When Cupp decommitted and MSU offered Arcuri, I came on this board and said I thought Cupp (AT THIS STAGE) was the better, more-athletic prospect (based on junior film highlights).
Any time I can go against "company line" and try to demonstrate that I don't view the world solely through green glasses, I definitely take the opportunity to do so.
And based on junior film, I still believe what I said.
I didn't watch Arcuri closely at camp like Matt Dorsey did. So I respect his opinion on Arcuri, and find it intriguing that MSU paid so much attention to Arcuri at camp (kudos also to Matt for following Arcuri's recruitment after the camp, long before Cupp's decommitment and Arcuri's eventual offer. Matt was all over Arcuri and Trishton Jackson long before any other reporter realized MSU was serious about them).
That being said, and I'm not trying to backtrack here, but I'm hearing from more than one source that at least one current MSU o-lineman thought Arcuri was clearly the guy MSU should go after, rather than Cupp. Again, this is not my opinion. I'm not trying backtrack on my opinion of the junior film. But there is increased vibe that MSU feels it will come out just fine in this tradeoff (It was interesting to watch Dantonio's body language and listen to his words during his segment on College Football Live on Wednesday when asked about the Cupp situation. He indicated that he sought input from several people from inside the MSU football building; I'm guessing line coaches and maybe even linemen, and felt fine about his decision to pull the scholarship and head in Arcuri's direction).
[Is it strange to consult your own players on this type of thing? I don't know, but Izzo does it all the time. I have no way of knowing if Dantonio did this. But if he did, his current linemen would have voted for Arcuri.]
Again, I'm just reporting what I heard from a couple of different sources, and that's that MSU linemen themselves preferred Arcuri as a player. Although my initial analysis might be wrong, for the record, I still stand my potentially-flawed viewpoint that Cupp's junior film seemed more impressive to me. (That being said, Cupp is also more physically mature right now than Arcuri. Arcuri can definitely catch up in that category. Arcuri has a high ceiling of potential. Both will probably end up being fine players).
Any time I can go against "company line" and try to demonstrate that I don't view the world solely through green glasses, I definitely take the opportunity to do so.
And based on junior film, I still believe what I said.
I didn't watch Arcuri closely at camp like Matt Dorsey did. So I respect his opinion on Arcuri, and find it intriguing that MSU paid so much attention to Arcuri at camp (kudos also to Matt for following Arcuri's recruitment after the camp, long before Cupp's decommitment and Arcuri's eventual offer. Matt was all over Arcuri and Trishton Jackson long before any other reporter realized MSU was serious about them).
That being said, and I'm not trying to backtrack here, but I'm hearing from more than one source that at least one current MSU o-lineman thought Arcuri was clearly the guy MSU should go after, rather than Cupp. Again, this is not my opinion. I'm not trying backtrack on my opinion of the junior film. But there is increased vibe that MSU feels it will come out just fine in this tradeoff (It was interesting to watch Dantonio's body language and listen to his words during his segment on College Football Live on Wednesday when asked about the Cupp situation. He indicated that he sought input from several people from inside the MSU football building; I'm guessing line coaches and maybe even linemen, and felt fine about his decision to pull the scholarship and head in Arcuri's direction).
[Is it strange to consult your own players on this type of thing? I don't know, but Izzo does it all the time. I have no way of knowing if Dantonio did this. But if he did, his current linemen would have voted for Arcuri.]
Again, I'm just reporting what I heard from a couple of different sources, and that's that MSU linemen themselves preferred Arcuri as a player. Although my initial analysis might be wrong, for the record, I still stand my potentially-flawed viewpoint that Cupp's junior film seemed more impressive to me. (That being said, Cupp is also more physically mature right now than Arcuri. Arcuri can definitely catch up in that category. Arcuri has a high ceiling of potential. Both will probably end up being fine players).
