Football visitors this weekend
There was a thread a day or two ago about Otis Reese visiting this weekend, but there are actually several visitors headed to Ann Arbor. One guy who hasn't been mentioned here yet (AFAIK) is the #1 guy in the 247 Composite for 2020, Bryan Bresee.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
How is the #1 guy in 2020 only a 4*? Is he too far away and does it have to do with hitting the camp circuits,etc?
January 19th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
It's not a stupid question. I think 247 refrains from naming kids 5-stars too early, because there's so much fluidity to the rankings. Then if a kid drops from 5-star to 4-star, it's potentially stressful/annoying to the recruit, his family, etc.
So they start out the top recruits as 4-star guys, let things shake out a little bit longer, and then determine whether to upgrade (yay!) kids.
I prefer that process. It seems fairer to the kids.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
Then if a kid drops from 5-star to 4-star, it's potentially stressful/annoying to the recruit, his family, etc.This seems a little silly. It's a ranking, kid. Not everyone's going to love you.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:34 AM ^
I mean, it's a 2020 kid. If he graduates in 2020, you're talking about someone who's maybe 15 years old right now. Why attach a 5-star ranking to a kid when you haven't even evaluated a great deal of the kids who also just finished up their sophomore years in high school?
At a certain point, we're talking about just regular kids in their mid-teen years, not kids who are going to be real live legal adults in the blink of an eye.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:40 AM ^
If rankings are that distressing to 15-year-olds, then we may as well not rank them at all.
The services can't have it both ways, claiming to be objective evaluators of talent while also making sure the kids' feelings aren't hurt.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^
Of course it's hard.
I just think it's absurd to put out what you claim to be authoritative rankings, if in fact (as suggested above) they're fudged to make kids feel better.
January 19th, 2018 at 1:19 PM ^
The evaluators are hedging partly to reflect the uncertainty of their evaluation.
It is impossible to accurately predict how they will turn out when you don't know how they will grow or how they will measure up against higher caliber competition. A kid who is ahead of everyone else at an early age may get passed as other kids develop. Your complaint only makes sense in terms of complaining about doing any evaluation at all. Because there is a demand for the evaluation it's fine to do the work. You can just ignore it since it doesn't meet your needs or demand for accuracy. Put another way, companies shouldn't stop making vanilla ice cream just because you don't like vanilla ice cream.
January 19th, 2018 at 3:13 PM ^
It's like the Way Too Early Preseason Polls. They're fun to look at or argue with, but they won't mean a thing once September rolls around. They are only designed to give you some kind of idea who may be good.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
...or you can rank them with some semblance of responsibility.
What's wrong with their process? That snarling wolverine doesn't like it? You haven't presented any argument except "Deal with it, kid."
January 19th, 2018 at 12:33 PM ^
My argument is that if you're going to put out what you consider authoritative rankings, then you shouldn't let concern for the players' feelings. That's absurd.
I'm curious as to why you're so defensive about this. Do you have a relationship with these guys?
January 19th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 4:11 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 2:01 PM ^
There is no reason to award sophmores the fifth star with two years left to go before they are eligible, besides your egos desire to read it.
January 19th, 2018 at 12:00 PM ^
Here is 247's ranking explanation:
110 - 101 = Franchise Player. One of the best players to come along in years, if not decades. Odds of having a player in this category every year is slim. This prospect has "can’t miss" talent.
100 - 98 = Five-star prospect. One of the top 30 players in the nation. This player has excellent pro-potential and should emerge as one of the best in the country before the end of his career. There will be 32 prospects ranked in this range in every football class to mirror the first round of the NFL Draft.
97 - 90 = Four-star prospect. One of the top 300 players in the nation. This prospect will be an impact-player for his college team. He is an All-American candidate who is projected to play professionally.
They ranked Bresee #1 overall with a 97 rating. You can choose to think that is because they are protecting his feelings. I'll stick with that they just feel they can't label a 15/16 year old as a bonafide NFL 1st Rounder.
January 19th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 12:29 PM ^
I could see kids being able to handle a drop in rankings but parents going apeshit.
January 19th, 2018 at 3:15 PM ^
...don't forget Blog readers. They tend to go apeshit as well.
January 19th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:26 AM ^
He is coming.
January 19th, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
All the momentum belongs to OSU, but I got an e-mail from someone saying it was going to be Michigan because [Michigan] had too big of a lead to make up and [the family] likes the development of Michigan's DL better.
It feels like an Isaiah Wilson situation to me, but I don't know.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
Alan Trieu was just on Spath's show & said Friday isn't coming or Trieu doesn't think he's coming. I didn't catch his exact words but I heard the two of them talking about what he said right after he said it so I'm not sure exactly how definitive he was but Spath summerized it or translated it into he's not coming.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
Which aspect of the Isaiah Wilson situation, the part where Michigan thought they had him until the last second, or the part where probably nefarious things happened to get him to switch at the last second?
January 19th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
I think Georgia hired some of his H.S. coaches.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:48 AM ^
Yes, that is no longer legal according to NCAA rules granted it was at the time with Wilson.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^
Yup. Also, I misread your comment thinking it was a different question.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:47 AM ^
The former.
I don't think OSU has to be shady to sell their program to kids who also like Michigan.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
And that's part of the problem with college sports. OSU doesn't need to be shady based on their history, success, etc....and yet, history tells us they have been. Same thing with Bama. They don't need to, and yet, they do.
January 19th, 2018 at 12:31 PM ^
Cheating was just what he did. I haven't heard a single credible account of Meyer cheating even though he has boosted OSU's recruiting.
Does Bama cheat under Saban? He is an expert at pushing the limits of the rules. but it seems like schools trying to keep up with him are doing much of the cheating.
January 19th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
Regarding Meyer & OSU - I agree, unlike other schools, there are not the widely accepted rumors about paying guys to commit. They do continue to self report many minor recruting violations every year. Michigan has done this as well, but not on the scale OSU does. You can laugh that off, but even the tiniest advantage in recruting can make a difference. When you do 100 - 200 little things a year, which is what OSU has admitted, it adds up. So yes, I think there is a culture of slightly stepping over the line at OSU.
Regarding Saban & Bama. Yes, going back to the begining of his time at Bama there have been widely accepted rumors of paying guys to commit. Given his competitive nature and the efforts of other schools to catch up, I have no reason to believe this practice does not still continue.
January 19th, 2018 at 4:03 PM ^
Has to raise some eyebrows.. has to be some money involved there.
Saban knows how to keep himself insulated, however.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:59 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 1:52 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 2:18 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:24 AM ^
Sounds like a dynamic duo on d.
Go Blue.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
hold onto the commits coming in this weekend and hope they can sway a guy like Griffin, which could also help with Patterson.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
FTR, Griffin may not be coming this weekend, but it was supposed to be this weekend or next weekend. I just don't know which. And Griffin is kind of low-key with his recruitment, so you never know.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:49 AM ^
Isn't he playing in the poly bowl this weekend? I don't think we get visit from him or one where the parents come along. At best I think this is an Iman Marshall situation.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:53 AM ^
Yeah, I guess he is playing in the Poly Bowl this weekend. I forgot about that.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:49 AM ^
UM is going to try to get another DB in the 2018 class? Vincent Gray will be on campus this weekend and Sam W. reporting an Utah grad transfer DB will also be on campus. Would UM take both or is it a one or the other type of deal?
January 19th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^
We need all of them!!
January 19th, 2018 at 7:42 PM ^
Jake Moody is going to be visiting this weekend, too.