Class of 2015 Who is Underrated?

[JackBauer44]

In 2o12, he went to the NUC's Ultimate 100 in Atlanta. In 2013 he went to the NUC's 5 Star Showcase in Atlanta. This past spring he went to the Under Armour combine in Birmingham and the NFTC in Atlanta. One thing I learned from the whole experience is that if you're one of those "diamond in the rough" types, aka from a small, no-name high school, don't expect too much in terms of recruiting interest. Also, don't expect to get in too many 1 on 1's against players from the Hoovers of the world. I don't know how many times Steven tried to face off against Dallas Warmack at the NFTC; he'd get up to the line, head to head against Warmack, and he'd get pulled for another blue chipper. The same thing happened at the Under Armour combine; he was going to go head to head against Lester Cotton, and they pulled him off the line and put Daron Payne in his place.

I'm pretty sure he'd have beaten Dallas Warmack. Also pretty sure Lester Cotton would have beat him. Would have liked to have seen that, though, to better gauge his ability against known blue chippers.

At the Ultimate 100, I saw Steven handily beat Zach Giella and Wyatt Knopfke. And he did well against Zach Stewart (who, in my opinion, is a far better OL than Giella or Knopfke). ESPN has Stewart rated a 75, while Giella and Knopfke are both 80s. Personally, I think they're wrong. I'd take Stewart over either one; Stewart's a tough kid.

Anyways, I guess videos of blue chip linemen banging away at each other generates more web page hits, dontcha know.

There is so much truth in everything you just said. These camps are like cattle calls for the higher rated players.

 

[bcubs9497]

IMO:

Underrated/Under Recruited:
Steven Clark
Trey Dunkelberger (no way this cat's a 2 star prospect, I'd be shocked if he didn't get bumped way higher. For all those bickering about JUCOs, he's the kind of JUCO we should be bringing in).
Eric Dungey
Anthony Guidace
Shy Cullen
Evan Adams (when you talk about potential, IMO, he's got the most in this class of OLmen).
Dontae Strickland (He should be a legitimate 4 star. I think he's going to play a lot next season).
Marquise Blair

For the most part, I'm fine with where a lot of our commits currently stand. OLmen are harder to project. When you look at 4* and 5* OLmen, one of the main differences is good weight vs bad weight. I do however think if you put a couple of our OLmen like Clausman and Byrne in Illinois or PA, they become 4 star prospects. I think they get some knacks thrown against them because of the really good players that play in the state of Florida. Their weight room numbers are off the charts.

Agree, no way Trey's a 2 star.

 

[bcubs9497]

Ya know, finals are complete and I am done grading here at the University... We don't close until Friday, so I'm going to be doing a lot of sitting around in my office. I could start a commit evaluation series. I'll analyze tape and post some information on things they excel at and things they need to work on, and continue to get better in. Would that be of interest to people? If so, PM me with names you'd like me to start with, and I'll work my way down the whole commit list. I'll start up the series a little later in the morning (if people want to see something like that).

I'm interested. The whole class, if that's possible.

 

[bcubs9497]

Call me biased as usual but I would give Shy 4 stars using that out line. He will be playing the sam at syracuse and I believe he will excel there. When he moved to that position at the end of this year teams he faced stopped passing and started running the other way of where he lined up. Now sure he is in high school and college he will be facing bigger and stronger kids than he has. But I believe the speed he gets off the line and his upper body strength will get him off blocks and in the back field much quicker. Every coach he has talks to talks about him having a nose for the ball and getting there when the play is just developing I believe this will continue. I think opposing teams will need to account for him getting after them. He will have more gains in strength and size even before getting into the strength program.

The next up 4 star will be Trey depending on how he is used I think he will be a huge plus in the run game. I think he will be opening up holes for the backs and teams will need to compensate for that. He has good size and speed.

Troy Henderson is another his size and speed will be a big factor at the will position. He gets off blocks well and can get after the running backs even when he is chasing them down from behind he always seems to have good angles.

Then my final under valued is Sterling..not sure how a kicker that is top 3 gets 3 stars. Seems like a game changer right out of the box.

Agreed. Also, how does the #1 rated long snapper in the country only get a two star rating? Granted, the kid's not huge, but that's not what a long snapper is all about.

 

[44doubledees]

Put my vote in for Cross, I really think that kid is gonna be a nice 3 technique for us down the road.

 

[SWFLCUSE]

Ya know, finals are complete and I am done grading here at the University... We don't close until Friday, so I'm going to be doing a lot of sitting around in my office. I could start a commit evaluation series. I'll analyze tape and post some information on things they excel at and things they need to work on, and continue to get better in. Would that be of interest to people? If so, PM me with names you'd like me to start with, and I'll work my way down the whole commit list. I'll start up the series a little later in the morning (if people want to see something like that).

This would be one amazing Christmas gift to your fellow Cuse fans!! If you feel up to doing that work go for it. I personally would like to know what you think about Davion Ellison and Andrew Spence, I think these to have huge potential at the CB position but I willingly admit I am not a very good football recruit analysis and love to read other people's breakdowns on players.

 

[RF2044]

Agreed. Also, how does the #1 rated long snapper in the country only get a two star rating? Granted, the kid's not huge, but that's not what a long snapper is all about.

I think most ST players are two stars, with the elite ones potentially capping at 3 stars.

Might be unfair for, say, the #1 rated punter in the land to be "only" a 3-star, when comparable players from every other position would be 5-stars, but that's how the ratings seem to work.

 

[timkay99]

Heading for the finish line a couple things are coming into focus.

Shafer's stated strategy of going after lesser known guys is yielding a massive class of generally "3-star" guys. I remember in the late days of P's reign we would get classes of 2-star guys with 5-10 3-star guys. I figured we would be competitive if we could get 9 3-star guys a year, because that would give us a full starting roster on both sides of the ball where the youngest guys would be redshirt sophomores, and all with (other) good offers. This class has ~20 3-star guys. That is recruiting depth that I have not seen in 15 years.

The home stretch is exciting! Staff is using the final spots to go after the more highly-recruited guys who didn't want to decide early. The Ealey commit came out of left field for me, and it reminded me that we fans have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. We're sitting on a solid bunch and looking for garnish, and the staff is going to work. Good times!

So now for the fan service. Time to play "who is underrated?" To my mind, there are 4 categories of recruit:

• 2-star: project, developmental player - guy who might or might not pan out, too many variables to predict accurately.
• 3-star: average P5 recruit, guy who is expected to be a solid contributor at some point, generally in the 3rd year.
• 4-star: difference-maker, guy who opposing coaches take note of when scouting. Contributes early, especially at the skill positions.
• 5-star: select superstar from whom big things is expected, even at the factories. Should be contributing in a difference-maker capacity no later than the 2nd year.

We don't have any 4-star guys according to the rating services at this point. Do you see anyone on our commit list who you think should be?

4 Stars - Hofrichter, Strickland, Dunkel, Keller and Blair (though by your star system, he could be a 2 also given his potential grade issues)
*Obviously Keller will be playing right away. I don't value giving schollies to long snappers, but he would be a 4 star in this system.

High upside 3 stars that need some development b4 become force - Adams, Conway, Henderson, Cullen, Ealey

The rest of the class is mostly 3 stars with a couple 2 stars.

 

[Trueblue25]

Blair.

Levine, Clark, Davis, Shy, Henderson Jr.

Duerig, Strickland, Fredricks, and our CT boys.

Those three sets of players I think are woefully underrated. I think Blair is an outstanding recruit who is held back by academics.

The rest of the players, from the tape I've seen seem either right around expectations or slightly underrated.

 

[anomander]

Troy Henderson - One of the best players, on one of the best HS teams in the country. His ability to drop back in pass coverage is something you don't always see in HS LB's. I could see Troy as a Cam Lynch that could actually be effective in coverage.

Evan Adam - Has all the physical tools to be a dominant college player. Can't ask for anything more.

I don't consider Strickland or Blair under rated because they are already studs, and should be able to step in right away and play.

 

[Macky44]

Agreed. Also, how does the #1 rated long snapper in the country only get a two star rating? Granted, the kid's not huge, but that's not what a long snapper is all about.

i was thinking that same thing. If he was going to FSU he would be a 5 star.

 

[anomander]

i was thinking that same thing. If he was going to FSU he would be a 5 star.

Most long snappers aren't even getting scholarships. If he was going to FSU he would be a walk-on not a 5 star. Snappers are lucky to get 8 snaps a game.

 

[wfschrec]

Most long snappers aren't even getting scholarships. If he was going to FSU he would be a walk-on not a 5 star. Snappers are lucky to get 8 snaps a game.

No way man we punt way more than that

 

[Macky44]

Most long snappers aren't even getting scholarships. If he was going to FSU he would be a walk-on not a 5 star. Snappers are lucky to get 8 snaps a game.

Tell that to Macky Mcpherson

 

[wfschrec]

Tell that to Macky Mcpherson

Being a walk on has nothing to do with star ratings .. SEC teams have the luxury of having kids walk on at positions like Kicker, Punter or LS and they are still given star ratings.

 

[Macky44]

Being a walk on has nothing to do with star ratings .. SEC teams have the luxury of having kids walk on at positions like Kicker, Punter or LS and they are still given star ratings.

Jesus Christ...it was a joke brotha. Take a step back

 

[wfschrec]

Jesus Christ...it was a joke brotha. Take a step back

Um I was kind of supporting your stance but whatever ...

 

[Macky44]

Um I was kind of supporting your stance but whatever ...

Indeed you were. Sorry im sick and not with it. Haha

 

[bnoro]

Think Adams will end up in the NFL when all is said and done. That kid's tape really stood out to me.

As I've said before, I hate the star system, people shouldn't even bother wasting their time with it.

 

[JackBauer44]

Think Adams will end up in the NFL when all is said and done. That kid's tape really stood out to me.

As I've said before, I hate the star system, people shouldn't even bother wasting their time with it.

I agree with this completely, Ben. In my honest opinion, Adams is one of the jewels of the class.

 

[anomander]

I agree with this completely, Ben. In my honest opinion, Adams is one of the jewels of the class.

Yep, definitely one of my favorites. For the limited fight we had to put up for him he could end up being a downright steal.