ZachTheZip

Stars are dumb. I put more stock into position rankings, but only for the "high volume" positions like WR or OL where each school brings in multiple players every year. For example if every school signs 2 WRs then 240 of them get signed. If one of our WRs is rated around 80 then they are somewhere in the upper half of WRs for that class. Of course it's not exact, but if you allow for a decent margin of error then you can make some general assumptions. At the very least a ranking means they have been evaluated and compared to others who were also evaluated. Sure there will be players who never got evaluated who end up all-conference and ranked players who are busts, but it's still a better system than the star system which is far too vague.

All high school coaches have to do that. There was some excitement among Zips fans when it was learned that Taylor was going to be a Zip.

Much better article on Tyrell Goodman. Akron has three quarterbacks on its roster, including 2010 starter Patrick Nicely. With the athleticism to play multiple positions, Goodman isn't locked into quarterback. However, that's what he wants to play, and that's what he was recruited as. "They see me as a quarterback," he said. "They said I'm going to work at the quarterback position, and if I don't like it, I can try something else."

Out of the myriad 3+ star players he signed, maybe 5 or 6 over his career ever became starters. Most never saw the field. The recruiting services don't keep track of things so far back, but I seem to remember that Jason Taylor, Dwight Smith, Reggie Corner, and Chase Blackburn were highly recruited coming out of high school.

Its more interesting that the Dispatch is actually covering the MAC.

Where'd this come from? I haven't heard anything like that. Their interactions with myself and others.

Zips get another verbal! QB Tyrell Goodman. Went to the same high school as Ianello.

For the last time, they are not Greyshirts. They are non-qualifiers (old Prop 48). Sorry. I've been stuck in the habit of using "greyhirt" as a catch-all term for players who sit out a year and aren't on scholarship. Anybody else hoping that this upcoming run through the MAC West has a lot of blowout wins where we can finally get the new guys the kind of playing time they need?

I think something should be happening soon.

The MAC only has 15 players in the Super Bowl, according to the MAC office.

I missed Doug Legursky. I thought Marshall left the MAC by the time he played there. For Pittsburgh, Ryan Mundy played at Michigan for four years before transferring to WVU to graduate. If you want to count that out as a technicality, fine. Donovan Warren played for Michigan. For the Packers, Mike Neal went to Purdue. Mark Tauscher went to Wisconsin.

Because it would have been much more financially prudent to spend $100 million fixing the Rubber Bowl than $60 million to get us a modern on-campus stadium.

I'm hesitant to count either Treadwell or Harney as immediate contributors. They may have talent that belongs on a top-10 team but when they come in they will have spent a year without participating in an organized practice and won't know the system like the transfers would, who have actually been on the team. They also appear to be getting some egos from the "savior"-like talk surrounding them. A greyshirt is a risky proposition by nature and relying on one, let alone two, to come in and immediately take your team to the next level is not something I would recommend.

NJ Receiver chooses Old Dominion over the Zips and a bunch of FCS offers. Maybe the reason we're converting players to WR is because the coaches can't get a high school receiver to choose us over Old-freaking-Dominion.

Scout has three of our verbals as WRs, but the other recruiting services have them at other positions. Scout has been less than reliable as of late when compared to Rivals and ESPN. Scout lists Johnny Robinson (DB), Tyler Williams (QB), and Jabari Thomas (CB) as moving to WR. Frankly, I would rather have a recruit who has actually played the position so they don't need as much coaching in the beginning, which frees up the staff to work on our other myriad problems.

When did 15 (MAC) suddenly equal 19 (BT)?

Are we going to have too many players next year? If Nik stays with the program and the two non-qualifiers both are eligible we will have one too many players to give scholarships to (barring any unforeseen transfers). I just don't think Nik stays. He really doesn't have any reason to come back for his senior year.

At least there are actual seats and stuff at Canal Park. Most area high schools have better baseball stadiums than us.

Mike Johnson named UCLA's new Offensive Coordinator. He's back in the college game. Think he could be the Zips HC in a few years after Ianello is gone? One way or another Ianello will be gone in a few years; let's just hope it's because he gets hired away after being successful and not because he gets fired for losing.

http://www.zips.ohio.com/2011/01/akron-vs-...n-live-updates/

Not on channelsurfing or atdhe?

Yes, but I kind of assumed it would be given to one of the greyshirts.

Having just an "OK" kicker would be a huuuuge upgrade over what we had last year.

Our returning LBs average 6' 1" and 212 lbs. None of them weigh more than 230 and they are all between 6-0 and 6-3. March is very slightly below average, but he hasn't been in the strength program here yet and he's probably not done growing. I think after he gets one year in our strength program he could be on the upper end of where our current LBs are in terms of size. If he puts on the 30-35 lbs you want, he'll easily be the heaviest LB on the roster.

Everyone looks good coming out of high school where small LB's can excel. Put a 6"0" 207 lb LB in a full season of D1 football and you will see why size is needed. Good luck to this recruit, but don't kid yourself. In the MAC size is needed at LB. We don't seem to be getting it with many of our recruits. We will pay down the line when 230 lb running backs hit us up for 5+ yds/carry. I agree with everything you say but it seems to me I read that he was being targeted as a safety for the Zips. Makes a whole lot more sense and goes along with what you say about weight. In the article I posted: "And March’s size, 6-foot and 207 pounds, compares favorably with all six on the two-deep depth chart. “Size is that important to them,’’ March said. “They want guys that can play football and they have seen me play against bigger guys and be able hold my own. “I also know that I’m going to get bigger and stronger when I start concentrating on football.’’"