- One of the top 5 kickers in the nation
- One of the top 2 long snappers
- Multiple starters from state championship teams including two starting linemen from one of the top teams in the nation
- Multiple players who were starters in the state championship and lost
- Many players who came off being wooed by "the big boys"
- This class is made up of mostly big uglies, they are all huge, athletic, and the thing I noticed most "mean". Sorry but recruiting sites are like HS, the prettiest kids get the stars but it is usually the middle of the pack that make that first class reunion having done so much more. I am not saying that I wouldn't take the kids that have the top "measurables" but this kids arn't "slaw". Between this class and last class the line recruits we pulled is going to bode well for us. Trust me, this staff knows what they are looking for and what will be effective and it lines up nicely with what type of players we pulled when we were highly competitive program.
- Every kid in this class has a chip on their shoulder including the baby faced long snapper.
- Coaches identified who they wanted earlier and were able to keep almost every player they identified.
- Many of these guys were contacted by "big boys" and the said "thanks, but no thanks" thus not getting the pageant treatment from recruiting sites.
- Many of these kids committed early and didn't go to camps where you are rewarded "hype" for attending
- We got back into the recruiting grounds that were so strong for us historically pulling players out of OH, PA, NJ, and New England.
- This is the second class that I feel top to bottom every player can play at this level and be a major contributor unlike where we were in the past decade. The one player who I think is a reach is Carter who I know very little about, and seemed to come from obscurity. Not an indictment against him, just that I know so little about him. Yet, having worked with this type of kids, I can honestly say they have a drive created by there circumstances that cannot be replicated unless you walked in their shoes. I'll defer to the coaches with him.
I am not saying that this class is top class in the nation but to be there is no reason to be down on this class. This is a very very strong class that meets our needs for what we need in terms of fulfilling the voids that will be left as players finish their careers in the next couple of years. I cannot stress how good this DL,OL pull is and I agree with SS that there are so of these guys that will be joining the Jones boys as major NFL contributors if they put in the work. This leads me to another point, every one of these players are intelligent/driven and will put in the work to get done what they need to do.
I am going to dare say that there are some DL/TE recruits in this class that are equally if not more impressive then young Wheatly and do not get the credit who played against much higher talent. Now, I would have loved to land a player that has that kind of size and would be foolish to say I wouldn't.
I am not saying recruiting sites and rankings are not helpful. I am saying that it is one of many tools that should be used to look at a class. I think that you would be very pleasantly surprised in a few years when these gentlemen from the last two classes have developed.
The one knock I have on this class is that I would have loved to see more secondary help. Look for skilled players to be the major theme of next years class.
