year with a wrist fracture. I imagine he would have played ahead of Paris and West if he'd been healthy. He was a higher profile recruit comming in.
Click to expand...

West was a pretty big-time recruit, too, and he got a good deal of p/t as a freshman. Let's hope all three of them have a nice year in '08.
 
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Clausen2Kamara

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I think West was less heralded than Jackson coming out of hs but that doesn't mean much. If the whole team steps up a notch which I think they will with a year exp. Then we will be a scary team 2 deal with.
 
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