New season, same ole Recruitnik coverage. In recent years, Recruitnik almost always correctly predicts the winner. Rarely is it wrong, however last year it did miss twice. It just continues to prove the fact that more often than not it is more about the Jimmy's and the Joe's than the X's and the O's.
This week Marshall takes on Norfolk State. Norfolk is an FCS school but they have a good bit of talent including some formerly highly rated transfers. Norfolk has a quarterback from Old Dominion (Jonah Fitzgerald), running back from Cincinnati who could be the conference player of the year this year (JJ Davis), former Coastal Carolina wide receiver (Da'Kendall James), UCONN offensive lineman (Jeff Woods) and former FOUR star Liberty commit (Tayvion Land).
Some off the wall numbers before we dive into things: Below is a quick look at the last few recruiting classes, per Rivals, and how they are represented on the depth chart. Note, this does NOT include the transfers.
- 2017 - Only Devin Miller remains
- 2018 - 7 players remain, Corey Gammage, Steven Gilmore, Sam Burton, Talik Keaton, Caleb McMillan, Owen Porter and Dalton Tucker
- 2019 - 9 players still on the roster, 8 on the two deep (Daniel Foster is not listed, but will play) those remaining are Jayshawn Coffman, Esaias Carpenter, Elijah Alston, Micah Abraham, J'coryan Anderson, Eli Neal, Tristen Bittner and EJ Jackson.
-2020 - 9 players remain, 5 on the two deep. Those remaining are Abraham Beauplan, Daytione Smith, Josh Bowers, Charlie Gray and Kerion Martin.
- 2021 - 6 players on the two deep. Charles Montgomery, Cam Fancher, Eric Meeks, Tyshawn Hurst, Ethan Payne and John McConnell.
- 2022 - 1 player on the two deep. There is no chance that anyone would have guessed that the one player to crack the two deep off that star studded class would have been offensive lineman, two star Tariq Montgomery.
**The rules of Recruitnik are simple. We take the two deep depth chart for both teams from the most recent Game Notes put out on their respective Official Athletics Site. We use the Rivals ratings, to the best of our ability, and simply add up the numbers and divide it by the number of players. Who ever has the highest ratings wins. We compare Marshall's offense against the opponents defense, and Marshall's defense against the opponents offense. Typically FCS schools do not have enough who are rated to generate a comparable number. You will notice that I have them listed as (NO SCORE) below.
A couple of notes. Both Marshall and Norfolk State list 11 positions on their depth chart. In recent years Marshall used to list 12 positions, they would add NICKEL. Although not listed, the nickel will most likely be held down by McNeese State transfer Andre Sam. I would expect to see Isaiah Norman, Andre Sam and Jadarius Green-McKnight to be on the field together the majority of the time.
Time to jump right in. The first section will show the unit matchups. Listed below that will be a little more in depth look at a couple important positions.
MARSHALL OFFENSE VS Norfolk State DEFENSE
Marshall is averaging well over 2 overall stars across the offense this season. This includes three former unranked walk on's along the offensive line, all three of which are starting in Ethan Driskell, Logan Osburn and Kendrick Sartor. If those starters were re ranked and came in at two stars then the Herd offense would push an overall 2.5 rating. Marshall's overall offensive rating is being bolstered by former 5 star Florida State running back transfer Khalan Laborn. Four star transfer, also from Florida State, Bryan Robinson helps in that average as he came in with a four star rating.
MARSHALL DEFENSE VS Norfolk State OFFENSE
A former Florida State recruit also helped the defense's overall star rating as Marshall obtained the services of former four star safety Jadarius Green-McKnight. The rest of the defense is fairly consistent with several three star recruits. Like the defense, the overall score includes three transfers from the FCS levels who were unrated out of high school. Two of those players, Andre Sam and Isaiah Norman project as starters and Jace Bobo expects to back up superstar linebacker Abraham Beauplan.
OVERALL MATCHUP
MARSHALL WIDE RECEIVERS VS Norfolk State DEFENSIVE BACKS
Marshall's starting wide receivers and tight ends average 2.75 stars across the board. This will be a strength of this team throughout the season. This unit is one of the deeper room on the team and comes in with a lot of experience.
MARSHALL DEFENSIVE LINE VS Norfolk State OFFENSIVE LINE
The deepest, and strongest unit on the team has to be the Marshall defensive line. Coach Huff has said multiple times that we went into the bowl game late last season with only 6 healthy defensive lineman. He vowed that would not happen again and the depth chart is a strong indication of that. In addition to the 8 guys listed below, Marshall also lists Emmanuel Balogun, Purdue transfer Anthony Watts, Immanuel Bush and Jordan Calomese. All 12 players should play each week.
This week Marshall takes on Norfolk State. Norfolk is an FCS school but they have a good bit of talent including some formerly highly rated transfers. Norfolk has a quarterback from Old Dominion (Jonah Fitzgerald), running back from Cincinnati who could be the conference player of the year this year (JJ Davis), former Coastal Carolina wide receiver (Da'Kendall James), UCONN offensive lineman (Jeff Woods) and former FOUR star Liberty commit (Tayvion Land).
Some off the wall numbers before we dive into things: Below is a quick look at the last few recruiting classes, per Rivals, and how they are represented on the depth chart. Note, this does NOT include the transfers.
- 2017 - Only Devin Miller remains
- 2018 - 7 players remain, Corey Gammage, Steven Gilmore, Sam Burton, Talik Keaton, Caleb McMillan, Owen Porter and Dalton Tucker
- 2019 - 9 players still on the roster, 8 on the two deep (Daniel Foster is not listed, but will play) those remaining are Jayshawn Coffman, Esaias Carpenter, Elijah Alston, Micah Abraham, J'coryan Anderson, Eli Neal, Tristen Bittner and EJ Jackson.
-2020 - 9 players remain, 5 on the two deep. Those remaining are Abraham Beauplan, Daytione Smith, Josh Bowers, Charlie Gray and Kerion Martin.
- 2021 - 6 players on the two deep. Charles Montgomery, Cam Fancher, Eric Meeks, Tyshawn Hurst, Ethan Payne and John McConnell.
- 2022 - 1 player on the two deep. There is no chance that anyone would have guessed that the one player to crack the two deep off that star studded class would have been offensive lineman, two star Tariq Montgomery.
**The rules of Recruitnik are simple. We take the two deep depth chart for both teams from the most recent Game Notes put out on their respective Official Athletics Site. We use the Rivals ratings, to the best of our ability, and simply add up the numbers and divide it by the number of players. Who ever has the highest ratings wins. We compare Marshall's offense against the opponents defense, and Marshall's defense against the opponents offense. Typically FCS schools do not have enough who are rated to generate a comparable number. You will notice that I have them listed as (NO SCORE) below.
A couple of notes. Both Marshall and Norfolk State list 11 positions on their depth chart. In recent years Marshall used to list 12 positions, they would add NICKEL. Although not listed, the nickel will most likely be held down by McNeese State transfer Andre Sam. I would expect to see Isaiah Norman, Andre Sam and Jadarius Green-McKnight to be on the field together the majority of the time.
Time to jump right in. The first section will show the unit matchups. Listed below that will be a little more in depth look at a couple important positions.
MARSHALL OFFENSE VS Norfolk State DEFENSE
Marshall Offense | 2.27 |
Norfolk State Defense | NO SCORE |
ADVANTAGE | MARSHALL OFFENSE |
MARSHALL DEFENSE VS Norfolk State OFFENSE
Marshall Defense | 2.09 |
Norfolk State Offense | NO SCORE |
ADVANTAGE | MARSHALL DEFENSE |
OVERALL MATCHUP
Marshall Overall Rating | 2.18 |
Norfolk State Overall Rating | NO SCORE |
ADVANTAGE | MARSHALL |
MARSHALL WIDE RECEIVERS VS Norfolk State DEFENSIVE BACKS
Marshall's starting wide receivers and tight ends average 2.75 stars across the board. This will be a strength of this team throughout the season. This unit is one of the deeper room on the team and comes in with a lot of experience.
Marshall | Wide Receivers | Norfolk State | Defensive Backs | ||
Corey Gammage | 3 stars | WR | Brandon Savage | UNRANKED | CB |
Bryan Robinson | 4 stars | WR | Devon Allen | UNRANKED | CB |
Charles Montgomery | 3 stars | WR | Christian Ruffin | UNRANKED | S |
Caleb McMillan | 2 stars | WR | Stuart Anderson | UNRANKED | S |
Talik Keaton | 2 stars | WR | RJ Coles | UNRANKED | S |
Jayden Harrison | 3 stars | WR | Kameron Lewis | UNRANKED | S |
Devin Miller | 2 stars | TE | Tayvion Land | 4 stars | CB |
Stacey Marshall Jr | 3 stars | TE | Justin Toler | UNRANKED | CB |
MARSHALL DEFENSIVE LINE VS Norfolk State OFFENSIVE LINE
The deepest, and strongest unit on the team has to be the Marshall defensive line. Coach Huff has said multiple times that we went into the bowl game late last season with only 6 healthy defensive lineman. He vowed that would not happen again and the depth chart is a strong indication of that. In addition to the 8 guys listed below, Marshall also lists Emmanuel Balogun, Purdue transfer Anthony Watts, Immanuel Bush and Jordan Calomese. All 12 players should play each week.
Marshall | DL | Koby Cumberlander | 3 | NS | LT | Jeff Woods | 2 |
Marshall | DL | Sam Burton | 2 | NS | LT | Josh Culberson | |
Marshall | DL | TyQaze Leggs | 3 | NS | LG | Jalen Powell | |
Marshall | DL | Jayshawn Coffman | 3 | NS | LG | Andrew Nickens | |
Marshall | DL | Esaias Carpenter | 2 | NS | C | Colby Byrd | |
Marshall | DL | Isaiah Gibson | 3 | NS | C | Dyral McMillan | |
Marshall | DL | Owen Porter | 2 | NS | RG | Justin Redd | |
Marshall | DL | Elijah Alston | 2 | NS | RG | Desmond Kelly | |
NS | RT | D'Montre Smith | |||||
NS | RT | Taro Lipscomb |