You've heard a lot of coaches say it through the years: "If we can just get it to the fourth quarter, we'll have a chance."
Well, this is the fourth quarter of recruiting season, and Arkansas has found itself in position to get the win.
Looking at the visit list for the final two weekends, there are six four-star prospects visiting and two highly-rated three-stars in Tramal Ivy and Eric Cuffee that most would consider top notch talents regardless of their rating. The Razorbacks are swinging for the fences with guys like Kyle Porter, Tyrie Cleveland, Patrick Hudson, Brandon Jones, Kristian Fulton, Eric Cuffee, Tramal Ivy -- even Chris Daniels, who was offered this week but hasn't set an official visit date with the Hogs.
There are a couple of other visitors coming in over the next two weekends that I consider big-time targets, but we can't list their names at this time or it'd hurt Arkansas' chances of even getting them to follow through with their visit. As the old saying goes, it's not my job to help Arkansas recruiting, but it's definitely not my job to hurt them, either. So as always, we'll sit on those names until given a green light.
Now, I think there's a lot to be said for Arkansas being able to attract so much talent this late in the game. They zeroed-in on a select group of top guys early on and, for the most part, have gone wire-to-wire with a lot of them. You have to give them a lot of credit for being in position to land some really, really good players here towards the end.
But now they have to finish the job.
I see it almost like the 2014 football season in which the Razorbacks had played "close, but no cigar" football for so many consecutive weeks. They need a breakout in recruiting like the one they got on the field in a 17-0 win over LSU in Fayetteville. Getting close on a bunch of big-time guys but still coming in second place doesn't do anything for the roster. They need to find a way to land some of these big ones. I say some, because I don't think it'd be fair or realistic to say they have to land them all, but they could definitely use another big-time running back, and they have to have a couple more offensive linemen, a couple more linebackers and a couple of defensive backs.
If you can add a quality receiver or a defensive lineman to the group, great, but those needs aren't as great as the others from a numbers standpoint.
One thing that jumps out to me about the top remaining targets is how Arkansas is trying to go into Texas and beat a whole bunch of Texas competition for these guys.
Porter is down to Arkansas, TCU and Texas. Hudson's a longtime Baylor pledge. Jones has high interest in Texas and Texas A&M. Cuffee has the Longhorns, Aggies and Baylor begging for his services. TCU has made a strong push at Cleveland, who's committed to his hometown Houston Cougars. A&M and Texas are also heavily-involved with Daniels.
With Fulton, the Hogs' biggest competition is LSU. Actually, Arkansas' biggest competition might be Fulton's parents, who, according to most, want their son to go to LSU.
That's a tough task for the Hogs, trying to go into opposing states and beat all the big-name schools for top talent. But it's the position they've worked to get in -- especially when it comes to their recruiting efforts in Texas and Louisiana -- and now they're here.
What do I think will happen? I think they'll probably get some of the big ones. Not all, but I do think they'll come away with some and end up with a solid class. The thing about this class that I find interesting is that Arkansas has had so many commitments for so long, it's easy to forget about some very good players in this group.
As I said recently, think how excited you'd be if some of your longtime commits were just now making their decision here in late January. What if Hayden Johnson was deciding later today and he picked Arkansas over his hometown Missouri Tigers and offers from Florida State and Nebraska. Same deal with Jordan Jones turning down Alabama and Ole Miss offers, Grayson Gunter turning down instate offers from Mississippi State and Ole Miss, and Alexy Jean-Baptiste picking Arkansas over Miami, Michigan State, Louisville and Wisconsin.
This weekend is certainly a big one in determining who else is added on February 3.
My gut feeling is that they have a great chance to get Porter, a guy they've felt good about for some time. As most of you know by now, this guy doesn't give out much information. He doesn't even have social media. I like that about him even though it's made it very hard for people like me to get an idea of what he's thinking.
I also like that Porter said he doesn't want coaches to know what it is he's looking for in a program, because he basically doesn't want them just telling him what they think he wants to hear. I think that could work to the advantage of a guy like Bielema, who's not big on feeding recruits a lot of BS anyway. Throw in Arkansas' legitimate need for him, and their proven history with running backs, I think there's a real chance there.
Cleveland is kind of a wild card. A source has told me for months that Arkansas would have a very good chance to end up with him, but I've always been skeptical. Maybe it's because I don't know the kid well enough and haven't gotten on an off-record basis with him, but from the outside looking in it's been hard for me to see it. I will say, based on what I know, they've done a great job of recruiting Tyrie and staying in the ballgame for a long time now. I do think they sent a strong message to wide receiver targets with the season they had. The team's passing rating (167) was higher than it ever was in four years under Bobby Petrino, and they threw for the third-most passing yards in the conference. Not many saw that coming, but it had to help shut up opposing coaches who used to laugh at receiver recruits that were considering playing for Bielema.
I've been hearing a few more positive things on Arkansas' chances with Cuffee lately. Some believe this is a guy that's ready and willing to leave the state and get away from home. I think A&M may have already shot itself in the foot with Cuffee, but I don't know that for a fact. This one kind of has a Khalil Haughton feel to it, and Haughton was a guy that left Waco for an out-of-state program (Oklahoma). I'll be very curious to see what Cuffee has to say after his visit this weekend.
Ivy is another one that really intrigues me. I know it's long been thought that Nebraska would end up with him, and they very well may, but I think this could be a situation where Arkansas really makes things interesting with his official visit on the final weekend. I certainly don't know Nebraska's situation as far as depth at the position, but I do know Arkansas' is strong. That's the only thing -- besides Nebraska being in the door before Arkansas -- that I think might hurt the Hogs' chances here. But this is a guy who's originally from Muskogee, which is an hour and a half from Fayetteville. I don't know the guy well enough yet to know if that means anything, but who knows, it could be big for him.
On the others, I'd rather get through the weekend and see where things stand after their visit before saying too much.
As far as others not mentioned here, I know Allen Cater, the defensive end out of Kennesaw (Ga.) has received some major pushes from the two Carolina schools lately, but I still get a good feeling for Arkansas when I talk to him.
On the current commits who are still taking or have taken visits elsewhere, I truly think Dejon Harris is firm to Arkansas and I have felt that way ever since he announced that he was going to take other trips. I've got a pretty good relationship with Dejon and, unless something changes very late, I still believe he's locked in with the Hogs.
Kiel Pollard told me late Wednesday night that he hasn't set an actual time to make any sort of final announcement on what he plans to do, but said he'll let me know when he does. Obviously South Carolina gave him a lot to think about when they came calling, and honestly, him going quiet on me right after that offer made me think he was probably going to flip. Over the last couple of weeks though, it's been back to normal as far as our communication with one another. Sometimes that means something, sometimes it means nothing, but I have seen cases in the past where a kid who was strongly leaning toward de-committing from Arkansas (or had found out Arkansas was going in a different direction, etc.) would go completely silent with Arkansas reporters like myself. Again, maybe it means nothing, but we've been talking quite a bit lately.
Also, today's actually a big day as it relates to Kiel because Bielema will be there for his in-home visit later today.
I haven't talked to Briston in the last week or so, but I really haven't tried to bug him either. He's still planning on taking the Oklahoma visit. We'll talk after his visit ends on Sunday, but my gut feeling going into the weekend is that he'll end up staying with the Hogs.
Giovanni LaFrance is a guy that I think will pull the trigger this weekend. I'd be surprised if he didn't, I'll put it that way. That doesn't mean he'll do it while he's here, but I do think he's one of the guys they'll get out of this weekend.
The 'secret visitor' (you know I can't write this much and not say those words) is another guy I think they'll have a very good chance to end up with from this weekend's list. He's a very good player, in my opinion, and one I think Arkansas fans would be glad to have if they do get him.
Well, this is the fourth quarter of recruiting season, and Arkansas has found itself in position to get the win.
Looking at the visit list for the final two weekends, there are six four-star prospects visiting and two highly-rated three-stars in Tramal Ivy and Eric Cuffee that most would consider top notch talents regardless of their rating. The Razorbacks are swinging for the fences with guys like Kyle Porter, Tyrie Cleveland, Patrick Hudson, Brandon Jones, Kristian Fulton, Eric Cuffee, Tramal Ivy -- even Chris Daniels, who was offered this week but hasn't set an official visit date with the Hogs.
There are a couple of other visitors coming in over the next two weekends that I consider big-time targets, but we can't list their names at this time or it'd hurt Arkansas' chances of even getting them to follow through with their visit. As the old saying goes, it's not my job to help Arkansas recruiting, but it's definitely not my job to hurt them, either. So as always, we'll sit on those names until given a green light.
Now, I think there's a lot to be said for Arkansas being able to attract so much talent this late in the game. They zeroed-in on a select group of top guys early on and, for the most part, have gone wire-to-wire with a lot of them. You have to give them a lot of credit for being in position to land some really, really good players here towards the end.
But now they have to finish the job.
I see it almost like the 2014 football season in which the Razorbacks had played "close, but no cigar" football for so many consecutive weeks. They need a breakout in recruiting like the one they got on the field in a 17-0 win over LSU in Fayetteville. Getting close on a bunch of big-time guys but still coming in second place doesn't do anything for the roster. They need to find a way to land some of these big ones. I say some, because I don't think it'd be fair or realistic to say they have to land them all, but they could definitely use another big-time running back, and they have to have a couple more offensive linemen, a couple more linebackers and a couple of defensive backs.
If you can add a quality receiver or a defensive lineman to the group, great, but those needs aren't as great as the others from a numbers standpoint.
One thing that jumps out to me about the top remaining targets is how Arkansas is trying to go into Texas and beat a whole bunch of Texas competition for these guys.
Porter is down to Arkansas, TCU and Texas. Hudson's a longtime Baylor pledge. Jones has high interest in Texas and Texas A&M. Cuffee has the Longhorns, Aggies and Baylor begging for his services. TCU has made a strong push at Cleveland, who's committed to his hometown Houston Cougars. A&M and Texas are also heavily-involved with Daniels.
With Fulton, the Hogs' biggest competition is LSU. Actually, Arkansas' biggest competition might be Fulton's parents, who, according to most, want their son to go to LSU.
That's a tough task for the Hogs, trying to go into opposing states and beat all the big-name schools for top talent. But it's the position they've worked to get in -- especially when it comes to their recruiting efforts in Texas and Louisiana -- and now they're here.
What do I think will happen? I think they'll probably get some of the big ones. Not all, but I do think they'll come away with some and end up with a solid class. The thing about this class that I find interesting is that Arkansas has had so many commitments for so long, it's easy to forget about some very good players in this group.
As I said recently, think how excited you'd be if some of your longtime commits were just now making their decision here in late January. What if Hayden Johnson was deciding later today and he picked Arkansas over his hometown Missouri Tigers and offers from Florida State and Nebraska. Same deal with Jordan Jones turning down Alabama and Ole Miss offers, Grayson Gunter turning down instate offers from Mississippi State and Ole Miss, and Alexy Jean-Baptiste picking Arkansas over Miami, Michigan State, Louisville and Wisconsin.
This weekend is certainly a big one in determining who else is added on February 3.
My gut feeling is that they have a great chance to get Porter, a guy they've felt good about for some time. As most of you know by now, this guy doesn't give out much information. He doesn't even have social media. I like that about him even though it's made it very hard for people like me to get an idea of what he's thinking.
I also like that Porter said he doesn't want coaches to know what it is he's looking for in a program, because he basically doesn't want them just telling him what they think he wants to hear. I think that could work to the advantage of a guy like Bielema, who's not big on feeding recruits a lot of BS anyway. Throw in Arkansas' legitimate need for him, and their proven history with running backs, I think there's a real chance there.
Cleveland is kind of a wild card. A source has told me for months that Arkansas would have a very good chance to end up with him, but I've always been skeptical. Maybe it's because I don't know the kid well enough and haven't gotten on an off-record basis with him, but from the outside looking in it's been hard for me to see it. I will say, based on what I know, they've done a great job of recruiting Tyrie and staying in the ballgame for a long time now. I do think they sent a strong message to wide receiver targets with the season they had. The team's passing rating (167) was higher than it ever was in four years under Bobby Petrino, and they threw for the third-most passing yards in the conference. Not many saw that coming, but it had to help shut up opposing coaches who used to laugh at receiver recruits that were considering playing for Bielema.
I've been hearing a few more positive things on Arkansas' chances with Cuffee lately. Some believe this is a guy that's ready and willing to leave the state and get away from home. I think A&M may have already shot itself in the foot with Cuffee, but I don't know that for a fact. This one kind of has a Khalil Haughton feel to it, and Haughton was a guy that left Waco for an out-of-state program (Oklahoma). I'll be very curious to see what Cuffee has to say after his visit this weekend.
Ivy is another one that really intrigues me. I know it's long been thought that Nebraska would end up with him, and they very well may, but I think this could be a situation where Arkansas really makes things interesting with his official visit on the final weekend. I certainly don't know Nebraska's situation as far as depth at the position, but I do know Arkansas' is strong. That's the only thing -- besides Nebraska being in the door before Arkansas -- that I think might hurt the Hogs' chances here. But this is a guy who's originally from Muskogee, which is an hour and a half from Fayetteville. I don't know the guy well enough yet to know if that means anything, but who knows, it could be big for him.
On the others, I'd rather get through the weekend and see where things stand after their visit before saying too much.
As far as others not mentioned here, I know Allen Cater, the defensive end out of Kennesaw (Ga.) has received some major pushes from the two Carolina schools lately, but I still get a good feeling for Arkansas when I talk to him.
On the current commits who are still taking or have taken visits elsewhere, I truly think Dejon Harris is firm to Arkansas and I have felt that way ever since he announced that he was going to take other trips. I've got a pretty good relationship with Dejon and, unless something changes very late, I still believe he's locked in with the Hogs.
Kiel Pollard told me late Wednesday night that he hasn't set an actual time to make any sort of final announcement on what he plans to do, but said he'll let me know when he does. Obviously South Carolina gave him a lot to think about when they came calling, and honestly, him going quiet on me right after that offer made me think he was probably going to flip. Over the last couple of weeks though, it's been back to normal as far as our communication with one another. Sometimes that means something, sometimes it means nothing, but I have seen cases in the past where a kid who was strongly leaning toward de-committing from Arkansas (or had found out Arkansas was going in a different direction, etc.) would go completely silent with Arkansas reporters like myself. Again, maybe it means nothing, but we've been talking quite a bit lately.
Also, today's actually a big day as it relates to Kiel because Bielema will be there for his in-home visit later today.
I haven't talked to Briston in the last week or so, but I really haven't tried to bug him either. He's still planning on taking the Oklahoma visit. We'll talk after his visit ends on Sunday, but my gut feeling going into the weekend is that he'll end up staying with the Hogs.
Giovanni LaFrance is a guy that I think will pull the trigger this weekend. I'd be surprised if he didn't, I'll put it that way. That doesn't mean he'll do it while he's here, but I do think he's one of the guys they'll get out of this weekend.
The 'secret visitor' (you know I can't write this much and not say those words) is another guy I think they'll have a very good chance to end up with from this weekend's list. He's a very good player, in my opinion, and one I think Arkansas fans would be glad to have if they do get him.
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