catdaddyp

I’m not familiar with this site, but it came up on my feed. When was the last time anyone listed Akron as a recruiting victory? Georgia Southern and UCONN both made bowl games last year. Times are changing…

Just for comparison to HS commitments at this time last year. Had 10 and then 2 more committed in July. QB - Steele Wasel WR - Adrian Norton TE - Conner Cravaack OL - Maurice Long (did not sign) OL - Jonas Mann DT - Marcus Moore LB - Joshua Bowen (did not sign) CB - Jean Louis CB - Catrell White CB - Zayden Laing-Taylor

I’d have to think they played a part in it. Getting guys on campus is always a big deal. There were 4 camps this month and the staff issued out a ton of offers, some to 2024s but especially to 2025 and 2026 prospects. We’re about to go into a recruiting dead period, but hopefully we get some news about how the team and incoming players look.

Big day for the 2024 class. Here’s DT Elijah Davis profile. Watch how he moves in the 2nd and 3rd highlights. (Hudl film should be linked at bottom of profile).

Anyone worried about our relatively slow start in 2024 compared to some of the other MAC schools, worry no more. This class is ramping up. Commitments from (5.5) 3 star WR Kyan Mason (OH) and (5.5) 3 star RB Sean Patrick (OH).

I really hope he finds a way back on the active roster.

Here are their profiles: Rodrick Hunter and Keyveon Johnson. I also try to keep everything updated on a daily basis in the 2024 MAC Recruiting thread if curious about any other commitments. I don’t expect either of these guys to start as freshmen, but they fit the developmental box that coach Moorhead is trying to create. The only film I could find of Johnson playing CB was during his HS spring game, which I attached to his Rivals profile (as well as last year’s HS film playing WR). He’s a solid athlete, with plenty of length, and knows how to play the ball in the air. He flips his hips well and plays as physically as he can. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he collects a P5 offer or two if he has a big senior year. I wasn’t expecting his commitment. Then again, that’s been par for the course with all these stealth commitments this staff tends to land. I knew Hunter was visiting, along with another more highly rated safety, so I went ahead and got Hunter’s profile ready and watched his film yesterday morning. He was the one I wanted us to land vs the other safety. Although, I’d be happy with both. I have no idea what Hunter’s physical measurements are outside of height and weight, but he seems to have a great sense at fielding that spot and is a physical player - which is in line with all the safeties coach Renna has brought in. Can’t wait to see Hunter with another 15lbs on him. I’m really excited about this class.

Good catch. JMU mascot isn’t included, but they are listed on the graphic. We probably shouldn’t be too hard on him as I’m sure he had someone else do the graphic.

It sounds like App State and JMU are the leaders here, but I thought I’d share anyway.

Really excited about this one. Has the feel of one of those situations where his offer list could take off and we may be fighting to keep him in the fold. Former WR that is switching to CB for his senior year. A bit raw as a CB right now, but very long, good athlete, and a ton of upside.

On my phone, so not sure if this will post. But got another one! CB Keyveon Johnson.

💥 Was just watching this kid’s film today. Great pickup! Rodrick Hunter

I don’t remember which thread(s) this topic was brought up in, but here are the Arth recruits still on the roster. A few more of these players may have initially been walk-ons than I have listed. Let me know if I missed anyone. 2021 QB DJ Irons RB Blake Hester (Walk-on) WR Jasaiah Gathings WR Myles Walker TE Nik Ogneovic IOL Colin Lyons IOL Brian Kilbane (Walk-on) DE Ryan Johnson DE Bennett Adler DT Andre Proffitt ILB Camari Harris (Walk-on) ILB Andrew Behm CB Rishad Hence S Darrian Lewis S Noel Roach S DiMarco Johnson S MyJaden Horton LS Tyler Reiger (Walk-on) 2020 QB Ryan Jankowski TE Brycen Yarmo TE Grant Gainer (Walk-on) IOL Tony Georges (Walk-on) OT Nate Williams OT Ronan Chambers CB Tyson Durant (Walk-on) S Sean Conroy (Walk-on) 2019 IOL Alex Robarge (Walk-on) DE Julian Richardson S Corey Thomas

DB Marshall Washington committed to Monmouth. Disappointing as I thought he would be a nice addition. ILB Nylan Brown committed to Kent State. We were his first offer, but I’m not sure if we pushed after landing Jason Hocker.

I believe it’s 29.

Thanks. Looks like Yarmo was added back on after not being listed during the spring. Also, Emmett Hanna is no longer listed at LB.

Just a note about how things have changed around the program. I’m seeing a lot of excitement from prospects attending camps at Akron hoping to gain an offer. Didn’t see nearly as much of this last offseason.

Good luck to Bubba.

Did a little more digging on Hocker. This is from one of the Rivals sites last summer when talking about 2024 prospects the particular P5 team was showing heavy interest to. "He's 6'1 1/2 to be exact and he's 235," said Hawkins, who noted that most schools like him as a MIKE "thumper" type in the middle of the field. "But he's actually long and fast enough to probably play outside. Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, most of these guys have liked him inside."

Did a little more digging. He’s one that BC wanted. They just had him on campus during their spring game. Excerpt from his trip to BC “Applebaum likes the way Mitchell moves at his size as an interior line prospect.” He clearly didn’t play against great competition all the time, but can’t deny his physical ability.

Another one in the fold. Roosevelt Mitchell. He’ll probably be an OG despite playing OT in HS, but watch this big boy move.

While I do think it’s only a matter of time that Akron is a top level team in the MAC under Moorhead (or even the top team ), I wouldn’t go as far as saying Illinois doesn’t have as much of a chance in the Big10. Ignore history and take a look at what is currently happening. Illinois went from 2 wins in the COVID year (granted not as many games played, but I honestly don’t know if they would have won more than 2 anyway) under Lovie Smith, to 5 wins in Bielema’s first year (including an upset over Penn State) and 8 wins in Bielema’s second year (did not lose a game by more than 8 points until the bowl game where they lost to Miss State by 9 - not a single blowout loss.) Recruiting, culture, and development/coaching is what sets programs apart. I don’t have an inside connection to either Akron or Illinois, but both seem to now have the culture part in order, development of players is clearly taking place, we’ve witnessed some excellent coaching, and recruiting (where I can really vouch) has picked up tremendously. One of the biggest downfalls for the Illinois football teams in the past was losing top instate talent to their competitors. For the most part, Bielema has walled off the state and is now keeping the best talent home. Illinois has the 2nd highest retention rate when it comes to the portal under Bielema and have used the portal selectively when improving the roster. Wining 8 games last year and barely losing to Michigan was not a fluke. Illinois, as hard as it is to believe, is on the doorstep of being a Big10 challenger. Bielema has assembled a phenomenal coaching staff (only whiff was at OC in his first year, which he quickly corrected) and has now put together 2 very strong recruiting classes with a 3rd shaping up nicely. Akron is a year behind Illinois in recruiting, but Moorhead has accelerated the process by stringing together two strong portal classes. Zips played like a P5 team the last two games of the season in the terms of physicality. That, in and of itself, has me excited about this year. While the offense will certainly be strong again, I think the defense is really going to surprise, especially if we have a pass rush. If I’m wrong, I’ll certainly admit it. Although, I rarely am when it comes to turnarounds. That being said, I was wrong in the amount of games we would win last year. Not sure if anyone could have foreseen the way we lost a few of them. 2023 season can’t get here soon enough.

Phil Steele’s Preseason All-MAC: 1st Team = Alex Adams (WR) & Bubba Arslanian (LB) 2nd Team = TJ Banks (TE) 3rd Team = DJ Irons (QB) & Daniel George (WR) 4th Team = Lorenzo Lingard (RB), Ryan Johnson (DE), Nate Thompson (S), Blake Hester (KR)