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The kid really has had a hard time, not that it's anybody's fault other than his own. But for a 5* RB coming out of HS, he was injured as a frosh, struggled with the offense last year and couldn't get playing time, and then this year when it was supposed to be his time, he has multiple issues. 4 games that were reputably pot smoking related, and now academics takes away the rest of his year. I'll be surprised if he comes back. He probably can transfer someplace and play this year, maybe not to a big time school but someplace.
ND <t>Well just when I thought we would at least make it through practice to the first game down goes Bryant for the season. Not a major loss I guess since we already knew he would be out the first four games but still not good. Hope he gets it all together fast but we have probably lost him. Wouldn't be surprised if he transfers. Freshmen backs early PT for sure and now Prosise is the number 2 for sure.</t>
On Bryant. I've read a lot of conflicting stuff, I've read that he's in a "bad place" and has stopped communicating, I've seem implications that he's having a hard time giving up weed. I've read that his Dad wants him to come back and finish his ND degree and not worry about football. I've read that the difference was he needed a B+ in summer school and got a B- and that's what tipped it for him. Kelly said he had goals and "quite frankly" didn't meet them. Reading between the lines it seems like maybe Kelly had had it with Bryant and sent him to timeout. He'll be able to enroll in Sept and attend classes and still be on scholarhip and be able to practice with the team just not be on the roster or something like that, he'll count against the 85. I don't get it. It's academics but he didn't flunk out, just didn't meet the criteria set out for him. Of course there are a lot of weeping and gnashing going on over this, about how this will hurt in recruiting, etc. Well the kid has been nothing but potential for sure, but can't translate it to the field on any consistent basis. So I say next guy up, we have a couple of freshmen one of those guys can step up, RB is one of those positions that all across college football every year you will see outstanding play from freshmen, unlike OL's. It's a position that natural talent can go a long way to overcome being a rookie. OH and some minor good news, we signed a QB a kid from Calif named Ian Boyd who was previously committed to Washington State. He's a lightly recruited 3 star kid so it's pretty hard to get excited about him. But he does mean we have a QB in the class and he won't scare away Hunter Johnson.
ND <t>Well call me crazy but what the hell are we doing recruiting a 3* PRO STYLE QB. With all due respect to the kid this just doesn't ANY sense at all.</t>
Coach Sanford has scouted the kid thoroughly and has determined that he merits a scholarship. That's all I need to know. The number of stars mean nothing to me.
Well certainly there are always kids who are 3 star recruits and turn out to be 5 star players when they get to college, and you can point to programs like Wisconsin, Baylor, TCU who don't get a lot of highly rated recruits but are doing quite well with their programs. Still if I had my druthers I'd rather have a list of recruits like Alabama which is loaded with 4 and 5 star players. And yes I know there are plenty of highly rated recruits who turn out to be very average players or never play. Still I'd rather have a class full of 4 an 5 star kids ranked in the top 5, etc. Lou's 1988 through 1993 teams were loaded with highly ranked kids coming out of HS, not to mention Lou knew what to do with them. This year so far, we are mostly loading up on kids rated 3 stars, with only a few 4 stars, our composite ranking is low for us, not in the top 10 for sure and might not be in the top 20 in a lot of team rankings. We still could finish strong of course, and these 3 star kids could all turn out to be diamonds in the rough, that's up to the coaches to polish them up and make them shine though! On a positive note: Sports Illustrated has rated the Irish #4 in their pre-season college rankings. I'm really surprised at this, I think we certainly are a top 10 type of team and the coaches poll has us at #11 which I think is about right. http://www.si.com/college-football/2015/08/05/sports-illustrated-preseason-college-football-top-25
ND <t>I'm not so concerned with the star ranking on this QB as I am to the type of QB he is. Looks perfect for that wide open spread that Leach uses but not anything like we will be seeing from Zaire and Wimbush.</t>
I point to a prime example of a very lightly recruited 6' tall QB out of Texas a number of years ago. I'm not sure he was even a 3-star. As I recall, he had two offers, a non-descript schol whose name I can't recall and Purdue. He had a reasonably successful college career and has hung around the NFL for a long time. His name is Drew Brees. Who knows what this kid will accomplish? An experienced coach who has recruited some talented athletes thinks he has what it takes.
Well it's hard to point to a single player who defied the odds and became a big success as some type of trend that we should follow. But I'm reading some good things about the kid, and supposedly the coaches really love his attitude and his fit for the program. I hope he's the next Drew Bree's and not the next Luke Massa, or David Wolke, or somebody like that who wasn't highly rated to start and never contributed. In the end I welcome the kid and hope he becomes a valued member of the team backing up Hunter Johnson and Brandon Winbush!
Sid, I agree! You have to rely on your coaching staff to evaluate talent. The people that assign the *'s, write for a living. They never have to worry about winning a game. 8)
OK! First I'd like to thank Terry for sending me on a wild goose chase looking for "Ian Boyd." The kid's real name is Ian Book and I like him a lot. You asked for Drew Brees? You got him. Ian Book had a lot more offers than just Wazzoo. Mike Sanford recruited him at Boise State. He also had offers from Harvard and Yale, as well as Nevada and Nevada-Las Vegas. He can throw the hell out of that ball, and he's a fast runner. He's a good athlete and a very smart student, with a good arm. He can run any offense you want. This just might be a Joe Schmidt for the offense. Unlike some recent QBs we've had, he won't require any long explanations. Any team would love to have him. I see a winner... <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DpkrReXwnR4?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0"></iframe>