Former 4 Star LB Transfer Offered, Visited
- Thread starter boileralum07
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To win big ten games? I’d take 11 of him to field a team full of what looks like a decent guys. Do you know how many classy hard working kids are told in different ways every year that they aren’t big ten caliber starting players?
if we get to the point where we get guys like holt to be special teamers, like I could picture with Brandt.. that’s great.
your description is true of countless guys I know who never got I-AA interest
Also, this is true of KD as well. If you had a choice between Holt and KD who would you pick? KD may not have high recruit natural talent but I’d say he was at least an average big ten starting middle linebacker. At least …
I hate that this topic still comes up. Holt had 116 and 114 tackles in each of his last two seasons. He was not the most physically gifted LB we have ever had but he was a solid player. One that we needed very badly when he was here because we had very few solid players. Plus I am pretty sure he was Big Ten Honorable mention as voted by coaches.
Those that say he was horrible or shouldn’t have been starting for Purdue or playing in the Big Ten are directly contradicted by people actually coaching in the Big Ten. You are 100% wrong and they are correct. He did belong and was productive.
I love what Douglas has done for us and agree about his work ethic. However I absolutely take Holt over him.
Horrible no. He wasn’t like awful and there weren’t a bunch of blown assignments.. but you can still amass a lot of tackles while not being an effective Starting MLB in the big ten.
most important thing to remember is they no one is saying he’s not a good guy.
I go the other way from you. I feel like when you act like everyone who does things the right way is good, then it cheapens what it means to be good. If Ben holt and jawann Bentley are both considered good then what does good matter.
Yeah I don’t care what kind of guy Ben was. He was a solid football player. He was no Bentley imo. Bentley was a physical freak. What did he weigh? Like 260 or something playing mlb at a high level. Holt did not have the physical gifts that some guys have but worked his way into a very solid player for Purdue. And I would have hated to see that defense without him that year.
Because I also don’t care what kinda guy they are, I almost just plot them on a graph like madden ratings .. all I’m saying is that if the average big ten starting linebacker is a 75 out of 100, or a C… holt is probably like 65-70.. so holt would be a 65-70 and KD a 75 in my mind ..
And then Koutouvides would be like 85-90 for a frame of reference. I deal with it very clinically like that .. it’s not to knock a guy if that makes sense
I think my annual review with you, pboiler and tc4three should be better than my is year
Honestly other than thinking both were really good I don’t remember much about either .. that era in general was kinda forgettable
Lol I’m just messing with ya. I liked Heygood though but yeah those were the transition from Tiller to Hope years where mediocrity happened. Little did we know it would keep spiraling downhill
I never said Holt was great. He was kind of a last minute addition. He was not the first choice. He was a stop gap hole filler. And for those of you berating him, he did actually beat somebody out to become a starter! Why don’t you berate the guy he beat out who was even worse? Just think if Holt wasn’t our starter
Yeah I am not disagreeing with your methodology at all. I just don’t see how a guy who had double the number of tackles as a guy playing the same position is ranked 10 points lower in your mind. Tackles aren’t everything but he did a lot of things right to get that many tackles. Imo you are looking at size and strength alone. Whether he was knocked back or not, he got to the tackle 50 more times in a season than Douglas. Holt was at least an average linebacker, probably slightly above based on how coaches viewed him.
I really don’t care how anyone ranks him. But to say he didn’t belong in the the Big which many did and do is absurd.
Nah, just because a kid works his ass off, doesn't mean he belongs as a starter on a P5 team. Unfortunately, Purdue didn't have the talent at that time for anyone to beat him out. And it didn't hurt that his dad was the DC...
That’s my point .. what’s the point of being Adrian Beasley if every kid who tries hard is regarded as though he’s Adrian Beasley.. or pick a name. I tend to think that if someone feels strongly about a topic like this they probably know someone who knows the kid and so trying to discuss it is pointless.
Some people think it is mean spirited to point out specific guys as examples if those guys did do anything wrong that was within their control. I'm kind of 'meh' on the topic because these guys sign up for it with D1 territory. Also I think people who generally come to the defense in these situations are quite inconsistent depending on the player, where they are from, what their background is, etc.
I guess.. but then what’s the point of being karlaftis or bell. Anyone who gives the same effort as those guys should be an all American under that logic. I don’t gratuitously bring up specific players as much anymore but if someone else does I don’t see commenting as this terrible thing. It’s not like I rated holt a 25.. 65-70 in the big ten should make you a pretty good Mac player ..
We live in a world where people defend/promote a 4th string walk-on RB who plays for our chief rival
I propose a new model. Air practices on tv. And at the end just don’t play the season… nominate players based on practice effort for the all American team. If someone says “yeah but if they played the season, that kid might have only played special teams for a bad ACC team… he’s not an all American” you can just have the host on espn be like “come on.. he’s a nice guy…”
You have said some variation of this a number one of times. It’s not accurate. Nobody is comparing Holt to great players. There is a huge difference between saying someone was a solid player (in response to others saying they suck) vs someone is great. There are degrees of players.
Holt isn’t in the same world as Bell. But he was a solid player on that defensive team.
This subject comes up because you (and others) always bring his name up in a negative way. I do not consider Holt great. He was not bad though.
I didn’t bring it up.. I don’t consider commenting on someone else bringing it up nearly as bad as me being like “wasn’t Ben holt below average” out of nowhere.
also, just because I think he was somewhat below average for a big ten level starting MLB, doesn’t mean I think of it like he ruined something by being the best we had. If holt hadn’t have come here, it always could have been worse, and sometimes much worse
Ok let’s do this.. 2019 big ten west starting middle linebackers
Illinois Dele Harding
Iowa Kristian Welch
Minnesota Thomas barber
Nebraska Collin Miller
Northwestern Erik Mueller
Wisconsin Jack sanborn
I guess if he’s better than three of those guys he’s average. To be honest I don’t know. The only ones I know he wasn’t better than were barber and sanborn. I don’t know enough about the other four to know. @nat100 ? Do you know the other four? Where would you rank him on this list…
Illinois Dele Harding
Iowa Kristian Welch
Minnesota Thomas barber
Nebraska Collin Miller
Northwestern Erik Mueller
Wisconsin Jack sanborn
I guess if he’s better than three of those guys he’s average. To be honest I don’t know. The only ones I know he wasn’t better than were barber and sanborn. I don’t know enough about the other four to know. @nat100 ? Do you know the other four? Where would you rank him on this list…
Nothing against Nat but why does his opinion matter to you more than Big Ten coaches who voted him honorable mention which means only 6 mlbs in the big were ahead of him right? Isn’t there 2 each 1-3 team?
He knows more than I do. Voters could have looked at the tackle numbers. The issue was that that didn’t tell the story. Holt would get dragged after contact worse than any Purdue linebacker I can personally remember (and I may have forgotten a few) since Maybe Dan Bick… and if linemen got to the second level on him he had no chance to shed a block. But if a wisconsin back drags you for 9 yards with 7 after contact you still get a tackle
Im sticking at somewhat below average .. we will never agree that he was average. If you want to think he was that’s fine by me. But remember .. I didn’t bring it up
I am fine with that because slightly below average is much more reasonable than many people are on Holt.
I do think it’s a little crazy to think that Big Ten coaches don’t watch hours and hours of film on Purdue and all the other teams in the Big and know who is good and who is not.
Like I said though, you are much more reasonable than some about it.
I also didn’t bring it up. I typically don’t ever think about it until I see yet another post about how bad he was.
I’ve never said anything except slightly below average. And if he had KD’s strength he could have been really good. I’m glad he was a boiler .. we’ve had much more talented players disappoint me ..
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