There seems to be some diversity of thought on Isaiah Simmons’ value in the NFL. His athletic profile is exceptionally unique and really only has one obvious comparison. He measured in at the combine at 6-4, 238 with a 4.39 40 yard dash and 39″ vertical. The size numbers are the sort you tend to … [Read more…]
My man Eric Nahlin over at Inside Texas has an annual tradition where he ranks the top 100 high school players in the state of Texas every year. His choice for no. 1 in 2020 was one of the most fascinating prospects I’ve seen from the state in recent years, as much for his unique … [Read more…]
When it was announced that Tom Brady is at last moving on from the New England Patriots, bizarrely to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I was lead to reflect on what for me was the most memorable Brady and Belichik performance. Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks, a down to the wire battle … [Read more…]
Now that we’ve finished examining the cadets for every Big 12 program, I like to try and wrap it all up while linking all the breakdowns in one place. Here are the breakdowns: Oklahoma Texas West Virginia Kansas Oklahoma State Texas Tech TCU Baylor Kansas State Iowa State As a reminder, since I still get … [Read more…]
No matter what else has happened over the last decade, a constant themehas been Texas and Oklahoma’s superiority in the recruiting rankings, in that order. The Longhorns are the most resource-rich program in the B12 by a decent margin (although the Sooners are obviously competitive) and are located in one of the hottest towns in … [Read more…]
It’s more than a little interesting to observe the TCU-Baylor rivalry these days. The Frogs aren’t even really a strictly Texas school anymore, their admission is over 50% comprised of out of state students, and the football program has served them well as an advertisement for kids from California and other locales. Baylor on the … [Read more…]
These three schools all share the common trait of being fairly distantly removed from the biggest metro areas of the Big 12. Those major metro areas and talent hubs are, in order by population: Obviously D.C./Baltimore and Pittsburgh are irrelevant for everyone in the B12 save for West Virginia but they very much matter for … [Read more…]
Some of these breakdowns will include single teams, others will pack together multiple squads. I intended for every post to be the latter but the Jayhawk posted ended up longer than expected. Building a Big 12 contender from the Midwest is something that has rarely coincided with using “space force” tactics. Mark Mangino got the … [Read more…]
The other day I explained my “space force enlistment” metric in my last post but I’ll summarize the gist of it. Controlling the middle of the field comes down to feel, team cohesion, strategy, experience, and toughness moreso than pure athleticism. A squad of well picked and developed 3-stars can lock down the middle of … [Read more…]
For the last five years I’ve tried to break down every recruit in every Big 12 class. The goal was to look beyond star ratings and class rankings and dive into fits, what different teams were looking for, upside potential, and ideally to have a database from which to be able to project whether teams … [Read more…]