IMO, the biggest challenge from a unit perspective is building the WR room

U

uberism

Banned
There are many reasons why I say this. The biggest reason is local talent. There isn't much around and when there is you want to land it. When you go to the coastal areas you will run the risk of them going back home for one big reason - culture shock. Los Angels and Miami are different cultures. 

Since Frost has been here there have been 

2018 class: 5 were recruited. Zero remain on the roster. I don't get angry or frustrated over this since it was a class put together in a matter of a few weeks. 

2019: 5 were recruited, 2 remain on the roster. 1 graduated. 3 are on the roster. 1 contributes, the other 2 are scout players. 

2020: 6 were recruited (5 scholarship): Fleming will be out it seems so 4 on scholarship until Martin gets put on scholarship in Jan to move up to 5. 

So, out of the first two classes, you got 1 out of 10 that were recruited that will have already panned out. 2 still TBD. 

The 2020 class WR is a major hit and it's a blessing it is. 

2021 top WR's: Wandale, Betts, Martin, Brown and Nixon. Hopefully Manning comes around and is ready to play next year. If that happens, it gives you a base of 6 guys to build from into the future. You get those 6 to produce and then what you hope for is 1 out of the 2 WR commits to pan out. 

Even though Fidone is a TE, I see him getting used right away as a true freshman as a pass catcher since there will be guys ahead of him in the TE room. 

So I can see a base of 7 WR's in 2021. 

I wished we could just go out and recruit 5 4-star stud WR's in two repeated classes and have the WR room flipped and fixed, but it's going to be a bit of a stressful process to get it up to the level we need it to be at since there aren't many talented kids in the area every year. 

Wandale is already a star. Betts will continue to develop into a star. Martin will be a very good WR. Nixon will be TBD. Brown is coming along and getting more and more snaps. 

The effort to fix the unit has been there, just gotta keep recruiting a big number each class and let the cream rise until we are a solid 8 deep. 

We don't want to be like WI's or NW's WR rooms where there is only 1 or 2 guys every year that do anything. 

 
It's the same story with the RB room. Behind Mills (who has been injured), it's pretty much all frosh. Those two positions are the main problem with the offense, with QB and OL way behind them.

 
Supposedly they were trying out Hickman at Duck-R for a while, but the experiment was a bust.

 
They have some talented pieces. Young guys that need all the reps.  Next year after a year of development Betts could be a stud. Hopefully Fleming stays and gets his act together. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Huskers93-97 said:
What is the same analysis on the DB room? That seems to have a lot of deflections too
Click to expand...


2018 class: 6 DB's recruited. 2 are starters. 4 not on the roster. Would it be nice to have 1 of those 4 pan out? Sure, but I'd argue the creme rose to the top. 

2019: 4 DB's recruited. 2 are backups and play. All 4 still on the roster. 

2020: 5 DB's recruited and 2 still on the roster. 

I don't see an issue with DB recruited, IMO. Sure it sucks to have those Florida kids leave, but we are hitting big on Georgia DB's and we are just having to replace the Florida kids with the 2021 class. S/SS depth will be a bit of a sore spot for 1 season but we are deep at CB. 

When our backups have gone in there hasn't been a big drop off so Fisher is getting guys developed. 

We are going to hit big with the kids that pan out at DB under Fisher. Gotta do everything possible to keep him around for years and years. Damn good coach. 

 
I don't see a lack of talent there with the guys who have panned out. The lack is in getting the QB to throw them the damn ball. I also am not greatly concerned that flashy players from warm climates didn't work out on the frozen tundra. We should be thinking about getting the kind of players that make NDSU a championship team, not flighty beach kids.

 
Hayseed said:
I don't see a lack of talent there with the guys who have panned out. The lack is in getting the QB to throw them the damn ball. I also am not greatly concerned that flashy players from warm climates didn't work out on the frozen tundra. We should be thinking about getting the kind of players that make NDSU a championship team, not flighty beach kids.
Click to expand...


That is what Ohio State does. 

Their WR scholarship layers and their high school states: Missouri (X3), Texas (x2). CA (1), PA (1), WA (1), OH (x2). 

Recruit good WR's from colder states. They will pan out at a higher rate since they are more used to colder weather and not the glamour (which is mostly fake BS) and beach lifestyle. The 2021 WR commits are from Georgia, Texas and western Florida. No Miami kids. I suspect Frost and staff have already learned the lessons I am covering in this thread for WR recruiting. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
lo country said:
With all the hype, I am hoping that he isn't lost in the shuffle...
Click to expand...


For the moment, at least, I think that's pretty much the story for Hickman. As of now, it sounds like he's likely to settle in as a second-tier boundary receiver. But it's hard to say what the future holds, given how young and in flux our WR group is.

 
I think each season and off season will get our offensive line where it needs to be.  The staff is doing a good job of bringing in the right pieces there.

When the offensive line develops, each skill position unit benefits.

 
Decked said:
They have some talented pieces. Young guys that need all the reps.  Next year after a year of development Betts could be a stud. Hopefully Fleming stays and gets his act together. 
Click to expand...
Fleming didn't quit already? That's good news. In that other thread everyone assumed he was gone. Maybe we'll throw him the damn ball. I know that's an old-fashioned idea like getting a job by just walking right up, but back in the olden days of Devaney and Osborne it worked pretty well.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top