GrassOfDWS
03-25-2014, 10:21 AM
I was going to post a link to this, but it's on Insider and thought that would suck if you didn't have access to it.
A year ago, Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss signed a recruiting class that caused head turning from the SEC to the Pac-12. It created a buzz. And it was a sensation that wasn?t entirely unfamiliar to the Rebels, or to Freeze.
Ed Orgeron compiled a high-end class in 2006, but he could never turn it into wins. Freeze was on that staff, as an administrator and then an assistant, so he has seen firsthand that recruiting alone will not save a staff. Freeze has won 15 games in his first two seasons, an establishment of moderate success but success that must be built upon in one of the country?s toughest divisions.
Vegas, for one, is a believer that 2014 will be the year the Rebels will rise. A team that has gone 3-5 in the SEC in Freeze?s first two seasons is 40-1 to win the national title, according to the Las Vegas Hotel.
If it works out for Freeze, or if it doesn?t, we?ll point back to that 2013 class. That means we likely will point in particular to defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, RecruitingNation?s No. 1 overall prospect in 2013.
And that?s why Nkemdiche is atop the list of defensive players with the most to prove in the 2014 season:
1. Robert Nkemdiche, DL, Ole Miss Rebels
Nkemdiche was the jewel of Freeze?s top-five haul, a Clemson flip the Rebels hoped would provide an immediate impact. He did, starting 10 games and collecting 34 tackles (8.5 for a loss). But only six of those games were starts at his recruited position, defensive end. The Ole Miss staff, and other coaches around the country, figured out pretty quickly that Nkemdiche was going to be too big to play end.
If people saw ?No. 1-ranked defensive end prospect? and thought this would be the next Jadeveon Clowney, or even Da'Quan Bowers, they learned otherwise once the season started.
?His legs. That?s what I remember most when I saw their first game,? one SEC assistant said. ?I said, ?Those are a tackle?s legs.??
He was right. Nkemdiche played the final four games inside, and that?s where he has started this spring. The 6-foot-4, 277-pound lineman?s impact can still be great -- look at the way Alabama and LSU have made stars of D-tackles -- but it will not come quite the way some thought it might.
There also are off-field issues with which to deal. Nkemdiche?s brother, Denzel, has been suspended from the team, and both brothers are facing a lawsuit stemming from an incident at a party. The school is standing behind the Nkemdiches in the legal matter, although it isn?t exactly how anyone would choose to enter a second college season. That leaves Nkemdiche with quite a bit to prove, on a team that has a similar burden as Freeze?s job clock begins to tick.
He obviously thinks Nkemdiche is talented and has lots of potential, but it's a matter of living up to it. I thought that was an interesting statement at the end about "Freeze's job clock beginning to tick".
A year ago, Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss signed a recruiting class that caused head turning from the SEC to the Pac-12. It created a buzz. And it was a sensation that wasn?t entirely unfamiliar to the Rebels, or to Freeze.
Ed Orgeron compiled a high-end class in 2006, but he could never turn it into wins. Freeze was on that staff, as an administrator and then an assistant, so he has seen firsthand that recruiting alone will not save a staff. Freeze has won 15 games in his first two seasons, an establishment of moderate success but success that must be built upon in one of the country?s toughest divisions.
Vegas, for one, is a believer that 2014 will be the year the Rebels will rise. A team that has gone 3-5 in the SEC in Freeze?s first two seasons is 40-1 to win the national title, according to the Las Vegas Hotel.
If it works out for Freeze, or if it doesn?t, we?ll point back to that 2013 class. That means we likely will point in particular to defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, RecruitingNation?s No. 1 overall prospect in 2013.
And that?s why Nkemdiche is atop the list of defensive players with the most to prove in the 2014 season:
1. Robert Nkemdiche, DL, Ole Miss Rebels
Nkemdiche was the jewel of Freeze?s top-five haul, a Clemson flip the Rebels hoped would provide an immediate impact. He did, starting 10 games and collecting 34 tackles (8.5 for a loss). But only six of those games were starts at his recruited position, defensive end. The Ole Miss staff, and other coaches around the country, figured out pretty quickly that Nkemdiche was going to be too big to play end.
If people saw ?No. 1-ranked defensive end prospect? and thought this would be the next Jadeveon Clowney, or even Da'Quan Bowers, they learned otherwise once the season started.
?His legs. That?s what I remember most when I saw their first game,? one SEC assistant said. ?I said, ?Those are a tackle?s legs.??
He was right. Nkemdiche played the final four games inside, and that?s where he has started this spring. The 6-foot-4, 277-pound lineman?s impact can still be great -- look at the way Alabama and LSU have made stars of D-tackles -- but it will not come quite the way some thought it might.
There also are off-field issues with which to deal. Nkemdiche?s brother, Denzel, has been suspended from the team, and both brothers are facing a lawsuit stemming from an incident at a party. The school is standing behind the Nkemdiches in the legal matter, although it isn?t exactly how anyone would choose to enter a second college season. That leaves Nkemdiche with quite a bit to prove, on a team that has a similar burden as Freeze?s job clock begins to tick.
He obviously thinks Nkemdiche is talented and has lots of potential, but it's a matter of living up to it. I thought that was an interesting statement at the end about "Freeze's job clock beginning to tick".