BREAKING NEWS ON THE ROCK: NU in hunt for two 2017 grad transfers
- Thread starter lou v
- Start date
Great scoop Lou! NJCat must be going crazy scouring the Internet for information on these two potential transfers.
Imagine getting two more players that had Alabama and Ohio State offers.
We do not generally take these guys, preferring to give our younger players the opportunities. Looks like we are going for it next year. The coaches are all in for Jackson's senior year, Thorson's big junior campaign, and the return of a strong defense. GO 'CATS!
I love these perceptions that NU doesn't do everything it can, within the strict academic standards of the program, to better the team. This idea that we'd ignore a better player, eligible to play at NU, just to give a younger player the opportunity is right up there with the idea that Fitz always starts upper classmen over freshman/sophomores out of loyalty, regardless of talent and ability to help the team win. Ridiculous.
The truth about most graduate transfers is that they are typically marginal players who do not start for their current teams, nor have the NFL in their future. Thus they seek to transfer to continue their playing career elsewhere where they might have a chance to play more.
I know it's a unique situation, but what was the reason for Russel Wilson's grad transfer to Wisconsin? Not challenging your point. Just in retrospect, it was not like he wasn't the starter at NC State, nor did he transfer to a perennial offensive powerhouse loaded with elite wideouts to improve his draft stock.
Maybe they were loaded then. I don't recall.
Maybe they were loaded then. I don't recall.
Wilson had lost the starting job to Mike Glennon, strangely enough. For whatever reason, Tom O'Brien had decided to go with Glennon. So Wilson was free to leave without having to sit a year. Wisconsin had a loaded team that needed a QB.
I don't doubt that this can be the case but the other side of the coin is these are guys with a track record that includes nothing negative and the possibility of improvement with a fresh start. Kyle Prater is a good example. He needed a fresh start and while he didn't blow the sox off everyone, he was a solid contributor and even though we didn't win any national championship because of him, we helped him do the best he could as a student athlete. The first priority is serving the student...right?
I trust the coaching staff to make a good choice, offering only the guys who have a good chance of contributing. also balancing out when Scholarships a re available. If we don't have a good shot now at a freshman who will develop into a contributor once they are developed, I'm all for taking a guy who has developed and can be a contributor for the short term.
I think you missed my point, probably because I was unclear - I apologize. If we give a scholarship to a fifth year guy, we have him for one year. The same scholarship could be used for a guy that has four or five years. Normally, the decision, at least at NU, has seemed obvious. The intention to use perhaps 2 scholarships on 5th year student-athletes - guys who could help next year - tells me that our coaches think we are real close - otherwise they would give them to younger players and play the guys already on the roster
I was responding to Aging Booster, who intimated in his/her post that grad transfers will good players who were discriminated against by coaches who preferred younger players. I do not think this is the case at all, but rather a consequence of most (not all) grad transfers being guys who cannot start at their current program nor have a shot at the NFL (otherwise they would stay). There are exceptions, of course.
I am totally on board with bringing in guys like the two we are wooing. By all appearances, both can play. The receiver had 19 catches for 330 yards and 4 TDs last year, which tells me he can get downfield and get open in the end zone. Those numbers are similar to Carr's before his breakout year.
Last edited:
If I recall correctly, O'Brien wasn't on board with Wilson taking spring to play baseball instead of go through spring practices.
Would guess it's also a function of having a large number of unanticipated scholarships without screwing up the roster; simple roster management.
Yeah, that too. I remember him wanting to play baseball. Then I thought, if it were all about baseball, he would not have chosen Wisconsin.
I think it was more "about baseball" in that was the element that undermined Wilson's relationship with O'Brien enough that O'Brien preferred Glennon as starter. The choice of Wisconsin was pretty much just a "one and done" season before heading to the NFL.
IIRC, Wisconsin had a very good team with an experienced OL, and Tolzein had just graduated. They also had Ball, White, and a young Gordon. That's a really good situation to walk into.
He could have stayed somewhere warm to play baseball, but his football career worked out pretty well, I think!
Didn't Wisconsin try a grad transfer QB the next year too - kid from Maryland I want to say - and that didn't work out. I would think it's got to be a little tricky to come to a program as a 22, 23 year old, try to blend in, make friends, build a rapport (especially as a QB) etc. during spring and summer work outs, compete against kids who have 3,4 years of equity with the program and hope to beat them out, play during the fall and then you're done - probably takes a certain type of person and coach to make it work.
That is about 17 yards per catch. I suppose the TD's could have been running for daylight but if so no one caught him.
At that point it seems a little more like a business decision. Ya gotta have the free agent mentality of a guy who didn't get drafted but did well at the combine and got picked up. You hope to get along with the guys in the locker room but it's really about getting a job.
Unless we are late in the process and not in on any more A or maybe even B candidates. If so the developed Grad transfer can build depth and contribute immediately. Even better if it is in a position of need. All this with out disrupting the long term plans by having a guy that they don't see as contributing as much as they would like as the scholarship is available again next year.
This is not meant in anyway to compare us to Alabama or suggest the two players we are recruiting are on par with the two Alabama kids, but Alabama has had a grad student transfer WR each of the last two years.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.foxs...c-bowling-green-021316?amp=true?client=safari
https://www.google.com/amp/www.foxs...c-bowling-green-021316?amp=true?client=safari
FWIW, Prater was a normal transfer that was given a hardship waiver.
While some graduate transfers come in with two years of eligibility (meaning they finished their degree in three), most only have one. Playing time, not being asked back, or coaching changes are usually the primary reasons for these transfers, but occasionally you'll get an impact FCS (or group of five) graduate who wants one chance to show his stuff on a bigger stage.
Last edited:
Dieter was amazing in the Briles spread-veer concept that Babers ran at Bowling Green in 2015, but didn't end up doing a ton at Bama this year.
In fact, he had a crushing drop in the title game. Heckuva blocker, though.
Well, this is a bit different. One of them actually did start for a traditional power program. The other was getting time and scoring TDs for a traditionally top 10 team and top 10 offense with two years of eligibility left. Both were having more impact at their previous teams than Kyle Prater or any other transfer we have seen.
Very easily argued that they would have been starting for NU given how weak we have been at their respective positions. My guess is they are locks to start for NU (and possibly be the best players in their respective unit) if they come and given how Prater ended up contributing to NU, I'll take them. Easily.
I'm not saying they are going to be Russell Wilson good, but I don't think this is a matter of some kids that were not seeing any time at all. NFL indeed may not be in their future, so why not get an NU degree out of the deal?
There are always exceptions. Brown clearly has talent and some production to go with. He would be a great add, IMO. And Brown's scholastic habits appear to make him a very good fit for us.
His numbers last year would have made him our #2 receive in 2015, though that's a putrid bar. Given that Prater turned into a #1 and this guy has had far more impact with his previous school, I think he'd be a great get.
Wilson played in the Rockies minor league system in 2010 and 2011 so Wisconsin not having baseball was irrelevant.
Make no mistake, I don't want to lose him. And who knows, injuries can happen and second stringers can become superstars and starters but I am surprised Matt Alvitti has not gone the Grad transfer route. He probably wants his NU degree (smart man! wise decision!) but then if I were him I would try to transfer into an Ivy League school where I could play at least for my last year. Go pick up a MBA at Dartmouth and play for former Stanford and Tulane coach Buddy Teevens who is known for mentoring quaterbacks because he was one himself. Or study something else there but at least you will get to chuck the ball around for a year.
But if he stays of course that is better for us, so it is not like I am hoping he does this!
But if he stays of course that is better for us, so it is not like I am hoping he does this!
Last edited:
I emphasize, I hope (for purely selfish reasons) he does not do this. But I would not blame him if he did because he is only going to play next year if Clayton gets hurt.
Latest posts
-
-
-
Brendan Sullivan enters the transfer portal- Latest: CoralSpringsCat
-