Dexter Wideman & Stephon Taylor Transferring per CWM

[92Pony]

Is it too late to snag anyone remaining (anyone out there even worth looking at?) to fill their spots?

[Ace Dilcock]

Originally Posted by Emery

The other thing I always think about in these situations is who would've been the other two guys we could've gotten that year? Both of these kids were highly rated, so I would assume there would've been a three star player that perhaps got left out because of them.

Can't be right on all of them, and I know it comes out in the wash since it frees up scholarships, but it doesn't matter to the kid that we passed on because we were full that ended up not being able to give USC a shot.

There are limitations on number of players in each class (25) in addition to the overall 85 limit. This creates space for the overall number but I don't think we could bring in any more - could be wrong. If we are under, we can still count them back with the 2018 class.

And they are not leaving big holes - Wideman had all but disappeared, Taylor would have been more of a reserve and we have plenty others (Stallworth, Ulric, Kinlaw, Kobe, Webb) that would have been ahead of him.

[davisd9]

Pretty certain Taylor has a young child back in La and is transferring to get closer.


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[Flameout12]

Originally Posted by GamecockTaylor

Sadly It was me... I wanted him to come around but you could just see it so clearly he just didn't care.

Some guys just don't love football. I wish the best for Dex and hope he finds something he's passionate about.

[Coondog]

Wideman had fallen almost completely off the depth chart and is transferring to SC State where he will get to play on athletic ability alone and get a degree. He only has 2 years of eligibility left and is not going to play at the next level so this was the best decision for him. I wish him well.

Taylor was injured last season and a good bit of this Spring so we will never know if he has what it takes to succeed at this level. With what's been reported he just wants to be close to home so you can't blame a 19 year old kid for that either. I wish him well also.

The reality is that you never truly know how a kid will transition to playing at the next level or being so far from home. I will never blame a kid for leaving for PT or being close to home since he only has a very short window of eligibility and college life.

[crowcutta]

Originally Posted by 92Pony

Is it too late to snag anyone remaining (anyone out there even worth looking at?) to fill their spots?

we have 5 true dt's right now soon to be 6 when kinlaw gets here, its not ideal but it should be adequate if we can avoid injuries. still should be in better shape than last year of having an undersized keir thomas in the dt rotation. i dont think losing either guy hurts us much this year, but it makes the development of thompson, smith, and webb crucial and dt recruiting even more of a priority.

muschamp did mention taylor along with thompson and smith as guys he was hopeful of making a jump this spring. wideman has 3 years of eligibility remaining.

[Gamecocks1137]

Originally Posted by cocknblue

But wait...I thought stars mattered!

Guess not

Tell that to Alabama and Clemson. There is obviously a direct correlation between stars and success. Just look at recruiting rankings and the teams who have won the title in the past 15 years.

[carolina_corpsman]

Originally Posted by Gamecocks1137

Tell that to Alabama and Clemson. There is obviously a direct correlation between stars and success. Just look at recruiting rankings and the teams who have won the title in the past 15 years.

Correlation does not equal causation. Just saying.

FWIW I do agree that you have a much better chance of winning more games when you have better athletes at more positions.

[6pack]

Originally Posted by carolina_corpsman

Correlation does not equal causation. Just saying.

FWIW I do agree that you have a much better chance of winning more games when you have better athletes at more positions.

Favorable level of competition and a soft SOS helps too.

[carolina_corpsman]

Originally Posted by 6pack

Favorable level of competition and a soft SOS helps too.

Very true, might as well add in a crap ton of luck and running a questionable pick play.

Speaking of pick plays, I hope that it has been added to our playbook, if they aren't going to call it, might as well run it!

[crowcutta]

Originally Posted by Gamecocks1137

Tell that to Alabama and Clemson. There is obviously a direct correlation between stars and success. Just look at recruiting rankings and the teams who have won the title in the past 15 years.

i think what hes saying is just because a guy was the highest rated player in high school doesnt mean hes going to be your best player. talent matters, recruiting rankings dont matter once a guy is on campus, then it becomes a matter of who is a difference maker whether that guy was a 3* or 5*. our recruiting rankings didnt go in the toilet during the 2010-2014 run, but our talent and roster balance did.


roster balance has been a huge issue since going back to 2013 and obviously it started before that, we just had difference makers that helped make up for it.

[EAtMoRTaYtErz]

Originally Posted by Gamecocks1137

Tell that to Alabama and Clemson. There is obviously a direct correlation between stars and success. Just look at recruiting rankings and the teams who have won the title in the past 15 years.

We get sloppy seconds to what teams like Bama gets. So don't think just because our guys was rated a 4 star by some recruiting agency and their guys is a 4 star to that they are are equal. Bama does very good research and they don't have to chances with recruits they don't like. We DO have to take chances on guys.

[Waterloo Gamecock]

Originally Posted by 6pack

Favorable level of competition and a soft SOS helps too.

Can't get any softer than the SEC East. That's why UGA fired Richt and Mizzou won it 2 out of their first 4 years,after decades of being a mid level BIG 12 team at best.The facts just don't support you.

[usc1]

Saying stars are useless because of 2 outlier cases is a little ridiculous don't ya think. Gotta look at the big picture.

Taylor is a little surprising but Wideman you had to see coming.

[Lucky]

Losing Taylor hurts. I am pretty concerned about the state of our defensive line right now.

[lfowens]

Agree (I am also concerned about the state of our defensive line) - I was thinking Taylor would be a definite contributor immediately and hoping Wideman would "wake up" (sometimes that is all it takes - best example, Melvin Ingram considered a bust until he "woke up")....

[Ace Dilcock]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Losing Taylor hurts. I am pretty concerned about the state of our defensive line right now.

Taylor hurts if he was a legit 4* talent but he was also behind with the injuries. He would be more like a true Freshman than a Redshirt, so he would be in more of a back-up role in 2017.

In other words - not a big immediate loss, but we might need to backfill with a JUCO because he could have been heavy in the rotation for 2018. If he had legit talent, unlike some of our more recent 4* recruits.

[sandstorm2001]

Originally Posted by cocknblue

But wait...I thought stars mattered!

Guess not

Originally Posted by Roosterdog

These were 4* guys? Really? Best of luck to them but if they were 4* guys than they are all the proof you need that the star rating system is useless.

It was already established in another thread that the higher the rating, the more likely someone is to get drafted in the NFL. Of course the ratings aren't right 100% of the time, but they're a pretty good indicator. I think it was something like 3 in 4 or 3 in 5 players that are rated 5* get drafted. The percentages go down the less stars a person has.

If it was just a crap shoot and they didn't mean anything the percentages would be fairly consistent across all star levels.

[SCohioBoy]

I think we would be fine without them. DT has a ton of guys with skill there,

Dante Sawyer Ulric Jones Kobe Smith MJ Webb Aaron Thompson Taylor Stallworth Javon Kinlaw

[InletCock1989]

Chicken shit