2015 Badger Football

Post #21 » by **ReasonablySober** » Sat May 23, 2015 12:47 am

Flood noted that Badger247 learned "Kafentzis was not viewed as a quarterback by Chryst.

Link.

Hard to blame the kid for moving on if that's the case.

trwi7 · Post #22 » by **trwi7** » Sat May 23, 2015 1:02 am

Is he going to have to sit out a year as a transfer? Pretty **** of Chryst to basically talk him into staying at the program when Andersen left only to tell him a few months later he doesn't view him as a QB.

Bernman · Post #23 » by **Bernman** » Sat May 23, 2015 1:18 am

ReasonablySober wrote:Twitter grumblings seem to indicate he thought he'd be #1 on the depth chart when he got to campus and he's leaving because that wasn't the case. I don't know if that's true or not, but based on the off-putting interviews I heard from his dad, I probably believe it.

We Badgers' fans tend to resort to sour grapes when we lose out on a player, and in this case it'd be cathartic to act like he's insane to soften the blow.

I buy Potrykus' report because we know he's credible and that's much more plausible that he just wasn't on a path to be starting QB at UW for multiple years in the future, so he bailed, and I can respect, even if it's not even in fall camp yet. If this coach doesn't buy into you like the previous one, and you don't fit his system, might as well cut your losses.

I guess now it's Hornibrook/Gillins for the near future. Actually, I wonder where Gillins' head is at considering he's a ways down the depth chart himself and was recruited by Gare. I hope we don't regret not recruiting James Morgan from Green Bay this last class. Always looked like a polished, pro-style QB to me.

Post #24 » by **ReasonablySober** » Sat May 23, 2015 1:38 am

Bernman wrote:
ReasonablySober wrote:Twitter grumblings seem to indicate he thought he'd be #1 on the depth chart when he got to campus and he's leaving because that wasn't the case. I don't know if that's true or not, but based on the off-putting interviews I heard from his dad, I probably believe it.

We Badgers' fans tend to resort to sour grapes when we lose out on a player, and in this case it'd be cathartic to act like he's insane to soften the blow.

I buy Potrykus' report because we know he's credible and that's much more plausible that he just wasn't on a path to be starting QB at UW for multiple years in the future, so he bailed, and I can respect, even if it's not even in fall camp yet. If this coach doesn't buy into you like the previous one, and you don't fit his system, might as well cut your losses.

I guess now it's Hornibrook/Gillins for the near future. Actually, I wonder where Gillins' head is at considering he's a ways down the depth chart himself and was recruited by Gare. I hope we don't regret not recruiting James Morgan from Green Bay this last class. Always looked like a polished, pro-style QB to me.

Yea, I don't have any problem with him leaving if the tea leaves were reading him being behind numerous guys and/or the coaching staff not really buying into him as a QB. Go somewhere that wants to play you early if that's your priority.

zmanishere11 · Post #25 » by **zmanishere11** » Sat May 23, 2015 2:53 am

trwi7 wrote:Is he going to have to sit out a year as a transfer? Pretty **** of Chryst to basically talk him into staying at the program when Andersen left only to tell him a few months later he doesn't view him as a QB.

I agree.

At the same time, how the heck does:

a. A coach make that decision this quickly on a QB, when your current QB is Joel Stave, and how does
b. A player give up actually competing for a position this quickly

This whole thing is really pretty ridiculous on all levels. I realize it's WI and the odds of us getting a big time (or even actual) QB recruit are slim.

You can now drop that to zero.

Kerb Hohl · Post #26 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Sat May 23, 2015 4:09 am

I've been down on Chryst early (only slightly) based on the pedigree of players he seemed to be looking at.

That said, he knows quarterbacks. If he didn't think Kafentzis was going to be a good college QB, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. My only pause is that he looked pretty good in the spring game.

Also don't blame Kaf for leaving if that's the case.

SpursNBucks · Post #27 » by **SpursNBucks** » Mon May 25, 2015 8:20 am

Kerb Hohl wrote:I've been down on Chryst early (only slightly)

I didn't like the Chryst hire at all. I thought it was weak. Something is not quite right that Coaches are leaving - it could be the lack of funds for Assistants or for recruiting.

midranger · Post #28 » by **midranger** » Mon May 25, 2015 1:39 pm

I've been really down on the Chryst hire since day one. Definitely the easy way out for Barry.

His last two hand selected hires left in shocking and embarrassing manners for neutral to downgraded programs. In Chryst, he's got a UW guy that will probably stay until he's asked to leave. A guy who was not in hot demand after 3 mediocre or worse years at Pitt. A guy who is aware of the recruiting limitations. A guy without the charisma to land name assistants that he'll have to pay huge bucks down the line. A guy who will keep the boosters and the HS coaches in this state off his back.And to his credit, a guy who understands football and just as importantly, understands Wisconsin football.

We'll see how it all plays out on the field. I hope I'm wrong about Chryst, but he doesn't exactly inspire any confidence.

I'm betting on a Mike Riley type tenure. Nice guy. Great football mind. When things all break right, he'll win a bunch of games. But usually just leave you wanting a lot more.

Kerb Hohl · Post #29 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Tue May 26, 2015 1:49 pm

Yeah, I guess I'm saying I was a bit down on the Chryst hire, but in terms of Kafentzis...this is the particular area where I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Chryst knows QBs. The only thing that sucks is that if Kafentzis was due to be a stud spread QB but Chryst wasn't willing to utilize him in any different capacity.

Again, though...Chryst's time with Wilson and some mobile QBs at Pitt say otherwise. If Chryst wasn't a fan of Kafentzis as a QB...I'll take his word for that.

Initially I was down on the hire just due to the fact that I don't think a next step can be taken with Chryst. However, everyone felt that about Bo Ryan. I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt. At the very least there will be some stability. Beilema was canonized after he left as a player developer even with the low recruiting rankings. Chryst could probably achieve that as an offensive expertise/player developer guy that may not have that "shoot for the stars" feeling of Andersen, but is stable and good.

Kerb Hohl · Post #30 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Tue May 26, 2015 1:52 pm

BTW - Vegas win totals came out on FiveDimes.

Badgers got slotted at 10 but HEAVY juice if you want to bet the under on that (something like -250 last time I looked). Weird, because I feel like that doesn't stimulate any action. Maybe if it moves to 9.5 everyone will go crazy on the over just because of the schedule.

Bama got 9.5, OSU got 11, MSU 9.5, Nebraska 8, Michigan 7.5, Minnesota 5.5.

SpursNBucks · Post #31 » by **SpursNBucks** » Wed May 27, 2015 5:13 am

By the way whats the deal with this QB that is he leaving? Was he some big recruit? Why all the backlash?

Kerb Hohl · Post #32 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Wed May 27, 2015 12:31 pm

SpursNBucks wrote:By the way whats the deal with this QB that is he leaving? Was he some big recruit? Why all the backlash?

"Big recruit" is very subjective in this case. By most services, he was only a mid-3-star guy but he was being heralded as a sleeper star that didn't have his star-rating bumped up by going to camps or talking to other teams. They shut it down right away due to a friendship with his dad and Gary Andersen and a fit in the offense that would feature more spread-option.

Some called him Russell Wilson or Johnny Football-lite. However, he was still a 3-star guy and there were plenty of concerns like size, arm strength, etc. He was setting records in Utah football for TDs but the offense was completely centered around him.

Long story short, he was a complete enigma as to what to expect. When Andersen left, he was stuck in a tough position of having about 2 weeks to decide (he was enrolling early in January) and he made the decision to stay partially due to Chryst trying to keep him on.

Once camp got going, I'm going to make a strong guess that Chryst didn't like what he saw as much. He got bumped down the depth chart and made a snap decision to go somewhere that he was a better fit. This isn't a Diamond Stone type thing where it is going to kick them down the rankings severely. I would have really liked to see it work out because it means that all of the descriptions are true, but I'm guessing that he wasn't going to fit into the college game, especially at UW. There were rumors of Chryst asking him to move to safety right away but not sure if those are true. I think he was just firmly #5 on the depth chart.

Time will tell if Chryst just liked "his guy" in Hornibrook or if Kafentzis really was just not looking that good. He had a good Spring Game but only threw it 3 times. I'm going to give Chryst the benefit of the doubt early on this one that Kafentzis really didn't look good. I can't imagine a coach would sabotage his own chances on that one to fit "his style." Pitt had a very mobile QB running in their offense, so Chryst would take one if one was good.

BUCKnation · Post #33 » by **BUCKnation** » Wed May 27, 2015 8:03 pm

Yeah, I don't think Kafentzis as a mobile QB was the issue, considering Chryst's track record with mobile guys (Wilson, Phillips pre-injuries, and etc.), but most likely he didn't impress and AK decided to go to a system he is more comfortable with. Chryst wasn't the reason he came here anyways so I guess it wasn't extremely shocking.

Mags FTW · Post #34 » by **Mags FTW** » Fri May 29, 2015 7:18 am

Tom Oates was on 620 Thursday and said Kafentzis was 5th on the depth chart because if you watched the spring practices and saw all 5 QBs throw the exact same route, you'd rank him as the worst.

SpursNBucks · Post #35 » by **SpursNBucks** » Sat May 30, 2015 10:51 pm

Thanks Herb. After you described the situation I now remember this player-wasn't there a big article on him in the JS some time back? They really made it sound like he was a super star. I recall Anderson tracking him for awhille. I wonder what the highest rated recruit they've ever had at UW? I think Daniels was pretty highly rated.

5th on the depth chart - WOW! I didn't even know they had 5.

Kerb Hohl · Post #36 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Mon Jun 1, 2015 3:45 pm

Daniels? Is that an older player?

Most colleges have more than 5 QBs on the depth chart. You've got 1, maybe 2 in each recruiting class plus walk-ons.

SpursNBucks · Post #37 » by **SpursNBucks** » Mon Jun 1, 2015 8:49 pm

Kerb Hohl wrote:Daniels? Is that an older player?

Most colleges have more than 5 QBs on the depth chart. You've got 1, maybe 2 in each recruiting class plus walk-ons.

Owen Daniels - who plays TE in the NFL. Before they switched him to TE he played QB - he was a pretty highly ranked QB (UW standards) from Naperville IL - My brother lives there - he kind of filled me in on Daniels when he elected to go to UW. At least I think he was pretty highly rated.

Kerb Hohl · Post #38 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Mon Jun 1, 2015 9:30 pm

Oh, yeah. Scout and Rivals only go back to 2002 (Daniels was class of 2001) and 247 has a few recruits filled in for 2001 (Daniels is rated 0 stars like 90% of the players).

I would imagine if he was a highly-rated QB he wouldn't have immediately moved to TE after a redshirt year. Might have had a fairly high rating as an athlete.

I think Oglesby, Clay, Gault, Beckham, and maybe a few other various linemen are the highest-rated recruits in their history.

SpursNBucks · Post #39 » by **SpursNBucks** » Mon Jun 1, 2015 11:25 pm

Found this on Goog - interesting;

They had the 10th ranked recruiting class that year (ESPN).
10. Wisconsin -- The Badgers did a great job of filling needs at every position, including QB (Owen Daniels), DT (Anttaj Hawthorne), and several in-state defensive linemen, as well as one of nation's top two CBs in Brett Bell.

Tom Leming ranked Daniels #87 best recruit overall in the country (regardless of position)
87 Owen Daniels, QB 6-4, 215
4.70 Naperville-Central, Ill. Wisconsin

Rivals.com ranks Paus the No. 9 QB in the country. Pool said Naperville Central QB Owen Daniels could be among the top 10.

The stuff I found he looks like he was a top 10 QB coming out. The problem back then was Bollinger was entrenched as the #1 and he was only a Sophomore. I think he was such a good athlete they wanted to get him on the field - he did such a good job at TE the rest is history. A lot of players ranked that high probably just would have transferred.

midranger · Post #40 » by **midranger** » Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:46 pm

A couple out of state recruits venally committed yesterday.

Really needed that. Now we need the two excellent in-state OL to commit to ride some momentum into the summer.

MSU is really putting on a recruiting clinic right now. We're definitely not recruiting on their level (likely for multiple reasons).