Of our new FB signing class, who sees the field now and who....

[MinerInWisconsin]

will be a difference maker this season on offense?

My best guesses are Hankins, of course, since he may be good enough to overtake Aaron Jones records. Also a chance for Goodwin to see the field in at least 4 games, maybe more depending on how he adjusts to D1 and how Kai is doing. Laufenberg will be on the field and I believe he will also be a difference maker.

 

[Roy_Bigwood_05]

One thing ya'll gotta remember about Hankins...he's not gonna be speedy back breaking off long runs like Aaron did or like Hankins did in high school at the FBS level.

He's gonna be a power back until he works on his speed at this level, not saying he's not going to be productive, but Aaron Jones is Aaron Jones, lets slow it down a bit Minerinwisco (love you bro) lol Hankins will be our in between the tackles moving the box and four to five yards per carry back, then Wadley will be the juice, I like this combo, then Hankins takes all the carries his sophomore year.

I agree Laufenberg will be on the depth chart, Goodwin will get a shot, but more importantly, I think there's 16 or 18 guys from last year's class who will be more important than anyone we signed yesterday other than Hankins or Goodwin or the JUCO defensive help.

I think all the JUCO DB's we get to see, they really like that Juice kid on the defensive line, but I think majority of these kids will be blue shirts who just practice which not a bad thing, but class of 2018 kids are the kids we should focus on for this upcoming season in my opinion.

 

[Lil_Train]

I think those JC linebackers will play as well. We lost both inside starters from last year.

 

[utep2step]

I think those JC linebackers will play as well. We lost both inside starters from last year.

I agree. The JUCO db's and linebackers are expected to be at the top of the rotation if not starting. Teams like NAU, UNLV, Rice and MTSU just totally exposed UTEP and Dimel put it as a #1 need. The D line needs beefed up and UTEP has to shut down the edge better. Dimel can never allow a team like NAU to come into the Sun Bowl thinking they own the place and that's exactly what they did.

 

[UTEPDefense]

So I'm not sure if he is a candidate to play early, but this late Jacob Cowing addition seems to be very interesting. He is one of our lowest rated recruits according to 247sports, yet Dimel immediately started talking about him first when they got to the WR's and Dimel mentioned yesterday that he had Power 5 schools involved with him. According to the article below, at one point he was receiving some big time recruiting interest and a different article also mentioned that some PAC 12 teams had been recruiting him at some point. I don't know anything about the competition that he played against in high school, but he looks electric on film and he seems to have a different speed level that he can hit when needed. I like his addition.

"is receiving interest from several Power 5 programs, including Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Texas."

https://www.pinalcentral.com/casa_g...cle_4030fd8a-2a7c-5923-9efc-c61df50844bc.html

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

will be a difference maker this season on offense?

My best guesses are Hankins, of course, since he may be good enough to overtake Aaron Jones records. Also a chance for Goodwin to see the field in at least 4 games, maybe more depending on how he adjusts to D1 and how Kai is doing. Laufenberg will be on the field and I believe he will also be a difference maker.

I don’t know if I would be in such a rush to start Hankins. Wadley is a productive back and IF he can stay healthy then he should be more than enough. Plus Josh Fields is a Junior and I want to see if he has improved as well. Now if one of those guys goes down, or Fields averaging 2-3 yards a run and he just isn’t cutting maybe you should look at pulling the plug. But I say let Hankins play those first 4 games. God willing we get out to a comfortable lead vs HBU and we can let Hankins and Fields fight to the death to see who will be the backup. But I don’t see much of a downside from playing Hankins in 4 games and then redshirting him especially if it helps his overall growth next year because I don’t know if he is the difference between 3-4 wins and a bowl game. I may be wrong though.

 

[kickballpro]

I like Rashad Beechum, A big Juco WR with some speed. I see him stepping right in on the outside. Even though we have Walter Dawn returning in the slot, Jacob Cowing is a kid that runs a 10.4 100meter who is already on campus. Joe Jay Smith and DJ Turner step in right away. Coach Cox really wanted to improve the LB position, He coaches the Linebackers. Obviously the entire secondary will be retooled. UTEP really went after talented guys with size. I thought our defense looked great in spots and they will be alot better this season. I guess we will find out in the spring where Kavika Johnson will ultimately play. Impressed with the Defensive Tackles that were signed, but if I were running the program I would redshirt those guys. Its a tough position to play right out of high school.

 

[UTEPDefense]

I don’t know if I would be in such a rush to start Hankins. Wadley is a productive back and IF he can stay healthy then he should be more than enough. Plus Josh Fields is a Junior and I want to see if he has improved as well. Now if one of those guys goes down, or Fields averaging 2-3 yards a run and he just isn’t cutting maybe you should look at pulling the plug. But I say let Hankins play those first 4 games. God willing we get out to a comfortable lead vs HBU and we can let Hankins and Fields fight to the death to see who will be the backup. But I don’t see much of a downside from playing Hankins in 4 games and then redshirting him especially if it helps his overall growth next year because I don’t know if he is the difference between 3-4 wins and a bowl game. I may be wrong though.

Also don't forget about Treyvon Hughes. Him and Wadley will both be Seniors and could handle most of the carries if needed, with Fields adding some touches.

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

Also don't forget about Treyvon Hughes. Him and Wadley will both be Seniors and could handle most of the carries if needed, with Fields adding some touches.

I agree. Kind of on the fence with regards to burning a year with Hankins just for a couple hundred yards. Let him bulk up get his feet wet for 4 games and challenge Fields for the starting role next year when Wadley and Hughes are gone.

 

[minerpride31]

I like Rashad Beechum, A big Juco WR with some speed. I see him stepping right in on the outside. Even though we have Walter Dawn returning in the slot, Jacob Cowing is a kid that runs a 10.4 100meter who is already on campus. Joe Jay Smith and DJ Turner step in right away. Coach Cox really wanted to improve the LB position, He coaches the Linebackers. Obviously the entire secondary will be retooled. UTEP really went after talented guys with size. I thought our defense looked great in spots and they will be alot better this season. I guess we will find out in the spring where Kavika Johnson will ultimately play. Impressed with the Defensive Tackles that were signed, but if I were running the program I would redshirt those guys. Its a tough position to play right out of high school.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe meechum was signed as a TE. That's what he is listed as on the signing day list. For some reason he is listed as a WR.

 

[Minerforlife]

Hankins will get touches. If he produces he will get the majority of the carries. Coming out of high school he looks like a more durable back than Jones was. When Jones was a freshman Nathan Jefrey was a pretty good back and he supplanted him quickly. The same thing could very easily happen this year.

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

I felt like Jeffery was never the same after giving 1,000% vs Oklahoma. He seemed like he turned into a solid back but he never regained that crazy form he had. Same with Buckram too, the injuries just got him.

 

[Minerforlife]

I felt like Jeffery was never the same after giving 1,000% vs Oklahoma. He seemed like he turned into a solid back but he never regained that crazy form he had. Same with Buckram too, the injuries just got him.

Buckram still makes me sick. In my opinion he was the best back we've had at UTEP in the last 25 years. He was nations leading returning rusher his senior year. If he would have left after his junior year he would have been a third round pick. The Thursday before the first the first game of the season they had a full padded contact practice. Buckram took a shot to his knee and tore it up. He missed the first five games I think and then tried to gut it out and injured it worse. It was never right again. That's why I will never get mad if a kid leaves early I wish Buckram had. His game against Houston was the one for the ages. In my opinion greatest performance by a UTEP player in a game in at least the last quarter of century. It makes me sick he got hurt in practice. Nothing but respect for Buckram he went out and played hurt because he loved the school and his teammates.

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

But since we’re on the topic of Freshmen who should/shouldn’t play, what do you guys expect from the players who came in last year and sat out the year? I know I was pretty high on Justin Prince and Justin Garrett since they were both JUCO guys who looked good on film, but if I recall correctly neither of the two stepped on the field last year. And we also have Nwachukwu who sat out last year as a freshman and is a 6-3 WR. Will Walter Dawn and Kavika improve with that extra year? Plus I am curious to see what happens to Eddie Sinegal. Seems like he hasn’t seen much of the field either.

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

Buckram still makes me sick. In my opinion he was the best back we've had at UTEP in the last 25 years. He was nations leading returning rusher his senior year. If he would have left after his junior year he would have been a third round pick. The Thursday before the first the first game of the season they had a full padded contact practice. Buckram took a shot to his knee and tore it up. He missed the first five games I think and then tried to gut it out and injured it worse. It was never right again. That's why I will never get mad if a kid leaves early I wish Buckram had. His game against Houston was the one for the ages. In my opinion greatest performance by a UTEP player in a game in at least the last quarter of century. It makes me sick he got hurt in practice. Nothing but respect for Buckram he went out and played hurt because he loved the school and his teammates.

If we’re gonna bring up players who were undone by injury I’ll throw another out there. Chris Mineo. He was poised for a monster senior year at DL and didn’t he go down for the year?

 

[utep2step]

If we’re gonna bring up players who were undone by injury I’ll throw another out there. Chris Mineo. He was poised for a monster senior year at DL and didn’t he go down for the year?

I believe so. Wasn't he another Nord recruit that helped Price's first year a success like so many of Nord recruits? He was out of Odessa Permian and he had a high motor. He's an assistant at UTPB.
https://utpbfalcons.com/coaches.aspx?rc=370&path=football