Analyzing early signing day in the B1G East

With the dust significantly settled on the 2021 recruiting cycle, I wanted to take a look and see how the East division made out with their individual recruiting hauls. This is meant to be more of a qualitative and topical assessment across the division, so I'm not really comparing apples-to-apples. I did however organize the list of teams below in ascending order from highest regarded class to lowest according to 24/7 Sports. Definitely some tea leaves to be read in the results. One thing that remains certain. Ohio State will be very good.

Ohio State: Fuck. That is all.

Michigan: With all the performance issues and uncertainty surrounding the program, it is hard not to be pleased with the way this class panned out for the most part yesterday. They did miss out on a few talented verbals in Brandon Jennings and Quinton Sommerville, although I wouldn't consider either prospect critical misses at positions of need. In the case of Jennings, he hadn't even visited campus and the assumption is he probably wasn't totally comfortable with the instability with the program right now. Sommerville was 1000% committed to Shaun Nua, so one could infer Shaun probably will not be on the staff for the 2021 season. The fact they were able to hang onto Xavier Worthy and land Donovan Edward's signature is a huge accomplishment. Both of those guys have the potential to be game changing offensive players. JJ McCarthy should step on campus and be a fan favorite from day one. That guy hung in there, never waivered and is a critical reason the offensive side of this class is as good as it is. The top end offensive talent in this class is excellent, let's figure out a way to effing use it! The defense is a little tougher to project. Some nice prospects and projects in the class, but the defensive tackle position is turning into a void of talent. Going to need a complete re-boot on that side of the ball

Maryland: I think we're starting to see the Locksley recruiting prowess take shape. Another pretty nice haul for a program that has been abysmal for some time now. The on field performance definitely took a step forward this year, which certainly helps perpetuate recruiting efforts. Still they punched way above their weight class inking a top 25 class. The top-end talent in this class is heavily loaded on the defensive side of the ball. It looks like 9 of their top 10 prospects are on the defensive prospects. I think this is a pretty good strategy for them given that the offense appears to be a pretty good unit right now. Looking at the trajectory of this program, mixed with their recruiting strategy I think this team is going to emerge as a dangerous and challenging opponent in the next few seasons. No more auto-wins coming from this team on the schedule

Penn State: Not their strongest recruiting performance compared to the last few seasons. I would be almost certain they are not feeling good at all about Maryland's recruiting emergence in the DMV. That has historically been home base for the Nittany Lions. They still have a top 25 class, however their highest rated prospect is an offensive tackle that comes in at #50 overall nationally. The second highest rated prospect is... #195 nationally. They may move up the rankings once the late signing period is over if they can pick up a few more available players on their board, this is a pretty small class as it stands. It will be interesting to watch the power struggle between them and Maryland in the hotly contested DMV area. Do not be surprised if Maryland supersedes Penn State in the B1G East power rankings. No, I do not want to discuss what implications that presents for Michigan.

Michigan State: Quite honestly.. Mel Tucker seems to have done a pretty damn good job on the recruiting trail this year despite everything he's had to deal with in his first season. He pulled in the number 33 rated recruiting class nationally to East Landfill, with a roster depleted of talent and poor on field results. Taking into account the less than savory headlines the University has made over the past few years, Sharty fans have to be pretty damn impressed with his first class. Specifically notable was their flip of a 4* linebacker from Las Vegas that has originally committed to USC. This, of course, is not very good news for Michigan. You can see a scenario where if the on field performance steadily improves under Tucker, he could turn them into a legitimately good recruiting program. For all the gloating and malevolence we've pilled on Sparty for being a total dumpster fire, we should be paying attention to those results. This class is considerably better than most of the Dantonio classes from the past few seasons

Rutgers: Again honestly.. not bad at all for Rutgers. The proverbial doormat of FBS football, Rutgers currently has the #41 class nationally. As one would imagine, their class is heavily comprised of New Jersey prospects. Geographically, not a bad spot to be in if you're trying to boost the talent level on your roster. I would Greg Schiano is on track to accomplish that in his first season, part duex. While I still think there is a hard cap on how good the program can become on a consistent basis. They looked markedly better this season under Schiano, and if he can continue to raise their competition level on the field, they will quickly admonish themselves as the laughing stock of the league.

Indiana: A mildly surprising, underwhelming performance for the Hoosiers. Their class as it currently stands, remains outside of the top 50 nationally. Perhaps the effects on recruiting from their remarkable season won't bare results until the 2022 cycle, but this is class is pretty small in commitments and talent. It is worth noting their top two prospects are a 4* wide receiver and a 4* dual threat Quarterback, so at minimum it appears with this class they'll continue to be able to execute their offensive identity. Tom Allen has also demonstrated that he is fully capable of maximizing the talent on his roster and hang with superiorly talented teams. It appears for now however, they are not experiencing the recruiting bump from improved on field performance; which for now can probably be expected. Something to watch with the '22 cycle

Overall thoughts: The division is getting more competitive, plain and simple. The historical basement dwellers Rutgers, Maryland, and to a lesser degree Michigan State (who we thought would devolve into a puddle of ooze) improved the talent on their rosters significantly this cycle. At the top, well same old same old.. the Death Star in Columbus continues to roll. If I am Penn State, I do not want to see the results from this recruiting cycle turn into a trend. Quite frankly, I don't think Michigan wants to see that either. Ohio State should mostly have the talent consistently to not be impacted by such a trend. 

For Michigan, we have got to figure out the disconnect and inefficiencies of the program and get them sorted out, and we have to do it now. We are not long for the seasons where Michigan can roll out of bed and beat a divisional opponent by 3 scores based on talent alone. I think by and large, our recruiting has been at level good enough to maintain our spot within the top 3 of the league (minus whatever the fuck it was we witnessed this season) and that remained the same in this cycle as well. But if the coaching staff can't get the roster to maximize their potential, or can't put them in a position to be successful they are going to encounter some painful and maddening upset losses. Can't have any more bad days at Michigan, the talent within the division is trending towards being to competitive to overcome mail-in performances.

Hope you enjoyed the read! Let me know your thoughts below.