Don't let the speed leave

DMoney

D-Moni
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The 2018 WR class leaves a lot to be desired, in retrospect. There is still hope for Mark Pope in the new offense, and Dee Wiggins showed flashes. But it didn't work out with Brian Hightower and Marquez Ezzard.

What hurts is that 2018 was the most explosive group of WRs in South Florida, and we don't have enough to show for it. Specifically, two of the best track athletes in the state (Anthony Schwartz and Tyquan Thornton) and the best overall tester at the Opening (TuTu Atwell) were allowed to leave town. None of the three were huge recruits. Now, they all look like gamebreakers in college.

We need to do a better job of making sure that the most explosive players stay home. Baylor under Matt Rhule was not a high-profile program, but they recruited speed and put a ton of stock into track times and verified testing. We need to have a similar focus if we want to be a faster team.





 
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I'm an admitted speed *****. Why is it so difficult for our staffs to realize that speed is more dangerous than size. That's why I hate we lost Fleming. Can't coach speed! Hope Lashlee understands that.
Hold up. If you have a 5’11 WR that runs 4.35 but have a 6’3 WR that runs 4.42 then 9 out of 10 you’re going with the 6’3 guy running 4.42. There so much more to WR than just speed and any trying to say oh but he’s faster needs to learn more about Football. That’s how you end up with Mike Harley over Emeka Emezie or trying to recruit LaTrell Williams over Kelvin Harmon or Quintez Cepheus.
 
The only one I feels is Quan Thornton.

we frickin took 2 transfers and What looks like a bust in that class over him. Never really understood the Ezzard selection.

This. Pope and Hightower were top 150 prospects. You take them all day. Dee Wiggins is the type of prospect I don't mind having when you already have a class of a pope and Hightower, dude who is 6'3 with speed. Him and Thornton were pretty close measurable wise IIRC. Ezzard was the outlier.
 
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The only one I feels is Quan Thornton.

we frickin took 2 transfers and What looks like a bust in that class over him. Never really understood the Ezzard selection.

Kids like TuTu should never leave. Local legend with testing to back up the explosiveness on film.

Anybody could’ve predicted that he went to Louisville and balled.
 
I remember the Schwartz convos like it was yesterday. Would love to have him now with the new offense. Amazingly enough, Malzahn has been bashed for not utilizing him enough. That kid's speed is just downright ridiculous. Completely destroys angles. There were rumblings that he was going to quit football to focus on track, but he opted against it.
 
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Kids like TuTu should never leave. Local legend with testing to back up the explosiveness on film.

Anybody could’ve predicted that he went to Louisville and balled.

Totally agree. You risk busts like Sam Bruce. But you gotta take flyers on the "legendary" local kids that they'll find their spot, assuming they're good character kids. Atwell would have delivered for us.

I was a Schwartz fan for the pure speed. But let's be honest that he wouldn't have gotten much burn at Miami though, given how pathetic our QB/OL play has been. You need a QB who can deliver the ball, and we've not had any consistency since Kaaya there. And you need an OL who can hold until the play develops, and that hasn't happened since Stoutland's 2010 class.
 
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This ain’t the nfl where every player is a step faster and if they’re not then they’re a lot smarter. A slower linebacker or safety in the nfl has to be so instinctual or have a very high iq to overcome it. However in college speed will overcome and win out the majority of the time. The nfl is such a bottleneck of speed and talent that we forget that the vast majority of college players don’t have the speed or instincts to overcome a very fast player.
 
Weren’t we on tyquan and shawtz tho

Yes, though Schwartz wasn't coming here so staff moved on relatively early. We recruited Thornton until the end. He chose Baylor over us. Them not coming here was not a result of lack of recruiting, moreso lack of production, but OP's point remains.

The problem fixes itself by winning some games and proper utilization of what we have. We have to be able to walk into living rooms of these kids a year from now and point to production on the field from guys on the roster and say come be our next James Proche and catch 9 balls a game. That's all most of these kids need to see and hear to start begging to play for us. Promise it won't take long to fix if Lashlee can replicate what he did at SMU.
 
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