For those who haven't followed recruiting for long, the logic behind signing junior college players is they're mentally mature, filled out, and ready to step in and contribute from day one. It's the latter I'm worried about with the two latest signings.
First let's examine DE Blake Harrah. In 2010, Harrah played for an average Saddleback team, and contributed a whopping 2.5 sacks in 11 games. Saddleback played a weak schedule and finished 8-3. That's besides the point; let's forget about Saddleback and ask the difficult question: how exactly does 2.5 sacks scream "give this kid a full scholarship!"? Compounding the matter is Harrah's offer sheet: Middle Tennessee State. Yes, that's all folks. Oh, Bowling Green had some interest as well, as if that makes the pill easier to swallow. In short, it is hard to imagine a DE who only registered 2.5 sacks against inferior competition will suddenly blossom against superior talent the Pac-12. Blake Harrah is Keith Pankey Mk II, pedigree and all.
Linked is Harrah's film. Decide for yourself.
Moving on…the second Juco signed was Rusty Fernando. While Fernando's offer sheet is long, it is not exactly impressive. Again we see Middle Tennessee State and Bowling Green, in addition to Utah State, South Dakota State, Northern Arizona, Idaho, and Ohio. His only respectable offer came from Hawaii, a team that would play a Lawrence Taylor Wheaties box on defense if it were legal. Fernando can at least claim production, earning 90 tackles and 8 sacks for a 6-4 Glendale squad.
Whether these guys turn out to be players…who knows. Personally, I feel both are reaches and neither will pan out. Rather than defensive end, Harrah looks better suited to either (a) the bench or (b) offensive guard. Fernando has some upside, but he's not the legit game changer for whom we're searching. Fans tend to reason out such signings and grasp at the bright spots in the always curiously limited film. Sure, if you watch the 1:25 mark of some hypothetical Youtube video you may see a great play that allows your mind to wander, hope, imagine. But what we all know deep down is that the great players do it every down, not once a year.
With the Christmas season upon us and off-season expectations high given the surfeit of free time, the coaching staff has delivered yet another recruiting sock o' coal.
Fernando could end being a solid player he won’t be a game changer but serviceable. Harrah on the other end either needs to be an offensive lineman or ride the bench. I don’t get why he got offered a scholarship.
Btw Angry, the Beavers are recruiting K.T. Tuumalo who’s a LB what is your opinion of the guy based off his film?
He needs to add ~20lbs and gain some strength and speed. I like his intensity. Looks like Troy Polamalu LE with the hair. His lateral speed chasing down some of those backs reminds me too much of Pankey. Granted, Tuumalo was flat footed on the plays I saw, but still. I’d say 2.5 star/C+ prospect who looks like more of a backup than starter. If he could gain 30-35lbs he’d probably shoot up to a B to B+ prospect at MLB since he is aggressive and plays downhill.
Tu’umalo will be a D-1 OLB. I’ve seen too many different heights and weights on him to know where he is in size though. I think the AIGA combine last spring had him at 6’2″, 215#, and that was during his track season. I like him because he runs a 49 second 400m. That takes some guts at his size.
He’s getting all sorts of attention from Colorado, Boise St., Arkansas, Arizona, Hawai’i, and us. And the USC boards are all over him and Chester Su’a wanting Fink to offer them both ASAP. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s going to Colorado. He has a good friend there, and Arizona’s interest/recruiting moved there in Mike Tuiasasopo.
But what do I know? I’ve just been talking about him for a year now.
Other island boys who are underrated:
Tigi Hill is a Hardin clone. He’s so much like Brandon that the locals on the rock are talking about Hardin and wondering why Riley doesn’t play him at safety… when they discuss Hill.
Starr Su’a-Passi is surprisingly underrated as a LB. He’s a teammate of Robins on the St. Louis defense, and I think he’s a more integral part of their success.
I’ve always liked Duke Bukoski. The kid is tough, and he’s a gamer on both sides of the ball. He should be considered Jeff Maehl, Part 2. I’m surprised the Ducks don’t bring him along with Marcus Mariota. Btw… Mariota will be the starter who leads the Ducks in the future. he makes the four and five star QB’s they have committed look like crap in a bag… with big flammable bows on the bag.
And if you don’t know how I feel about Manuia Ioane, then you haven’t been paying attention. What do you think angry? Can we put a 5’10”, 270# bowling ball anywhere on our team?
I don’t know how much pipelines hold true in Hawai’i other than opening doors, but Tu’umalo might get us a better line on DeForest Buckner. THAT would be huge.
Ioane at FB maybe?
duke bukoski is an awesome name
I know. That’s probably what drew me to him in the first place. Then I saw his game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X_ncgK8fag&feature=related
He’s not elite at anything, but he’s good to great at a lot of stuff, and he’s tough as nails.
I found some other updated highlights on Duke Bukoski. This kid is gritty over the middle and strong as an ox…under-rated and under-recruited. It appears most of his stats came from “yards after the catch”. He’s marketed as an athlete, played primary at WR but I understand also doubles as QB, DB and Special Teams…any chance on a Beaver offer as an Athlete??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X_ncgK8fag
http://rivals.yahoo.com/video/recruiting-football/AMP-Hawaiis-best-compete-in-LA-234807
just noticed a pick by Duke Bukoski over DeForest Buckner in the red zone (Final Senior Highlights 2011). Looks like they were trying to run a fade using Buckner’s 6′-7″ height to their advantage. Bukoski returned it about 65 yards….like you said…”a gamer on both sides of the ball”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X_ncgK8fag
Is the Torian White thing still happening? Haven’t seen any changes in the recruiting sites as they still have him as solid verbal to ucla.
If it it still on i imagine the coaches want to keep it quiet. SHHHHHHHH
The coaches have to keep everything quiet.
Okay…. does this register?
The coaches want the pay sites to keep it behind the “pay wall” and not blatantly out in the open. So young Mr. White doesn’t get hounded even more. Plausable deniability.
I am just saying as far as rules go the coaches can’t talk.
Sorry, i’ve had a long morning.
The correct term would be “silent verbal”. Although i do not have any insider knowledge of this and am not a subscriber to pay sites. That’s just what i am hoping for.
That’s about as silly as it can be. White is getting hounded by Fink and Ogre… so much that USC fans are convinced he’s a USC lean… as a UCLA commit. USC has been all over White for months, and Arizona isn’t too far behind.
The only plausible deniability I see here is the pay wall’s inability to filter rumor from truth.
Okay, i’ll just shut up now. thx Jack :)
I think you were right about White not wanting to be hounded. But that’s his choice. If he opens up to anyone now, he would be fielding calls from media types every day from now until signing day.
I think we would get more news about White from Cooks and Jackson… probably Cooks mostly. But I would take it with a grain of salt. Cooks is supremely confident (as he should be in his game), but confidence doesn’t equal reality. The word from Cooks is probably, “He’s comin’ here. *wink*.”
Exactly.
I got to think that some of theses DE’s and WR’s will end up at other positions. I hope one of the DE’s is a MLB.
I thought I read where Harrahs dad was a pro offensive lineman, so maybe that is the thought there to convert him. Start hitting the weight room and consume the power shakes, buddy.
I haven’t heard anything about him moving to OL, but yes, his father was 1st round draft pick Dennis Harrah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Harrah
Fernando is moving to OLB.
Herc Hannah… dude was a character back in the day. I never met him, but I heard a lot of stories about him from Carl Ekern.
NOOOO, Fernadoooooooooo! Vandal Nation needs you!
Damn you Beavers!
75% of our commits had recruiting interest from Oregon State. What is it with you guys? Not enough mediocre talent out there to fill your roster so you recruit our guys too?
Go Vandals!
You guys ever take a look at Texas’ commit list? Don’t if you want to feel even slightly good about your own commit list…so many stars, NASA is considering officially designating the 2011 recruiting class as constellation.
As I said on another thread, these offers extremely frustrating considering Harrah’s lack of production at a lower level of play, and the apparent plan to play Fernando at OLB. Remember, Collins will be at OLB his senior year, and young player’s like Doctor, Welch, (one other young talent I’m forgetting?) and potentially Akuna will all need spots at the OLB. That’s two spots, at least three, young fast players to fill them, plus a bunch of average (for pac-10) players that are going to get time.
What OSU needs based on their current recruit list is some DT’s and some agressive, run blocking O-lineman. Not some DE and OLB projects that are unlikely to make an impact.
This smacks of Riley taking the path of least resistance; its like he doesn’t expect to be able to win the big recruiting battles, just like he doesn’t expect (he hopes) to win the big games.
Great point in your last paragraph. I’d compare Riley’s recruiting style to a guy who is hanging out with a group of four women, three attractive and one far less so. He makes a cursory pass at the attractive ones before deciding the hell with it and putting a full court press on the ugly duckling so at least he’ll be taking someone home for the evening.
And of course if she ends up getting herself in shape and turns out to be a bit of a catch, his friends will praise him for finding that “diamond in the rough.”
That’s hilarious.
On Rivals they’re saying Riley picks the “low hanging fruit”…same idea. I can’t believe they’re actually doling criticism over there.
Anyway, both analogies are good/funny…and sadly true.
The poor recruiting becomes more evident, and ridiculous, every year. The bottom line is that this program has a lot less talent and depth than every program in the conference outside of WSU. The media knows it, the fans know it, yet nobody ever does anything about it except make excuses. I’ve been to the recruiting dinner the last 3 years and i’m done with it unless things change drastically in the next month. I’m not going to show up and pretend i’m in support of another load of 2-star kids with no other offers from BCS AQ conference teams. A lack of talent and depth is what is holding this program back more than anything.
Timing has something to do with the disappointment. If Harrah and Fernando signed in February and we had the Grant preps inked nobody would care so much, but the fact we’re looking to the C and D list in December means the rumors about the highly touted prospects are just that.
GreatWhiteHunter, can your Vandals please CLOSE?!?
Beavs land Desmond Collins. UGH.
Offer sheet: Utah State, Idaho.
Yeah, but offers were pending from BYU, Utah, UCLA, UW, and WSU…this kid was the star of our recruiting class!
Almost every single one of our prospects as recruiting interest (if not an offer) from OSU. I wish we could close the deal on mediocre talent as well as you guys…
Damn you Beavers!
At least it gives you something to write about on angryvandals. “Vandal coach x cannot close the deal!” etc.
I dunno what to say besides the fact I hope he turns out better than I expect.
I hope he ends being better than we think he will. With that said Riley is starting to really irritate me with the recruits he’s getting as of late. he just settles for the sure commit instead of trying to get guys with more talent I hate it. Are the Beavers even gonna have enough scholarships to get the Grant kids, McClure and an O Lineman?! It just appears he is wasting scholarships.
Should have said another O Lineman. He knows the Beavers need more talent it is obvious, yet he keeps getting lesser talented guys to commit. I’m tired of getting guys who have no other BCS school offers, there’s a reason for that.
Haven’t you heard? The reason for that is Riley is a genius!
I’ve heard two more WR’s and three more DE’s will commit next week.
Oh joy!
REALLY?
Say it ain’t so Jack. Why more WR’s? This makes no sense.
Unless Riley plans on converting some of them to CB, taking over play-calling, or changing the system to include nothing but 4-5 receiver sets- this is the stupidest class I’ve ever seen.
The reason for so many WR’s in this years class is…. There will be a lot of WR’s graduating in 2 years, and most WR’s under Riley will redshirt, and it takes a full year to learn the routes. This way the new guys (2011 class) can learn from the veterns when Bishop, Wheaton, and others are seniors. As for the DE’s I think some might move to LB, some will stay DE’s, and some might move to DT. We need speed especially on defense, and these DE’s have some speed! As for over-signing, Riley has signed more than the limit in the past for reasons such as not qualifyling, greyshirting, players leaving,
and injuries.
Yeah, you have to bring attrition into the mix somehow, not all of these guys are going to be Beavers when all is said and done.
Riley is still recruiting like a man who is pretty damn confident in he and his staffs abilities to coach up talent. Based on recent trends (especially with the defense) he may be committing slow career suicide if there is not another Paea-like find in the bunch.
Yeah, I agree! It would be great if we could get four to five 4+ star recruits every class and develop the others into 4 & 5 stars! At least have a top 5 recruiting class in the Pac-10 each year! If you want to be the best, you MUST have the athletic talent in stock! Which brings in better marketing into the dicussion. I believe there is a cycle with exposure, marketing, winning, and recruiting! More times than not whenever OSU plays on National TV they get embarrassed, and they lose the games they’re supposed to win! This kills everything for exposure and marketing! In the end, it kills recruiting for the best players. OSU must decide if they want to win, or not! If not, then OSU should play in the Big Sky conference. Expectations need to be raised. It comes from the fans 1st, then the leadership of the University.
This is how the world ends…
The world ends if the fumb ducks win the National Championship. Go War Eagle!!!
Blake Harrah, more than anything else, is a confusing and very frustrating move. How does it make sense to pick up a JUCO “project”?? Isn’t the whole point of JUCO that they DON’T need development? Where….where….where are the DTs?
If you were a good player who played pro and you had a son who is not that good of a player, wouldn’t make a “hey buddy” call to Riley and say “can you take and fix it.?”
No one else takes charity cases like Riley does. Harrah and Riley, a match made in Riley’s heaven.
Hey JACKBEAV,
You say you hear 2 more WRs and 3 more DEs are committing next week…
I’m assuming one of the WRs is Rahmel Dockery (which would be good). Who is the other one? Michael Thomas?
Is one of the DEs Davon Moreland?
Also, even if Stefan McClure, Byron Moore, James Sample, etc. wanted to commit, would OSU even have room left to offer them since they’ve been wasting space on the likes of Harrah and Collins?
I’m hearing some guys like Kevan Walker may transfer for more PT, so that would open up some schollies.
That would make sense… Seems like Walker got a raw deal at OSU. Originally a UCLA commit as a 4-star WR then switches to OSU who never played him.
Wonder If he’ll go play under his father now.
Walker was actually a high 3-star.
Either way, I’m not sure what the deal was with him. There were great/better players in front of him, so it’s wasn’t as dumbfounding as the David Ross snub.
It was a joke. No need to go all angsty on it. It just seems we have umpteen million of each, and we keep adding more. I wish we could get the same quality at DE that we do at WR though. This is the list:
Wynn – Solid… everything we want.
Bennett – DT material? Seems decent.
Robins – Very strong, but slow… another DT?
Harrah – A project from a JUCO?
Fernando – Decent JUCO LB prospect.
Collins – I’ve always liked Collins, and he showed out for his senior year. He was the star defender on a defensive minded state championship team. I don’t know why he gets no offers. Since BYU hasn’t offered, I would say it’s not because of him being LDS. So grades must be the deal.
We may never see Robins, Bennett or Collins. Their lack of offers tells me that they are probably known academic risks. If that’s the case, then they might come as grey shirts… or they might not.
Since I still wonder why Terron Ward had no D-1 offers last year, I could be way off on these guys too.
Damn you, JB.
What do you like about Collins, JackBeav?
I watched his entire game film and was blown away that he had two whiffed tackles on his highlight reel. The whiffs made it seem as if he’d fit in perfectly at OSU, no doubt about that, but in terms of a 3-star 5.7 LB? I just don’t see it.
Most of his film was at DT, but the few chances he had in space he missed. He was also pushed back more than he pushed.
I just don’t get it unless the teams he played against are sending 5 linemen a piece to D1 ball.
The eyes I have on him are not my own, but I trust them. I had to force my friend from SLC to watch Collins’ tape, and when he was done he had to wonder many of the same things you wonder when you watch it.
His actual game is nothing like his tape. Unlike Hannah, all of his stats were not covered by a three minute tape.
In fact, it seems none of them were.
I’m told that he and a BYU commit controlled the line from start to finish, and that highlight tape was crap.
I do trust this source. This person told me Paea was a good get… and Daniel Deane was a basket case.
Besides, this guy was the guy who taught me at the age of five that tic-tac-toe is a perfect analogy for life. You only lose if you make a stupid play, but you can never win.
Angry,
Do you have a twitter, or facebook accounts for angrybeavs.com?
I did have a facebook, but I became fed up with the restrictions (e.g. they wouldn’t let me correct my name or choose a name I wanted, etc) and left. I’m going to start it up again soon.
Mumblings that Moreland might commit before Christmas. Truth or pay sites trying to get memberships? We’ll find out in a few days.
Who is this DL that Rivals claims committed last night?
http://oregonstate.rivals.com/
Desmond Collins.
They’re hinting at Moreland, too, so you buy a subscription, only to realize he’s going somewhere else and the Beavs actually signed a zero star Juco.
That’s why I hate their site!!
Never buying anything from them, wish you could start posting recruiting facts and get paid for it. I’m sure you are busy but rather pay you than them.
Thanks Angry!
Mike Leach new head coach of Maryland hmmmm……..interesting
Is that true?
Beavs miss yet another opportunity.
It’s just a report right now but it will be confirmed on Monday most likely. They’ve been trying to force Ralph Friegen to retire so they don’t have to pay him. But it appears they will buy him out tomorrow so Monday Leach should be announced the new head coach. It is a missed opportunity for Riley but I don’t think it was a realistic possibly for Leach to be the OC for OSU.
Warren, you better watch yourself over at rivals. You could be easily banned for saying you don’t want Dekoning…I was banned for less.
Gott abunch of turds on that site, I figured I’d join for a month to see if I liked it.
Guys, I’m watching the De la Salle game and I have a coupel things to say:
1: Dylan Wynn is a flat out beast with Clay Matthews like motor. He will have at least a couple years with 10+ sacks in the Pac-12.
2.) I wouldn’t be opposed to offering their RB Lucas Dunne a greyshirt offer. He has 4.45 speed, but has great toughness and can run guys over.
Look at Dunne’s tape:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWVmuB8Y–E
How is he not even a 2-star?
I don’t see him deserving any stars. He’s small and not elusive. You can’t get away with that in college.
I see a guy with a lot of heart and drive, though. For that reason alone I’d give him a walk-on opportunity. Beavs need more intense, fiery players.
1. Yes.
2. No. He’s tiny, but not elusive like Quizz. If Riley let him walk-on I wouldn’t be upset because it would keep the pipeline going.
ps. I warned you they were all turds.
Yea, what’s the harm? I mean, there’s a lot less talented walk-ons that are on the team already. Plus, like you said, it helps the DLS pipeline.
Warren, by less talented walk on’s I hope you’re not referring to the Beavers ferocious and dominate offensive line lol
I didn’t watch any of the CIF bowl games today or Friday but it looks like Tyler Trosin had a great game in the CIF Div. II bowl game today; 87 yards receiving, 3tds, plus a 77 yard kick return. Folsom defeated undefeated Serra 48-20.
De La Salle is up 35-0 right now. Getting players from that program is good for OSU.
http://www.cstv.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mfootbl.html?event=973853&school=fo&sport=mfootbl&camefrom=&startschool=&
Looks like it’s a good thing to be connected to DLS and Folsom right now. Serra losing out to Folsom is basically USC losing out to us and Stanford.
And Bob Ladouceur can make a player out of a rock if he wanted to.