Still amazes me people get all caught up in the recruiting rankings. ku went to the Orange bowl with mostly two stars. Per the experts they have been recruiting better and now I look at their roster and frankly it's not nearly as talented as it was a couple of years ago. Everytime ku gets a 4 star recruit he ends up sucking. The DB from TX who I don't think is on the team, the twin WR/DB from Lawrence I don't know what happened to him, the juco OT from Aussie, The rapist jc RB, the lb from TX that switched to ku from UT after UT dropped him for disciplinary reasons. To a man these guys have all sucked but ku fans still get excited about these rankings.
When I looked at ku's roster and prefall two deep the other day I was surprised at what I saw. A team that is weak in the o-line with a freshman 260 pound converted TE starting at OT, another freshman starting a guard, a walk who played TE at air force on the two deep at OT. No depth at RB behind Sharp.
On defense ku has two guys listed as starters who were back ups on offense last season and have never taken a snap on defense. They've got no depth at DE with a walkon on the two deep and they are counting on true freshman. The LB corp isn't very good, secondary isn't very good outside of Stukey. DL is marginal.
KSU has it's own issues on it's roster but honestly when I started looking at ku I was surprised at the holes they have. I don't look at that depth chart and see a division champion. NU for instance is much deeper and stronger pretty much everywhere but WR and QB. To me football is still about the trenches I don't see ku winning the division just with good QB and WR play.
Either you're in some hardcore denial, or you just don't know what the f*ck you're talking about when it comes to ku football.
1. ku is far from weak on the o-line. Jeremiah Hatch, Jeff Spikes, John Williams, Sal Capra, and Tanner Hawkinson will form a very good o-line next season. Hawkinson is up to 285 and has quick feet and good instincts. Mangino has had a lot of success converting tight ends to o-tackle. Hawkinson has a chance to be one of the best lineman Mangino has had.
2. No depth at running back behind Sharp? Did you attend ku's spring game? Did you see Rell Lewis? Have you heard of Daniel Porter? Have you heard of Toben Opurum? If there's anyone that doesn't have sh*t at running back, it's K-State.
3. No depth at d-end? Jake Laptad had 7 sacks last season and 2 forced safeties. Max Onyegbule is finally coming into his own. Quinton Woods committed to Michigan out of high school and has been tearing it up in summer workouts. Kevin Young will see the field right away as a true freshman. ku's got plenty of depth at d-end.... this is the first year since '05 that ku will have a solid pass rush from the d-end position.
4. Arist Wright, Steven Johnson, Angus Quigley, Vernon Brooks, Justin Springer, etc, etc. at LB to start the season. More athleticism and explosiveness at linebacker than what we've had in the past. Brooks was a juco AA with offers to OU and Tennessee.
5. The d-tackle position is stacked with Greene, Johnson, Parish, Blakesley, etc. ku goes at least 4-deep at DT with a couple guys who would start at just about any other school in the North.
Seriously, stick to something you know about, because you are absolutely clueless when it comes to ku. Should be quite the eye opener when ku rolls into Manhattan and creams your group of D-2 scrubs by about 6 TD's.
1. Hawkinson is listed at 260 on the updated ku roster that is where my info comes from. He may have potential but he's a freshman and a converted TE that has never played OL in a game at any level if this doesn't concern you then you're in denial. The Wilson kid I think is a frosh too frosh starters in the OL almost always equal not good. Hatch and Spikes are pretty good I'm guessing they'll be much improved from last season. Capra is limited and the depth is pretty bad behind all of them.
2. I never said KSU was in good shape at RB but that isn't relevant to ku's situation. Rell Lewis is listed as a returning squad member meaning he was on the team last year and didn't letter. Didn't get a single carry or touch in a single game. The otehr kid is a true frosh no different then the KSU true frosh all the powerstards are talking about. Not familier with the Porter kid at all. You should have seen Keithen Valentine in last year's spring game at KSU he was awesome.
3. First of all when somebody refers to depth they are not talking about the starters. You have average big 12 North starters at DE in Laptad and the other dude. Behind them on ku's official precamp depthchart was a senior walk on who played on the scout team last year and didn't letter. The mere fact that you're talking about true freshman and a 6'5" 230 pound JC kid who didn't go through spring tells me you have no depth. We've been there and done that at KSU I know it when I see it.
4. Your LB's are so good a RB reject who has never played the position can walk over and take a job with ease. I'll be courious to see how Brooks does. Late arriving JC players are dicey. But again the fact that you're talking about him tells me you're not comfortable with what you have. KSU is talking about Daniel Thomas but that is because we're sure as hell not comfortable with what else we have.
5. I never said anything about ku's DT's because I do think ku has done a good job there the last couple of years. I don't see a world beater or standout right now but you're deep which I think is important at that spot. I wouldn't say you're stacked but it's not a weakness the talent is average but the depth is better then average. Who among those guys is better then Fitzgerald at KSU or Suh at NU or Baston at MU etc? You're probably a year away from being really good at DT.
You seem to be a little too in love with your own talent. That happens if all you do is read fluff articles on scout and rivals and you don't stop to look at what others teams have and compare it to what you have.
