'25 NV WR Derek Meadows (Alabama Verbal)

[PutuporShutup]

If you’re going off stats, I have bad news to tell you about Meadows. I’m pretty sure Clay High School (rip) had receivers put up better numbers last year.

Fair point. I wasn't as high on meadows until i saw what he did this spring in the camp circuit. It was pretty incredible.

Burress and Bettis did NOT do that.

 

[Irish4life]

Wiltfong and LSU mod did an update on LSU board.
Both still think it’s LSU.
People mention Driskell and Roberts both saying it’s not ND, not to get your hopes up.
That’s because both of them know what Wiltfong knows, & the movement was a strategic move. As the LSU update says, ND, and even Michigan, have upped their NIL offer, causing LSU to up there’s too.
Shocker.

Shea's Take: LSU WR target Derek Meadows pushes back decision

.

www.on3.com

I did not get the sense that it was a slam dunk to LSU and this was just a ploy for bigger NIL offers.
From the LSU Insider:

"Nobody feels confident enough to say with certainty where Meadows lands, but I did gather – from sources outside LSU – that teams view the Tigers as the team they will have to pass if they want to land the No. 7 wide receiver in the 2025 class."

From Fong:
“Had Meadows announced a pledge on the previously scheduled January 13, it looked like LSU was trending,” Wiltfong said. “The Tigers surged here recently as they put the full-court press on the prized pass-catcher.

“However, long-time leader Notre Dame spoke to the family on Tuesday and it was a conversation that thrusted them back into contention. LSU continues to push..."

 

[ND7983]

For those of you who read IB, Bryan just put it out there, out of frustration, what has been going on for months.
So since it’s officially out there now, I will give my 2 cents on it.
Site mods will message each other, call each other, have conversations with each other, & admit one thing privately, but then turn around the same day & post the exact opposite.
I will give you 2 examples that are fresh.
One that I was part of.
I had a conversation with someone from a major site (won’t name him because I like him & he’s sorta screwed by his bosses), and we discussed how Shanklin wasn’t going to ND. Ever. He knew it. But he had to write an article about ND being his leader because he was forced to. He even was forced to put in a pick for ND he didn’t want to.
Meadows. Everyone, secretly, as discussed together, knew a LONG time ago Meadows wasn’t going to ND. Just as they know now.
One of them messaged that Meadows wasn’t going to ND, while they were in the process of doing a live show talking about ND looking good for Meadows.

Just remember, some sites are driven & paid for by clicks. Others aren’t.
Good dudes, guys I like personally, are forced to lie to get clicks. But it’s “technically’ not a lie, for example with Shanklin, when the kid says, “ND is my leader,” because the kid says so. But everyone in the know is fully aware Shanklin was never going to ND.

 

[ND7983]

Shea's Take: LSU WR target Derek Meadows pushes back decision

.

www.on3.com

I did not get the sense that it was a slam dunk to LSU and this was just a ploy for bigger NIL offers.
From the LSU Insider:

"Nobody feels confident enough to say with certainty where Meadows lands, but I did gather – from sources outside LSU – that teams view the Tigers as the team they will have to pass if they want to land the No. 7 wide receiver in the 2025 class."

From Fong:
“Had Meadows announced a pledge on the previously scheduled January 13, it looked like LSU was trending,” Wiltfong said. “The Tigers surged here recently as they put the full-court press on the prized pass-catcher.

“However, long-time leader Notre Dame spoke to the family on Tuesday and it was a conversation that thrusted them back into contention. LSU continues to push..."

He’s not going to ND.
ND knows this.
CLICKBAIT.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Not a fan of NIL bidding wars for high school players. Not saying ND shouldn't offer anything as a base package....it's 2024 and this is a new era, I get it. But damn...Save the money, spend it in the portal. Why are we upping bids for kids who have yet to catch a collegiate pass? I don't mean to single out ND WR busts, but they're the first to come to mind....imagine getting in bidding wars for Tobias or Jordan Johnson....I'd rather ND shell out top money for known players. Just my opinion.

 

[arrowryan]

So now what?

 

[NDFAN2008]

You most likely loose Colzie, Thomas, Mitchell, Collins, and Harrison that's 5 guys so Ideally you need to bring in 5 guys in the 2025 class. I would say ND is likely gonna have to bring in 2 WR transfers

 

[Ophiocordyceps]

ND will need to pay premium WR money to land Meadows. All else is smoke.

 

[ThePiombino]

I love the narrative that LSU only won nattys because they had really good players lol. That's what we, and every other team in the country are trying to do, right? Get the best players possible. Anyone who doesn't understand why a WR might want to go to LSU is purely speaking from the bottom of the Kool-Aid jar...

 

[GoldenTate(r)Tots]

besides having possibly the top home atmosphere in sports, a program who’s last 3 coaches won national championships, a long history of sending WR to the league, a young highly rated QB on campus, and a whole lotta money in NIL. ya i can’t think of what LSU possibly has to sell here🤷🏻‍♂️

He’s not going to ND.
ND knows this.
CLICKBAIT.

So you're telling me there's a chance?

 

[IrishLion]

Hopefully the extra nil is all incentive based and tied to actual production. Now that the qb position seems to be sorted for a few years, I'd hate to see nd overpay for potential when they can go portal shopping for proven production.

This is where I’m at. Not gonna fault the staff for being long-time leaders in the recruitment, only for it to come down to a pure leverage play.

Considering Meadows has worse production than my favorite local 1A KY WR, can’t fault Freeman and Co. if they hit a ceiling and decide they’d rather take a % of the money/NIL opportunity Meadows might have gotten, and give it to a portal WR with actual production at the DI level on film. Then they can take the rest of the Meadows reserve and apply it to a HS recruit elsewhere.

Decision to throw in the towel and redistribute funding/NIL opportunity is a bit easier when you’re talking about a bidding war for a guy that isn’t a sure thing like some of the other 5-star guys in the class, and probably isn’t even as sure a thing as the lower-rated guy you’re going after.

 

[PutuporShutup]

You most likely loose Colzie, Thomas, Mitchell, Collins, and Harrison that's 5 guys so Ideally you need to bring in 5 guys in the 2025 class. I would say ND is likely gonna have to bring in 2 WR transfers

There most likely will be a transfer out of a young player as well. I have no inside information and this is just a hypothetical. But say KK smith and or Saldate realize they aren't playing over a couple other young players like Williams/Gilbert, even Faison and Greathouse are very young. They may not like their spot on the depth chart.

I think there was a reason ND was trying to bring in 5 WRs this class. I think ND will now bring in 3-4 (none being potential studs), and have to go portal even more.

 

[Sea Turtle]

The problem now is that teams now know that they can simply outbid ND for players.

 

[PutuporShutup]

The problem now is that teams now know that they can simply outbid ND for players.

That's not new. We weren't the highest bidder for Hartman and Leonard, we just combined that with what they can clearly make while at ND. That has to be NDs pitch and recruits have to believe it somehow. Here's some money we'll give you, but where we come on top is when you get on school, no one has the TV packages or media ND has.

I think the other problem is, it's just not the tippy tippy top players getting and expecting to get large sums of money.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

The problem now is that teams now know that they can simply outbid ND for players.

All teams know they can outbid/underbid each other. You don't lose one item at an auction and immediately get marked as "someone who gets outbid". It's all about a limited supply spread across diverse assets. Determining which assets are worthy of the highest percentage is the tricky part. It's far more complicated than the simple situation to which you are alluding.

ND might be willing to double their bidding amount, but spread across three top 25 WRs instead of going after a top 7 WR with a huge delta in terms of outcomes. In so doing, they reduce the risk of a complete loss. This is a simplified example to say, ND's group is constantly evaluating how they allocate funds and time to maximize results on the field.

I wouldn't attempt to reduce it in such a trivial manner; I wish people would start to think a bit harder about the current landscape of recruiting.

 

[Sea Turtle]

All teams know they can outbid/underbid each other. You don't lose one item at an auction and immediately get marked as "someone who gets outbid". It's all about a limited supply spread across diverse assets. Determining which assets are worthy of the highest percentage is the tricky part. It's far more complicated than the simple situation to which you are alluding.

ND might be willing to double their bidding amount, but spread across three top 25 WRs instead of going after a top 7 WR with a huge delta in terms of outcomes. In so doing, they reduce the risk of a complete loss. This is a simplified example to say, ND's group is constantly evaluating how they allocate funds and time to maximize results on the field.

I wouldn't attempt to reduce it in such a trivial manner; I wish people would start to think a bit harder about the current landscape of recruiting.

It just keeps happening though. Hines, Meadows, all those defensive players last year.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I still thinking buying transfers is a way better use of money. Much higher hit rate.
But Savvy Pete has to make sure ND can clear more and more undergrads.

 

[a mike]

I take these latest updates as he just doesn't want to go to ND period but he's using them to leverage more NIL money out of LSU--but ultimately no reasonable amount of money is going to make him pick ND

Can't really fault ND here if they realize they're quasi getting played and walk away

Obviously it's more a business now but there still needs to be some level or threshold were a kid will stop the leveraging and pick a school for other reasons

Even in the pros, contracts get torn up in negotiating if there's not enough mutual respect/treatment coming from each party during the process

It's almost getting to the point where smoking guys out on their true intentions will be the most important thing

Can't imagine the amount of man hours spent on this kid

 

[ab2cmiller]

So, what's the purpose of Meadows pushing back his decision date?

Trying to drive up NIL?
Can't choose between Bama and LSU?
Trying to build more excitement surrounding his decision?

 

[Katzenboyer]

He’s not going to ND.
ND knows this.
CLICKBAIT.

Any insight on why he pushed back his decision then? Not doubting you, just curious.

 

[mcbri014]

Are there any ex nfl players that have kids that aren't dominant in high school? They seem to like us

 

[CoachB]

I think leverage. I also think he likes ND and the staff. They got him to think about it for a minute, then LSU comes back with a higher offer and bingo!

 

[O’Irish]

I still thinking buying transfers is a way better use of money. Much higher hit rate.
But Savvy Pete has to make sure ND can clear more and more undergrads.

great players don’t usually transfer though because they are usually starting. the transfer portal is almost entirely made up of average/ok college players that you rent for a year or 2 as a place holder. id rather ND invest in elite highscool players with higher upside that you can get 3-5 years out of. then when those players succeed and go to the NFL, ND can say “hey look we developed those guys” to future recruits, as opposed to taking players other schools developed and we rented the finished product

 

[BleedBlueGold]

All teams know they can outbid/underbid each other. You don't lose one item at an auction and immediately get marked as "someone who gets outbid". It's all about a limited supply spread across diverse assets. Determining which assets are worthy of the highest percentage is the tricky part. It's far more complicated than the simple situation to which you are alluding.

ND might be willing to double their bidding amount, but spread across three top 25 WRs instead of going after a top 7 WR with a huge delta in terms of outcomes. In so doing, they reduce the risk of a complete loss. This is a simplified example to say, ND's group is constantly evaluating how they allocate funds and time to maximize results on the field.

I wouldn't attempt to reduce it in such a trivial manner; I wish people would start to think a bit harder about the current landscape of recruiting.

TLDR: ND needs to find a way to do both, land elite Top 10 prospects AND fill holes via the portal with exceptional talent, and take shots with "lower tier" high school prospects that they can attempt to project.

If you play Fantasy Football with auctions, you essentially get divided among teams who 1) Spend their budget on a couple top tier players and then fill out the remaining spots with $1 guys or 2) Teams will sit back and do the above bolded --> Buy value, spread out the funds, focus on Tier 2 players, etc.

My personal experiences are as follows:

Group 1: High ceiling/ Lowest floor. High risk if you blow your budget on a bust or your #1/#2 picks get injured. These teams rarely have any depth. But if they hit on some late round picks and avoid the bust/injury plague, then those top players often times will provide major point boosts over the course of a season. You often can't compete with the production of high level players.
Group 2: Higher floor/Moderate ceiling. These teams almost always make the playoffs, but sans any massive FA pickup or crucial injury to another team's top players (in which case you have their backup), they often don't compete for championships.

I've played this game both ways over the last 20 years and every year, post-draft, I pretty much know where I screwed up --> Holding on to my money for too long and have a loaded team of Tier 2 and Tier 3 players but no "studs" that would push me over the top. The years that I splurged on top end RBs and WRs, I won the league.

It doesn't have to be so black or white. I think ND needs to find a way to do both. Buy a top 5-8 WR every year AND use remaining funds to fill out spots via the portal. I don't like the bidding wars (as mentioned in an earlier post), but I also don't know what else to do in terms of landing high end talent. The Blue Chip Ratio does matter, whether we like it or not.

 

[Blazers46]

He’s not going to ND.
ND knows this.
CLICKBAIT.

Did he really move back his decision just so these talking heads can write more articles?

 

[BobbyMac]

He’s not going to ND.
ND knows this.
CLICKBAIT.

So:

ND's been out of it for a while at minimum... or they were never in it.

But ND's still trying(?) even though they know they are out of it.

No one in the recruiting industry knows this though?

OR

Everyone in the industry knows this but is acting ignorant so they can keep producing articles for clicks?

 

[IrishLion]

So:

ND's been out of it for a while at minimum... or they were never in it.

But ND's still trying(?) even though they know they are out of it.

No one in the recruiting industry knows this though?

OR

Everyone in the industry knows this but is acting ignorant so they can keep producing articles for clicks?

I think this is “clickbait” in the sense that people believe LSU is the choice, but they can’t report that when the delay is likely related to leverage for more NIL promises from all sides, if any are willing… which will result in his choice (LSU) having to shell out whatever it takes to hold off ND.

I may be terrible at reading between lines, but it seems like this is a case of the ND beat knowing what’s happening and what the ending is gonna be, but they can’t throw in the towel until the announcement is done… and even then, they’ll ride the possibility of a “flip” if they need action before the early signing period.

 

[NDdomer2]

Everyone profits

 

[Irish4life]

I see we're having a normal one

 

[T-Boone]

I’ll mainly be interested in seeing his snr year plays out. He sounds like Jordan Johnson to me.