Rivals Signing Day Recap

Furthermore, pretty much all of our signing day signings last year weren't necessarily "steals" either. The article mentions Stokes and Denard, but both were expected to sign with Michigan well before signing day. An entire month or two beforehand, there were numerous articles written about how Stokes had Michigan as his favorite and his parents both wanted him to sign with Michigan. Despite the fact that he was committed to Tennessee until signing day, it was known that he would be a Wolverine. The same goes for Denard and Quinton Washington. I'm pretty sure we all knew before signing day that they'd be signing blue.

a little stalking on parkers page... there is a comment from ray vinopal that says "i hear we are going to be teammates. you commit yet?"... parkers answer "naw not yet..."

I was actually working for the team then, so had an inside look at some of this stuff. Just thank your lucky stars for Bobby Williams and his (and MSU's) MASSIVE implosion.

If it wasn't for 49-3, Smoker in full blown coke bender mode, and the response of "I don't know" to the question of "have you lost this team?"....we don't get Lamarr.

I'd say he made the right choice.

...its just a shame it has to be said so often.

I think the thing that gets overlooked is the fit with the team that they sign with. If you get a highly rated kid who doesn't fit what the team is doing, they won't live up to their potential. Imagine Steve Breaston as a slot on this offense. RR knows how to use these players like Breaston, DeBord didn't.

Since rivals ranks their players on NFL potential, some of our "fits" won't be as highly rated. Rivals isn't wrong, but they are looking for some different qualities than the colleges are. Now, a great athlete or player will work in any system. A guy like Baxter potentially would look good in a pro, spread, triple option ect. Those are the rare players and are must pick ups if available.

I agree, Bull.

I would liken the work Rivals does to the work of a meteorologist. It is an inexact science based on prediction, and people constantly complain about inaccurate predictions while ignoring the overwhelming amount of accurate ones.

As for the article, it was a great read. The Roundtree coup (and Purdue's subsequent outrage) was especially satisfying.

Here's to hoping we can land another stunner this year.