BSD,
I saw your comments on the new wide receiver. I am new to Black Shoes Diary, (joined today). I was curious, where did you play college/pro football? Once I know your level of athletic accomplishment, I will know how much to credence to pay to your opinion.

Thanks in Advance

I get so irritated when people question what people write by saying “where did you play?” Give me a break! 99 percent of all writers, bloggers, reporters, editors, etc. were not elite athletes. Why do people like this guy think the only way to be allowed to voice an opinion is to have prior playing experience. Football wasn’t my chosen sport for playing but I could tell you anything about PSU football- from being an alum, die hard fan since 8 years old, going to games, following players and stats, and the way I stay insanely informed on the football program. Does that mean I can’t voice my opinion as well?

I don’t believe it’s necessary for a commentator to have any athletic accomplishment to be able to form a valid opinion.

I never said you needed to play to have an opinion. I said your athletic accomplishments would determine how much credence I gave your opinions.

Do you feel your opinion is as valid as someone who pays an equal amount of attention to the program and played ?

psubiaser…I would give more credibility to someone who played and pays equal attention to the program. So I will concede that. It’s like a coaching analogy. A good player isn’t always a good coach, and a good coach isn’t always a good player. Kind of like that in the world of sports media. But like I wrote, most of the bloggers, writers, etc. are not former players. So we don’t hear their thoughts too often, unless it’s a former player announcing a game or something of that nature.

Furthermore, when it comes to recruiting, one really must be careful with taking credence in ANY sort of opinion, both “pro” and “amateur.”

This can essentially be a coin flip business except for exceptionally talented individuals. I’d say there are 3 tiers:

“Will be good anywhere” 5%
“Who the heck knows?” 70%
“Will ride the bench” 25%

When you’re in the middle 70% like we are here… I don’t think it much matters. They could go either way.

Unfortunately he is a RB, not a WR. He plays a wing-T, so he’s never had to practice route running. He plays against the 2nd worst level of competition in PA. He’s also not 6’4.

This is the best Penn State can get at a position they are in such dire need for?

He looks like a fine athlete with very good speed. Playing WR is not brain surgery. Many prior PSU WRs did not play WR in HS. Recent/current recruits targets like John Baldwin and Todd Thomas played little or none WR in HS.

This is a stupid comment, you say a la ‘03/’04 but fail to mention that nobody expected the WRs to do what they did in ‘05. Mark Rubin goes to safety, a walk-on DB & Brian Norwood’s kid who GS/RS become the receiving corp along with Derrick Williams/Justin King/Ethan Kilmer and your telling me that you expected them to be the targets that they were for Michael Robinson? I don’t buy that for one second. Two kids from VA & PA respectively were and are our best WRs for the past three years, more so than the 5* #1 recruit in the nation and people are worried about ‘09 with guys like Devon Smith, Justin Brown, Jaleel Clark & Tavon Austin still on the board?

I’m loving Brandon Felder, not sure what to think about Kuntz. Someone said he is not 6’4, well then how tall is he? How much does he weigh? I posted an article elsewhere (http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2008/07/04/sports/football/doc486e7154ab8b7955064966.txt) where Kuntz himself says he has never even lifted for more than a few weeks at a time…I don’t know if this bodes well for us or not. He seems like a better athlete than Rubin, much more fluid and he has good hands but will his body allow him to be a WR when he is in a S&C program year round? Anyway:

Derek Moye wasn’t much of a WR in H.S., he did a lot at RB and out of the backfield, bubble screens and stuff like that so he wasn’t a polished route runner by any stretch of the imagination. Brett Brackett is a converted WR, Graham Zug is a walk-on & A.J. Price has some work to do but he probably has the greatest combination of physical skills at the WR position (height, speed, hands, leaping ability, body control).

WR – Brett Brackett, Graham Zug, Christian Kuntz
WR – Derek Moye, Brandon Felder, Derrick Thomas
WR – AJ Price, Devon Smith (if we offer), Curtis Drake

Not exactly horrible. We better hope that one of Brackett, Zug or Kuntz pan out because that is on the coaches. We need Brett, Derek & AJ Price to be able to contribute early, we need AJ on campus practicing with the team and getting guidance from DWill, Butler & Norwood. I’m excited about Felder & Price, hopeful about Moye, Drake & Brackett, worried about Zug, Thomas (as a WR), Kuntz & Devon Smith (as a “WR”).

First one was Matt Kranchick.. he graduated and then spent a year at Mercersberg Academy. I played for Trinity a couple years ago. They’ve produced a few guys. Chris Crane was the last big prospect.. 3 star QB currently at Boston College. They typically play a few single A teams in their divsion.. Good Single A teams.. Camp Hill, Steel-High but single A nevertheless. They’ve got a pretty solid head coach in Boger. I’m not going to debate the route running commentary. The offense almost puts no emphasis on crisp route running whatsoever.

I will say this though.. We have totally whiffed on big time WR prospects.. Chris Bell, Derrick Williams.. I’ve been more impressed by Norwood. You can find good under-recruited WR’s everywhere. Take a look at Hawaii’s WR corps last year or Texas Tech’s.

Yes. If you need proof, fast foward this video to about 1:50. Christian is #34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE6m-wjZA3Y&feature=related