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Skyline

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Posts posted by Skyline

  1. 18 minutes ago, Thiefery said:
    Quote

    Relevant section: 

    7. The guy everyone seemed to be most split on was Texas commit Maalik Murphy. He struggled Friday in seven-on-seven, and he knew it. I was around him when he discussed it with one of the Elite 11 coaches, and Murphy handled that exceptionally well. He came across as sincere and accountable, focused on trying to get better. Not making excuses or being obtuse.

    Murphy, at 6-5 and 230 pounds, has a huge frame and big arm; if you told me he was 6-5, 245, it wouldn’t surprise me. He’s engaging and fun to be around. The guys I spoke to think he’s very coachable. He was inconsistent this week, but keep in mind, he has started only six high school games, and as one of the other Elite 11 QBs told me the other night, Murphy just turned 17 recently and is one of the youngest quarterbacks at the event. It’ll be fascinating to watch his development.

    Murphy plays with real confidence in his ability to make throws into tight windows, and he displayed that several times. That’s something a lot of young quarterbacks shy away from in settings like this one. His attitude indicates he’s going to embrace getting better in the detail work and the finer nuances of the position.

    Spoiler

    1. The most impressive quarterback was from Texas, but for at least this week, it wasn’t Quinn Ewers, the player who has the rare perfect ranking from 247Sports. Ewers was excellent overall, but the guy who I thought outshined him was Cade Klubnik, a Clemson commit from powerhouse Austin Westlake. The wiry 6-foot-2, 185-pounder, ranked as 247Sports’ No. 6 QB entering the event but likely is headed for a better ranking soon. He was the MVP selected by the Elite 11 coaches and led his team to the seven-on-seven tournament championship. His accuracy sparkled each day. He showed he could throw very well on the move, and he seemed dialed in throughout the event, which separated him from most of the other top guys who flashed at times but weren’t as consistently sharp.

    Clemson, which is in the midst of quite a run of gifted quarterbacks, has another terrific one on the way. From talking to coaches about Klubnik and from observing him the past few days, it feels like the bust factor — the chance that he won’t come close to the hype — is going to be very low. I’ll be really, really surprised if he doesn’t have an excellent college career.

    2. Conner Weigman, another Texan, is a thicker kid than Klubnik but also displayed good athleticism. Weigman sprayed the ball around early the first night a bit, but I liked how after that he responded by winning the night’s “Hole Shot” throwing competition. That kind of resilience bodes well. Weigman’s strong and should be a good fit for Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. Like a bunch of the more highly ranked QBs in this group, the coaches I spoke with seemed all over the place on what they thought of his skill set.
    3. Ewers has a lot of ‘wow’ to his game. He throws an incredibly tight ball and makes it look effortless. He can sling it around from all sorts of arm angles. His high school coach, Riley Dodge, a former A&M and UT graduate assistant, raved about his athleticism and said the Ohio State commit could play college basketball if he wanted to go in that direction. Ewers’ seven-on-seven team struggled Saturday and never looked in rhythm, which isn’t shocking considering the skill guys the quarterbacks get paired with can be a mixed bag, and there’s little time to get in rhythm. Ewers already has crafted an amazing prep career at Southlake Carroll. Dealing with the recruiting hype that has been heaped on him won’t be easy. In my conversation with Dodge, he sounded confident that his guy has the right makeup to handle it. I suspect playing for someone like Ryan Day, with his temperament, will help on that front.
     

    4. Devin Brown entered the event ranked No. 22 among the QBs by 247Sports, but he generated a ton of buzz in the first two days of the camp. He’s about 6-3 and can really rip the ball. Here’s what I really liked about him. I thought his “pro day” workout in the Thursday night event was as impressive as any of the quarterbacks, and that included the counselors. He rose to the moment and looked in command with a hot hand, like he was clearing out the racks and draining jumpers in a 3-point contest. If I was a Trojans fan, I’d be excited about him, and Clay Helton’s staff deserves a lot of credit here. Just like with Sam Darnold and Kedon Slovis, the Trojans found and went all in on a (relatively) unheralded gem.

    5. Walker Howard seemed a little shorter than I expected, but he has a lot of juice. He’s listed at 6-1 and 195 pounds, and like Brown, he displayed a lot of confidence and command. Howard also looked really athletic. He’s set to go the same place where his father, Jamie, was a standout QB, LSU, and he’ll make a deep quarterbacks room that much better, joining Garrett Nussmeier and Max Johnson in 2022. Walker and Nussmeier — both second-generation QBs — may not have ideal size, but they are very dynamic and fit well in this generation of football.
     

    6. I know Tennessee fans have endured a lot with their program of late, but they have a keeper in QB commit Tayven Jackson, a 6-4, 190-pounder. He had a lot of good moments that I saw. Jackson has a quick release and excellent feet. He’s a terrific all-around athlete and has a lot of presence to him. He’s an outstanding basketball player and golfer, too. I liked how he talked to the coaches and former NFL guys at the event. He seemed to have a lot of natural leadership qualities and charisma. I’d bet on this kid being a really good one for Josh Heupel.

    7. The guy everyone seemed to be most split on was Texas commit Maalik Murphy. He struggled Friday in seven-on-seven, and he knew it. I was around him when he discussed it with one of the Elite 11 coaches, and Murphy handled that exceptionally well. He came across as sincere and accountable, focused on trying to get better. Not making excuses or being obtuse.

    Murphy, at 6-5 and 230 pounds, has a huge frame and big arm; if you told me he was 6-5, 245, it wouldn’t surprise me. He’s engaging and fun to be around. The guys I spoke to think he’s very coachable. He was inconsistent this week, but keep in mind, he has started only six high school games, and as one of the other Elite 11 QBs told me the other night, Murphy just turned 17 recently and is one of the youngest quarterbacks at the event. It’ll be fascinating to watch his development.
     

    Murphy plays with real confidence in his ability to make throws into tight windows, and he displayed that several times. That’s something a lot of young quarterbacks shy away from in settings like this one. His attitude indicates he’s going to embrace getting better in the detail work and the finer nuances of the position.

    8. Coming in, Drew Allar, a Penn State commit, reminded some of the Elite 11 coaches of a young Josh Allen. That’s hefty praise. I’ll go with this: He’s the most physically gifted quarterback James Franklin has landed since he has been in Happy Valley. He was very impressive the first two days of the camp and then like many of the QBs at the event, tailed off some. The Penn State staff has a lot to work with in Allar.

    9. Alabama commit Ty Simpson looked like one of the guys you would think has been groomed well to be a college QB. On Friday, there were a few shaky moments for his seven-on-seven team, and he bounced right back to throw touchdowns.
     

    10. I never heard of Duce Robinson, a 2023 tight end from Arizona and son of former Florida State defensive back/wideout Dominic Robinson, a former five-star back in the 2001 class, until this week. But he turned my head a few times by making some amazing catches, including Moss-ing some talented cornerbacks in the tournament title game. It was the most impressive play I saw this week. Remember his name.

    11. I ran into Clemson star wide receiver Justyn Ross on Friday night. He said his recovery is going great. Sounds like the Tigers will have their big wideout back and ready to make a lot of big plays this fall. Ross missed the 2020 season after having surgery because of a spinal issue he was born with.

    12. Former Michigan QB Devin Gardner worked the event as an Elite 11 coach this week. It’s the first time I’ve been around Gardner since his playing days in Ann Arbor. He is now a colleague, having been signed as a broadcaster by FOX Sports and the Big Ten Network. Everyone around there this week got to see his energy and personality. He’s a private QB coach back in Michigan and was great with the kids. My hunch is he’s going to have a very bright future as a TV guy.
    13. I wrote about Liberty quarterback Malik Willis a few months ago and the buzz building about his NFL Draft stock given his rocket arm and his wheels. The thing I didn’t quite grasp about the former Auburn QB was just how muscled he is, especially in his lower body. He’s built like an NFL linebacker. I’m guessing he’s about 6-2, maybe 235 pounds. Is he a little too thick right now as a quarterback? I don’t know. The ball jumped out of his hand like no other quarterback in the stadium this week.

     

    • Hook 'Em 7
    • Like 1
  2. 1 hour ago, UncleSonny said:

    This is a good point, Card had 82 passing attempts total when we took his commitment. Different staff and all but it's not all that weird to evaluate a HS qb using camps and coaches before they have a ton of game film. 

    Aside from the passing, a big selling point for Card was positional versatility (WR). It's not quite apples to apples.

    However, a lot of the QB evaluation that takes place isn't just in camps but in home and at the kids school. It's hard to know for us on the internet to know what a kid is like mentally and emotionally. The latter being talked up for Murphy (and Card early on) is a good indicator. 

  3. The contrarian take on Muschamp is that he hasn't done anything notable in the defensive department for a few years. His South Carolina defenses were not great, and his Auburn defense was alright. I'd be happy to have him back but I understand that we might have something good in Ash. 

    • Hook 'Em 3
  4. 15 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

    The biggest issue with Strong and Herman (and even Mack initially) were buddy comfort hires from their current gig.

    But are we OK with that here since Bama is the current gig? 

    A badass coaching staff is the real appeal of hiring Sark. His connections are to Carroll's tree and Saban's tree. That's as good as it gets in current cfb. If he keeps Ash then he's somewhat connected to the UM tree as well. 

  5. 1 hour ago, Homercles said:

    And it’s got the DT crowd spun up in a frenzy accusing brisket of being a Marxist, blaming all of this on the protestors while ignoring the circumstances that lead to this rage in the first place.  This is just all-around horrible with real people and police having their lives irreparably shattered...the shooting/looting/riots are absolutely in the wrong for how they’re responding but with essentially monthly reminders that the police are rarely held accountable mixed with an emboldened ‘militia’ culture, completely ignoring why they are so upset is going to lead us nowhere.  

    I do not visit DT, but has this board basically split into two safe zones for politics? If so, why do the mods allow DT to exist under it's current form? 

    • Hook 'Em 1
  6. So you guys are telling me that winning does not cure all? 

    If LSU lose another player they're only going to have about 70 players on scholarship left, that includes the last recruiting class. It will be like USC or Penn State when they were on sanctions. This year can quickly turn into a war of attrition even faster than other years and they simply won't have depth if there's a spike in cases.

  7. 48 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

    This is STILL amazing to me. I should be numb to it, but I'm not. He says this and they scream it's blackmail, but meanwhile Donald Trump has been saying only he can save us from his American for fucking weeks and my brain has been screaming "THAT'S HOLDING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HOSTAGE AS A CAMPAIGN STRATEGY" and so few seem to fucking get it. I just can't even. 

    The conveniently ignore that Trump has spent his entire presidency stoking every fire and culture war he possibly can. Nope, the real instigator is leftie commie Joe Biden. Complete gas lighting. 

  8. 28 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    Complete gaslighting. When Biden makes a point that can’t  be disputed, they’re going to turn it on him that he said something else. The past few years have taught us that repeating a lie enough makes it “true” for many. And if you get enough conservative voices to quickly repeat that lie, it will temper what Biden says.

    I imagine there is a whats app or similar messaging platform conversation for many of these known personalities to quickly align together. And a second conversation for personalities that pretend to be libertarian but potentially are financed by the right.

    I had a nice time hoping they would fuck off to Parler like some attempted to.

    This is the end result of everyone trying to position themselves as the next Rush by leapfrogging. 

  9. 1 hour ago, longhornmatt said:

    I really didn’t vote for Trump, and won’t vote for Trump, but it’s definitely fantasy land to think he’s only popular in Texas with West Texas roughnecks and tiny shithole towns.   He’s much less popular in Texas than in most other Confederate states because (a) we have more Latinos here and (b) many of the white people here are more affluent than in the Deep South and Appalachia, and not so easily conned by lowest common denominator scams.   But what I’m observing is that he has way more support in the suburbs and even in the non-Austin urban areas than I would have hoped.

    I hope I’m wrong, but the R next to the name, a tax cut, and some well timed fearmongering about rioters, illegal immigrants or socialism are going to be big (probably insurmountable) hurdles for Biden winning here.  Other regions will probably break more for Biden as Election Day nears, but I expect Texas to tilt more toward Trump.  I’ve just encountered way too many people who seemed down on Trump before, only to dig back in for Team R now that it’s showtime. 

    What I've learned the most is that the vast majority of Americans do not care about politics as long as it isn't affecting them. Their default mode used to be not being political, until they have to go vote, and then they would go back to not caring. If the economy hadn't tanked I fully believe Trump would be in a tight race with Biden. 

    However, the default mode is changing. Everyone is political to some extent now. It's impossible to ignore Trump news, or any other news for that matter. I wonder if this will carry forward post-Trump? If so, will independents remember their distaste of Trump and continue to flee the GOP? That might be the only hope against Trump's fear mongering, and maybe even other GOP agenda items. 

  10. This is the problem with constantly trying to tell your base that Biden is mentally impaired. All it takes is one halfway decent speech to figure out that's a bad attack line. So now you move the goalpost that he's actually on drugs. Then you will have to move it again. 

    The best move is to not play Trump's game. He dragged Obama in the muck too with the birther crap, and he's trying it again. 

    • Like 2
  11. 1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

    What's not shown in that graphic is the % of Republicans who believe the true number of coronavirus deaths is something like 1K Americans.

    I didn't realize this was a thing, but I heard it from my friend's mouth yesterday and my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe it. This guy is a serious hand washing, extreme germaphobe, and yet he doesn't believe the numbers of people dead from Covid. I asked him why? What makes you think it's lower? In his mind hospitals are inflating numbers for money. He voted Trump in 2016 but plans on staying home for 2020. 

  12. 9 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

    So the whole Laura Loomer thing started this thought in my brain, but this just brings it back to the fore--

    I think that in a few decades, I think it's going to be a hot topic in modern history whether Republicans (1) were always this racist and batshit crazy (and by "always," I mean in modern history probably going back to 1980 or so) and were just a whole lot better at hiding it, or (2) the election of a black man caused them to have an en masse psychotic break.

    I don't think those two are entirely mutually exclusive.  There are certainly some who were always racist and batshit crazy.   But was it 96% of them (i.e., Trump's current approval rating among Republicans according to Rasmussen (I know))?  And that giant mass of crazy was just contained and stifled by party elites, many of whom are now Never Trumpers and Democrats?

    Or is it that the racist and crazy was a reasonably small number that was easy to contain and stifle.  And the election of Obama caused their racism and crazy to spread to other Republicans who previously had not been so?

    I honestly don't know.  I will tell you that, on an individual level, I know some people who I thought were normal people who happened to be Republicans.  I don't even recognize them anymore.  Were they always like that, and I was just too obtuse to see it?  I mean, maybe--I am pretty fucking obtuse sometimes.  But I don't think that's it entirely.  

    I've been reading Nixonland by Rick Perlstein and it's amazing how much of the current GOP we can trace back to the roots of Nixon, Goldwater, and others. Maybe the GOP weren't always like this, but even back then the book talks about the GOP being anti-Dem more than anything else. With a large chunk of racism thrown in that was thinly veiled by abstract policy goals. 

    Obama's presidency definitely broke a lot of them, and they turned it up a notch once the neocons were gone. However, the roots were always there. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
  13. Good thread from Jeet being good again. In an ideal world you'd see the GOP cast aside Trump but they will do what they always do and double down. Which includes believing any batshit crazy conspiracy that comes up which makes them feel good. 

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