'14 CA WR/DB Michiah Quick (OU Signee)

[Rhode Irish]

Bama has their fourth #1 class in a row and had some spots open. So they went after him, since as I mentioned, he is a good recruit with high upside. They "needed" him like I need a butthole on my elbow.

That being said, he wasn't a first option for Bama or Florida. They just would both add him if they could. I hope Mokwuah kills it here too, but let's not act like he's a sure fire recruit that all of the best teams were fighting over.

Were we acting like that? I feel like we wanted him for the same reasons as Bama and Florida, but we got him and they didn't. How can that be a bad thing? I honestly don't understand.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Juju was always a long shot; once Kiffin got fired, our odds of landing him dropped significantly. And we simply got in too late with Alexander and Garnett (has "THANKS DIACO" been officially elevated to meme status yet?), who were luxuries anyway.

But we've been on Quick since day 1 as the top WR on our board. If we lose him to the program with the 2nd worst minority GSR in the nation, I'll be upset.

ALSO (and this is more relevant to the current discussion), let's not forget the endless parade of bullsh!t off-field issues we endured in 2013. All things considered, the staff has recruited very well.

 

[Ironman8]

Bama has their fourth #1 class in a row and had some spots open. So they went after him, since as I mentioned, he is a good recruit with high upside. They "needed" him like I need a butthole on my elbow.

That being said, he wasn't a first option for Bama or Florida. They just would both add him if they could. I hope Mokwuah kills it here too, but let's not act like he's a sure fire recruit.

First options are first options almost 100% of the time because kids develop or blow up earlier than others. Tyler Luatua was the #1 TE in the nation as a sophomore, and was basically everyone's first choice. Then other kids blow up, he struggles with some injuries, and he falls, and everyone forgets he was everyone's first choice.

Now does that mean he is the best TE in the nation now, or that other schools aren't now happy with some kids over him? Of course not. Recruiting is fluid, which is what I think a lot of you guys are missing.

Guys like Hill, Williams, Mokwuah, etc are some of the guys that blow up after or during their senior year every year. They will never sky rocket up the rankings enough to satisfy star chasers, and will never have the name value of an Andrew Williams type kid who has been on everyone's radar for over a year.

If you want a kid, you want a kid. Period. Who cares if he blew up as a sophomore or if he blew up as a senior? Justin Brent is still going to be the same college player, whether or not you offered when he had ZERO offers as a sophomore or when he skyrocketed up all the rankings after attending camps.

People can't have their cake and eat it too. You want the #1 early target in a guy like Luatua, Bars, Trumbetti, Hayes, etc and then brush kids like that off seemingly because he falls on the rankings and isn't hyped up towards the end of the cycle. Then the same people brush off the Hill's, Williams', Mokwuah's etc as plan B options that aren't as good simply because they were went after late. There is a reason so many teams went hard after those types of kids late. THEY ARE GOOD PROSPECTS.

There are very few 'sure fire' elite 5 star guys. The rest of it are guys you recruit because they can project to be very good in the system you run based on their physical and intangible traits. Mokwuah and the others have those. Notre Dame saw that, as did Bama, Florida, etc.

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

Mostly what IM8 said, and to bring this back to my original point, picking up two very solid players at a position of glaring need can hardly be classified as a "weak sauce" finish. I have no idea why CarrollVermin brought up the ESE EEE CEE in response, and I shouldn't have responded to it.

This is a good class that closed out well. Picking up Quick would have been an outstanding finish. I'm more than pleased with the how the staff closed.

 

[woolybug25]

Were we acting like that? I feel like we wanted him for the same reasons as Bama and Florida, but we got him and they didn't. How can that be a bad thing? I honestly don't understand.

Good for us I guess. I'm sure Saban was really upset at first… then they realized that he has three top 10 DT's already committed with LOI's in. Then he probably felt better about it….

I'm sure he was putting all of his effort into it though. lol

 

[Rhode Irish]

Good for us I guess. I'm sure Saban was really upset at first… then they realized that he has three top 10 DT's already committed with LOI's in. Then he probably felt better about it….

I'm sure he was putting all of his effort into it though. lol

Again, who cares? I don't get what your point is. So we should have not taken him because Saban wasn't trying that hard? I really don't get what you are trying to do, other than be argumentative because you're bored?

 

[woolybug25]

First options are first options almost 100% of the time because kids develop or blow up earlier than others. Tyler Luatua was the #1 TE in the nation as a sophomore, and was basically everyone's first choice. Then other kids blow up, he struggles with some injuries, and he falls, and everyone forgets he was everyone's first choice.

Now does that mean he is the best TE in the nation now, or that other schools aren't now happy with some kids over him? Of course not. Recruiting is fluid, which is what I think a lot of you guys are missing.

Guys like Hill, Williams, Mokwuah, etc are some of the guys that blow up after or during their senior year every year. They will never sky rocket up the rankings enough to satisfy star chasers, and will never have the name value of an Andrew Williams type kid who has been on everyone's radar for over a year.

If you want a kid, you want a kid. Period. Who cares if he blew up as a sophomore or if he blew up as a senior? Justin Brent is still going to be the same college player, whether or not you offered when he had ZERO offers as a sophomore or when he skyrocketed up all the rankings after attending camps.

People can't have their cake and eat it too. You want the #1 early target in a guy like Luatua, Bars, Trumbetti, Hayes, etc and then brush kids like that off seemingly because he falls on the rankings and isn't hyped up towards the end of the cycle. Then the same people brush off the Hill's, Williams', Mokwuah's etc as plan B options that aren't as good simply because they were went after late. There is a reason so many teams went hard after those types of kids late. THEY ARE GOOD PROSPECTS.

There are very few 'sure fire' elite 5 star guys. The rest of it are guys you recruit because they can project to be very good in the system you run based on their physical and intangible traits. Mokwuah and the others have those. Notre Dame saw that, as did Bama, Florida, etc.

I hear you… but there is absolutely no reasonable proof that Saban or Les were trying hard to get this kid in the final hours. Like I mentioned above, Saban has three top 10 DT's in this class. We are acting like BK, Saban and Les were all putting the same effort for a good recruit they all wanted the same amount…. and then BK straight up beat them. That is not at all what happened. Not even close.

As I said, Mokwuah is a nice recruit that a bunch of good teams had as a "take", but nobody was going after him hard like us and neither Bama or LSU needed this kid. He was a "nice to have" for them and a "must get" for us.

 

[RyCo1983]

So when does Quick make his decision?

 

[woolybug25]

Again, who cares? I don't get what your point is. So we should have not taken him because Saban wasn't trying that hard? I really don't get what you are trying to do, other than be argumentative because you're bored?

Obviously everyone that is discussing it with each other here. It's not like I am blabbering on by myself. If you don't care about the issue, simply talk about something else. No one is forcing you to be part of the discussion.

 

[irishfan]

Solid class. We were pretty much the laughing stock of the sports world January and February last year, and all of 2013 seemed like a disaster for us. A class that finishes ranked ~10 is nothing to be disappointed about coming off a 9-4 year with a terrible off-season preceding it.

 

[Bluto]

I'm just glad ND landed a bunch relatively highly rated kids that seem to actually want to be at ND (see Stanford and MSU).

 

[Rhode Irish]

Obviously everyone that is discussing it with each other here. It's not like I am blabbering on by myself. If you don't care about the issue, simply talk about something else. No one is forcing you to be part of the discussion.

What? I do care about the issue...that is why I'm discussing it. I'm saying who cares about how many DTs Bama has signed or how much effort Saban put into recruiting Pete? I don't see how that is in any way relevant to Notre Dame.

 

[IrishLion]

He was a "nice to have" for them and a "must get" for us.

And we got him, so what's the issue lol

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Solid class. We were pretty much the laughing stock of the sports world January and February last year, and all of 2013 seemed like a disaster for us. A class that finishes ranked ~10 is nothing to be disappointed about coming off a 9-4 year with a terrible off-season preceding it.

Absolutely. If I can find time today, I'll put together a timeline of all the bullsh!t we endured in 2013. Can't really put our current recruiting class in perspective without it.

 

[Ironman8]

I hear you… but there is absolutely no reasonable proof that Saban or Les were trying hard to get this kid in the final hours. Like I mentioned above, Saban has three top 10 DT's in this class. We are acting like BK, Saban and Les were all putting the same effort for a good recruit they all wanted the same amount…. and then BK straight up beat them. That is not at all what happened. Not even close.

As I said, Mokwuah is a nice recruit that a bunch of good teams had as a "take", but nobody was going after him hard like us and neither Bama or LSU needed this kid. He was a "nice to have" for them and a "must get" for us.

You keep having to tailor your argument to stay in the right. Reasonable proof? Alabama sent Mario Cristobal to his school in the last couple weeks to try and secure a visit. Mokwuah said no. Les Miles has nothing to do with it, and I never mentioned LSU. Florida, on the other hand, offered without him even visiting. If those aren't reasonable examples or proof that those programs were trying to get the kid, I don't know what is.

 

[Luckylucci]

Just for perspective this years class has the best WR prospect brought in under Kelly (Brent), the best ILB prospect brought in under Kelly (Morgan), and overall substantially better edge pass rushers (Trumbetti, Blankenship, Hill, Williams) than last years. This class doesn't have the 5 stars last year did but I fully expect this class to contribute just as much when all is said and done.

 

[ND NYC]

WoolyBug i love ya, but if we only view our D Line recruiting through a Bama/LSU lens....we will forever be disappointed.



p.s.
half their guys wouldnt pass our admissions amyway so they were never, ever options for us to begin with.

"we are shopping in a different aisle."

 

[woolybug25]

Just for perspective this years class has the best WR prospect brought in under Kelly (Brent), the best ILB prospect brought in under Kelly (Morgan), and overall substantially better edge pass rushers (Trumbetti, Blankenship, Hill, Williams) than last years. This class doesn't have the 5 stars last year did but I've fully expect this class to contribute just as much when all is said and done.

Did you forget about the '11 class? (Lynch, Tuitt & Ishaq)


Davonte Neal and Davaris Daniels were both ranked slightly higher than Brent as well… but that's splitting hairs.

 

[Irishman77]

Just for perspective this years class has the best WR prospect brought in under Kelly (Brent), the best ILB prospect brought in under Kelly (Morgan), and overall substantially better edge pass rushers (Trumbetti, Blankenship, Hill, Williams) than last years. This class doesn't have the 5 stars last year did but I fully expect this class to contribute just as much when all is said and done.

Exactly. And the 14 class fits perfectly with the star power of the 13 class.

 

[GBdomer]

WoolyBug i love ya, but if we only view our D Line recruiting through a Bama/LSU lens....we will forever be disappointed.



p.s.
half their guys wouldnt pass our admissions amyway so they were never, ever options for us to begin with.

"we are shopping in a different aisle."

You know how many Alabama commits had ND offers?

 

[woolybug25]

WoolyBug i love ya, but if we only view our D Line recruiting through a Bama/LSU lens....we will forever be disappointed.



p.s.
half their guys wouldnt pass our admissions amyway so they were never, ever options for us to begin with.

"we are shopping in a different aisle."

Then I hope you don't have title aspirations. Because that's the type of talent it takes to win titles.

Also… are we shopping in a different aisle? Weren't we just arguing how the Bama's of the world wanted our defensive lineman? Which is it?

 

[Irish8248]

i think Mike Frank summed it up well -- you dont see 5 star rankings but you defn see 5 star talent

 

[zelezo vlk]

I do believe he may have forgotten an apostrophe from years, as in year's.

 

[GBdomer]

i think Mike Frank summed it up well -- you dont see 5 star rankings but you defn see 5 star talent

I get what you are saying but I am very curious on who you think has true 5 star potential in this class?

 

[aubeirish]

I get what you are saying but I am very curious on who you think has true 5 star potential in this class?

There are a lot of guys with 5 star potential. Hill, Trumbetti, Pete, Nelson, Kizer, Brent, etc...

 

[GBdomer]

There are a lot of guys with 5 star potential. Hill, Trumbetti, Pete, Nelson, Kizer, Brent, etc...

I am gonna disagree but I hope you are right

 

[Ironman8]

I get what you are saying but I am very curious on who you think has true 5 star potential in this class?

Based on upside / potential:

Nelson, Bars, Morgan, Hayes and Williams. Trumbetti, Brent, Blankenship, and Mokwuah just below.

Trumbetti and Hill are limited simply because of height IMO, but both are going to be very productive. Blankenship has all the upside in the world, but right below 5 star in my book. Brent's ceiling is Boldin IMO, which is not 5 star in my book but is really high. Mokwuah has a monster frame, and could be a very, very good interior DL. Again, not Nix like potential, but very good.

 

[GBdomer]

Based on upside / potential:

Nelson, Bars, Morgan, Hayes and Williams. Trumbetti, Brent, Blankenship, and Mokwuah just below.

Are you talking 5 star? Like elite of the elite? Or guys who will turn out in this class?

 

[woolybug25]

Are you talking 5 star? Like elite of the elite? Or guys who will turn out in this class?

When I think of "developing into 5 star", I think of day one NFL draft guys. That's just me.

 

[Ironman8]

When I think of "developing into 5 star", I think of day one NFL draft guys. That's just me.

Yup. This is how I see it.