Nick Gates commits to Nebraska. Why he is going to be under Pellini of all people is beyond me. I thought UCLA, Ducks, and TAMU had the best shot at grabbing him!
Haloti Ngata is 6'5, Lealao 6'6. In your previous Ghost Pepper incarnation you said that that anyone under 6'5 is tooo short to play on the Dline. Now you're quibbling over an inch? Your map seems to be a moving target STOMP
Ngata is listed at 6'4, and with most athletes in football that's a generous spot. I think your DE's can be above 6'5 but I don't feel DT's should be power forward size in height and weight, they lose their leverage on the line. As for this Ghost Pepper you keep referring to it seems you're the only one trying to recreate that negative dynamic here. Perhaps you should just let go, the Ghost seems to have moved on!
I love tall DE's. The wingspan helps in so many areas, including playing the sideline or deflecting/knocking down passes and coming off the edge to strip. I'm with Quack...I'd prefer a slightly shorter DT. Igor was an exception because he was just so damn strong. Suh 6'4", Will Sutton 6'1", Geno Atkins 6'1", Melton 6'3", Vince Wilfork 6'2", Mike Martin 6'1", Marcell Dareus 6'3", Kyle Williams 6;1", Regarding Ngata - Baltimore's website lists him at 6'4" as does ESPN, Scout and NFL. Lealao is listed at 6'5" according to 247, Scout, Max Prep, Bleacher and others.
True. You don't know much about him. As has been discussed in detail by 247, Scout, Rivals, SI, Fishduck, etc. we need size and we need power. According to IslandPreps.com: Ratu is a power house kid who was born to play between the tackles....man this kid is projecting nicely as a DT or NT in either a 3 or 4 man front. Good speed and above average strength! Ratu Mafileo PROFILE AND RESUME Online Profile at IslandPreps: http://www.islandpreps.com//profile/ratumafileo Schools trying to recruit Ratu • Hawaii • Missouri • Nebraska • Utah State • Arizona • Utah State • Texas • Clemson • Oregon State • LSU • Alabama • Notre dame • North Carolina • USC • Oregon • Florida State Football Positions: Defensive Tackle, Nose Guard, Offensive Guard Jersey Number: 99 Season 2012 stats #0: SPARQ RATING: 51 #1: 40 Yard Dash: 5 #2: 20 Yard Shuttle: 4 #3: Vertical Jump: 18 #5: Max Bench: 345 #6: Broad Jump: #7: Squat Max: 565 #8: Power Clean: 575 #9: 10 Yard dash: 1 Defense - Sacks: 1 Defense - Tackles: 57 Defense - Tackles for Loss: 20 http://www.islandpreps.com/controllerpub.php?action=pdfprofile&profile=ratumafileo 247 reports he is 100% Oregon. This is the most excellent news. http://247sports.com/Player/Ratu-Mafileo-38693 Folks, I would rather link and tell you what websites are revealing vs stating, "I'm hearing" in a post. I know you get that.
I see the size strawman is still alive and well in your head... you're even starting threads about it! Thats just awesome news for the board I said Ratu didn't look very athletic in his highlight tape to me. In those stats you relayed, for some reason they dropped off the tenths, so who knows where in the 5 second range he fell on the 40 yard dash, but the 18" vert speaks to what I'm saying. Heck at The Opening this year, not one of the big boys at there had less then 20" and that includes 370lb Damien Mama. I only suspect this to be the case with Ratu, but D1 size without D1 athleticism isn't something the Ducks desperately need. Conversely, a D1 athlete with the frame but not current D1 size in HS is something the Ducks do need. Over the years they've regularly pursued that sort of prospect and then developed them to be solid contributors to the program. In your opinion, why don't 247, Scout, Rivals & ESPN have a personal profile page for this great player you're trumpeting? All had personal profile pages the year before on his former HS teammate Clemson Freshman Dlineman Scott Pagano... there must be a reason. Do his grades suck? Maybe he's an unlikeable hothead? Perhaps he's a late bloomer. Or maybe I'm onto something with the talent thingy... broken clock is right twice a day and all. Of course you know the real reason because along with monitoring all the Duck chatsites, there's those close connections with rich donors you boast of that we all believe. Did coach Greatwood visit him when he did his island swing last weekend? folks... This ongoing battle with common speaking terms is entirely necessary and worthy of your freetime. You are our champion! STOMP
DLineman Jalen Canty is to announce today. There have been rumors of academic issues and he hasn't visited Eugene, so this isn't looking likely STOMP
Whelp And we lost out on D prospects again. And people have Lealao going to that shanty-town of Cal! What for? Their record was terrible.
Trey had nice size and weight for a DT and it's to bad he felt Eugene to boring for his night life needs. I thought he was looking for a place to make an instant impact and play for a top 10 team? When he's sitting 3 deep on the depth chart at LSU he'll have tons of time to see who's following him or not on twitter. I want a DT who realizes if he brings a good work ethic, we have an immediate need for him at Oregon. When you're in high school and you're good and Trey is a three star not a five, you hit college and reality punches you hard in a hurry. Tyner found out super fast he's not playing for Aloha anymore! I think we've all seen the D lines for LSU, most of these guys look like 30 year old men. Trey I'm afraid will find this out in a hurry. He may kick himself for picking nightlife and twitter over national championships and the best facilities in the country. But that's youth! 2014 DT recruiting class is not a strong one but next year, WATCH OUT! Check out Daron Payne in the 15 class and he's just one of 5 or 6 in the top 20. There weren't 7 in the top 100 in the 14 class. We'll just have to coach them up till next year is my thought!
With us seemingly missing on Trey we've offered JC DT Rika Levi. We seem to be missing and swinging so late now. We'll get gambles to fill out the class this year like Hobbs and Benoit last year. Allen to a degree but we were at least involved somewhat for awhile with him.
missing on recruits is part of the game. I think rather than look for Diamonds in the rough this year, I'd rather roll the scholarship over to next years loaded class
It's a good pick-up. Undersized, but had offers from Notre Dame/USC/TheU/Wisconsin/Michigan State, among others. A true speed guy. Hopefully he picks up things faster than Tacoi Sumler.
Nice to pick him up, but I'm afraid of losing tony James now, since the Gators are going after him hard.
Xmas!!! Is the Levi kid friends with Lousi? If so you've got to like our odds with him on an official visit this weekend. This kid is a power keg!
As for James, I think he's a solid Duck, what worries me is I hear Springs reached out to USC for his visit! hmmmmmm.....
it's a foregone conclusion that UO missed on Trey huh? Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I just don't get the feeling that ship has sailed. His comments seem to be jerking followers chains a bit building up the drama for the big signing day surprise. He's said he'll base his final decision on two things, football & education. If so, I like UO's chances We shall see... STOMP
If Oregon grabs Levi and Ratu for DT's we'll be fine until next year class rolls around and having two islanders on your D line can't be a bad thing at their size and weight and let our third islander Buckner really get after the edge. As for Trey it's not that I don't think he could be a Duck but if we want him to quack for us! Football doesn't seem to be his #1 issue where guys like Levi have tried hard to get our attention. As for Ratu he's got some legacy shoes to fill so he'll be motivated. Put both of these kids in our amazing new gym with good eating habits and these could be our diamonds in the ruff.
