Recruiting Texas Lands Coveted Corner (Profile by Mike Roach)

[Mike Roach]

 

 

One thing Charlie Strong has always excelled at is closing strong on the recruiting trail while doing his best work in the final phase of the recruiting season. Strong continued that on today when Waco (TX) High defensive back Eric Cuffee announced his intentions to play football for the Longhorns. Cuffee was offered in the spring and appeared to be a shoe in for Texas early on in the process. Cuffee chose Texas over offers from Auburn, Ole Miss, Baylor, TCU, Texas A&M, Alabama, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Stanford among many others.

Cuffee was a frequent visitor to Austin this year, and even though he drifted away from the Longhorns at times, the comfort level he established with the program led him back to the Longhorns. Cuffee fills the void left by the decommiment of Southlake Carroll corner Obi Eboh. The 42^nd ranked player on the 2016 HornSports top 50 was part of the Opening camp during the summer, and was also named to the Under Armour All-American team.

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

 

Film Analysis: 

Cuffee is solidly built at 6’ 190 lbs. He uses that size to bully receivers at the line of scrimmage. Simply put, Cuffee is one of the most physical defensive backs in the state. A quick look at his film shows multiple clips where opposing receivers are unable to get off the line and into their routes. Cuffee shows solid speed and understanding of the position but he appears to be a bit stiff in the hips, which limits some of what he can do. He’s very strong at the point of attack and flies to the ball where his aggression and physicality make him a very good tackler. Cuffee showed off plus ball skills both on the camp circuit and game day this season with the strength and leaping ability to battle bigger receivers in the air. While Cuffee can succeed at corner in zone schemes, we see his highest upside in his ability to fit in at the nickel position as well as either safety spot. From those spots his ability plays up in a read and react mode where he can use physical ability in the box and ball skills in deep coverage.


Final Verdict:

With the de-commitment of Eboh, depth in the secondary became a big need. I like Cuffee’s ability at any spot on the field, but I believe his ultimate upside is as a safety/nickel. If he’s open to making a move away from the corner position he can truly be a difference maker in his first year. As a corner his ceiling is a bit limited, but at the safety/nickel position I believe he could be an all conference player drafted in the first three rounds.

 

 

 

 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

[CoachEmUp64]

Good stuff mike

[Sirhornsalot]

I've heard some make the comparison with Quandre Diggs. Diggs was 5'8 or 5'9. This kid is 6'. Who else would you compare him with Mike?

 

 

 

 

[Mike Roach]

I actually said about 2 months ago I thought he was a bigger version of Quandre Diggs

[Rotty22]

I've heard some make the comparison with Quandre Diggs. Diggs was 5'8 or 5'9. This kid is 6'. Who else would you compare him with Mike?

 

quentin jammer

[aakeys]

Serious question as to if Bedford and Vaughn can't land the best defensive backs, like Cobb and Eboh (Jerry Gray/Mossy Case--not Vance Bedford--types, lol), then what are they doing here?  They don't seem to bring much else to the defense, and the push-out of Robinson seems to have flat-out cost us Porter with Vaughn trying to recruit him.  (By the way, Robinson couldn't recruit?  What about Warren and Kirk Johnson, lol?  And as for Wickline being a called-by-you deficient recruiter, our offensive line is loaded with young talent, including guys like Garrett Thomas and Rodriguez, who didn't play much or at all last year, and Okafor from this season.  Just an outlandish and asinine comment that Robinson and Wickline couldn't recruit.  As for Watson, well, we know who the best and most important recruit not only in this class but probaly in a decade or more for Texas is--Buechele--and that was Watson's recruit.)

 

The one playing out of position is Boyd, who like Diggs, is a pure and born Safety.  Cuffee is not particularly relevant, in my opinion, except perhaps to illustrate who we didn't get.  And, are we going to see Jermaine Roberts this year, or are Bedford and Vaughn going to fail to play the best talent all over that side of the ball, the same way that they did last year, lol?

 

 

 

[Mike Roach]

Serious question as to if Bedford and Vaughn can't land the best defensive backs, like Cobb and Eboh (Jerry Gray/Mossy Case--not Vance Bedford--types, lol), then what are they doing here? They don't seem to bring much else to the defense, and the push-out of Robinson seems to have flat-out cost us Porter with Vaughn trying to recruit him. (By the way, Robinson couldn't recruit? What about Warren and Kirk Johnson, lol? And as for Wickline being a called-by-you deficient recruiter, our offensive line is loaded with young talent, including guys like Garrett Thomas and Rodriguez, who didn't play much or at all last year, and Okafor from this season. Just an outlandish and asinine comment that Robinson and Wickline couldn't recruit. As for Watson, well, we know who the best and most important recruit not only in this class but probaly in a decade or more for Texas is--Buechele--and that was Watson's recruit.)

 

The one playing out of position is Boyd, who like Diggs, is a pure and born Safety. Cuffee is not particularly relevant, in my opinion, except perhaps to illustrate who we didn't get. And, are we going to see Jermaine Roberts this year, or are Bedford and Vaughn going to fail to play the best talent all over that side of the ball, the same way that they did last year, lol?

I'm just going to stop you and say you don't know the story on those coaches recruiting. I speak with recruits so I get a good idea of it. I'm also not the only one who feels that way.

 

As for DB's, they have Texas in line to land the top safety in the nation along with Cuffee and Brown who are both close to Eboh in ability. DB wasn't a huge need this year

[Mike Roach]

Also I'll say that while I'm not about punishing anyone for a dissenting opinion, you have a clear agenda and are bordering on attacking recruits with that Cuffee comment. We get that you don't like Bedford and Vaughn and you have a weird obsession with 2 guys who weren't all in for recruiting, but you don't know the full story so let it rest.

[java]

Hey, Mike, nice job.

[MikeV73]

Also I'll say that while I'm not about punishing anyone for a dissenting opinion, you have a clear agenda and are bordering on attacking recruits with that Cuffee comment. We get that you don't like Bedford and Vaughn and you have a weird obsession with 2 guys who weren't all in for recruiting, but you don't know the full story so let it rest.

Well said Mike, but don't waste your time with bridge trolls such as this guy. Just feeds there appetite to feel important. Mike, thanks for all you do presenting well thought out posts and information. We appreciate your work!

[Lanier00]

Have a overall recruiting question as this is my first reply/question I'm hearing rumblings that Deontay Anderson and his dad may go up to Austin before Dead period begins any truth to this?

[Mike Roach]

No one knows what to expect but we have heard some last minute mystery recruit chatter