Contenders and pretenders

[stevefoxsc]

So year in year out schools recruit players from all over, and many are highly anticipated players, example Reggie McNeal Adrian Peterson. Some don't live up to their hype put around them.

Then others aren't supposed to be anything and have a grand blow out season.

I'm saying contender M.Vick, why in high school he was over shadowed by another player who was named player of the year in his state and Vick was suppose to be good but nothing like he is now. When he entered his first college season Vick went all out and shook D's every where and had an amazing season.

pretender McNeal (lord save me from the Lufkin fans) He was a great high school players I read articles on him every where, but one caught my eye on him while I was at the barber shop, I think the title said "High school stats don't compare to college stats" I also read how he was the most anticipated QB coming into college his freshmen year over, especially after beating OU his freshmen year.
Much like Peterson he had a great freshmen year, but that was the only year. Next year A&M has a typical season where Reggie is anticipated for great things, but doesn't live up to it. Instead Vince under the radar has a break out year, and dazzles us at the rose bowl and the rest is history.

Add on to the list with other con’s and pre’s

[yallerjacket]

Here is a quote from McNeal from another thread that pretty much explains why he didn't live up to the hype. He was greatness his junior year. He could have been really great if it weren't for good ole Franny.

"I broke every passing record at A&M," McNeal, a sixth-round draft pick taken as a wide receiver by the Cincinnati Bengals, said this week. "Then came my senior year and [Franchione's] running 60-percent option.

"We had the people out wide, some star players who could go out and make plays. We still could have been throwing the ball, running the ball and doing like we were my junior year. But it is what it is."

[jtk1519]

Instead Vince under the radar has a break out year, and dazzles us at the rose bowl and the rest is history.

Add on to the list with other con’s and pre’s

With all due respect, Vince has never been under any radar. He was in the same recruiting class as McNeal, but no recruit in the country had the hype and press that Vince did. He was rated the #1 recruit in the nation, the #1 QB in the nation. The star of the All-America Bowl, high school All-American, etc., etc. Even during his redshirt year Vince was the center of attention. everybody asking why he wasn't playing, why were the coaches redshirting him, etc. I still remember Vince trotting out to take over during the 2003 RRS. Texas was down, but you would not have known it from the roar of the crowd. You would have thought Jesus himself had just walked on the field.

[Firebird]

With all due respect, Vince has never been under any radar. He was in the same recruiting class as McNeal, but no recruit in the country had the hype and press that Vince did. He was rated the #1 recruit in the nation, the #1 QB in the nation. The star of the All-America Bowl, high school All-American, etc., etc. Even during his redshirt year Vince was the center of attention. everybody asking why he wasn't playing, why were the coaches redshirting him, etc. I still remember Vince trotting out to take over during the 2003 RRS. Texas was down, but you would not have known it from the roar of the crowd. You would have thought Jesus himself had just walked on the field.

I was just going to make the same point. Reggie played more earlier, that's why expectations were higher on him his soph. season. And in no way was Reggie a "pretender". As has been pointed out, he broke all of A&M's passing records, but unfortunately, he has an idiot for a coach who promptly decided that he needed to become an option QB....something he never was. By the end of his senior season, he had been beat down so much by being forced to play in Fran's scheme, he just wasn't even trying.

Reggie was a very good COLLEGE player, and could have been great at another school.


And only in some sort of Longhorn fantasy land is Adrian Petersen a "pretender". Petersen is the best back in the country when he is healthy, again, his coach ran him into the ground. Still, last season he has shown time and time again that hes got it when he is healthy...and he will be rewarded by going in the 1st or 2nd round in this year's draft.

Coaches take their chances with recruits. There is no way to foresee which ones aren't going to be able to adjust to the speed of the college game, no way to tell which ones are going to "Bomar" on you. There are things you can do, such as making sure to target the athlete with a clean background vs one with a questionable one. But it is always a roll of the dice. Sneezy Beltran, a top rated recruit at Abilene High, is finishing his playing days at ACU. Colby Freeman, a superteamer out of Brownwood, left A&M but had a good run at QB for ACU as well. Philip Daughtery out of Bridgeport was the jewel of a Tech recruiting class a few years back but never worked his way into the lineup and is now at Sam Houston State.

On the other hand, you never know when offering a scholi to a marginal kid will make you look like a genius later. Who would have thought that a short guy named Wes Welker would end up setting NCAA career punt return records and eventually win a starting spot as a WR in the NFL. For that matter, no one thought that a 2a qb from Tuscola would have the Longhorns in the place they are at. So you just never know.

[BeauxGeezy]

I would never call Peterson a pretender. That dude is just flat out good.
And Reggie?
Blame Fran for that. Reggie is an incredible athlete. It's a damn shame what Fran reduced him to...

[stevefoxsc]

With all due respect, Vince has never been under any radar. He was in the same recruiting class as McNeal, but no recruit in the country had the hype and press that Vince did. He was rated the #1 recruit in the nation, the #1 QB in the nation. The star of the All-America Bowl, high school All-American, etc., etc. Even during his redshirt year Vince was the center of attention. everybody asking why he wasn't playing, why were the coaches redshirting him, etc. I still remember Vince trotting out to take over during the 2003 RRS. Texas was down, but you would not have known it from the roar of the crowd. You would have thought Jesus himself had just walked on the field.


Yeah i brushed up on vince the whole who was number 1 vince or reggie is debated on alot of places coming out of high school that is.Though I personally would choose, yes he was the star of the aab he was also Texas 5a offensive player of the year he broke a north shore streak which beating north shore period is somthing to be proud of. It was also his choice to be red shirted. We didn't see him yet play and thats why i consider him under the radar people were waiting for like kids wait for a new game sytem and when its out its hysteria.

[stevefoxsc]

I would never call Peterson a pretender. That dude is just flat out good.
And Reggie?
Blame Fran for that. Reggie is an incredible athlete. It's a damn shame what Fran reduced him to...


though that be true, peterson was much like reggie, break out freshmen year but follow up and little by little he didn't get all the break others had rather it be coaching or alot of things, we'll never know we only have what is shown infront of us and nothing more.

Though it be true reggie did what coach said, some times you got to think outside the box espeically if you have fran as coach.