[LUnpretty11]

This is really great news for our team. Anytime you can get a player who has these credentials it's a great get. Not saying he'll move ahead of anyone on the immediate depth chart, but JC and SJ, you guys can't deny that the future continues to get brighter with the amount of depth we have. We were stacked in the secondary before this transfer, and it just keeps getting better. The even better thing is that Lee and co. know that this dude has potential and is solid. Ayers is going to push our guys even more and make them better with his presence on the field. I'm stoked! (he'll also make our WR better!)

[PAmedic]

assuming its legit. I dont facebook so I didnt bother to check

and they're all over the place on that GT fan board regarding him leaving... guess we wait 'til the fall and see what happens.

[flamehunter]

Wonder how he would be as a return specialist? Speed is definitely there.

[BJWilliams]

assuming its legit. I dont facebook so I didnt bother to check

and they're all over the place on that GT fan board regarding him leaving... guess we wait 'til the fall and see what happens.

WE really dont have to wait til the fall PA...just until camp opens.

[bradyfan]

What are you talking about? Liberty fans would never anoint a transfer or recruit savior before he ever gets to campus or plays a game. Other fans maybe, but never, ever, Liberty fans.

NEVER

This is no way to run/support a team. Yes, he should still earn his spot in training camp/practice. However, this kid has way more talent than our other corners. It's not that our corners are bad but there is a definite reason why this kid was playing for GT in the first place. Not to mention, when this kid was recruited, GT was coming off of an ACC Championship. So, this kid wasn't going to give even a small FBS team the time of day. He should definitely have to earn his spot but if you seriously think our other corners have the type of talent this kid has, get used to settling for just missing playoffs.

[BJWilliams]

I think you may have missed the sarcasm in what he said cj...its good to have high expectations but we've had hits and misses over the last few years in the transfer department. As I have said already, Im taking a wait and see approach with him. Does that mean that SJ and others here are settling for "just missing the playoffs"? Pardon my French but HELL NO. Everybody here wants to see us in the show after narrowly missing the last three seasons just as much if not MORE than you do. DOes that mean we instantly are going to anoint this kid as the next great player in LU history? I don't think so. Nobody is prepping his plaque for the LU Hall of Fame just yet...that doesnt mean that we are lowering our standards either though.

[bradyfan]

I think you may have missed the sarcasm in what he said cj...its good to have high expectations but we've had hits and misses over the last few years in the transfer department. As I have said already, Im taking a wait and see approach with him. Does that mean that SJ and others here are settling for "just missing the playoffs"? Pardon my French but HELL NO. Everybody here wants to see us in the show after narrowly missing the last three seasons just as much if not MORE than you do. DOes that mean we instantly are going to anoint this kid as the next great player in LU history? I don't think so. Nobody is prepping his plaque for the LU Hall of Fame just yet...that doesnt mean that we are lowering our standards either though.

I'm not annointing him with anything, other than it's clear he has more talent than any of our other corners. Just because I think he has more talent doesn't even mean I think he should start. However, the argument that our other corners are as talented as he is, is laughable quite frankly. That's about the same as saying Cam Newton shouldn't have started for Auburn last year. Gene Chizik knew that kid had way more talent than any of his other qb's. He made him work for the starting spot but he didn't get caught up in starting his other qb's on the sole reason, that they chose Auburn first. He simply recognized who was more talented and made the kid work. We have several good players but it's no lie that the majority of our talent is on offense. Having a cornerback as talented as this kid is, gives us a great edge. I get the point your trying to make, "we need to have the right pieces." However, "having the right pieces" over the most talented pieces is a horrible strategy for college football. It works in the NFL but not in college. Ever wonder why Virginia Tech can't compete for championships but an SEC team has won the championship 5 conesective years? Look at where the talent is. I'll take a kid this talented any day.

[flamesfilmguy]

did BJ just use bold and all caps the phrase Hell No while preceding it with "excuse my french"? did I read that right? Bj I love you man. That made me smile.

[bradyfan]

did BJ just use bold and all caps the phrase Hell No while preceding it with "excuse my french"? did I read that right? Bj I love you man. That made me smile.

I would have used similar words but us students get reps for that kind of stuff.

[flamesfilmguy]

did BJ just use bold and all caps the phrase Hell No while preceding it with "excuse my french"? did I read that right? Bj I love you man. That made me smile.

I would have used similar words but us students get reps for that kind of stuff.

HAHA I'm not a student anymore so I can get away with it.

[SuperJon]

Just found out who this kid is. He's definitely a stud. Was one of the best players at Rocco's camp as a freshman.

[jcmanson]

I think you may have missed the sarcasm in what he said cj...its good to have high expectations but we've had hits and misses over the last few years in the transfer department. As I have said already, Im taking a wait and see approach with him. Does that mean that SJ and others here are settling for "just missing the playoffs"? Pardon my French but HELL NO. Everybody here wants to see us in the show after narrowly missing the last three seasons just as much if not MORE than you do. DOes that mean we instantly are going to anoint this kid as the next great player in LU history? I don't think so. Nobody is prepping his plaque for the LU Hall of Fame just yet...that doesnt mean that we are lowering our standards either though.

I'm not annointing him with anything, other than it's clear he has more talent than any of our other corners. Just because I think he has more talent doesn't even mean I think he should start. However, the argument that our other corners are as talented as he is, is laughable quite frankly. That's about the same as saying Cam Newton shouldn't have started for Auburn last year. Gene Chizik knew that kid had way more talent than any of his other qb's. He made him work for the starting spot but he didn't get caught up in starting his other qb's on the sole reason, that they chose Auburn first. He simply recognized who was more talented and made the kid work. We have several good players but it's no lie that the majority of our talent is on offense. Having a cornerback as talented as this kid is, gives us a great edge. I get the point your trying to make, "we need to have the right pieces." However, "having the right pieces" over the most talented pieces is a horrible strategy for college football. It works in the NFL but not in college. Ever wonder why Virginia Tech can't compete for championships but an SEC team has won the championship 5 conesective years? Look at where the talent is. I'll take a kid this talented any day.

I didn't say that our current corners are more talented. I think Aikens is probably just as talented as this guy. But Kajuan Lee's 4 previous years of experience may make him a better player THIS SEASON than Ayers. That doesn't mean Lee is more talented, and I never said he was.

[bradyfan]

That's all fine but in college football, talent wins games. You are right in a sense, this kid does need to do the work in training camp. But unless this kid just doesn't work hard, there really isn't a reason for him to sit the bench.

[jenkins]

ill take him..ive seen kajuan lee get burnt by a double move one too many times. Those guys back there have shown flashes but no consistency. Stockpile all the talent you can get, injuries happen but to downplay getting this guy at this point is ridiculous.

[Stevev]

I bet that Kajuan Lee starts this year. Coach Rocco has a tentancy to reward seniors who have been in the program 4 years or more and for a good reason. He doesn't want to "screw them over" and bump a transfer over someone who has worked hard. Ayers will get his playing time, no doubt, if he is as good on field as he is on paper but Lee will start. I figure that Ayers would have to compete with Hobby and Fogg for playing time and those guys are up and coming. I figure that Aikens has the starting job locked up. Our secondary will be much improved this year over what it has been. I would like to compare it to the talent level we had during the early Sam R years and maybe better which is saying a lot.

[Cider Jim]

Wondering if Ayers and Aikens give us the 2 most talented corners in the history of LU football.
And I'm sorry to see BJ with such a mouth.

[BJWilliams]

That's all fine but in college football, talent wins games. You are right in a sense, this kid does need to do the work in training camp. But unless this kid just doesn't work hard, there really isn't a reason for him to sit the bench.

That right there in the bold is why I take a wait and see approach. He may HAVE the talent to be a starter for us but if he doesnt put the work in, he will not get on the field.

[SuperJon]

That's all fine but in college football, talent wins games. You are right in a sense, this kid does need to do the work in training camp. But unless this kid just doesn't work hard, there really isn't a reason for him to sit the bench.

See: Asa Chapman vs Colin Dugan.

Asa was more athletic and had more talent and many on here were saying he should start over Dugan because of his pedigree coming out of prep school. Colin had more knowledge, was a smarter player, and worked harder than Asa. Colin won the starting job and was the main guy at the position most of the year.

See: Chris Rocco vs any safety on our roster.

The other safeties were fast, more athletic, and more talented than Chris. Chris was smarter and knew the game much, much better than the rest of the players at his position. He was able to overcome physical deficiencies because of how smart he was and because of how he knew what was going to happen before it did.

Talent is great, but you cannot replace experience and smarts. This kid is ridiculously talented and is easily one of the top 10 talents that we've had in the program since Rocco took over. However, we don't know his mental make up. We don't know his work ethic. We don't know how well he'll know our system/his position. If he's as good at those things as he is talented then we have an All-American on our hands. Given his family history I have to think that he's going to be pretty solid in all of those things. We won't know until he gets on the field though.

[phoenix]

Kid didn't take any snaps last year, if I'm reading the Tech forum correctly. Let's not coronate him just yet

IF he lives up to his potential (I say that a lot as a teacher and a parent, and had it said about me a lot as a teenager), we'll have the best CB tandem in FCS. If he doesn't, we've still got some talent to work with.

[bradyfan]

That's all fine but in college football, talent wins games. You are right in a sense, this kid does need to do the work in training camp. But unless this kid just doesn't work hard, there really isn't a reason for him to sit the bench.

See: Asa Chapman vs Colin Dugan.

Asa was more athletic and had more talent and many on here were saying he should start over Dugan because of his pedigree coming out of prep school. Colin had more knowledge, was a smarter player, and worked harder than Asa. Colin won the starting job and was the main guy at the position most of the year.

See: Chris Rocco vs any safety on our roster.

The other safeties were fast, more athletic, and more talented than Chris. Chris was smarter and knew the game much, much better than the rest of the players at his position. He was able to overcome physical deficiencies because of how smart he was and because of how he knew what was going to happen before it did.

Talent is great, but you cannot replace experience and smarts. This kid is ridiculously talented and is easily one of the top 10 talents that we've had in the program since Rocco took over. However, we don't know his mental make up. We don't know his work ethic. We don't know how well he'll know our system/his position. If he's as good at those things as he is talented then we have an All-American on our hands. Given his family history I have to think that he's going to be pretty solid in all of those things. We won't know until he gets on the field though.

Yeah, and did we make playoffs? No. Why? Because in at least three games every year we don't match up on talent. This year we're outmatched on at least three games if not four games. I'm not saying that these decisions weren't smart ones. However, you cannot simply base a decision on how hard someone works or how much experience he has. Especially in the college game. That's why a team like Auburn can go from 7-5 to national champions, they're willing to get over that idea that one needs experience to be successful. Experience and smarts are great too but they don't do much for you unless you're an NFL QB. Truth be told, Cornerback isn't that difficult of a position. It's mainly just don't let the receiver beat you and intercept the ball. There isn't much more our cornerbacks know about the position then this kid. Ask any college coach and they'll tell you that to be a successful college cornerback you need to have a good combo of speed and hands. This kid probably has the best combo on our team. Again, I agree that we need to make this kid prove it during training camp. However, I would give this kid much more leeway than I would our other corners. This kid has so much talent that he shouldn't have to prove much during practice or training camp. If you want to be a top notch program, learn from the big guys. This is how the SEC dominates FBS and it's how App. St. has dominated FCS in recent years.

[From the class of 09]

If you feel that athletic talent was our downfall I'm afraid you missed some crucial games over the last few years. The reason we didn't make the playoffs the last two years were mental (as in head) mistakes.

[SuperJon]

Speed and hands don't matter if you're not in the right place or have bad technique and get burned. I have every confidence that this kid is going to be a very solid player for us this year but I'm not crowning him anything until we know how he is in the mental side of the game too. In high school you can get by with sheer athleticism and talent. One of the reason for redshirting guys in college is to teach those athletic freaks the right technique and teach them where to be, etc. He comes from a smart family and a smart football family so I doubt any of this will even be an issue.

[LUnpretty11]

Side note - I'd love to see Aikens on Kaufman from EWU.

Anyway - It's obvious that Ayers will have to prove himself in the team meetings. The game isn't just played on the field. Most of the game is played in the team meetings, video sessions, etc. You can have all the talent in the world but if you're a complete blockhead then it doesn't matter. Sweat, I know what you're saying, but if Ayers does not know where to be, when to be there, and how to react to the offense he's up against, then he's not going to play ahead of the guys we have already. Remember that the guys on our team are D-1 talents. They might not be the same all-around athletes or have the same all-around talent as your top FBS teams (yes I realize that Ayers was offered by major SEC & ACC schools - sick!), but these guys aren't scrubs. All we can do is hype up Ayers and talk about the endless amount of potential he's got.

With how stacked our secondary is, there will be a lot of pressure on our D-line and LB's to step up big time to stop the run. 4-3 anyone?

[flamesfilmguy]

I'd like to call Kent Hicks to the stand.... Perfect combo of size speed and hands. He played well enough to win the starting position but he wasn't the stellar, awesome DB he was made out to be when he transfered in from tech... why you ask? because he had some mental issues that i believe kept him from performing at his best. YES the kid is good. I've seen him work out. he's great. but I will not sit here and say he's going to break school records just yet.

As for the talent wins football games thing. the only talent that makes any difference in a football game is size and speed. If you have more of that than the other team you'll most likely do well. If the teams are evenly matched which most of the time we are it comes down to mental toughness and wanting the win bad enough and that comes a lot of times with playing experience. you cannot tell me that JMU beat VAtech last year because they had more "talent". You can't tell me APPY beat michigan awhile back because they had more "talent". None of us are trying to say he's not good. its exactly the opposite.

[bradyfan]

Yeah definitely wasn't a lack of talent that has done us in. I also would argue that CB is actually quite a bit more complex than not letting a WR beat you and intercept the ball. You need to understand offenses, read offenses, know the routes likely to be run, etc etc. Speed and athleticism are important of course, but it's not a simple position.

Every position has that though. The two toughest positions are linebacker and quarterback.

As for the JMU didn't have more talent than VT argument: I'm not saying that just having talent wins football games first of all. Second of all, yeah JMU can beat VT once and App. St. can beat Michigan once. It happens. Just like we can win 6-9 games every year. However, it takes something more than experience or smarts to have a truly winning team. The reason why VT & Michigan are pro to losing those games is because they're stuck with the attitude of "our state is better than yours." Neither of those teams recruit top talent because neither of those teams like to venture to opposite sides of the country. They still have more talent than most of the country, however they leave themselves very prone to choking. Practically all SEC schools are competing for recruits nationwide, top talent. From Kentucky to Florida to Alabama, no school has bias towards their respective state. The main reason why I want to see this kid play is because I don't want our staff or alumni to fall into the trap VT and UVA fell into. Look at the SEC, point one game out where a not as talented team beat them.