Neuheisel Picks Up A Huge Recruit: 4 Star LB/RB Anthony Barr Picks UCLA Over Notre Dame
by Nestor on Jan 21, 2010 6:47 PM PST
in Recruiting
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Printlongbordr52 already fanshotted the fantastic news. It's worth it's own post. Anthony Barr, the number 10 ranked OLB in the country (per scout.com) committed to UCLA this afternoon over Notre Dame. Scout.com broke the story, Jon Gold confirmed it over at the Daily News.
This is big news. Barr a 4 star recruit is an explosive athlete with size and speed who will have an opportunity to compete for glamor positions on both sides of the field. Here is a quick video highlights on Anthony:
UCLA recruited Barr (6'4 225) as an athlete. I am guessing he might get an opportunity to compete for a spot at tailback against Jet Ski, Thigpen, Jones and James. However, he might also fit in nicely among our LB corps (where CRN is assembling serious talent). Also, if he can put on 25-30 lbs in college with his speed I can also see him turning out to be an Akeem Ayers type of monster who can fit in as a hybrid DE/LB in our front-7.
Either way this is awesome news. Barr becomes our 18th commit and this news will certainly give a huge boost to our efforts during the crunch time of this year's recruiting period. Great stuff. Welcome to Westwood Anthony.
GO BRUINS.
UPDATE (N): The OC Register has the following comment from Barr:
“It was the hardest decision of my life,” Barr told Rivals. “I’ll always be a Notre Dame fan.”
Sounds like a very classy kid. Another note on where he is going to end up. I realize lot of folks have strong feelings on where he should play. I think he will get a legit shot at whichever position he wants to try out first. What's really important here is UCLA is getting an explosive athlete will with size and speed who will be another important piece of the puzzle in the coming years. GO BRUINS.
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Wow
If he plays tailback instead of defense… our backfield is going to be pretty incredible. I loved the video… I can’t even think of many 6’4" tailbacks out there. However, I think that since we already landed two very capable RB’s this year, I’d like to see him on the defensive side. I’m wondering how many of these guys will get to get some playing time immediately
I’m going to be following Odighizu from here on out… if we can land him our defense is going to be exciting!
Nice pick up.
Quick to the hole, stays low, runs with power and has good speed. I can see this kid excelling on either side of the ball. This really pumps me up. When does the season start?
i want this guy on D
as has been mentioned before he’s too tall/upright for RB. plus we have james/jones. i think he could be awesome on D just like Nestor said hybrid DE/LB a la ayers. i hope he’s down for it. i thought he wanted RB and was all set to go to ND.
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." --John Wooden
With him at
OLB with that crazy closing speed!! If Ayers is still around these two guys in the LB corps would look scary
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" Homer Simpson
D or even WR
No way at RB, guy will get crushed at the college level. After seeing him run though, reminds me JJ Stokes with his height. No idea how good his hands are…
The kid is a beast though, breaks multiple tackles on most of the highlights.
There might not be enough room for milt, I hope we can get him in but I just don’t think it’s feasible he seems to be a good kid, but IMO he represents the ucla football of the past decade. A little small a step to slow I really wish him the best but he just can’t comets with the likes of James jones Franklin or thigpen
For the same reason
I was never a big fan of Knox, but he seems relatively reliable, and he did good things with the ball in his hands last year. It is hard to argue with results, and he was delivering them. Besides NCAA 10 had him as the starter lol. He led all of our running backs except Ramirez in YPC, and I think most people have ruled Ramirez out completely.
TE
With that height and strength could see him figthing his way across the middle, catching a bullet, shaking a few tackles, bolts for the endzone……Touchdown UCLA!
Powder to the People
Heh
just to throw another possible position on the list… how about Strong Safety? Love and Dye didn’t impress me all that much last year, and at this point I’d like to see Westgate/Ayers at OLB. I like Westgate… he has a good motor.
Barr
If he chooses to play RB he has the ability jump everyone on our depth chart. He was set to have another monster season this year and put all his doubters to rest about his height and size, but broke his ankle. If he plays on the other side of the ball I think he would be best suited at safety playing opposite of Rahim. He could play much more in the box and almost act as another LB and let Rahim ballhawk like he wants to. Either way he is a true gamer who just loves to hit which is why he could be so good at safety. He can be the hard hitting safety who strikes fear in a defense and with Rahim over the top, I think every qb and wr in the country thinking twice before going over the middle or down the sideline for a fly.
Whichever side he decides to play, he will bring some scary versatility and athleticism leaving either Norm or Chuck very happy or very mad
seems to run too straight up and down for a tailback.
can’t wait to see him on D.
he reminds me of the late sean taylor (Umiami and redskins)
who was also a highly touted rb out of high school but went on to be a beast on D
Across The Face
incredible athlete
He looks HUGE. He looks a legit 6’4. I wish there were some plays where he caught the ball out of the backfield so I could check out his hands. He makes great hard cuts without wasted movement, and he’s great in tight places for a big guy. He has the great lateral burst and good vision of a tailback, but he runs upright and didn’t strike me as a physical runner. Maybe the opposition on the videos just couldn’t touch him? He was shifty and made people miss, but I’d like to see a big tailback drop a shoulder, invite contact, and win the collision (he did bowl over some poor kid half his size in the video). I wouldn’t mind a big back if he ran small and had at least 4.4 speed. Barr’s listed at 4.55 on Scout/4.5 on Rivals, which puts him on the slow side for a tailback but ideal for a linebacker. I would love to see him at outside linebacker harassing QBs and smothering opposing TEs.
Does anyone
have any news on Zumwalt. If we get him, along with Barr, then we have two potential studs at LB for the next four years. I am really interested to see where he goes. I know he is high on us, but I haven’t heard anything since his Stanford trip. The fact he didn’t commit to Stanford while on the farm is good news though.
CRN is going to close like Secretariat!! I can feel it.
Zumwalt has apparently called for time
Which can only be a good thing for us, as he got admitted to Stanford last Friday.
looking at that video
it looks like Loyola’s not high on the rule of being set for a full second before the snap.
I'd settle for Manuel White, but with more recognition and actual creative usage by the staff
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
what?
You can have a million backs and they will do nothing much unless you have an offensive line. That is the key. Bust holes in the defense and your back will thrive. How many seasons have we seen good backs hit the wall and bounce backwards and end up with an average of 2-3 yards a carry. OL is everything. Deshaun Foster was the leading sprinter of his time. Barr looks good and fast, but Foster was all of that.
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