I see this as a very good thing. It'll address some of our D-line depth issues immediately, assuming Carter is decent enough to contribute early... which he should be. If you go back through Bo's three recruiting classes, he's been dead on for almost every single JUCO commit he's gone after. All of them... Gomes, David, Hardrick, Kinnie, Ricky Henry... They've all come in and been major contributors or even stars right away. SJB should contribute next year as well, from what we're hearing. The two whiffs have been Tyson Hetzler, who bailed, and Chase Harper, who never made it. Harper would've contributed had he made it, and Hetzler was really a holdover from Callahan's 2009 class that Bo probably felt obligated to take, regardless of his feelings on the kid's skills.Stafford says that he'll get Carter here..
. Obviously, it's not that easy... it might just be due to blind luck... But you've got to feel Bo knows how to pick out solid JUCO kids, as well as recruits in general. Here's a bombshell I'll gladly take credit for:
If Staff says he's gonna get Carter here, Irie, I say we believe the kid. That'd be a solid move on his part... gotta like a kid stepping up and actually recruiting another. Especially Carter... dude's got a good frame already. Built enough to come in and help right away, especially when someones as developed as he is already gets into the NU weight room. Most high school DEs come in way underweight, just as a natural result of not being done filling out yet. This guy's got a shorter road to being D1 ready. And it sure would be nice to get a JUCO DE after missing out on the last one we recruited... Hint hint, plays for the Giants now. Woulda been nice to get that one.
i'd have to agree w/ you here. we need a DE recruit or two, but not a JUCO when our next 3 years looks fairly stocked - unless, as you say the younger guys are not fullfilling expectations yet. Meredith was hobbled for the better part of the Colorado game and Ankarah didn't even get a tackle. He's played in 9 games w/ only 1 tackle on the season. Williams is behind Allen, and has played in all 12 games. He's the one who's job a JUCO would probably impact most.
it may mean the redshirts aren't ready yet, but it's hard to expect a freshman to be physically ready to go on the DL. i'd say it is a much bigger comment on the current back-ups - williams and ankrah. if this carter kid is good enough that the coaches project him being able to at least compete for a starting spot, then sign him up.
Aren't you kind of answering your own question? We have 3 upper classman who are every down DE's and one who projects as a pass rush specialist. All the others are RS freshman. There is little to no depth, unless you are really expecting one of the freshman to step up. Adding a JUCO with some experience adds to that depth and gives us an extra body to rotate.
I think it is just a matter of the staff finding someone who can contribute immediately, and with this staff's record when it comes to finding JUCO talent that is enough for me.
I actually think this speaks more about the back seven and the conference shift than it does about the line. If we have the personel to run the Peso and it works in the Big Ten great, but if not a guy like Carter in the mix would give us some extra flexibility to do some different things. We lose a TON of talent in the secondary after this year and depending on what the staff sees out of our secondary going forward and what they think will work best going into the Big Ten conference it's quite possible that a couple guys now listed as DE's could end up being linebackers next year. A JUCO guy gives us another body that is ready to play next year which could make a potential transition easier to make if one has to be made.