Getting to Know our New Recruits: WR Travin Henry
by LilBroey700 on Feb 10, 2012 8:00 AM EST
in Georgia Tech Recruiting
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PrintPrior stories in this series: ATH (QB) Dennis Andrews, ATH (QB) Justin Thomas, WR Michael Summers, ATH (RB) Marcus Allen, and DE Francis Kallon.
via blogs.ajc.com
Our next recruit has been referred to as a bit of a "diamond in the rough". And to be quite honest with you, I'm not sure that there's a term that could fit this kid any better. Meet WR Travin (Tray-vin) Henry. He comes from Cook High School in Adel, GA. If you have no idea where that is, don't feel bad, it's not really a high-profile place (for the record, it's about 25 miles north of Valdosta on I-75). He was recruited by Coach Andy McCollum (who, if you've never heard him speak, has a real thick Southern drawl and is quite entertaining overall), who said that, "Most coaches just stick near the interstate when recruitin' in the Southern part of the state...but sometimes ya find some real dandies when ya get out there into tha woods." It took us an awfully long time to discover him, but thank God we did, because he's an incredible athlete and has a ton of potential to add to our passing game (and to continue with the "Georgia Tech has awesome talent evaluation" trend, we were the first BCS program to offer, and once we did he got an offer from Vanderbilt and interest from Arkansas and uga).
Henry measured in at 6'4", 228lb (for reference, I heard of a guy named Demariyus Thomas who measured in at 6'4", 235lb...so I think it's fair to say that they have a similar build). That is a monster to have playing on the perimeter, and clearly a guy that opposing secondaries will struggle wrestling with. He played WR and DE in high school (odd combination, I know), but as a receiver seemed very talented at going up and making catches down the field in coverage. He's really not a burner at WR at all, but appears to be a fantastic tight end-esque guy, who's a got the size and strength to effectively block on the perimeter, while also having the ability to use his size to impose his will upon a secondary and catch a lot of passes down the field. As a side note, word has it that Johnson's looking to create a bit of a new WR duo, with one being a larger, TE-type with the other being the speedy deep threat. Henry fits the larger, TE role perfectly.
I think in the end this guy will end up being one of the "impact players" from this class, making a big difference in the passing game during his time here. Welcome to Tech, Travin!
Travin Henry CookFootball2011 (via CookFootball2011)
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Does it bother anyone else...
that in many cases, as described above, GT evaluates and finds guys like these and then other programs follow up with an offer?
"If you're looking around...then we're looking around" - Coach Paul Johnson
My personal theory
is that other schools have figured out that it is a good idea to take a good hard look atr people we offer because they know we know how to evaluate
We do all the leg work.
Then a big recruiting power sweeps in saying things like “calculus booga booga”. It’s frustrating, but recruiting isn’t a gentleman’s game.
Go Jackets, go America.
THWG.
by JohnHeisman on Feb 10, 2012 9:36 AM EST via Android app up reply actions
Dumb parents are what drive recruiting...
/yes I said it
"If you're looking around...then we're looking around" - Coach Paul Johnson
I always struggle with these recruiting tapes.
How much of these highlights result from the recruits talent and how much results from the lack of talent around him? A lot of those catches seemed like a result of poor coverage.
Also, for a WR recruit, he sure seemed dominant on the d-line. He caused a lot of fumbles and blocked a lot of kicks.
Go Jackets, go America.
THWG.
by JohnHeisman on Feb 10, 2012 9:43 AM EST via Android app up reply actions
A lot of the recruiting services pay more attention to how the recruit did against better competition...
Will Adams, for example, shot up the rankings his senior season after his performances for Sandy Creek against Henry County (Dalvin Tomlinson) and other top players.
"If you're looking around...then we're looking around" - Coach Paul Johnson
I think the most important thing is to look at what he did beyond interactions with other players
Namely, making catches. He made a sick one-handed catch on the first play in that video. I think for what we’re looking for in a WR, he can do it, no doubt. Surely demonstrated the ability to use his size and go up and get the ball, and with his size and DE skills should be able to use that size to impose his will upon opposing secondaries. He clearly won’t be running past many corners, nor will he get himself open by running surgically-precise routes. But at the same time, he doesn’t need to to be an effective receiver for us.
The Church of Paul Johnson - There's not much to it outside of whooping ass and giving haters the finger. To HELL With georgie!
by LilBroey700 on Feb 10, 2012 10:05 AM EST up reply actions
He's got the frame
and if he’s got the work ethic, that’s all that matters. He’ll be muscling Climpson and dwags DB’s in no time flat.
Paul Johnson: not giving a crap about what you have to say since 1987.
That's a problem
for all scouts, at any level. You always have to try to determine the player’s ability regardless of competition or scheme or anything else. It’s what separates good scouts from bad ones.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
And yes, it does bother me.
by Atlanta's original team on Feb 10, 2012 9:17 AM EST reply actions
It doesn't bother me that much.
It just reaffirms we have some of the best coaches in the business.
Imitation?
So…can I break into your house and “imitate” all your valuables? They’re just gonna be at home with me from now on. It’s flattering, right?
Maybe imitation isn’t quite the word…?
I met her on the campus, sir, cheering the Brave and Bold.
Recruiting is as much about "closing"
as it is about evaluating. I’m not going to try and re-start a conversation about CPJ’s recruitment and commitment policy (which I am in full agreement with)…but with his policy you tend to do your closing early and make yourself susceptible to kids jumping ship late. Early signing and enrollment would force the Bama’s and LSU’s of the world to do better evaluating.
We generally don’t go into NSD with a ton of uncommitted offers out there…the only one we had was Dalvin Tomlinson (and apparently he had told Joe Speed a few days before signing day that he was going to Bama) which didn’t really come into play. Compare that to uGA…who had a chance at 9 recruits and got 2 of them (I think the 9 was probably inflated because Tomlinson and a few other strong leans were included).
"If you're looking around...then we're looking around" - Coach Paul Johnson
Exactly
Early signing and enrollment would force the Bama’s and LSU’s of the world to do better evaluating.
They can target the players that everyone knows are elite and then pick over the other teams’ recruits if they’re thin at a certain position. An early signing period would force them to scout more than just the top 50-100 players early in the process.
UGA had a bad recruiting year, probably as a result of the 2010 debacle
It’s tempting to transition straight from the bowls in January to recrootin in February, but most of the legwork with top recruits is done much much earlier. UGA likes to go into a season with a nearly full class.
UGA’s 2010 travails, combined with a huge need for immediate contributors in the 2011 signing class, hurt UGA with 2012 recruits. When those guys were juniors and making their early decisions, UGA’s staff was trying to hold together a 2011 class that we needed. Most of our misses reported that UGA was late to the game. As a result, we were playing catch up all season. Some breaks went our way, but some didn’t.
(2 for 9 is a bit much. In January and February, UGA picked up Jordan Jenkins, Josh Harvey-Cleomons, Sheldon Dawson, and Josh Dawson. We missed out on major targets Avery Young, Jaquay Williams, and Coradelle Patterson, but we were never really in it for Brandon Greene or Dalvin Tomlinson.)
by first and thom on Feb 10, 2012 3:01 PM EST up reply actions
I was just pointing out the process...
not poopooing it. The methodology that CPJ uses generally doesn’t leave a ton of offers out there on NSD waiting for a series of hat shows to decide whether that year’s recruiting class is a good one or not. And of course, that may have been driven by the fact that UGA was so far under their scholarship limit.
The 2-for-9 on NSD thing is what was reported in the AJC…but even I knew that’s not realistic. I would argue that y’all probably more realistically went 2-5 (getting JHC and J Dawson, missing on A Young, J Williams, and C Patterson)…which is still good considering who had already been committed in January.
And I understand that UGA fans tend to sour on their lot a lot easier than Tech fans…but how in the hell is Josh Harvey-Clemons, John Theus, Keith Marshall, Faton Bauta, Todd Gurley, Jordan Jenkins, and Josh Dawson a bad recruiting year???
"If you're looking around...then we're looking around" - Coach Paul Johnson
It's not so much that we soured on our lot...
…and these guys should be fantastic players, but we barely held serve against our rivals. We come out of this class with glaring needs at DB and below replacement levels at OL.
The guys we got should be excellent: Theus, Marshall, and Gurley all rank near the top of their classes in their positions. We got a top kicker and punter. DL and OLB are stocked. Nobody’s got a problem with who we got, and I don’t see a lot of angst about the particular guys we didn’t get.
What chaps is that we lack depth and we have scholarships to burn. We got behind our rivals in pursuit of the guys that signed over the summer and fall, and were left scrambling for top prospects at the end.
by first and thom on Feb 10, 2012 4:50 PM EST up reply actions
Do you want CMR to do the things his rivals do?
Another thing I kind of noticed, I wonder if this “go for broke on 4- and 5-star prospects” in an effort to land a Dream Team every year…you miss out on landing the steady 3-star guys who help build your program’s depth? You could kind of see that with UGA throwing offers every which way (Will Adams comes to mind) at the very end.
"If you're looking around...then we're looking around" - Coach Paul Johnson
I like the way UGA recruits
To play against the Alabamas and LSUs of the world, you cannot rely on 3-star guys. We need a few 5-stars (1 or 2 a year), a majority recruits at the 4-star level, and 3-stars when it’s the right guy. (This is a generalization, of course).
I don’t want to oversign, and we don’t do that. But we undersigned pretty badly this year, and that has put us in a pickle. We were throwing scholarships around at the end because we were late to the game and needed to cast a broad net. That kind of “spray and pray” recruiting strategy doesn’t work where recruiting is largely based on relationships.
by first and thom on Feb 13, 2012 9:07 AM EST up reply actions
Part of that is 2013
Both Tech and UGA seemed to be holding some extra schollies for next year’s bumper crop of talent in GA. CPJ came right out and said it at the end. He’s saving spots for a big class next year. I’m betting CMR and Co. are seeing the same thing and preparing for it. This state’s supposedly going to have a lot of talent, so the two in-state schools had better be prepared to get as much of it as possible.
I met her on the campus, sir, cheering the Brave and Bold.
Do you agree with...
allowing Nick Marshall and the other kid back into the program in 2013 after a JUCO year…considering why they were dismissed in the first place?
"If you're looking around...then we're looking around" - Coach Paul Johnson
by TBuzz on Feb 13, 2012 2:32 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
From what I can tell CMR recruits with integrity
You would not want to change that but the SEC needs to get a grip on some of those other schools that tarnish the whole recruiting process.
by Atlanta's original team on Feb 10, 2012 5:10 PM EST up reply actions
Can say a lot of things about UGA
but they do recruit with integrity. You don’t see CMR pulling a scholarship and telling a kid that a spot might be open next year….
I don't buy the coach's explanation,
but if he were to modify that by saying, scouts don’t pay much attention to 7-5 teams in class AA, I would agree. I-75 runs through Adel, so any coach using his criteria would have found Travin right away. I bet not many coaches thought about Cook County High School until they saw Travin’s name on our commitment list.
Our home team here in Pamlico County is a 7-5 team in Class A. We play a lot of teams (and have this situation ourselves) where they have 6-8 good players on offense and about the same on defense. A few years ago we had a great running back who gained close to 2000 yards, but got no offers to play Div 1 football. He had plenty of size and speed, but no one watched him play. An outstanding player will often have mismatches in that situation, so stats are not important. Pamlico lost in the first round of the playoffs, so there was little media attention outside the conference.
However, that same year, just 20 miles away, Montario Hardesty was playing for New Bern High School in the top classification in NC. Guess who got the offers to play Div 1? Our running back weighed 165, while Hardesty was big enough to play in the NFL.
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca
"We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal." - Tennessee Williams
The 165 lbs
probably had more to do with it than the school size, record, etc. From what I hear, players like that have to be really proactive at getting their name and tape out there in hopes of picking up an offer.
I can't believe Demarius Thomas is 6'3" 235 lbs.
I don’t remember him being that big. He’s really fast for his size.
Hence the first round selection
Travin is nowhere near as fast as Thomas was.
Travin Henry looks like he's got pretty good speed.
He lined up at quarterback and ran the wildcat offense, running outside several times.
His speed is passable for a wide receiver, but that just basically means his speed is at or above the level of a linebacker.
The Church of Paul Johnson - There's not much to it outside of whooping ass and giving haters the finger. To HELL With georgie!
So...
…no fly/go routes for Travin then? Maybe he’s a good jumper and we can just throw jump balls to him everytime we need the defense to quit crowding the LOS.
by Dive Keep and Pitch on Feb 14, 2012 9:39 AM EST up reply actions
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