2018 Commitment List

[UA1987]

On 1/17/2018 at 11:00 AM, 72 Roo said:

I would like to get excited about this area of the team too. It seems we have better talent coming in. But I am not sold that we have the best OL coach who can develop that talent. Last year and the year before we had a veteran OL and the results were poor. We never learned to run block and our pass blocking went downhill when we were in obvious passing situations against good, not great teams. You expect players to get better during the course of the season. Both years we got worse. I know our coach is the youngest on the team but he has to produce.

 

Bowden seems to support his coaches no matter what. To improve the team, and the coaching staff, he has to make hard, but necessary changes. The three areas that are glaring are offensive line, offensive coordinator and special teams. All coaches should be gone. We will be better because the talent is improving. Coaching has to improve too and then we will grow even faster.

There are ways to grade offensive lineman performance, but I have not seen anything on Akron over the years. I have a suspicion that much of our running game anemia comes from the skill positions themselves and key injuries. I'm happy to see Akron finally getting some young running backs that may be able to start producing on offense. The fact that we finally have some highly touted young gun RB's committing to the Zips is another sign that Akron is on the upswing. While I noticed an uptick on the o-line when Funk was here (recruiting too) I'm not ready to point the finger at Ekkens. For all we know he may be doing a great job.      

Edited January 18, 2018 by UA1987

[72 Roo]

1 hour ago, UA1987 said:

There are ways to grade offensive lineman performance, but I have not seen anything on Akron over the years. I have a suspicion that much of our running game anemia comes from the skill positions themselves and key injuries. I'm happy to see Akron finally getting some young running backs that may be able to start producing on offense. The fact that we finally have some highly touted young gun RB's committing to the Zips is another sign that Akron is on the upswing. While I noticed an uptick on the o-line when Funk was here (recruiting too) I'm not ready to point the finger at Ekkens. For all we know he may be doing a great job.      

Well if he is doing a great job then we have horrible talent on the OL. But I concede that may be the case. I also feel we need to upgrade at running back, but they weren't the reason our run game failed this year. There was no blocking for them to have a place to run. That was blatantly clear as you sat in the stands and watched our lineman get pushed back. 

[kreed5120]

I'm with @72 Roo. I wasn't all that impressed with the run blocking. I'm not sure if that was because of the O-line coach or lack of talent on the offensive line. Either way it's an area we will need to improve as a team.

[UA1987]

1 hour ago, 72 Roo said:

Well if he is doing a great job then we have horrible talent on the OL. But I concede that may be the case. I also feel we need to upgrade at running back, but they weren't the reason our run game failed this year. There was no blocking for them to have a place to run. That was blatantly clear as you sat in the stands and watched our lineman get pushed back. 

And why not look at the backs when trying to figure out why our running attack was weak? I think if Ball and Sands had stayed healthy we would not be having this discussion. For example, in the Buffalo game, Sands averaged 10 yards a carry and Morgan averaged 2.9 on about the same number of rushes. Take out Sands long gain in that game and he is still over 5 yards a carry. We all know what Ball would have done if he stayed healthy. Playing thru the tough early games Ball still averaged 4 yards a carry on the season and would have increased that average in MAC play had he not been injured. Next year, I'd put Edwards back on kickoffs and let Sands and the young guns carry the load.          

[Captain Kangaroo]

My hope for the offensive line hinges on whether or not Deltron Sands production at the end of the Buffalo game was real, or an illusion.

 

Buffalo knew we were going to run, we ran, and they still couldn't stop Sands. 7 carries for 70 yards. He and the OL moved the chains at-will to close-out the win.

 

Edwards and Morgan are good, durable backs. I'm glad they came to UA. But neither are especially strong, shifty or fast.

 

Tough to bank on Sands for 2018. I hope he's healthy. But he had 2 shoulder injuries, and then a season ending leg injury... all last year. Those are Newman Williams-type numbers.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the fresh corp of heralded RB's this spring, and seeing if their accolades match their performance. We need a game-breaker RB in the worst way. If we find one (or 2), it'll make the OL look a lot better.

[Captain Kangaroo]

1 minute ago, UA1987 said:

And why not look at the backs when trying to figure out why our running attack was weak? I think if Ball and Sands had stayed healthy we would not be having this discussion. For example, in the Buffalo game, Sands averaged 10 yards a carry and Morgan averaged 2.9 on about the same number of rushes. Take out Sands long gain in that game and he is still over 5 yards a carry. We all know what Ball would have done if he stayed healthy. Playing thru the tough early games Ball still averaged 4 yards a carry on the season and would have increased that average in MAC play had he not been injured. Next year, I'd put Edwards back on kickoffs and let Sands and the young guns carry the load.          

HA! Thought the same thing!

[LZIp]

Cap'n..you seem to be speaking of Edwards in past-tense. Do you know something that we don't?

[Captain Kangaroo]

47 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Cap'n..you seem to be speaking of Edwards in past-tense. Do you know something that we don't?

Sorry...I was thinking he was a 2017 senior. No inside info. 

[UA1987]

Too early to tell as someone may surprise, but it looks to me like White may get playing time at running back in 2018. Sands, Suggs and White may be our trio with Floyd red-shirting. Maybe Edwards on Kick-offs where he seemed to excel.   

[72 Roo]

There have been some good replies to my comment about the OL. I agree that an upgrade at running back will make our OL better. No doubt. No argument. My opinion is based on what I saw of the OL over the last two years. They flat out underperformed and that is indisputable. They were big, veteran and poised for production. So we wished but they did not block, period. On nearly every televised game the color commentator noted our guys got handled by the opposing DL. And we played some weak opponents at times. Let's judge them on what happened, not what might have been had Ball or Sands been healthy, or the receivers not dropped balls, or the coaching changed. They did not do what they were asked to so. Simple.

[UA1987]

9 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

There have been some good replies to my comment about the OL. I agree that an upgrade at running back will make our OL better. No doubt. No argument. My opinion is based on what I saw of the OL over the last two years. They flat out underperformed and that is indisputable. They were big, veteran and poised for production. So we wished but they did not block, period. On nearly every televised game the color commentator noted our guys got handled by the opposing DL. And we played some weak opponents at times. Let's judge them on what happened, not what might have been had Ball or Sands been healthy, or the receivers not dropped balls, or the coaching changed. They did not do what they were asked to so. Simple.

I don't remember the TV guys saying anything specifically about our OL. I do remember at the Penn State game a lot of talk about our speedy receivers (specifically Smith) and how we may pose a threat to their defense (which never happened), but much of the talk was about their team and not so much about Akron. Against Penn State I'd say we did get pushed around at times, but that is not much of a surprise. Once we lost our top backs later in the year we had guys with heart trying to move through holes that closed quickly (typical for FBS play). One of the last plays I saw on TV in 2017 was Morgan tripping thru a wide open hole against FAU for a 2 yard gain. I like our recent OL recruits and we have some good talent ready to go (Kallay and Fazio are two that could step up - and maybe a young player like Neeley). I think our running game will be better in 2018. I'm more worried about our QB. Better decisions need to come from this position.                

[Blue & Gold]

On 1/16/2018 at 10:49 PM, ZachTheZip said:

 

@Balsy, could you add Bryce Peterson to your original post #1 of this thread?

[Blue & Gold]

@doccomet87, or anyone, know why Treon Sibley didn't sign on December 20th?  I DM'd him & asked if he was still signing w/ Akron & he just said, "I don't know yet."  I didn't pry any further.

[LZIp]

Pure speculation....but he doesn't have any other reported offers, so if he doesn't sign you'd have to assume it is due to grades.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Lost one to Ball State...compelling story.

[UA1987]

2 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Lost one to Ball State...compelling story.

The Rizzo coach in the article has to be ex-Zip lineman Vinnie Rizzo from 2012?

[LZIp]

National Signing Day coming up February 7th. Seems very quiet right now, but the scholly chart estimates 10 scholarships open. For purposes of this discussion, lets assume a walk-on or two impressed enough to earn a scholly or this is a transfer we don't know about. That would bring the figure down to 8. Since early signing day we have added OL Bryce Peterson as a JUCO commit, who I am anticipating will sign. That takes the number down to 7.

 

We have Tim Scippio, Te'Corey Tutson, Ramon Fields, Ronald Beasley, and Treon Sibley who we have down as commits, but didn't sign during the early signing day. I would think there is a reason these guys didn't sign - either grades, or considering somewhere else for whatever reason. My guess is that Ramon Fields (has not other reported offers and figure we would have signed with his teammates) and Ronald Beasley (really early commit last year who we haven't heard anything else about) are for sure out. Lets say 2 of those 5 end up signing.

 

We have non-qualifiers from last year in Marquise Bridges, Tracy Jordan, Marquess Callaway, and Marcus Kidd. I'm assuming Kidd is out due to his arrest. I would think at most we get 2 of these.

 

Lets also assume there are 1 or 2 players we don't know about that won't be with the team next year for whatever reason as some attrition is natural.

 

With that, I think we are really only looking at 4-5 available scholarships. On national signing day last year, we pulled in 3 of our best commits in Matthew Hansen, Zaire Jacobs, and Jeffrey Lubin. We also signed 2 true freshman contributors in Meeks and Williams after NSD.

 

In short, I would expect a boring NSD with the potential to land 1 or 2 decent guys at the last minute, 1 or 2 decent guys post-NSD, and finally have 1 or 2 scholly's saved for transfers. I've been keeping an eye out on 247's Crystal ball and there is nothing there for us yet.

Edited February 1, 2018 by LZIp

[94zipgrad]

Reggie Corner, you left off the list & from what I’ve heard he is the only one that did the work necessary but i guess will see a spring roster in little over a month

Edited January 27, 2018 by 94zipgrad

[LZIp]

1 minute ago, 94zipgrad said:

Reggie Corner, you left off the list & from what I’ve heard he is the only one that did the work necessary but i guess will she a spring roster in little over a month

I didn't include him because I am already counting him as a scholly player (as well as the other new signees). He signed again back in December.

Edited January 27, 2018 by LZIp

[CDMac]

2 hours ago, LZIp said:

In short, I would expect a boring NSD

Totally agree.

Going forward, the early signing period seems it will be the more "exciting" for fans with an occasional splash at/after the Feb signing period.

[LZIp]

Speaking of Ronald Beasley.....cross him off the list.

 

[Blue & Gold]

Looks like Treon Sibley still wants to be a Zip & do the necessary work.  He's still got "University of Akron Commit" on his twitter bio & recently tweeted this:

to which Dustin Burkhart replied:

 

[Blue & Gold]

Marquise Bridges' twitter bio still reads, "Zips football."

 

But on January 22nd I DM'd him & said, "Hey Marquise!  You're still gonna play for Akron, right?  Next season? Spring ball? I can't wait to see you in the blue & gold! 100"

 

But he has yet to reply.  Naturally, I assume the worst, i.e., he's still not academically eligible.  But I'm holding out hope that he just simply doesn't want to waste his time replying to some dorky white guy. Lol.  

Edited January 27, 2018 by Blue & Gold

[Balsy]

13 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

But he has yet to reply.  Naturally, I assume the worst, i.e., he's still not academically eligible.  But I'm holding out hope that he just simply doesn't want to waste his time replying to some dorky white guy. Lol.  

 

I'm actually shocked the responses I get from Zips players on Twitter...but they grew-up with twitter where we didn't so it must be different to them.  

[LZIp]

I cant remember if we offered William Collier or not, but per both his and Ramon Fields' twitter, they've committed to Highland Community College, presumably for failing to qualify academically for D1.