Defensive Tackle Commits to Huskers
17 comments so far
May 7, 2008 by
Nebraska added a third member to their 2009 recruiting class this week, getting a verbal commitment from Thaddeus Randle out of Houston. This defensive tackle prospect gave his verbal pledge to NU over Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, among others. There are some good reasons to be excited about this prospective player. And, fan concerns about his size do not have much merit, in my opinion.
Why I Like This Recruit
Randle joins Cole Pensick as the second defensive tackle pledged to the Huskers. I'm very glad to see the Huskers going after defensive tackle prospects early in the cycle. Yes, I know the commitment is non-binding until he signs in February. All the same, football is won by your "big people" and quality defensive tackles can be hard to find. I am glad to see that linemen are a priority for this staff.
Next, look at where this kid comes from and who the Huskers beat for his services. Luring a player from the southern part of Texas and beating out conference opponents to get him is great. Big 12 talent starts with Texas, folks.
Also, I like what I am hearing about Randle. He plays with a high level of effort and intensity. And, he apparently displays good fundamental skills for a high school player (good leverage, hand placement, etc). Finally, he comes from a winning program in a football crazy state. Fans should always welcome a football team full of kids who are used to winning.
Size Not A Big Concern
Some fan reaction to this new recruit is concern over him being undersized, at 6'1'' and about 260 lbs. The same could be said for Pensick, listed at 6'2'' and 255 lbs. Frankly, I’m not too concerned. About height, it is actually very good to have a defensive tackle who is rather short. The lowest man wins in football. It's a game of leverage. So you want your defensive tackles to have a low center of gravity. For example, Seckrick Ellis - a dominant player at USC and a first-round selection in the NFL Draft - is listed at just 6'0'.
Of course, Ellis weighed about 305 pounds while at USC. That's another variable. Again, I'm not too concerned. There are ways for him to easily gain anywhere from 25 to 40 pounds in just a short time at NU (See Carriker, Adam). We have seen several players gain both good and bad weight while at NU. The key is finding the right amount while maintaining their quickness. And remember that recruits are just 17 year old kids, so they are very likely not even done growing.
With both Pensick and now Randle, are we seeing a bit of a prototype for what kind of defensive tackles Pelini and company are seeking? Maybe. But, if the resulting players are 6'2'' 295 pound defensive tackles who plays with a great motor, good leverage, and good technique. Then I think any Husker fan would be thrilled.
» Enjoy this article?
Send it to your friend or subscribe to our free newsletter!
Related Stories: Recruiting
Post a comment
brad May 07 08
Pelini's recruiting is kind of baffling. We are early in the recruiting cycle still and he is accepting pledges from guys that no other teams are really after. Our three pledges have about three offers total among them.
I know all the kool-aid drinkers are going to try to claim that our staff has super powers that allow them to see talent no one else can, but that's nonsense. Pelini has yet to even show that he can "put the stars" on a recruit like he claims because almost all of the players at his disposal since he came back to the college ranks already had recruiting stars and great training before he ever saw them the first time.
I know the current trend is to pretend recruiting doesn't matter, but that's ridiculous. Pelini needs to recruit like his buddy Stoops or he is going to get canned like his pretend-buddy Solich.
P.S. Sedrick Ellis, the guy you attempted to compare this current recruit to, had just about every local, state, and national honor you could think of.
Brad May 07 08
"P.S. Sedrick Ellis, the guy you attempted to compare this current recruit to, had just about every local, state, and national honor you could think of..."
...before he signed with USC.
darren May 07 08
Interesting take, Brad.
About the early pledges - It's too early for the recruiting services fans use (rivals, scout) to be really in the know on these kids. They only have evaluations of a small percentage of 2009 at this point. There is a lack of evaluation/public knowledge about both players and offers until the summer camp season. But, make no mistake, all coaches (not just NU) are really digging in to that Junior Year film right now. They make offers based on that.
I think you and many other fans have some good reason to be skeptical about recruiting. It is clearly an unknown with this staff. And, it was one area where NU was doing very well under Callahan. At BRN, you can expect several more evaluations of the staff and their progress in this area.
We agree very much that recruiting matters. And, for a staff not interested in star ratings, they sure have offered a lot of 4-5 star players. ;-)
And, so you know, I wasn't trying to *compare* Randle to Ellis. I just cited Ellis as a very recent example that you don't have to be tall to be great at DT.
Brad May 07 08
"And, for a staff not interested in star ratings, they sure have offered a lot of 4-5 star players. ;-)"
I noticed that too. I can only conclude that their main interest in mocking recruiting was to take shots at Pederson and Callahan.
Much like "gravitating to mediocrity," I think Pelini's "we put the stars on our recruits" is a quote that's going to come back and bite him in the ass when he realizes Nick Saban and Bob Stoops aren't recruiting his players for him anymore.
darren May 07 08
Stars are based on the evaluations of those recruiting sites - which are the only evaluations fans really know or see.
Offers from schools are based on the evaluations of coaches. Believe me, they all see the game on a much different level than you and I.
It would be foolish on everyone's part to assume there isn't at least some cross over or correlation between those two evaluations.
But, make no mistake, schools find kids that are not on that internet radar. Zach Lee and Mason Wald are recent examples at NU. Even at mighty USC, they "found" Ryan Kalil at one of their camps before anybody had heard of him.
Read the book "Meat Market" sometime. It makes an interesting point about where coaches and rivals.com overlap. That is, coaches surf those sites - not for evaluations or to find prospects, but to see what kids are saying or what teams they are talking to.
brad May 07 08
I'm not sure I would use the examples you did.
Zach Lee was a four star.
Mason Wald continues to be a head-scratcher who didn't even get an offer from any of the three in state D-I schools.
Ryan Kahil was a local recruit for USC, and he was given three stars.
Early in the process there is some disconnect, but by late January the recruiting websites are a lot more right than wrong. True "hidden gems" aren't that common, so if you are loading up on under the radar guys with offers from Army and New Mexico State then the sad truth is that you are recruiting quite poorly.
P.S. Speaking of local recruits, when are we going to offer that DE from McCook? After all the fuss made over Nebraska kids last year and offering a guy from Nebraska just to make a point, you'd think that a kid with multiple offers from Nebraska would already have a Nebraska offer.
Greg Morrow May 07 08
As you mentioned, Darren, it's about the end results. A highschool junior whose over 6'0" and tipping 260#, very much implies he'll gain some more weight. The 4.9 40 part is what I'm hoping is most accurate.
Assuming ATM won't nab him next February, it's good- very good, that the staff is trying right away to get frosh prospects and not (hopefully) reach for Kansas JC's, late fall.
Should things play to form, he shouldn't be needed for depth until he's a redshirt soph, with two complete seasons in the gym and at the table. (Oh, and the classroom, too!)
With recruiting, Pelini knows he needs speed. Speed that also qualifies for school.
Right now, he really knows he needs to build young depth at nose and tackle.
I can't offhand, recall Nebraska having a lot of depth in the interior defensive line.
Mase May 07 08
Yo Brad, why don't you put down the hatorade? I don't have to look any further than the fact that people say this dude has speed, skills, and starts on a great Texas high school team. It appears the guy has a lot of potential too...and that's really what you're looking for in a recruit, bottom line. Plus, we've got plenty of spots left to pick up a couple of "Brad-certified" 4 and 5 star recruits, so I think we'll be alright...
darren May 07 08
Brad,
We agree a lot more than you might think. One of the biggest qualifiers I use for players is the *other* schools involved. When Solich was losing out to UConn and Toledo for players, I think we all knew the wheels had come off.
Auburn and Alabama came in with last minute offers to Wald, btw. Same goes with the young man from Ohio that Pelini's staff found (the name escapes me). He was going to Ohio U, then got a "late" offer from NU. Suddenly, Oklahoma jumps in and then even the might Buckeyes finally offer. He ended up with Ohio State. All this for some previously lightly regarded player. So there is something to be said for finding players first.
At this stage in the game, I'd say that is what is happening, not just at NU but around the country. Lots and lots of offers are being made to Juniors for the class of 2009. Coaches like what they see on film, and jump in on a player the like. They want to be that player's "first love". It remains to be seen if that player will turn heads in camps, be productive as a senior and stay healthy and out of trouble. All of those things factor in to evaluations later on. And, don't forget that star ratings jump around based on many thing, most of all *who* has offered. And, that's very fluid.
I'm not too worried about the three NU commits so far, Randle in particular b/c he was wanted by A&M among others. And things are early. My opinion could sour or improve significantly, depending on how things go this summer and fall.
Bill in Iowa May 07 08
Good DT's are hard to come by. Even a great recruiter like Callahan admitted he struggled realing in DT recruits. And we have had more than a handful slip away in the past. Locking down a solid DT, albeit non-rivals approved, early in the game is NOT a bad move! If the kid has a good frame, he will get bigger. But you can't teach speed. And the kid seems to have good technique and a great motor. Not to mention, he's playing in a tough Texas league. All in all, I think this kid is a solid bet. Who knows...maybe OK or TX will offer late and steal him away. :)
brad May 08 08
"Auburn and Alabama came in with last minute offers to Wald, btw."
Do you have actual proof of this? Because it smells like a rumor one of our fans started.
Those schools knew about him all year, and they were content letting him go to Samford. No offense, but I guarantee he didn't get offers from them. He's 5'11" and he runs about a 4.8. The hysteria about him in our fan base was due to a grainy video in which he delivered three good hits.
JJBLING May 08 08
Its hard to see people complaining about stars awarded on Rivals or Scout.com.. The fact of the matter is that the people at recruiting sites like these have only had a chance to see the supposed TOP RECRUITS, whom attended top Junior Scouting Events, and more often than not many High-School level kids don't get an opportunity with all their other events to even attend camps, especially those that play other sports, and summer commitments... Now if it was the end of the recruiting cycle and we had only 1 and two star guys, you might be worried...For those of you that are worried about these guys rankings you should realize that we haven't offered as many scholarships at this point in the recruiting cycles as we have in years past.. We've only extended scholarship offers to about 5-7 DT's, and two of them have accepted.. I'm pretty confident that the coaching staff is smart enough to pick 7 guys out of the country that are worthy of a scholarship at this point.. You can worry all you want if we would have offered 100 DT's already but the fact of the matter is we haven't.
And for people saying that they are offering a lot of 4-5 star guys and thats against what they said they were going to do, I don't agree with those comments... Never once did they say they aren't going to offer 4-5 stars, They said they don't care much about star ratings, and thats a good thing... What Pelini meant by that, and said after that comment was that we are going to evaluate everyone and offer based on what we see, not that they weren't going to offer guys that would be 4-5 stars, only that they are going to offer guys that they think are worthy, regardless if the recruiting sites think they are a 1 star or a 5 star..
darren May 08 08
Brad,
Re: Wald, Here is a link to a story.
Key quote -- The Vestavia Hills senior said multiple schools, including Alabama and Auburn, showed interest just before signing day, but unlike NU, they didn’t have room.
"A bunch of schools wanted me late," Wald said. "To tell you the truth, they said they screwed up and overlooked me."
So, my bad on those not being reported offers. At the same time, the state schools came after him after NU steered the ship that way.
It's pretty far from just a fan-generated rumor.
Brad May 08 08
I'm sure he's a great kid, and you seem like a good guy, so I hate being in the devil's advocate role here.
However, the bottom line is that he didn't get offered and they never were going to offer him. Your source is him saying they showed interest late. What was he supposed to say? Would you want to acknowledge that your in-state schools weren't interested enough to offer? Or would you just tell people that they were interested, but they 'were just full.'
I feel like a jerk for pointing stuff like this out, but I've found you have to resort to brutal honesty sometimes when discussing Husker football with most Husker fans.
Bo and company still could turn out to be otherworldly recruiters. All I am saying right now is that they concern me. A guy who had an army of highly rated recruits at his disposal--that he didn't recruit and had prior training from Muschamp and Stoops--coming in and claiming that he can "put the stars" on under the radar recruits concerns me, especially when you throw in his new-found fascination with walk-ons.
But anyway, Darren, you're a classy fan and you guys run a classy blog. I appreciate your input. Hopefully I'm wrong.
darren May 08 08
Hey Brad,
I'm all for a spirited debate. That's what makes the Internet great, right? Thanks for playing that devil's advocate role.
Mostly, I don't think you are alone in your concerns. By most accounts recruiting went well under Callahan. And, I think many, many fans don't want to see that go away.
Only time will tell. Should be a lot of fun to watch. And you can expect a lot more from Steve and I on this topic.
Btw, Corey McKeon was a US Army All-American selection in HS. He was recruited in Solich's last class. He looked great at times and downright horrible at others. Just saying...you never can tell. :-)
ze bop May 10 08
OMG, OMG!!!
I can't believe it's already time to 'debate' whether or not 'stars' matter w recruits or if recruiting matters at all!!!
Must...resist.....meaningless...redundant.....conversations....
NORMAN May 11 08
I CANT BELIEVE THAT SO MANY PEOPLE PUT SO MUCH STOCK IN RECRUITING SITES ESPECIALLY HUSKER FANS I MEAN THE FORMER COACH HAD HIS FARE SHARE OF 4* RECRUITS AND LOOK WERE IT GOT US. WE WANNA TALK ABOUT USC, OKLAHOMA,FLORIDA RECRUITING CLASSES WITH ALL THEIR 4 AND 5 STAR PLAYERS WHO CARES. 15 YEARS AGO WE WERE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT WHO WAS COMMING IN AS FRESHMAN AND HOW MANY STARS THEY HAD WE EXPECTED THE COACHES TO FIND PLAYERS THEY COULD COACH UP AND TURN THEM IN TO NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS. COACH PELLINI HAS NOT EVAN HAD A CHANCE TO SHOW WHAT HE CAN DO AT NEBRASKA AND HERE WE ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT WE DONT HAVE ENOUGH 4 AND 5* PLAYERS AND ITS ONLY MAY.