Edit: Our only commits in the 250 are still Devin Gardner and Cullen Christian at 51 and 88 respectively.
Some prospects:
9 Sharrif Floyd
18 Latwan Anderson
49 Tony Jefferson
135 Kenny Stills
172 Kenny Shaw
181 Torrian Wilson
239 Dior Mathis
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No M recruits outside of the top 100 (Devin & Cullen).
Well, Devin with all his offers and evident talent is a 4 star, as is Cullen Christian. Who will get to be first to type that RichRod doesn't recuit well because we don't have enough players in the top 250?
you
Don't neg him cause he's right. You indeed were the first to bring up that RR doesn't recruit well because he doesn't get enough top 250 recruits.
RR stated before he doesn't even look at rivals. That's why we get 3 star players, same as he did at WVU. Our 3 stars will progress better because better talent to play against.
3 star teams in Big east= Great
3 star teams in Big ten= Takes a few yrs
Oh boy you're back!
from the "I know you are but what am I" files...
I will be more explicit identifying my sarcasm in future.
I still think this is a solid class, all things considered.
Barring any other surprises, the only remaining Rivals 250 player we have a shot at is Torrian Wilson. A few 4 star players we're in heavy contention with (Parker, Ash, Knight) but that's about it. Still a solid class we're pulling in, considering another losing season.
POWER UP Angry Recruiting Internets Posse!
This IS MICHIGAN FOOTBALL
We have two in the top 250 and USC has two in the top...3.
USC also has all of the top 6 either committed or considering. I guess according to Rivals, USC should never lose another game.
Also, I think USC ends up with all 3 in the top 3. Pretty darn good class for the Trojans.
thats very unlikely
Don't jump to conclusions on that. Word running around the SC blogs is he was none too happy after the visit. Apparently he doesn't like watching a teams fans give up on their team in a game which is pretty much what a lot of SC fans did.
Umm, I dont think Scout/Rivals ranks them according to how they will be coached individually or collectively with their respective teams. It's only an assessment of individual potential.
So... Stanford has beaten USC twice recently with "inferior" talent.
i like to think of the rankings like this:
there are 50 or so players who are great talents and it is very likely they become star performers.
the next hundred players are largely interchangeable and are very likely to become multi-year starters. several will be superstars.
the next hundred and fifty are even more interchangeable. they project as solid starters. there are many players ranked below the last 150 who are of essentially the same quality.
And then within/below that last 150, there are a significant number of diamonds in the rough who end up being better than the top 50 (read: Mike Hart, for example). Rankings should be thought of as indicators of probability of success. Probability of success increases with rankings, but the floor (and ceiling) are nonexistant. The #1 player does not have a 100% chance for success. The #1000 player does not have a 0% chance for success.
Rivals was so high on Marvin Robinson at the beginning of the year, as he had all those great offers. But as soon as commits to Blue, they start dropping him right down the list. I think they know of the really good ones, but after about 100 or so, they are doing a lot of guessing. Just my opinion.
It probably didn't help his cause that his H.S. team didn't win a single game this season.
Well if you look at our recent recruiting rankings and the performance of our team I don't think there's much of an argument that the services underrate our players.
We're still going to pull in a top 20, if not a top 15 class.
Not bad considering coming off an 8-16 run.
Just look how overrated the rankings are in determining success.....Florida, Alabama, Texas, OSU, and USC have highly ranked recruiting classes year in and year out and how's it working out for them?
Well maybe those aren't good examples.
Well, on the flip side, teams like Cinci, Boise State, TCU, and Iowa are playing in BCS bowls. What is their overall team recruiting ranking in Rivals?
And on the flipped, flip side... Notre Dame has been a top 10 class year-in-year-out = 3-9, 7-6, 6-6.
And we all know about those great Zook classes from 3-4 years ago.
Right, and Mike Hart was a 3*....Outlier teams, wether making an appearance every now and then (e.g., Cinci) or perennially (e.g., Boise State) don't invalidate the success of the overall assessments.
Good coaching and decent recruiting=success...ie Boise, Cincy and TCU.
Good coaching and good recruiting= long term success....ie Florida, Alabama, USC and OSU.
Poor coaching and good recruiting=struggle....ie Illinois and ND.
To which I would add:
Good coaching and ill-suited recruits (left-over recruits?) = struggle...ie Michigan
A little perspective on our class:
Yes, we have only 2 of the top 250 players, and yes, we have a few players who are lower ranked than we would like to see.
BUT:
1. We are coming off of two seasons in which we won a total of 8 games. I think that University at Buffalo has more wins.
2. While most of it is unfounded, there is still speculation out there that we may have a coaching change either this offseason or next.
3. Our staff is still new. It is not uncommon for the coaching staff to start scouting players and developing relationships almost two years before signing day for that kid's class. Well, two years ago, Rich was still at WVA (or was just leaving), so this class (and the same goes for the last two) are classes in which RR had to play catch up.
4. Pipeline disruption. Michigan, like any other established program, has a network of schools and high school coaches that act as pipelines of recruits. Well, those pipelines are still unfamiliar, or are just becomming familiar with RR.
Sorry for the length of this post - the gist is that there are so many headwinds going against Michigan in recruiting right now, so it is not surprising that we are not reeling in a class full of blue chips. As with many of our programs other problems, time - and winning - will solve this.
"2. While most of it is unfounded"
All of it is unfounded.
The rankings are garbage. Analyze this or that. Its good for us in the off season but it means nothing. I only recruit 5 and 4 stars on NCAA but if I don't play the game it means nothing.
the reason i don't put a lot of stock in college football recruiting rankings is b/c most of these kids never play each other. we rarely see them in a real game against other perceived top level players. these rankings are just kids that have tools to be great and anybody in the top 250 is basically a freak athlete. basketball/hockey/wrestling all provide much more accurate recruiting info b/c these guys actually go up against each other with something on the line.
I'd rather UM get kids who work well for this team than simply worry about nabbing the best talent. UM doesn't necessarily need to by the Yankees or Red Sox of college football and just try to nab the top talent each year; they can focus on kids who fit their system and just win with those guys. Ultimately, good players will want to play at UM, but how some scouts regard a 17-year-old kid doesn't seem as important to success as it may in the college-to-NFL transition.
Teams loaded with 3-star players don't win big conferences like the SEC, the Big 12, or the Big 10 very often, if at all. Having tons of talent (as defined by the scouting services) doesn't guarantee success, but not having lots of talent pretty much ensures long term mediocrity or, at the very best, an occasional great year mixed in with lots of crappy ones.