Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Top Vandy recruit Dudchock jumps ship to Stanford

Lots of people have worried about the effect Vandy's lousy season would have on all those outstanding verbal commitments.

Well, espn.com is reporting that Davis Dudchock, a four-star tight end from Alabama, has switched his commitment from Vanderbilt to Stanford, a top academic school whose gridiron success is making Commodore fans even more restless these days.

No worry, though. The Commodores quickly replaced him with... Blake Gowder, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound FULLBACK who had offers from Air Force, Samford, Georgia State and Murray State.

And we don't even use a fullback in our system. And we've already got a former three-star fullback, redshirt sophomore Ryan van Rensburg, who's been playing some at blocking tight end since the injury to Austin Monahan, but whose playing days appeared numbered by the eminent arrival of... Davis Dudchock.

We don't need to expand our collection of scrappy little players who are playing in the SEC only because Vandy will take them and who can play six different positions, none of them well enough to start. We need big, fast athletes who can play now.

But here's hope for Gowder: He did have 1,453 yards and eight touchdowns receiving and he's listed by some services as a wide receiver. But he's way too short to be playing tight end in the SEC and he's way too slow (4.7 40) to be a receiver in the SEC. Maybe he'll play linebacker for us.

Some other verbal commitments have been talking about jumping ship too, including DT Jared Morse, ATH Jerrell Priester and DB Kenneth Ladler, who's now saying he wants to enroll early (except Vanderbilt doesn't allow recruits to enroll in the spring).

Here are some guys we absolutely need on the team next year:
• Wide receiver Bradley Roby, a fast, sure-handed burner who can actually separate from defensive backs and close on a long ball. He could start right away.
• Wide receiver Jonathan Krause, a quick receiver who can get open and get tough yards after the catch.

And here are some guys who, long-term, we can't afford to lose:
• Defensive tackles Kyle Woestmann and Vince Taylor.
• Offensive linemen Grant Ramsay and Logan Stewart.
• Defensive ends Thomas Ryan and James Kittredge
• Defensive backs Andre Hal, Karl Butler and Andre Simmons.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As much I as don't like losing Dudchock, it is probably the position we can afford to lose a recruit in the most. We still have 2 more years of Barden and Monahan and then Mason Johnston still has four years to develop. This still isn't a good sign, and it may be the first of many. The only thing with Dudchock is that he didn't really put up good numbers in high school. Yea his measureables and talent may be there, but to some extent good players should put up good numbers. I know that his high school team installed a new offense, but that should only have a somewhat small effect

DIMON KENDRICK-HOLMES said...

My main concern is that this will be a trend and other recruits will follow his lead.

You're right to mention Mason Johnston, though Dudchock is supposedly a better receiver and route runner. But we're gonna cheer for the guys who want to be here, right?

Anonymous said...

Let's get our fingers crossed the we can convince Rajaan Bennett to come here. According to him we're in his final four, but he doesn't think he'll take an official to Wisconsin, but he does plan on taking an official to Vandy and Kentucky. And yes I'll cheer for people that want to be here, but I'd prefer them to have some talent

DIMON KENDRICK-HOLMES said...

Yes, Rajaan Bennett would be a great addition to our class. His top four, according to rivals.com, are us, Kentucky, Louisville and East Carolina. The rivals scouting report compares him to Knowshon Moreno and Ricky Williams, and says he's got great hands, body control and will play right away wherever he goes. He does have an 850 SAT score, but he can always major in Organizational and Human Development at Peabody.