Hypothetical D Recruiting Question

[iSac]

You’re an FCS college coach and you can land a 5-star, high school recruit on defense. Regardless of your team’s immediate roster and needs, what defensive position do you take?

MLB strikes me as one of the most valuable. Someone who can be a defensive field general that roams while still close to the line of scrimmage. (Admittedly, that’s from the perspective of a pure fan who’s never played organized football.)

 

[SloStang]

CB or DT. I think they are the hardest positions to find at the FCS level.

 

[SDHornet]

I agree with Slo on CB. A shutdown corner is hard to find at ANY level of football. Having a guy that has the ability to shut down an opponent’s most valuable target/go-to guy is a huge asset to have. CB is the 2nd hardest position to play IMO.

 

[sdav8er]

Former PAC-10 player and current SOCAL highschool referee. Highschool football recruiting has turned into such a big business...kids are often overrated to generate profit for recruiting sites (Rivals/Scout). Mostly based on the teams that offer/are interested in them. For example, you take a 2star prospect who get offered by USC - immediately that kid becomes a 3 or 4 star player. That same 2 star prospect signs with Sac State, he remains a 2 star player.

Truly great college coaches and recruiting coordinators should always go after playmakers. Football players perfroming on the field. Not the kid who's 6-4 and runs a 4.4 in track cleats. Boise State and TCU have a lot of W's with football players...how did USC, Miami and Florida State do last year with all their 5 stars?

Pitt Steelers James Harrison is 5-11. Played at Kent State. Undrafted. Do you think he'd trade his rings in for a few stars?

Always pick a dominate DL first...

 

[BuckeyeHornetFan]

Always pick a dominate DL first...

I agree with this. Play makers are nice, but football, at any level, is won in the trenches.

Look at the SEC. It is the most dominant conference in all of college football. While they certainly always have their share of playmakers, it is the size, speed and athleticism of their offensive/defensive lines and LB's that separate them from the other conferences. While Cam Newton may have won the Heisman, Nick Fairley and Auburn's defensive line was probably more responsible for Auburn winning the National title.

If Sac St. could ever land a 5-star DL recruit the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Nick Farley, or Warren Sapp, the LB/DB's they already have suddenly look/perform 5x better.

A 5-star QB/RB can't succeed without blocking.
A 5-star WR can't make an impact if the QB doesn't have time to throw the ball.
A 5-star LB isn't going to dominate if he doesn't have a proficient DL to keep blockers off him.
A 5-star DB can still be exposed if the DL/LB don't get pressure on the QB and he has all day to throw.

The only positions that can dominate/impact a game without the help of another are the offensive / defensive lines. Between the two, I believe a dominant defensive lineman can make a larger impact to the defense than one dominant offensive lineman can make to the offense.

 

[superhornet]

You all make valid points. But sometimes it pays to go with the cliche'd "best athlete available." With him, he can play anywhere, which is great if another player goes down.

 

[SDHornet]

There are many ways to look at this, and when dealing with top athletes I don’t think there is a wrong answer. A dominate and aggressive DL/front 7 can be neutralized with WR bubble screens, 3 step drop routes (slants, hooks, short outs, etc), and if the defense blitzes a lot RB screens and draws are effective. Because the top SEC teams have no problem landing top recruits at pretty much every position, it’s pretty tough to get much offense on their defenses.

When looking at the BSC, a shutdown corner will go along way when it comes to stopping the pass happy offenses in this conference. EWU is successful because they churn out above average and good QB’s paired with sizeable and athletic WR’s. T Jones was a serious weapon for EWU, but EWU played well as a team and was more balanced when he was hurt.

Given our situation, I would take a shutdown corner second only to an amazing QB if there was a choice. Also unless I am mistaken, we haven’t recruited a top rated DL and have done just fine with respect to having perceived average DL step up and make plays. I’ll take a solid group of DL’s who work well as a group over a group of DL who are below average with the exception of one 5 star recruit playing up front.

And welcome to Sac Buzz sdav8r.

 

[Fajadadu]

If Sac St. could ever land a 5-star DL recruit the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Nick Farley, or Warren Sapp, the LB/DB's they already have suddenly look/perform 5x better.

A 5-star QB/RB can't succeed without blocking.
A 5-star WR can't make an impact if the QB doesn't have time to throw the ball.
A 5-star LB isn't going to dominate if he doesn't have a proficient DL to keep blockers off him.
A 5-star DB can still be exposed if the DL/LB don't get pressure on the QB and he has all day to throw.

I Agree with BHF. In the Hornet experience this passed season, look how people keyed on Clark and opened things up for Nash. A great D line can make everybody play/look better. Shut down corners are gold but dominating D-Linemen are diamonds.