Last Two Classes ('22 & '23)

[StevensTechU]

Aggregating the last two years' worth of signings. In a couple spots, I took some liberties at projecting the position a player will play in college. Some will definitely be able to play multiple.

QB: Austin Novosad
RB: Jordan James, Dante Dowdell, Jayden Limar
OT: Josh Conerly, Michael Wooten, Kawika Rogers
OG/OC: Dave Iuli, Gernorris Wilson, Bryce Boulton, Lipe Moala, Iapani Laloulu
WR: Kyle Kasper, Justius Lowe, Jurrion Dickey, Ashton Cozart
TE: Kenyon Sadiq [Jamari Johson or Nyckoles Harbor)

DE: Matayo Uiagelelei, Johnny Bowens, Terrance Green, Ashton Porter, Mykeil Gardner
DT: Ben Roberts, Sir Mells, Amauri Washington, Tevita Pome'e
OLB: Emar'rion Winston, Anthony Jones, Blake Purchase, Teitum Tuioti, Jaedon Moore
ILB: Devon Jackson, Harrison Taggart, Jerry Mixon
FS/Nickel: Trejon Williams, Khamari Terrell, Collin Gill, Kodi DeCambra
SS: Tyler Turner
CB: Jalil Tucker, Jahlil Florence, Cole Martin, Soloman Davis, Daylen Austin

[buckmarkduck]

Aggregating the last two years' worth of signings. In a couple spots, I took some liberties at projecting the position a player will play in college. Some will definitely be able to play multiple.

QB: Austin Novostad
RB: Jordan James, Dante Dowdell, Jayden Limar
OT: Josh Conerly, Michael Wooten, Kawika Rogers
OG/OC: Dave Iuli, Gernorris Wilson, Bryce Boulton, Lipe Moala, Iapani Laloulu
WR: Kyle Kasper, Justius Lowe, Jurrion Dickey, Ashton Cozart
TE: Kenyon Sadiq [Jamari Johson or Nyckoles Harbor)

DE: Matayo Uiagelelei, Johnny Bowens, Terrance Green, Ashton Porter, Mykeil Gardner
DT: Ben Roberts, Sir Mells, Amauri Washington, Tevita Pome'e
OLB: Emar'rion Winston, Anthony Jones, Blake Purchase, Teitum Tuioti, Jaedon Moore
ILB: Devon Jackson, Harrison Taggart, Jerry Mixon
FS/Nickel: Trejon Williams, Khamari Terrell, Collin Gill, Kodi DeCambra
SS: Tyler Turner
CB: Jalil Tucker, Jahlil Florence, Cole Martin, Soloman Davis, Daylen Austin

I’m guessing Martin follows Ugo and McKinley, and is a safety in college.

[StevensTechU]

I’m guessing Martin follows Ugo and McKinley, and is a safety in college.

I was tempted to put him at safety. One of Davis, Gill, and Martin is almost certainly playing safety.

[GrantDuck]

If we can develop the OL and DL talent well and find the guy at QB, going to be really scary 2024-2026 years.

UW and OSewe are on the clear upswing, but they have not come anywhere close to recruiting like we have in the trenches.

[Everythingsducky]

Thing is, is that it’s not all about recruiting any more. It’s whom you can get through the portal. I hate it, and you want to develop young players, but if you are successful on the field (and have deep pockets for NIL), even next year, you can pull whomever you want through the portal. Free agency runs rampant.

[Phalanx]

Just revisiting the '21 class. Wow, so many transfers and players who didn't live up to their ratings. I know some, like Kingsley S. and Jaylin Davies, are now contributors for other schools, but it sure didn't do much good for Oregon to land the 6th highest rated class in the country that year.

[alxtw]

Just revisiting the '21 class. Wow, so many transfers and players who didn't live up to their ratings. I know some, like Kingsley S. and Jaylin Davies, are now contributors for other schools, but it sure didn't do much good for Oregon to land the 6th highest rated class in the country that year.

Stars chasing

[dthomas=ddixon]

Just revisiting the '21 class. Wow, so many transfers and players who didn't live up to their ratings. I know some, like Kingsley S. and Jaylin Davies, are now contributors for other schools, but it sure didn't do much good for Oregon to land the 6th highest rated class in the country that year.

Stars chasing

Speaking of this, STU, will you be offering any sort of evaluation of this class?

In previous classes you were often pretty down on players fans were generally excited about, and proved to be right almost every time, as far as I can remember. Obviously there’s a lot of talk about Mario being a star chaser and poor evaluator, and I’m wondering if you see any change with this new staff.

In my amateur opinion, it seems like we’re getting more guys that aren’t just highly rated but really pop when you put the film on. Guys like Porter and Bowens dominating higher rated guys at their respective all star games seems like a good sign.

[squintsdd]

Just revisiting the '21 class. Wow, so many transfers and players who didn't live up to their ratings. I know some, like Kingsley S. and Jaylin Davies, are now contributors for other schools, but it sure didn't do much good for Oregon to land the 6th highest rated class in the country that year.

Stars chasing

Maybe, given that some have contributed decently elsewhere it could be coaching that was the issue

[greenyellow]

Just revisiting the '21 class. Wow, so many transfers and players who didn't live up to their ratings. I know some, like Kingsley S. and Jaylin Davies, are now contributors for other schools, but it sure didn't do much good for Oregon to land the 6th highest rated class in the country that year.

Stars chasing

Maybe, given that some have contributed decently elsewhere it could be coaching that was the issue

Some of it is star chasing. I forget which podcast it was but someone stated that Cristobal and his staff would routinely concern themselves with just attracting top talent without regard to actual fit in the system. They also said they'd tell players when they could announce commitments so they could create a more positive narrative, especially after a lost game.

[jimmy12]

Just revisiting the '21 class. Wow, so many transfers and players who didn't live up to their ratings. I know some, like Kingsley S. and Jaylin Davies, are now contributors for other schools, but it sure didn't do much good for Oregon to land the 6th highest rated class in the country that year.

Stars chasing

Maybe, given that some have contributed decently elsewhere it could be coaching that was the issue

Some of it is star chasing. I forget which podcast it was but someone stated that Cristobal and his staff would routinely concern themselves with just attracting top talent without regard to actual fit in the system. They also said they'd tell players when they could announce commitments so they could create a more positive narrative, especially after a lost game.

I also question the previous staff's evaluations of players. Look at 2021 class. How many of these guys didn't turn out.

[squintsdd]

Star chasing isn't necessarily a bad way to go, at least in the past anyway. It has been routinely proven that the schools that get the top classes/higher star players have performed better on the field. Of course there were always the few that didn't work out, but star chasing theoretically should get better results on the field. I guess that brings up the questions, have these talent evaluation sites been doing a piss poor job of evaluating by just throwing stars around, or was the problem more in the coaches? I'm actually inclined to think both. I think Cristobal and his staff were just that bad at coaching up players. Several guys have left the program and been decent contributors elsewhere, and Cristobal has clearly shown an inability to adjust. I also think star chasing caused them to be bad talent evaluators, which means the sites that give out stars have also become poor talent evaluators. In the end though it falls on the coaching staff. Either they did a terrible job scouting and recruiting, and/or they can't coach.

[lmduck]

Star chasing isn't necessarily a bad way to go, at least in the past anyway. It has been routinely proven that the schools that get the top classes/higher star players have performed better on the field. Of course there were always the few that didn't work out, but star chasing theoretically should get better results on the field. I guess that brings up the questions, have these talent evaluation sites been doing a piss poor job of evaluating by just throwing stars around, or was the problem more in the coaches? I'm actually inclined to think both. I think Cristobal and his staff were just that bad at coaching up players. Several guys have left the program and been decent contributors elsewhere, and Cristobal has clearly shown an inability to adjust. I also think star chasing caused them to be bad talent evaluators, which means the sites that give out stars have also become poor talent evaluators. In the end though it falls on the coaching staff. Either they did a terrible job scouting and recruiting, and/or they can't coach.

Well, Mario is on track to potentially pull in a Top 10 class at Miami. It will be interesting to see if he can coach them up. I personally am inclined to think he can't. He had Justin Herbert and couldn't figure out how to use him. Mario in my estimation was a star chaser and didn't take the time to figure out if a guy really fit his system. At Alabama star chasing worked because Saban knew how to evaluate and coach. I am not sure Mario has either skill and as a friend of mine frequently reminds me, there was a reason Saban demoted Mario from Asst Head Coach to OL coach.

[jimmy12]

Star chasing isn't necessarily a bad way to go, at least in the past anyway. It has been routinely proven that the schools that get the top classes/higher star players have performed better on the field. Of course there were always the few that didn't work out, but star chasing theoretically should get better results on the field. I guess that brings up the questions, have these talent evaluation sites been doing a piss poor job of evaluating by just throwing stars around, or was the problem more in the coaches? I'm actually inclined to think both. I think Cristobal and his staff were just that bad at coaching up players. Several guys have left the program and been decent contributors elsewhere, and Cristobal has clearly shown an inability to adjust. I also think star chasing caused them to be bad talent evaluators, which means the sites that give out stars have also become poor talent evaluators. In the end though it falls on the coaching staff. Either they did a terrible job scouting and recruiting, and/or they can't coach.

Well, Mario is on track to potentially pull in a Top 10 class at Miami. It will be interesting to see if he can coach them up. I personally am inclined to think he can't. He had Justin Herbert and couldn't figure out how to use him. Mario in my estimation was a star chaser and didn't take the time to figure out if a guy really fit his system. At Alabama star chasing worked because Saban knew how to evaluate and coach. I am not sure Mario has either skill and as a friend of mine frequently reminds me, there was a reason Saban demoted Mario from Asst Head Coach to OL coach.

Same with Tosh... to be fair