I think this is a fair assessment, and I agree that it does seem like ISU has leaned towards recruiting taller offensive lineman. I just glanced at the roster and only saw two listed at 6'3. Although in my opinion, there's a ton of 6'3 lineman who have been outstanding guards and centers. Not sure what difference an inch really makes.
In state recruiting for 2015 class
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I think this is a fair assessment, and I agree that it does seem like ISU has leaned towards recruiting taller offensive lineman. I just glanced at the roster and only saw two listed at 6'3. Although in my opinion, there's a ton of 6'3 lineman who have been outstanding guards and centers. Not sure what difference an inch really makes.
I think it has to do with running a spread offense. Being low and driving to run block isn't as important in our scheme.
Well, at the end of the day ISU happens to reside in the state of Iowa, so we had better win in-state recruiting when there are talented Iowa kids available. I've seen a lot of these Iowa kids play and I think we blew it by not offering. I guess we can chalk it up to the fact that we were revamping the staff and didn't have adequate relationships developed.
We have one undersized LB commit for 2014. So, I imagine ISU will pursue the same strategy in the 2015 class as we did in the 2014 class...hope to build a class with picked over JUCOs late in the process. ISU had 7 JUCOs in the 2014 class and that looks like lazy recruiting to me. Frustrating!
Our class last year was the highest rated class since Dan McCarney's big one if I remember right. Those JUCOs were studs.
Too bad that lazy recruiting gave us guys like David Sims, EJ Bibbs, Ernst Brun, Darius Reynolds, Aaron Wimberly, Cory Morrisey, ect. That sure is a bad idea.....
What ISU resided in Alaska? Do we take the top 10 players from Alaska? No.
You get the best players you can where you have the relationships and the history. This year the staff went elsewhere for the most part.
And McMillen is not undersized. That kid is going to be a really good player.
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Yes, they did. I'm just saying he was a 3 star and so are the Paulsen twins. To say this class is okay to strike out on might be being a bit naïve. They could absolutely end up being difference makers. Especially the fact that they come in a pair.
Yeah I think ISU would've taken those two for sure, but I also think ISU had pretty much no shot with Bleil leaving and they just didn't waste their time.
You may be right, but I don't understand why we had no interest in Boyle as he was easily the most dominant skill player in the state last year, at least in the big schools, and he was only a junior. His skills also would seem to fit our offense much better than Iowa's. On the surface it would seem Burrow is somewhat of a longshot, but it would be great if we could land him as he looks to be a taller version of Boyle.
I'm not in any way inferring that Boyle is a better skill player than Lazard, but the numbers he put up and his domination at the uni-dome put him at the top as far as domination in the big schools.
I wouldn't say we are the favorite or anything for Burrow, but I wouldn't say it's a longshot either. We have some connections to him that I can't remember specifically right now. I think maybe his uncle coached/played at ISU?
And maybe Boyle was only interested in playing QB? I'm not sure.
Wouldn't we have our best chance in our own state? If we ignore the best players in our own state, we are not picking the low-hanging fruit.
Agree completely, CYKO- Boyle will be a Division 1 QB and fits our offense exactly.
If it was easier to win football games by recruiting all Iowa kids, the staff would do it. It's as simple as that. It just isn't realistic.
Mark Mangino knows what he wants in offensive players. He is an elite offensive mind. This isn't Messingham just spitballing in his first D1 gig.
My point is that if there are players of comparable ability, why wouldn't we try to get the ones from Iowa? If we have an advantage with anyone, it would be with those in our own state. Plus, making sure we get the best from our own state helps to build the fan base.
Sure, it worked for McCarney...
You can't look at rivals rankings and stats and say 2 players are comparable. That's why the coaches get paid to do what they do.
Maybe the ones with comparable ability had the coach recruiting them get fired and we had no shot starting from scratch with only a month or so until they were committing? And then the others in state were viewed as having lesser ability?
The coaches aren't afraid to get guys from Iowa or from low population states, they just aren't going to do it just for the sake of doing it. And I would't want them to. But when they like a guy they don't care about offers. Jake Knott, Jevon Miller, Charlie Rogers, a ton of offensive linemen come time mind. Not to mention Lanning, Campos, and Lazard were all high priorities.
They don't care as long as they fit our program. So it's logical to say that the guys this year either were unattainable or just weren't what were were looking for.
I know it's hard to admit, but maybe the 10th best player in Iowa isn't even close to as good as the 200th best player from Texas.
Not sure about the 10th best player in Iowa, but I think I would always like the Top 3. I'm not saying go after Iowa players just because they are from Iowa, but I would say that we should always go after the very top players.
In fairness to our staff as it relates to Boyle, they wanted to watch him throw live. Boyle sure would have been a nice fit for the ISU offense and according to Scout he would have been the highest ranked QB at ISU in more than a decade. Boyle (3Star, 42 - as a junior).
DLC (3Star, 47), Lanning (3Star, 65), Rohach (3Star, 73), Janz (2Star), Richardson (2Star), Barnett (3Star, 80) even Arnaud (2Star).
The top QBs seemed to be committing earlier in the process. Waiting for Burrow (4Star ,26) could be dangerous unless we think the 5 QBs we have on the roster are adequate.
So if Boyle wants to be a QB and we only have a month to re start the recruitment of the Paulsen twins, what do you think we should've done? Mangino has a 4 star QB from Ohio that is his top priority who has connections to the ISU program. Do we waste time on those guys while we could be scouring Texas and Florida trying to get players from the most fertile recruiting lands in the nation?
Mangino will get a good QB committed. He has enough cache there that I'm not worried about it.