Hey y'all. Long time, no post. I'm trying to get the recruiting board caught up, and right now it's looking like I'll get it together piecemeal. Kind of like those rolling roadblocks you run into on the interstate sometimes, I'll (try to) update a couple of positions every couple of days for the next week or so. Hopefully.
Anyway, the 2008 Recruiting Board has been updated, at least the quarterback and running back portions.
QB Rundown:
Linked to a couple of articles on DC Jefferson and EJ Manuel ... On the fence about adding QB Terrelle Prior to the board.
Dangerously uninformed opinion: I'm not sure what to think about either Jefferson or Manuel -- Jefferson seems to mention Tennessee a lot while Manuel only mentions us to say we're in his top 10. Manuel also took a lot of unofficial visits this spring and summer, but apparently none of them were to Tennessee. Methinks he's a Nole.
I really feel the guy to look out for is Casey Kelly. I think -- and this is just a hunch -- that his stock is going to rise greatly between now and the end of next fall, kind of like BJ Colman's did last year, and I'm glad we got in on him early. He's also heading to the Mannings' camp in Louisiana, something that I'm probably making too much of, but he has said that he's impressed with Cutcliffe and how he coached Peyton and Eli...so if he's impressed with their camp...I'm just saying.
On the Terrell Prior thing, according to Rivals, he's talking about visiting Knoxville, but he's also the #1 player in the nation and to my thinking, he's more likely to head to a school that has a greater QB need.
RB Rundown:
Removed AJ Alexander (FSU commit) ... Linked to articles on De'Anthony Curtis, Albert Gary, Michael Shaw ... Added Jeff Demps (Groveland, FL) ... Considered adding Darius Ashley (Cincinatti), but stopped just short.
Dangerously uninformed opinion: Our RB recruiting seems to be an oddity... a lot of these guys are mentioning Tennessee's tradition of putting backs in the NFL and honestly, if you're a highly recruited running back that has to catch your attention. Then again, when they look at what's ahead of them on our current depth chart, they probably have second thoughts. Thus, none of them seem blown away by us; even Tauren Poole -- who committed last October -- has been looking at Clemson and South Carolina.
Still, it's not unusual for Tennessee to be trailing on guys this early and then make a big push later, so in other words, I dunno.
I do know that Ben Bartholomew is all Vol. And that's nice. It's worked for us before.