Mike Warren decommits.
- Thread starter ThwKentuckyKid
- Start date
It happens. Nature of the beast in football recruiting. Winning games could help though.
"These decommitments"? You must mean Hudson and Warren, who are high school teammates. Both are good players. Replacing Hudson will be difficult, and I definitely don't consider Phil Hoskins an equal replacement for Hudson. But I like Bryant Koback a lot, and I think Stoops has a great shot to sign another top running back like Mohamed Ibrahim, Damon Williams, Trace Christian, Darrian Felix. Anyway, there isn't any point in crying over Hudson and Warren. They are gone. Every program has de-commitments. The nucleus of another great class is still there.
No. Warren is a great prospect. But so is Koback. Some people think Eddie Gran is hot over a running back from south Florida, but I don't know any details.
So a) Gran would have rather kept Warren than this Florida guy but moved on from Warren, or b) Warren knew Gran was after the FL guy & said enough, or c) something else? I guess I didn't think there was any way we'd take 3 RB's. Thanks.
Maybe they weren't CRAZY about Warren, but kept him because of Hudson.
Once Hudson decommited, they weren't worried about Warren one way or another?...
Oh well, football recruiting has been good, so I'm not going to get worked up about it.
I'm sure that we'll have another solid class that fills our needs.
Once Hudson decommited, they weren't worried about Warren one way or another?...
Oh well, football recruiting has been good, so I'm not going to get worked up about it.
I'm sure that we'll have another solid class that fills our needs.
This. I think we took Warren to make Hudson happy. He was a good RB but not great and once we lost Hudson it was a mutual parting of the ways.
Tough loss but RB's are a dime a dozen.
Hudson and Warren were never Cats.... Scrape em off and move on. Such is the nature of recruiting. Screw em
Hudson and Warren were never Cats.... Scrape em off and move on. Such is the nature of recruiting. Screw em
I didn't speculate on Gran's preferences because I don't know. I only said that I doubt Gran wanted to lose Warren, that I like Koback, and that I think Gran will bring in a new running back commitment. You were the 1 who speculated that Gran might not like Warren, not me. But Warren is a really good prospect who can run between the tackles, run on the edge, and catch. He is tough as nails. I have seen Warren play twice, and I was really impressed with the kid.
Rowland discussed this in HOB either yesterday or the day before. I was expecting Warren to decommit with what Rowland was saying. That's why I made the comment in the Mac Jones thread about Warren.
It's no loss with Warren but it is a loss with Hudson. It's not like he is a Boom level back. More in the mold of kemp.
It's no loss with Warren but it is a loss with Hudson. It's not like he is a Boom level back. More in the mold of kemp.
I disagree that Hudson and Warren were never Cats. When they committed, I'm sure they were serious. They have spent a lot of time in Lexington. But they are gone now, and I don't believe in crying over spilled milk. Some positions are difficult to recruit. Others, not as much. Hudson will be very difficult to replace, and I don't have any illusions that Hoskins can be as valuable to our program as Hudson would have been. But Stoops has done well with recruitment of running backs. Warren is really good, but we are in a strong position right now. Boom and Horton will be back in 2017. Sihiem King is the real deal, and Snell and Rose are strong signings that a lot of other schools would have liked. Koback is a big time commitment, and Gran will add another to replace Warren.
I would be surprised if Boom comes back in 2017. Boom is already injury prone and RB's have a short career span in the NFL. He will want to get his started after this year.
U.K. and Warren parted ways. I do believe it was mutual. Losing Hudson was a big deal. This not so much. Wish the kid well.
I didn't think of this before but Warren may not be the back Hudson wants. We probably will never know for sure but you never know.
Wouldn't be surprised if another name surfaces right away.
Wouldn't be surprised if another name surfaces right away.
We landed Koback after taking Warren. The staff is very high on Koback and I think that probably made Warren more expendable. Some guys are good enough that the staff has to live with it when they want to take visits and look around. Other guys the staff has more leverage and they aren't going to put up with it. I do wonder if Gran ever liked Warren's game. Gran has always put more emphasis on speed and making his RB an extension of the passing game. Warren doesn't fit that description
The DE spot couldn't be anymore vital in this class and losing Hudson was a huge huge huge blow, I feel like we've had a few big time DE decommits over the last few years and it killing us.. We need to hold onto these type of kids if we ever want to have an SEC caliber defensive line. Losing Kobe Smith late last season was a devastating blow to the future of our DL. We need the coaches to start developing these players into quality players and we need these coaches to start taking some accountability instead of our fans blaming everything on the players and Joker Phillips. Stoops deserved every bit of the blame for the way last season ended and all I see on this board during the season is 90% blaming the players and a small 10% of fans that are actually rational during the season that place blame on stoops for the team being unprepared game to game, for the worst game management I've ever seen thru the course of one season especially clock management, for never making in game adjustment when teams go to read option at any point during game or halftime. In fact we never once made in game adjustments last season no matter what the other team started doing different under any circumstance.
We need these coaches to step up there game and learn how to fire the team up. Without that we won't be winning too many games any time soon. This on the job training has been killer and I've seen no improvement from a coaching standpoint between year 1 and 3. Seen a lot of talent upgrade but the coaching has remained poor since day one and he still looks as if he's never head coached a game in his entire life up to this point. We have the players which I will credit stoops for, but he needs to coach them up considering they're still finishing between 11-13 every year in SEC recruiting rankings. Just because we have better players than we used to doesn't mean we should go bowling, when you finish between 11-13 in conference recruiting rankings you're gonna have to coach the players up to get meaningful results. These coaches have a long ways to go as far as getting results from these players. Player development has been pretty poor thus far especially comparatively to brooks.
So you're telling me you saw a team that when the opposing team started switching things up on offense or defense you also saw our team scheme differently accordingly to what the other team was doing? You actually saw in game or half-time adjustments last season? I guess I'm blind.
Congratulations on starting your post off being a little more optimistic, instead of losing Hudson being a huge huge huge blow in the old days it would have been a huge huge huge huge huge blow.
The rest of your post reverted to your normal negativity though.
"Some people think Eddie Gran is hot over a running back from south Florida," isn't speculating on Gran's preferences? OK.
I didn't claim Gran wanted to lose Warren, only asked/speculated that he wasn't overly concerned.
I never believe a 172# RB is the real deal till they've shown they can do it over & over with out being hurt. Can't recollect one that meets that.
Could be wrong but what about Rafael little? Derrick Locke? I know they got hurt at some point in their career's but kinda hard to avoid in the SEC as an RB regardless why you're rating is. But they had 1000 yard rushing season so they showed they could stay durable for whole seasons at a time just get dinged up and injured and that's sometimes hard to avoid. But those are definitely 2 lowly rated backs that, one of is one of the best to ever play at UK, and the other was a damn good running back in his own right.
Little wasn't THAT little, but Locke fit the profile. There have been a lot of little speedsters that were very successful in the SEC, and several at the NFL level also, Sprouls from Kansas State comes to mind.
Nothing against Jo Jo Kemp, who is a solid player. But I think Warren has a higher upside. As I said earlier, I saw Warren play twice last fall. He is a very impressive player. I think Warren is a major loss, but our team can afford it because of the current situation. Boom and Horton will be back in 2017. King is a very underrated player who really impressed me in our spring game. Benny Snell is a hoss. People are going to be surprised by what Snell brings to the table, he could even be our #2 running back in 2016. I have seen Asim Rose play, and I believe he could become a star at Kentucky. Koback is really good too. Given all of that, losing Warren doesn't hurt much. It's possible that Warren took another look at our other running backs and backed off in part because of them. But losing Hudson is a blow, no question about it.
WE MUST! And I mean it is a MUST to win at least 7 games this year! Not 6 but 7 not including bowl and then put the icing on the cake with a bowl win! This YEAR is THE most critical year I UK football history! We have no excuses anymore! The facilities are in place and we have supposedly a good coaching staff! Granted the schedule is not that favorable but I will say it again 7 and a bowl win and we turn the corner and move in a positive direction win 6 or less then it will NEVER happen! I have been following UK FOOTBALL religiously for 45 years and it is NOW or NEVER!
As a general rule, I agree with that small players are much less likely to help. There have been some exceptions, but not often. Did you attend our spring game? Sihiem King's skills and tradecraft are impressive. He will win you over. He is a tough customer. His quickness and cutback ability are like you see in great backs. He runs between the tackles and instinctively cuts his runs back against the grain of the pursuit to daylight. He runs on the edge with great vision and use of his blockers. He has soft hands. He even blocks. And yes, I realize Kentucky's defense is a work in progress. In fact, our defense is the reason I am not buying others people's optimism about Kentucky's 2016 season. In our 2016 system, King will be sharing snaps with the starter, Boom Williams, and with Horton and Snell. King won't be overworked, which would be a problem for a small player's durability.
We all want to win. Nobody wants to win more than me. But I disagree with everything you are saying about 2016. What you are demanding just isn't going to happen. Our 2016 football team can't win 7 games against our 2016 schedule, because our 2016 team isn't as good as most of the teams we will play. It has nothing to do with excuses. We have a new offensive coordinator, a sophomore quarterback with 3 college starts, and a defensive front 7 that is being rebuilt from part time starters, young backups, and transfer players. Those are facts. The limitations of our front 7 were very evident in the spring game. Some of those players will eventually be good, but they need development and playing experience. Most of all, I disagree with your idea that winning 7 games in 2016 is a "must". That statement may express your loss of patience, but it just isn't true. Stoops has a long term contract and he will be retained through at least 2017, probably much longer. 2016 is another rebuilding year. In 2017, Stoops will bring back about 20 incumbent starters. 2017 will be the year our football program takes the big step forward under Stoops.
What about 195-200# Little & 190# Locke? World of difference from 172# & roughly same height.
I'm not claiming he can't be a useful spot back & a good returner. But he can't carry the ball as often as the other backs. Net, not the real deal for me till I'm proven wrong.
You are right that a 172 pound back can't carry the ball 30 times every week in the SEC. But King will not be called on to do that. Boom Williams is the starter, and Kentucky fans are about to find out that Benny Snell is a hell of a player. I never suggested that King is ready to be a workhorse. I said his tradecraft, instincts, quickness, toughness are like you see in great backs. The kid is still just a true sophomore in his 1st full year on campus. He will get stronger. It's not a good idea to rush to judgment with a young, very talented player like King. I think he will win you over.
King reminds me of sproles. Other small backs that have been successful holiday for Lsu jaqcuizz rodgers. King is a complimentary back he will get 10 touches a game. Little guys like him generally avoid the huge hits. He is very shifty and will be a big contributor this year.
I'm rushing to judgment on a 172# primary back, not returner, not spot player, being the real deal - not - regardless of age. Many small players are talented but just aren't built to take SEC level punishment on a consistent basis. When he's 185, it's a different story. Yes, I was at Spring Game. You think he was facing an SEC D in that game that's out to punish you? Let's see what happens when he's hit by LB's over & over. I think he fits better at slot than RB, assuming he can catch.
Sproles 190#, Rodgers 195#, King 172#.
Holiday - 170# - and WR & returner - as I think King fits at current size.
Rodgers and sproles probably where not 190 as true sophomores. Either way I can see both arguments on King. I think he's a big contributor this year. We shall see.