'24 MO DL Williams Nwaneri (Mizzou commit)

[AresTheVol]

One of the insiders mentioned a month or two ago that there was concern by the coaching staff over defensive line recruiting, and that was when we still had a bunch of our top targets on the board. I wonder if @KingNico or one of the others could drop by and tell us what the mood is over there now that it looks like we won't land any of those guys after being in on so many of them. What are the fallback plans?

Right now our top commit as a down lineman on defense is ranked around 750th in the country and all of his film is of basketball.

Is there some common factor as to why we are missing out, or is it just the luck of the draw this cycle?

it was oline recruiting, when ROC committed to clemson

 

[Weezer]

I don’t have a problem with this. The problem I have is when all anyone talks about is the one position that is less than what we want. Nobody ever wants to talk about the good. Just what is bad.

Offensively, we've done very well, with the potential to do even better. Defensively, we've covered our needs other than the DL, and we've covered them with good players. Some with the potential to be great players. DL is the one position where we are clearly lacking in this class.

 

[Weezer]

Our freshman and sophomore defensive lineman are as good as we’ve had since the early 2000s. I wouldn’t stress about defensive line.

I also think there’s a decent shot we land one of these guys still.

I understand the sentiment, but even one year of missing out on the line can hurt. Remember Dooley and the OL?

It would be great if we can get at least one of them, or even flip another highly rated DL. We need line depth for rotation. As much as the defense is on the field, a good rotation to keep players fresh will be important. And I do think we have that this year, but we need to make sure we keep that going forward.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

Guarantee a few D lineman come out of nowhere there senior year. Plus some of these 3 star D lineman will have breakout senior years. Garner will find good players he can coach up at the very least. After this year I think we will see more top ranked D lineman look here. I would also like to caution that D line is very hard to project coming out of high school. We will be fine. GBO!!!!

 

[RAVOL]

All I can say is this past 23 class DL haul was great. Staff is ecstatic about Duncan and Robinson future as well. Don't worry Gents about D Line and future and remember Lindstrom and Gentle both are relentless DL that are under appreciated by many. In CHRIST Alone

 

[SweetasSoda]

Offensively, we've done very well, with the potential to do even better. Defensively, we've covered our needs other than the DL, and we've covered them with good players. Some with the potential to be great players. DL is the one position where we are clearly lacking in this class.

I feel like I am reliving the 90s with the way recruiting is going. We have RG, and he will get some players. Can’t sell early playing time as much this year. We went after a lot of big time recruits hoping to get one or two to go along with who we have. If we miss then find a couple diamonds in the rough or go to the portal. The class still has a bunch of great players.

 

[SweetasSoda]

All I can say is this past 23 class DL haul was great. Staff is ecstatic about Duncan and Robinson future as well. Don't worry Gents about D Line and future and remember Lindstrom and Gentle both are relentless DL that are under appreciated by many. In CHRIST Alone

What have you heard about Duncan and Robinson???

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

I think next year will be a much easier sell at DL. We are pretty deep overall now but next year we lose some and more open space and competition in 25. But don’t sleep on 24 or dismiss Garner, there is a entire senior year and college season to go. I still think we will sign 2 more DL guys by December and they will both end up contributors at some point down the road. GBO!

 

[Jackcrevol]

I think next year will be a much easier sell at DL. We are pretty deep overall but next year we lose some and more open space and competition in 25. But don’t sleep on 24 or dismiss Garner, there is a entire senior year and college season to go. I still think we will sign 2 more DL guys by December and they will both end up contributors at some point down the road. GBO!

tn class is deep

 

[RAVOL]

What have you heard about Duncan and Robinson???

Both are built physically to excel at DL and have great hands and relentless attitude. Both have of course much to learn playing this position but have bright futures. In CHRIST Alone

 

[Jackcrevol]

All I can say is this past 23 class DL haul was great. Staff is ecstatic about Duncan and Robinson future as well. Don't worry Gents about D Line and future and remember Lindstrom and Gentle both are relentless DL that are under appreciated by many. In CHRIST Alone

some of it is optics but our coaches are fantastic.

 

[Volfansince1980]

People won't like to hear it, but if we miss on Nwaneri and Franklin, our DL recruiting is in trouble.

Not really. Still in on Okoye, Fountain, and Ross. Transfer portal is still in play. And there’s a full season of HS football to played. A lot of time for kids to get reevaluated. Not to mention, we need interior D-linemen. Not sure either Franklin or Nwaneri want to play inside

 

[Volfansince1980]

it was oline recruiting, when ROC committed to clemson

Then we landed Satterwhite and Warren and order was restored

 

[Weezer]

Not really. Still in on Okoye, Fountain, and Ross. Transfer portal is still in play. And there’s a full season of HS football to played. A lot of time for kids to get reevaluated. Not to mention, we need interior D-linemen. Not sure either Franklin or Nwaneri want to play inside

Okoye, Fountain, and Ross are all Edge guys, not interior DL.

 

[cncchris33]

Our freshman and sophomore defensive lineman are as good as we’ve had since the early 2000s. I wouldn’t stress about defensive line.

I also think there’s a decent shot we land one of these guys still.

Which one?

 

[Dadof2Vols]

Just hard for me to understand. CRG has been an elite recruiter for years. He's put numerous guys in the league. Seems like guys would line up to play for him given his history of putting guys in the league. Are we just not being competitive in NIL with these guys? It just makes you curious about what is working against us? Is it the speed of our offense and the amount of time the defense is on the field? That just means more playing time, more chances to show what you got. Hell, it's a quicker path to some playing time if you're good enough to rotate in early on. It just doesn't make any sense.

Just like nascar talks about the modern era of NASCAR vs the nascar of old.

Recruiting is now the modern era of recruiting based 100% on pay me now vs long term NFL success.

To me this is recruits in the short term chasing college dollars instead of the growing under a CRG. The ones that chase the dollars for NIL at misery will eventually learn they took short term NIL $$s and missed out on NFL $$s.

it will take a few years to separate those that want short term small $$s vs long term big NFL $$s….but let’s be honest, taking short term NIL $$s is right for most as it doesn’t matter even if they are coached by CRG they aren’t going to make NFL as it is a %s gamble but going to inferior programs really reduces your chances of getting NFL $$s.

 

[Voluble2]

Our freshman and sophomore defensive lineman are as good as we’ve had since the early 2000s. I wouldn’t stress about defensive line.

I also think there’s a decent shot we land one of these guys still.

I was thinking just today that we are a lot better off at that position than most people realize so that may mean we don't allocate as much NIL there as opposed to elsewhere, or as compared to teams who are thin at DT.

 

[SweetasSoda]

Both are built physically to excel at DL and have great hands and relentless attitude. Both have of course much to learn playing this position but have bright futures. In CHRIST Alone

TY! That’s exactly what I like to hear! Physically and mentally ready to be coached!

 

[volinokc]

Just hard for me to understand. CRG has been an elite recruiter for years. He's put numerous guys in the league. Seems like guys would line up to play for him given his history of putting guys in the league. Are we just not being competitive in NIL with these guys? It just makes you curious about what is working against us? Is it the speed of our offense and the amount of time the defense is on the field? That just means more playing time, more chances to show what you got. Hell, it's a quicker path to some playing time if you're good enough to rotate in early on. It just doesn't make any sense.

I really feel like we will see some of these kids circling back to us in the portal.

 

[Volsdeep4]

Congratulations you played yourself Nwaneri

 

[RAVOL]

TY! That’s exactly what I like to hear! Physically and mentally ready to be coached!

Our Staff evaluates very well and finds gems.

 

[DaddyChad]

At least we’ll know what to focus on and worry about.

Yep. I was worried I wouldn’t have to hear about the sky is falling for a damn week around here…

 

[DaddyChad]

Okoye, Fountain, and Ross are all Edge guys, not interior DL.

We can miss and address it in the portal if necessary. I’m with you though I feel like this is the one big piece missing in this class. Nasir Smith is still on the board but that’s a project; would feel much better if we had one of the two others and Smith.

 

[5FingerVolPunch]

People won't like to hear it, but if we miss on Nwaneri and Franklin, our DL recruiting is in trouble.

That’s the good thing about the portal. This staff has gained way more than they’ve lost. At least 5 new portal players will start for us this season.

 

[IMissTheMidRangeGame]

That’s the good thing about the portal. This staff has gained way more than they’ve lost. At least 5 new portal players will start for us this season.

Didn’t RG say that the ASU transfer was an upgrade? I’d love to get a lot of high school kids but our portal players have been phenomenal and our staff is great at getting a kids full potential. Plus with a portal player we don’t need worry about them transferring