Recruit List is Updated

[Captain Kangaroo]

Click for the New 25

[ZippyRulz]

Nice table. Ya gotta love getting a 4-star WR and DL.

[Zippysgotagun]

Nice table. Ya gotta love getting a 4-star WR and DL.

I only love them if they stay on the field. I hope JD's new policy about recruit character takes effect with this class.

[Dr Z]

Wow! 4 star WR. Looks like a gym rat too.

[J-BIDDY]

Thanks for sharing Captain, lol at Dr. Z!

[RACER]

thats all welland good but do we have a qb?i still dont see how we go into to spring with rogers who has never played a down number 1#.hope fully jd has seen enough in practice,and the kid is the real deal.if not the zips are in trouble.

[Blue & Gold]

I think we all agree we are in desperate need for a QB. Last year was very enlightening for me - I had always heard how vital QB play is; the general on the field. However I had never actually witnessed how poor QB play could ruin an otherwise very strong team. Last year I saw it for myself. In baseball they say pitching is 90% of the game. In football I'd say QB play is 70% of the game! Our defense held OSU to 20 points. Our O-line was decent and continued to improve throughout the year. We had 2 Big Ten caliber running backs. But the QBs? Ouch. I think that by years' end our D was pretty demoralized knowing that no matter how many stops they may have gotten, they'd be right back out on the field after 3 plays as the O just couldn't get a first down, let alone put the ball in the end zone.

[GP1]

I think we all agree we are in desperate need for a QB. Last year was very enlightening for me - I had always heard how vital QB play is; the general on the field. However I had never actually witnessed how poor QB play could ruin an otherwise very strong team.

Welcome to the club Blue & Gold. I was the first to say it years ago on this board. Until last season, we had to hear on this board that the center was just as important as the QB or the old lie that "defense wins championships". That's all nonsense. The QB has to be a winner in addition to being good. Just look at recent history in the NFL and you can see how important the QB is to turning around a team:Cowboys: Bledsoe (sp?) to Romo...Cowboys turn around their team and now have one of the most exciting QB is the league.Patriots: Bledsoe to Brady...Patriots become the best team in history.Steelers: The pile of junk that played between Bradshaw and Roethlisberger to Roethlisberger...The Steelers go from a team on the brink of disaster each week to a legit. winner.Colts: Pile of Junk to Manning...A solid team and World Champion.Browns: The change to DA was the best thing to happen to that franchise since the great bottle throwing incident where "only a few fans" threw 20,000 urine filled bottles onto the field. Those five or six guys must have really been drinking a lot that day.The other great lie in football is that you need a great offensive line to win. Joe Montana won a lot of games with the 49ers early in his career with an offensive line that could at best be described as average. Montana never once had what would be considered a great line.Your analogy to other sports was right on the money. In team sports, not every player is equally important as every other player. The baseball analogy was perfect as a pitcher can dominate a game. In the NBA, it is the center that is most important. In football, it is the QB. In hockey, it is the center. We badly need a QB next year.

[cornbread]

I think we all agree we are in desperate need for a QB. Last year was very enlightening for me - I had always heard how vital QB play is; the general on the field. However I had never actually witnessed how poor QB play could ruin an otherwise very strong team.

Welcome to the club Blue & Gold. I was the first to say it years ago on this board. Until last season, we had to hear on this board that the center was just as important as the QB or the old lie that "defense wins championships". That's all nonsense. The QB has to be a winner in addition to being good. Just look at recent history in the NFL and you can see how important the QB is to turning around a team:Cowboys: Bledsoe (sp?) to Romo...Cowboys turn around their team and now have one of the most exciting QB is the league.Patriots: Bledsoe to Brady...Patriots become the best team in history.Steelers: The pile of junk that played between Bradshaw and Roethlisberger to Roethlisberger...The Steelers go from a team on the brink of disaster each week to a legit. winner.Colts: Pile of Junk to Manning...A solid team and World Champion.Browns: The change to DA was the best thing to happen to that franchise since the great bottle throwing incident where "only a few fans" threw 20,000 urine filled bottles onto the field. Those five or six guys must have really been drinking a lot that day.The other great lie in football is that you need a great offensive line to win. Joe Montana won a lot of games with the 49ers early in his career with an offensive line that could at best be described as average. Montana never once had what would be considered a great line.Your analogy to other sports was right on the money. In team sports, not every player is equally important as every other player. The baseball analogy was perfect as a pitcher can dominate a game. In the NBA, it is the center that is most important. In football, it is the QB. In hockey, it is the center. We badly need a QB next year.

I disagreeYou are plucking select situations and twisting them to your point.Romo: Bledsoe's career was declining and the Dallas defense accelerated its development under ParcelsMontana: The "average" line was more than sufficient to accommodate the innovation that was the west coast offense under Bill Walsh. It helped that he threw Rice.Browns: DA could not have stepped into a better situation for a starting QB. Low expectations, excellent receievers with experience thrown in, a revamped line, and and one of the most preeminent offensive minds in the NFL with Chudzinski.Qbs are no more important to the team than the larger than average defensive lineman who only plays in running situations. Everyone does their part in the system.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Updated

[ziptrumpet87]

Any info if they are looking at Gerald Nixon (CB 5-11/180/4.46 New Albany HS OH)? I know he had Akron on his list because he wanted to play right away.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Any info if they are looking at Gerald Nixon (CB 5-11/180/4.46 New Albany HS OH)? I know he had Akron on his list because he wanted to play right away.

Personally -- I doubt he's in the mix. There are a scant few scholarships remaining, and those are being held in hopes that some "big fish" slip through the cracks (ie. a BCS school pulls an offer to a Blue Chipper). Or a Ryan Bain-like transfer arises.

[rocketfootball]

JUCO wide receiver Ryan Gardner is a "soft" commit to Akron.

[AK-Zips]

Updated

If giving transfers stars, like Ryan Bain, why not give 4 stars (Rivals) to Andrew Johnson, and Jeremy Bruce 2 stars (Rivals)? Let's see 'em Captain!

[Captain Kangaroo]

Updated

If giving transfers stars, like Ryan Bain, why not give 4 stars (Rivals) to Andrew Johnson, and Jeremy Bruce 2 stars (Rivals)? Let's see 'em Captain!

Stupid work is getting in the way. I'll add Will Fleming and some stars tomorrow!

[Captain Kangaroo]

Updated

If giving transfers stars, like Ryan Bain, why not give 4 stars (Rivals) to Andrew Johnson, and Jeremy Bruce 2 stars (Rivals)? Let's see 'em Captain!

Stupid work is getting in the way. I'll add Will Fleming and some stars tomorrow!

Master List is Updated!

[gozips19]

does anyone have any information on Davoe Torrence? Word on the street is that ohio state pulled his scholarship. maybe akron can sneak in and get the ath. from canton?

[zff]

He is bad news!!! He might be invloved in a huge scandal from Massillon Washington High School. JD kicked a few kids off last year because they were bad news. There is no reason to add more.

does anyone have any information on Davoe Torrence? Word on the street is that ohio state pulled his scholarship. maybe akron can sneak in and get the ath. from canton?

[gozips19]

haven't been able to confirm but may be a sexual assault case looming on young mister torrence. can anyone else shed some light to this?

[Buckzip]

does anyone have any information on Davoe Torrence? Word on the street is that ohio state pulled his scholarship. maybe akron can sneak in and get the ath. from canton?

It's Devoe Torrence. He has some personal issues going on at the moment.

[gozips19]

wasn't looking for a vague response. does anyone know anything specific? should we take a chance on him? i think maybe so, even if it means him not playing his first year. let me put a disclosure on this: as long as the rest of the class are locks to qualify.

[Blue & Gold]

I've heard that Devoe Torrence & a few (?) other Massillon high players are quite busted for having sex w/ considerably under-aged girls. That's what I've heard; don't know if it's true. Maybe Devoe just doesn't believe in Santa and Jim Tressel just doesn't like that, I don't know. But if the rumor is true, he's in some serious trouble. I don't think we want him in a Zips uniform. We've learned our lesson, right JD? We want to sign players that will set foot on the field.

[GP1]

I don't like bringing in guys from Massillon. All of the players I knew had big heads and believed they should be playing somewhere other than Akron. They are never as good as they think they are. This guy would be another one of them. We don't need guys who believe their best days are/will ever be behind them.

[timsum1283]

very nice list CaptainTengo a couple preguntas if you don't mind answering:Where do you see Jordan Miller depth-chartwise by the beginning of the season?Who do you trust more rating-wise: scout or rivals?Who could you see starting by mid-season?and are any of these ratings decieving?thanks

[Captain Kangaroo]

very nice list CaptainTengo a couple preguntas if you don't mind answering:Where do you see Jordan Miller depth-chartwise by the beginning of the season?Who do you trust more rating-wise: scout or rivals?Who could you see starting by mid-season?and are any of these ratings decieving?thanks

I see Miller @ #4. Going into spring drills #1QB will be CJ11. As it should be...he's the veteran. It will be interesting to see if JD names a starter after the spring game, or waits until summer camp.#2 will be Matt Rogers. I think the staff is committed to developing him as the starting QB.#3 will likely be KC Patterson. People were waiting for the Zips to grab a JUCO QB recruit in 2008, but didn't because we already had one in KC. #4 Jordan Miller. If Rogers and Patterson has solid springs, I'm guessing Miller redshirts. If CJ11 loses the job, and subsequently bolts to a lower-division program...MAYBE Miller gets in the mix.I don't know who'll be the started in mid-season. Check back in after spring practices are complete. I've never seen Patterson or Rogers throw a meaningful ball so I'd just be guessing.Scout or Rivals? - For UA recruiting, they are equally as worthless to me. A few years ago I used to track their recruiting lists. It was an exercise in futility. They'd list 50 names in July, and come signing day, MAYBE three or four would actually have committed to the Zips. Even now, two days away from signing day, their lists are very incomplete. I put the recruiting "stars" on my list because people seem to like them. But they don't mean much. I read a stat that, in the 2007 NFL draft, only 45% of the 1st and 2nd round picks were 4-star or 5-star rated HS players. Guys like Thomas Plummer and Nate Robinson were "4-star" and it didn't seem to mean much.Maybe I'll come up with my own useful ratings one day? "Captain's Anchors" or "Captain's Wheels"...