Laborn visited Virginia Tech over the summer (http://www.thekeyplay.com/virginia-tech-football-recruiting/2015/07/9746...), and according to Scout (http://www.scout.com/college/football/recruiting/story/1580542-scout-100...) his top 5 schools are Florida State, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio State and Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech: "It's close to home and I like the coaching staff. They're cool and get along well with the players."
Laborn hopes to commit in December or January.
"The main factors are going to be the academics at the school, my relationship with the coaches and having an opportunity to play as a freshman," he said.
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yes, please.
would be absolutely awesome but with FSU and Georgia pumping out some nasty RB's we might be 3rd fiddle..
True. I used to believe in the old recruiting saying that what Momma say goes, but then Josh Sweat happened.
I hope that we can get back to a semblance of a power running game soon to attract more studs.
Top two actually....VT and FSU.
This
Early playing time, how does 2017 RB depth look.
Did Shai get a medical hardship waiver? Was he in under the wire for that? If so, he's a R-Fr this season. That means if the knee holds, he's a R-Jr in 2017.
Marshawn, if he redshirts this season, is also a R-Jr in '17.
Travon McMillian, R-JR in '17.
Deshawn McClease, JR or R-So in '17 depending on a redshirt year.
Coleman Fox, ditto.
RB recruiting yet to be determined for this cycle. If we sign an RB, he'd be either a So or R-Fr in '17.
This kid would have to be spectacular to jump the number of players necessary to see the field his true freshman year, and it would still be a longshot as a R-Fr.
So seems like a hard sell for someone who wants early playing time.
As it also would be for Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State, UNC...no?
^^^^THIS^^^^
It's not just us. If he's playing early, he isn't playing for a winner. I think it's an issue of all kids their junior year of HS think, yeah, Imma set the world on fire in college, just gotta find where I can get on the field. I expect immediate playing time will slide down his priorities totem pole the closer he gets to deciding. Or else he will really regret his decision because of the dire straights of a program that needs him to play freshman year. (See: Us, last year.)
elite RBs come in early and play no matter what program it's at. UGA and Alabama put our 1st/2nd rounders every year and have true freshmen getting meaningful carries every year. Even with Todd Gurley last year pre-injury nick chubb was getting some carries. Sony Michel also got carries for them. Then you have Alabama and guys like trent Richardson, tj yeldon, derrick henry come in as true freshmen and stole snaps from Heisman candidates and other high picks.
^This, too ^
UGA seems to always have the next shiny new RB playing as a true freshman, albeit in limited snaps. Our depth chart two years from now will likely still have a Marshawn, a Shai, a Deshawn, and a Travon, so getting snaps in 2017 might be tough. That doesn't even count Reid and Fox, who I'm not too familiar with.
But we have no running backs committed in the 2016 class (per Rivals), so maybe by 2017 we see some early NFL departure, attrition, injury, position changes, and the like. Not out of the realm of possibility, for sure.
Nice spot check, sir. I admit, my entire comment was based on an assumption he meant significant playing time. If spot work will do, there are several programs where he has a shot to see the field as a true frosh, and we are one of them.
Laborn might be able to get more than spot PT for us next year IMO. We have a group of very talented backs but none of them are elite IMO.
Year after next?
yes '17. we'll still have no RBs on the roster that would be considered elite.
That's why you don't redshirt you five-star guys. Because all the five-star guys want to play early even if it's in a limited role and you can't get the next five-star if you don't give the current five-star got playing time and I use the term five-star to mean high four-star guys like Tim settle and Dwayne Lawson
Lawson wasn't a high four star guy
Depends on what rating service you want to believe
Which one had him as a high 4?
depends on what you consider high I guess.
Espn had him 199 out of their top 300: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/188112...
Rivals had him at 175 of their top 250: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Dwayne-Lawson-15...
199 and 175 are not high 4 stars. That's middle of the pack.
You play guys that are ready to play. 5 star guys (and high 4 star guys) wash out too. They're not all ready to play right away...or ever.
A kid with this pedigree isn't worried about Coleman Fox. He's probably not worried about anyone on our roster.
The question was what does the depth at the position look like in '17, so that was the question I answered...
Okay, the comment should be for the questioner then. The answer: it doesn't matter. This is a potential 5* kid and those kids don't care about depth charts. It is assumed they will be at the top of their position almost immediately.
Kevin Jones wasn't worried about Keith Burnell.
He has the chance for early playing time but our rb situation is loaded so he'd have to earn it. Seeing who we're up against, that doesn't seem to be an issue with him.
The most important thing we can do to look more appealing is win games. At those other schools, playoff berths are a distinct possibility and possibly likely during his time there (except UNC). We have to prove over the next year or so that we are still capable of that as well.
Hes at the type of talent level that he could come in and be more explosive than any of these guys. He's a little smaller so pass protection and such might be limited, but hes a genuine weapon in comparison to anyone we currently have.
That .gif made me laugh out loud. Perfect usage. Bravo
However, if our problem is missing out on recruits who want early playing time, I'd take that as a good problem to have.
Thanks. And no argument.
Then how is UNC on the list???
Also to points of early playing time, gonna be hard with our backfield right now.
"Could you elaborate on how they 'take care of their players'?"
"Yeah, like, they said they have this guy that they call if I ever get in any legal trouble and *poof*—it's gone."
Ocean Lakes could be huge for us in '17
Early playing time will be tough to come by here just due to experience our guys will have but injuries happen. He could be in the rotation as a R-Fr or a 3 year starter as a R-So (hypothetical of course). I wouldn't say that isn't early playing time but playing as a freshman may be hard anywhere unless you are elite.
It depends upon how good he is. If he's truly an elite back, he'll get carries. If not, he'll probably wait his turn regardless of where he goes on his list of 5.
Wow!
Great highlights, really versatile. Catches well is an understatement. Return game was great.
The only thing that's gonna stop this guy is the endzone.
Wow, is right. This kid already has a lifetime of highlights and he's just getting started. I believe we could find room for him in a pinch, right?
Ricky Slade in 2018 may be better....
just saying....
Cant we have both?
Please sir, can I have more?
Well 247 certainly has strong feelings...
http://247sports.com/Player/Khalan-Laborn-72202
From the 1 prediction?