Athlon Sports: 2014 Big Ten Predictions

[Abdullah the Butcher]

The Nittany Lions lost arguably the best receiver in the program's history when Allen Robinson decided to enter the draft and forgo his senior season. Penn State's 2014 recruiting class may have minimized the damage by bringing in three 4-star receivers and a 4-star tight end.

The gem of that group is 6'3", 210-pound New Jersey native Saeed Blacknall, who held offers from Alabama, LSU, Ohio State...

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1949881-penn-state-recruiting-saeed-blacknall-will-make-immediate-at-wide-receiver

 

[Count 'Bility]

Holy cow True. I completely forgot about Hackenburg. Im probably wrong. They may be a step or two up from what I'm expecting out of a first year staff and depleted scholarship-caliber roster. But I still wonts say 10-2.

 

[Saunders]

The Nittany Lions lost arguably the best receiver in the program's history when Allen Robinson decided to enter the draft and forgo his senior season. Penn State's 2014 recruiting class may have minimized the damage by bringing in three 4-star receivers and a 4-star tight end.

The gem of that group is 6'3", 210-pound New Jersey native Saeed Blacknall, who held offers from Alabama, LSU, Ohio State...

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1949881-penn-state-recruiting-saeed-blacknall-will-make-immediate-at-wide-receiver

Not a collegiate down played between them.

 

[Scratchtown]

The Nittany Lions lost arguably the best receiver in the program's history when Allen Robinson decided to enter the draft and forgo his senior season. Penn State's 2014 recruiting class may have minimized the damage by bringing in three 4-star receivers and a 4-star tight end.

The gem of that group is 6'3", 210-pound New Jersey native Saeed Blacknall, who held offers from Alabama, LSU, Ohio State...

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1949881-penn-state-recruiting-saeed-blacknall-will-make-immediate-at-wide-receiver

Not a collegiate down played between them.

This is the most overused and silly reason for detracting a freshman's impact on a team.

 

[Saunders]

The Nittany Lions lost arguably the best receiver in the program's history when Allen Robinson decided to enter the draft and forgo his senior season. Penn State's 2014 recruiting class may have minimized the damage by bringing in three 4-star receivers and a 4-star tight end.

The gem of that group is 6'3", 210-pound New Jersey native Saeed Blacknall, who held offers from Alabama, LSU, Ohio State...

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1949881-penn-state-recruiting-saeed-blacknall-will-make-immediate-at-wide-receiver

Not a collegiate down played between them.

This is the most overused and silly reason for detracting a freshman's impact on a team.

Wat. It's not "overused" at all. When you're replacing the best receiver in the conference who was over 50 of your teams total receiving production, you're probably going to struggle. Expecting freshman who have never played college ball to come in and replace that guy year one is a stretch.

 

[Scratchtown]

The Nittany Lions lost arguably the best receiver in the program's history when Allen Robinson decided to enter the draft and forgo his senior season. Penn State's 2014 recruiting class may have minimized the damage by bringing in three 4-star receivers and a 4-star tight end.

The gem of that group is 6'3", 210-pound New Jersey native Saeed Blacknall, who held offers from Alabama, LSU, Ohio State...

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1949881-penn-state-recruiting-saeed-blacknall-will-make-immediate-at-wide-receiver

Not a collegiate down played between them.

This is the most overused and silly reason for detracting a freshman's impact on a team.

Wat. It's not "overused" at all. When you're replacing the best receiver in the conference who was over 50 of your teams total receiving production, you're probably going to struggle. Expecting freshman who have never played college ball to come in and replace that guy year one is a stretch.

You can't "replace" him completely, but they said it could help "minimize the damage".

Then we get the comment about how they've never played a college down. Who cares?! The one kid is a HS All American, unless he's an idiot, he has the physical tools to make an impact.

 

[Landlord]

Hackenburg is going to be a good one.

 

[Saunders]

You can't "replace" him completely, but they said it could help "minimize the damage".

Then we get the comment about how they've never played a college down. Who cares?! The one kid is a HS All American, unless he's an idiot, he has the physical tools to make an impact.

We're talking about 2014, and PSU going 10-2 (lols). It's not going to happen, and this is a main reason why. What happens 2-3 years from now is not on the table.

 

[Scratchtown]

You can't "replace" him completely, but they said it could help "minimize the damage".

Then we get the comment about how they've never played a college down. Who cares?! The one kid is a HS All American, unless he's an idiot, he has the physical tools to make an impact.

We're talking about 2014, and PSU going 10-2 (lols). It's not going to happen, and this is a main reason why. What happens 2-3 years from now is not on the table.

Right,

I'm not talking about the future though either.

 

[Saunders]

You can't "replace" him completely, but they said it could help "minimize the damage".

Then we get the comment about how they've never played a college down. Who cares?! The one kid is a HS All American, unless he's an idiot, he has the physical tools to make an impact.

We're talking about 2014, and PSU going 10-2 (lols). It's not going to happen, and this is a main reason why. What happens 2-3 years from now is not on the table.

Right,

I'm not talking about the future though either.

Ok, and I'm saying that the chances of any of these kids being Sammy Watkins is slim to none.

 

[kchusker_chris]

Not a collegiate down played between them.

This is the most overused and silly reason for detracting a freshman's impact on a team.

What ticks me off is that some people apply this to others in the conference but never to Nebraska. Our recruits never get love...that's why people say Randy Gregory "burst onto the scene". It seems the media isn't very high on any Husker recruits contributing right away.

Gregory was a JUCO transfer. And he had plenty of hype going into last season.

When was the last time a true freshman HS recruit made a major impact on the Huskers? I'm not talking about a few tackles and earning a start because we're thin either. We're talking about replacing one of the best receivers in the B1G. How long has it been since we had a freshman or two fill shoes like that?

 

[kchusker_chris]

This preview says only 4 programs kept their coaching staffs intact and we weren't one of those listed. Who did we lose? Was I in a crack den this offseason?

Warren, secondary coach replaced Joseph who went to A&M (maybe? think that's right).

 

[Landlord]

When was the last time a true freshman HS recruit made a major impact on the Huskers? I'm not talking about a few tackles and earning a start because we're thin either. We're talking about replacing one of the best receivers in the B1G. How long has it been since we had a freshman or two fill shoes like that?

Why only for the Huskers? We are talking about Penn State, right? Not Nebraska? We don't run the kind of program that relies on ultra mega superstar freshman players the same way other schools do.

 

[kchusker_chris]

When was the last time a true freshman HS recruit made a major impact on the Huskers? I'm not talking about a few tackles and earning a start because we're thin either. We're talking about replacing one of the best receivers in the B1G. How long has it been since we had a freshman or two fill shoes like that?

Why only for the Huskers? We are talking about Penn State, right? Not Nebraska? We don't run the kind of program that relies on ultra mega superstar freshman players the same way other schools do.

Because he brought up Gregory and Nebraska, so we were talking about nebraska.

 

[kchusker_chris]

Let's be straight here..we're not talking about what you or I perceive...but about what the media perceives.

You and I could come up with a list of names of Husker freshman that played right away, started, and did pretty decent throughout the year. The issue is, the media doesn't give our recruits as much attention in this respect as say...a Penn State team (obviously because Franklin is ZOMG ZEGREATEST EVAR).

That's the thing I'm discussing...not who started for us, when, and how much they contributed.

I really don't think there is much of a media bias. Whatever it is, it's backed by history. I really can't come up with a list of true freshman HS players that made an impact as a Husker. That's why I asked you. Maybe Tyler Moore? Rex has a decent freshman year, but nothing at the level of what we were talking in regards to these freshman when saunders commented about them not having played a down. They're pretty rare at Nebraska. As Landlord mentioned, Nebraska is not a place that depends on that superstar who comes in ready to play at 18. It's not a bias, it's a fact. Alabama, LSU, Florida, USC, Ohio State, etc - those teams have an impact freshman almost every season.