Three-star RB chooses Delaware

[Chi Panther]

January 26, 2006
Three-star RB chooses Delaware
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Mike Farrell
Rivals.com Football Recruiting

Three-star running back Jared Bradley out of Wallingford (Pa.) Strath Haven made his decision yesterday and chose to play his college ball at Delaware. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder with 4.6-second speed picked the Fightin' Blue Hens over an offer from Boston College and interest from schools including Rutgers, Syracuse and others.

[Tod]

I don't follow other school's recruiting especially close, but this seems like a really good pickup for the Hens. :nod: :nod: :( :D :D

[SunCoastBlueHen]

On paper, at least, Delaware appears to be having and excellent recruiting class. Bredley was one of several recruits that were reported to have rejected I-A offers to play for the "small time" Hens (see GoHens.net for details).

[Tod]

On paper, at least, Delaware appears to be having and excellent recruiting class. Bredley was one of several recruits that were reported to have rejected I-A offers to play for the "small time" Hens (see GoHens.net for details).

Yup, "Small time" as in, "In front of more people and with more fans than probably a quarter of I-A teams". :rolleyes:

Maybe he's just a little smarter than some of those other players, who'd rather ride the pine in front of 70,000.

Kind of a shame more high school players don't think so well.

[blukeys]

January 26, 2006
Three-star RB chooses Delaware
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Farrell
Rivals.com Football Recruiting

Three-star running back Jared Bradley out of Wallingford (Pa.) Strath Haven made his decision yesterday and chose to play his college ball at Delaware. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder with 4.6-second speed picked the Fightin' Blue Hens over an offer from Boston College and interest from schools including Rutgers, Syracuse and others.

He was shown around campus by a guy he will have a hard time replacing, Omar Cuff!!! Way to go O!

[Tod]

He was shown around campus by a guy he will have a hard time replacing, Omar Cuff!!! Way to go O!

O showing some real class! I don't think Cuff has a lot to worry about, though. My guess is that they'll redshirt Bradley. Cuff is just a junior in '06, isn't he?

[jmuroller]

Good pick up by the Hens! UD is one of only a handful of 1AA's that could land a talent like that. If you don't think there is enough room for him in the backfield, just take a peek down at JMU. Honestly, I hope and pray we see him on the field when UD visits us ;) ANYTHING BUT CUFF!!!!

[nlwwln]

sounds like a good pickup but I dont think having 3 "stars" is really much of an indicator of how any player is going to perform on the footbal field. Grant it I know nothing about this kid and he could be worth every bit of those 3 stars but as a recruiter you have to go beyond those rankings and look for the little things that could seperate an average college player to a great one. Things such as his burst off of the football, lateral movement, core strength, ability to explode through tacklers and blockers. Those are all the qualities that I would want my recruits to posses. So those 3 stars really wouldnt mean much of anything to me if they were based soley on stats and recognition, you gotta find those diamonds in the rough and there are plenty out there. Thats why I think its so hard to rank 1aa recruiting classes because for the most part nobody really knows much of anything about most of these kids and thats why 1aa ball is so great.

[bluehenbillk]

Yep, Omar Cuff will only be a junior this year.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

sounds like a good pickup but I dont think having 3 "stars" is really much of an indicator of how any player is going to perform on the footbal field. Grant it I know nothing about this kid and he could be worth every bit of those 3 stars but as a recruiter you have to go beyond those rankings and look for the little things that could seperate an average college player to a great one. Things such as his burst off of the football, lateral movement, core strength, ability to explode through tacklers and blockers. Those are all the qualities that I would want my recruits to posses. So those 3 stars really wouldnt mean much of anything to me if they were based soley on stats and recognition, you gotta find those diamonds in the rough and there are plenty out there. Thats why I think its so hard to rank 1aa recruiting classes because for the most part nobody really knows much of anything about most of these kids and thats why 1aa ball is so great.


I agree with you that the star rating system does not equate to on the field success. Omar Cuff was a "zero star" recruit while a three star recruit for the Hens (from the same class as Omar) has barely sniffed the field to date.

It is nice, however, to see recruits choosing IAA football over solid offers to play "big time" IA ball. It is a testament to the coaching staff that they were able to sell the program and the division to these players.

[GannonFan]

Agreed - all this talk about ratings and who has the best class is just a way to fill the time until football starts up again. In reality, you won't be able to tell until these kids start playing - there's plenty of examples of guys with all the recognition coming out of high school ending up as duds in college, and plenty of examples of guys with no press in high school becoming big time stars in college. I really don't think most if any coaching staff starts their recruiting season by checking with Rivals to see where guys rate and how many stars they have. Ultimately, the proof of the best class will be over the next few years on the field, as it always is.

[Cocky]

We have verbals from several kids with I-A offers, too. Most of ours had/have offers from low I-As (Troy, Southern Miss, UAB, and Middle Tenn.).

[saint0917]

January 26, 2006
Three-star RB chooses Delaware
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Mike Farrell
Rivals.com Football Recruiting

Three-star running back Jared Bradley out of Wallingford (Pa.) Strath Haven made his decision yesterday and chose to play his college ball at Delaware. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder with 4.6-second speed.

4.6?? is he a running back or a FB? That's kind of slowwww

[ChickenMan]

4.6?? is he a running back or a FB? That's kind of slowwww

I'll take a 210 lb RB recruit who runs a 4.6... however Scout.com has him at 4.5... in any case if he's a player... 4.5 or 4.6 will make little difference.

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=1818804

[The Fan]

4.6 is certainly not slow. For any position. Compared to self reported 4.3's maybe, but check out the official times form the Nike combines. 4.5's and better are RARE. Even at the NFL combine, most backs are in the 4.50-4.65 range.

Davis also landed a 3-star RB with several I-A offers. He ended his recruitment the day after the Stanford game.

[HensRock]

He ended his recruitment the day after the Stanford game.


SWEET !!!

[Chi Panther]

4.6 is certainly not slow. For any position. Compared to self reported 4.3's maybe, but check out the official times form the Nike combines. 4.5's and better are RARE. Even at the NFL combine, most backs are in the 4.50-4.65 range.

Davis also landed a 3-star RB with several I-A offers. He ended his recruitment the day after the Stanford game.

LOL......AWESOME!!!! :hurray:


I somewhat say....Stars don't mean much.....but they also mean alot.

University of Iowa has 18 committs right now and barely more than half have 3+ stars. I would love to have IOWA talent at UNI.....

[saint0917]

4.6 is certainly not slow. For any position.

For a 3 Star RB a 4.6 is kind of slow. At last years combine Shawne Merriman a 6-7, 273lb DE ran a 4.63. Look at last years RBs.

Ronnie Brown 6''-0', 232 ran a 4.45
Cadillac Williams 5-10, 215, ran a 4.45
Cedric Benson 5-10, 222, ran a 4.55
J.J. Arrington, 5-8, 212, ran a 4.40

But Chickenman is right, if he is a player, 4.6,4.8,5.8 40 times wont make any difference. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[HENJOHN]

He has also been posted as running a 4.5 as well and it appears this timing was a more recent one (Senior season versus Junior?). I don't think a number of 1-A programs would have offered him, let alone invited him to visit if they thought he was slow.

[SouthMountainWreckingBall]

The kid is obviously a good back, but a few things to keep in mind. It is a huge joke in recruiting circles that Mike Farrell of Rivals is completely in the tank for Boston College. Any kid who gets a BC offer seems to get an instant upgrade in stars. Anyway, in the case of Bradley he got a lot of love early on from BC but that apparently faded with his senior season. He got late interest from other 1-A's, but I wouldn't get carried away thinking he was as highly regarded a prospect as his rating would suggest.

[HENJOHN]

The kid is obviously a good back, but a few things to keep in mind. It is a huge joke in recruiting circles that Mike Farrell of Rivals is completely in the tank for Boston College. Any kid who gets a BC offer seems to get an instant upgrade in stars. Anyway, in the case of Bradley he got a lot of love early on from BC but that apparently faded with his senior season. He got late interest from other 1-A's, but I wouldn't get carried away thinking he was as highly regarded a prospect as his rating would suggest.

Your assumptions are wrong about BC's "early" interest. They offered him a scholarship. He also had visits to Syracuse and Minnesota lined up that he cancelled. Also, look at his production on the field in a very good PA level of football. Hey, we got lucky and got one we wouldn't ordinarily get and Geez, can't people get exicted about their recruiting.....

[SouthMountainWreckingBall]

Your assumptions are wrong about BC's "early" interest. They offered him a scholarship. He also had visits to Syracuse and Minnesota lined up that he cancelled. Also, look at his production on the field in a very good PA level of football. Hey, we got lucky and got one we wouldn't ordinarily get and Geez, can't people get exicted about their recruiting.....


I'm well aware that they offered him a scholarship. But if you follow 1-A recruiting you know that lots of kids get offers and then the interest can cool down depending on where he stands in relation to their other targets. And yes, he got a lot of interest (different than offers) from various programs late, which frequently happens when schools lose out on their targets and have to go to plan B. The point of my post was that Farrell has a terrible rep for pumping kids that BC has offered and in instances like this it makes him look foolish. And it's not terribly fair to Bradley to saddle him with the expectations that would normally come with being as highly rated as he is by Rivals. He's a great get for Delaware though, I'm not trying to suggest otherwise.

[eaglesrthe1]

For a 3 Star RB a 4.6 is kind of slow. At last years combine Shawne Merriman a 6-7, 273lb DE ran a 4.63. Look at last years RBs.

Ronnie Brown 6''-0', 232 ran a 4.45
Cadillac Williams 5-10, 215, ran a 4.45
Cedric Benson 5-10, 222, ran a 4.55
J.J. Arrington, 5-8, 212, ran a 4.40

But Chickenman is right, if he is a player, 4.6,4.8,5.8 40 times wont make any difference. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

You are also comparing a high school kid with college RB's with a few years of maturation under their belt. 4.6 is a good time, somewhat better that kinda slow. After college, he will probably run about the same time with an extra 15-20 pounds of muscle on his frame, or either improve his time if he stays at the same weight.

[HENJOHN]

South Mountain - "A great get for Delaware and not trying to suggest otherwise" ? Better read your post again about us not getting carried away and the I-A interest being early.

[blukeys]

Naturally, I'm pleased with this result but It's not like UD doesn't have capable RB's. Cuff and Jones were a good pair in 2005 and one will be a junior and the other a sophomore. Haslon the back who comes to us by way of Purdue should be available as a red shirt freshman. This guy will be able to help in the mix but the cupboard is not bare. If he can beat out the trio mentioned above then he is one great catch. :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod:

[Chi Panther]

You are also comparing a high school kid with college RB's with a few years of maturation under their belt. 4.6 is a good time, somewhat better that kinda slow. After college, he will probably run about the same time with an extra 15-20 pounds of muscle on his frame, or either improve his time if he stays at the same weight.

Well said!!!

Comparing an 18 year old kid who committed to UD witha 1st round pick of the San Diego Chargers is a little crazy....