Looking through the Twitter posts of signings, it's hard not to get excited for the future.
I'd like to see a comparison to other MVFC programs, but just based on the offers some of these commits have, I think Hill continues to recruit at a high level.
The recruits can have all the positive press in the world but until the results show up on the field it is just hype need to start showing results for all of the talent
I like the number of WR's being brought in. This team has such a gap between the good teams in FCS and the Missouri Valley in skill position players. SIU has thrived under Hill when they have good talent at the WR position like Lenoir, Cox, Raphael Leonard, etc.
No QB, so far, in this class.
The recruits can have all the positive press in the world but until the results show up on the field it is just hype need to start showing results for all of the talent
Agree. I can't get real excited about recruiting blurbs. Finished this season 0 - 4. Finished last season 2 - 4 (made the playoffs but got destroyed by NDSU)
I'll believe it when I see it.
Baker has another year and he will be the starter. Like it or not he's Nick's guy. If Baker stays healthy he will finish at the top of most, if not all the career passing records at SIU. I personally think he is limited due to his height, but you can't argue with his stats.No QB, so far, in this class.
We have 4 or 5 backups, and hopefully a healthy Lindauer will battle with Zebrowski to be our capable backup.
QB is the least of our concerns. O and D line are the biggest concerns by far and it looks like we have recruited heavily for those positions.
Not too concerned with the QB position, especially with the transfer portal. I thought Zebrowski looked decent in the limited game reps he got.
We signed 7 WRs...that's a crazy number. We lost two to graduation (D'Ante is coming back for one more year) and one to transfer so far. Obviously, with that number, I wouldn't be surprised to see more transfers, but I also wonder if anyone switches positions (e.g. Brian Brown also was getting recruited at DB). I like a lot of the guys he brought in...hopefully lots of competition to be had this spring.
If Hartrup comes back I think WR position will be a strength next year. D'Ante and Hartrup are dynamic starters. I think Gibson can step up to be a regular. A couple of the transfers look to be able to come in and have a significant impact.We signed 7 WRs...that's a crazy number. We lost two to graduation (D'Ante is coming back for one more year) and one to transfer so far. Obviously, with that number, I wouldn't be surprised to see more transfers, but I also wonder if anyone switches positions (e.g. Brian Brown also was getting recruited at DB). I like a lot of the guys he brought in...hopefully lots of competition to be had this spring.
D'Ante and Hartrup back is good news.
Although I thought Baker had some games where he was just off, played pretty well overall. I do think passing in the middle is tough because of his size, and I don't believe we had many "big/long" plays in the passing game.
Our rushing game was poor - 10th, averaged 3.22 yds per rush. Only WIU was worse. 8th in rushing yds per game at 122.
Best rushing attacks were NDSU, YSU, and SDSU.
We were 4th in total D, thanks to our rushing D - 2nd in the league, but our pass defense was 10th in the MVFC.
We had one Phil Steele All-American - Jacob Garrett but no Stats All-Americans. We had one 1st team, five 2nd team, and three Hon. Mention All-Conf. players. (BTW, Linsey Scott, UIW QB, was 1st team All-American on everyone's list.)
https://valley-football.org/news/2022/12/20/football-2022-phil-steele-fcs-all-america-teams.aspx
Gotta have a running game... eats up clock, wears the other team's D down, gives our D a rest, blah, blah.
If Hartrup comes back I think WR position will be a strength next year. D'Ante and Hartrup are dynamic starters. I think Gibson can step up to be a regular. A couple of the transfers look to be able to come in and have a significant impact.We signed 7 WRs...that's a crazy number. We lost two to graduation (D'Ante is coming back for one more year) and one to transfer so far. Obviously, with that number, I wouldn't be surprised to see more transfers, but I also wonder if anyone switches positions (e.g. Brian Brown also was getting recruited at DB). I like a lot of the guys he brought in...hopefully lots of competition to be had this spring.
At the press conference, Hill talked like Hartrup was coming back. He jumped in the portal last year and didn't like what he saw and came back, can't imagine after a year of sitting out things would change there. The WR group on paper looks like it could be a strength, but games aren't played there. I really like what they brought in, hopefully it translates to wins on the field. If they could get a a solid 4-5 guys that can contribute, that will make the offense that much better.
Super excited about this recruiting class. However, I most certainly have felt the same enthusiasm in past years. The ending to this past season was very difficult to observe, and quite frankly extremely disappointing. Similar to last season.
I'll be watching SDSU/NDSU in the National Championship game. Question: Are we securing the same talent level as these programs? Jury will be out for a few years I'm assuming. We get the Jacks next Fall for Homecoming...until then we'll keep anticipating.
GO DAWGS!
I'll be watching SDSU/NDSU in the National Championship game. Question: Are we securing the same talent level as these programs?
Absolutely not. These teams have stud O and D lines, equivalent to top 50 FBS programs. We don't have O and D lines nearly as good.
At the skill positions, we've been as good at receiver but not at QB or running back.
