A Cincinnati Bearcats Football Conversation With Bearcat Journal’s Tim Adams (Part 2)
By Chris Bains
Sept 29, 2012; Landover,MD, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats offensive line including lineman Dan Sprague (63) and lineman Sam Longo (60) and lineman Parker Ehinger (78) prepare for a snap against Virginia Tech Hokies during the second quarter at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Paul Frederiksen-USA TODAY Sports
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We wrap up our Cincinnati Bearcats football conversation with Tim Adams from Bearcat Journal today. In case you missed it, part one is here where Tim shared his thoughts on the 2013 football season, provided us with a report from spring practice, and previewed some potential stars who could emerge in 2014. In part two, we talk recruiting, both the most recent 2014 class and what we should keep an eye on in the 2015 class. Additionally, we discuss some of Cincinnati’s prospects in the NFL draft and Tim gives us his prediction for the Bearcats’ final record in the upcoming football season.
So let’s jump right in, shall we?
Chris: As we switch gears to recruiting, what is your overall evaluation of Cincinnati’s 2014 class? And who are some individual players we should keep an eye on?
Tim: When you look at Cincinnati’s recruiting class, the areas they really needed to focus on were both lines. They really need to build the depth there. I think the one thing they did was add some size. Chris Ferguson who I think will play offensive line is going to be a project at 6’5” 285 lbs but certainly is athletic and could be a good player down the road. Ja’Merez Bowen is a defensive tackle from Shaker Heights, Ohio. He is a young guy and while you don’t like to use younger players at a power position like that because of their depth issues there he might have to come in and play early. Also, JUCO transfer defensive tackle Hakeem Allonce is a player the coaches expect to play right away. Finally, Coach Tuberville mentioned that Carter Jacobs could be on the two deep as a true freshman.
And you can’t forget about Kevin Mouhon, who will be challenged early to come in and beat out Jeff Luc at middle linebacker. The coaches are also really high on Casey Gladney who they believe can play several wide receiver positions. One guy I like is Tyrell Gilbert from Princeton high school. We’ll see if he plays runningback or safety but he’s got a good build to him and I’m interested to see how he plays.
Overall they did a good job finding athletic, well built players like Landon Brazile in this most recent class and Mark Wilson from the 2013 class. Wilson might be the best past rush defensive end they have right now.
Chris: What will be the major areas of focus for the staff in the 2015 class?
Tim: I think offensive line. Everything starts up front. The staff brought in a lot of highly recruited offensive linemen to their most recent junior day. They really haven’t had as much success here in the recent cycle as they would have hoped. I think they only got 3 offensive lineman in this last class and the staff was planning for 5, including a couple of JUCOs. They will be really thin at the offensive line spot down the road if they don’t address that in the upcoming class.
Also I think a quarterback will be a need along with runningback considering Hosey Williams is graduating. And they could always use more defensive tackles.
Chris: Do you think we’ll ever get to the point at Cincinnati where the top local prospects are consistently staying home to play for the hometown ‘Cats?
Tim: I think we’re seeing more guys showing progressively more interest in UC of late. The [AAC] league affiliation doesn’t help but CJ Stalker from Lakota West seems to have legitimate interest in Cincinnati. Also, Doug Bates a tight end/half back from Moeller visited with his father on junior day. His dad actually said that more Cincinnati kids need to stay home.
So, I know Tuberville’s staff is certainly doing everything they can to try to convince them to play for UC but at this point but in order for that to happen Cincinnati really needs to get into one of those power 5 conferences. The good news is that I think we’re really starting to see the fruits of Cincinnati’s labor in the younger kids because those players watched UC’s success during the Brian Kelly years 4-5 years ago. They’ve watched the Bearcats win 9-10 games most years. And I think we’ve gotten more kids in the area who grew up being UC football fans than before Mark Dantonio came to Cincinnati. Hopefully we start seeing highly recruited local players coming out of high school start to want to become a part of that winning tradition.
Sep 14, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats tight end Blake Annen (86) catches a deep pass from quarterback Brendon Kay (not pictured) for 49 yards during the 1st quarter of the game at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Leifheit-USA TODAY Sports
Chris: The NFL Draft is only a couple of months away. Even though no UC players were invited to the NFL Combine, do you think we’ll see any of them selected in the NFL Draft?
Tim: Well you never know. As everyone says, it just takes 1 of 32 teams to like you to take you. One of the concerns with Greg Blair is his lack of speed and quickness. He’s been a productive player at Cincinnati and I think he’ll get a look in a camp if he isn’t drafted. Also Sam Longo did 47 reps of the bench at UC’s pro day. He’s a 305 lbs nutritionist who’s 100% concerned about his body and keeping himself in the best shape possible. The NFL is about big people and Sam Longo is a big, strong guy.
Another lineman is Austin Bujnoch who is now weighing in at 311 lbs. He’s a great kid and technician of the game. I think he could be a possible draft pick as he’s been hearing from some teams. Anthony McClung is also a possibility but he would need to run well and he didn’t run at the pro day because of an injury.
Tight end Blake Annen ran a 4.41 Forty which is the fastest I’ve seen him in five years watching him. One comparison here is with former tight end Adrien Robinson who ran a very fast Forty at his pro day and was drafted by the New York Giants in the 4th round. Annen has much, much better hands than Robinson.
Kay’s a possibility too although I think he’ll be a free agent. He had 4-5 injuries his senior year that really tampered his draft stock along with his disappointing 2-to-1 touchdown interception ratio. To be a top notch NFL quarterback prospect I think it needs to be in the 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 range.
Chris: As we look ahead to next season, can you give us a way too early prediction on how this team fares?
Tim: If I were going to go out on a limb I would give them a 9-3 record. Maybe 8-4. I just have some concerns because they have bye weeks in the first two weeks then play Toledo, who are a strong program out of the MAC. With the Rockets having two games under their belt and UC having none, that worries me. Ohio State won’t be an easy game, either.
In the conference, that Houston team looks really good. They won 8 games last year and have just about everyone back. I think Temple is going to get a lot better as well. They played a lot of young guys last season. The same goes for USF and Memphis. The only team I don’t see getting better is UCF. I don’t know how they replace Bortles, who was a big part in them being 12-1 last year. Another team, a new team, is East Carolina who are always good and their quarterback Shane Carder completed nearly 70% of his passes in 2013. So 9-3 or 8-4 would be my prediction.
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More great insight from Tim Adams.
Once again I truly appreciate him taking the time to answer my questions and I hope you got as much out of our conversation as I did. In case you missed part one, where we reviewed the 2013 football season and spring practice,
emember to
and take a look at his online magazine
. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you find.