Per Scout: Matt Wile Improves Greatly in Last 7 Days
http://michigan.scout.com/a.z?s=162&p=8&c=1&nid=4817967
Matt Wile, per Scout, went from a zero star kicker to a 3-star in one week!
Either he has improved faster than any other player in the history of football, or, there is a flaw in the star-ranking-system. I'll get back to you as soon as I uncover which one it is...
January 28th, 2011 at 4:54 PM ^
he spent the week at the Kathy Ireland kicking camp.
Does the trick every time.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
Welcome to foot...
BALL!
January 28th, 2011 at 4:54 PM ^
Or Scout just realized they had no ranking for a commit to a major program and should probably get on that. #4 kicker in the nation is an impressive entry to the rankings though.
January 28th, 2011 at 4:54 PM ^
it is all about marketing, this star system. granted, it is attempted to be based on merit, but it cannot fully be, because the player has to play the game and go to the camps.. case in point is carvin johnson who its been said would have lots of stars had he marketed himself and gone to the camps.
January 28th, 2011 at 4:56 PM ^
eagerly awaiting your report
January 28th, 2011 at 5:15 PM ^
You're just happy we're not referring to it as the "Notre Dame effect"
In all seriousness, this is why the rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. If Wile decides to go to Indiana, does he suddenly get rankings bump? Probably not.
January 28th, 2011 at 6:17 PM ^
I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a 5* DE recruit today.
January 28th, 2011 at 4:58 PM ^
Lets hope he lives up to those rankings.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:05 PM ^
through the uprights. 3 points!
A sight we've not seen for awhile.
Most welcome.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:12 PM ^
He put in some serious time on the XBox this week and upped all his attributes.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:12 PM ^
Snake oil does more than just recruit players.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:15 PM ^
changed their ranking after they saw him on video putting kickoffs through the uprights. And the video that's been floating around of him show solid accuracy and plenty of leg with no tee.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:16 PM ^
Hokus pocus...
January 28th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
When I was a kid, there was a bugsbunny cartoon episode where a vampire is saying Hocus Pocus, couldn't find a youtube for it, but it's on wikipiedia.
thank god I finally completed that memory, it's been bugging me for a while.
January 28th, 2011 at 6:14 PM ^
you shared! BUGS BUNNY ROCKS!
January 28th, 2011 at 5:27 PM ^
kickers will get a 3 star ranking each year, glad he's ours......
January 28th, 2011 at 5:58 PM ^
Ranking based on how he performed at Army AA game and "evaluation by our kicking experts," so sayeth Scout.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:53 PM ^
January 28th, 2011 at 6:09 PM ^
From SI - kickers get no respect:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/01/27/recr…
January 28th, 2011 at 7:23 PM ^
January 28th, 2011 at 6:20 PM ^
5 stars and a guest slot on Conan.
January 28th, 2011 at 6:45 PM ^
Two things that surprised me were:
Not only is he a 3 star - he is now the number 4 kicker in the country. WOW.
Additionally, will other sites Rivals ESPN make a obscenely strange jump as well?
January 28th, 2011 at 7:17 PM ^
This story supports my contention that the Rivals and Scout ratings for kickers are usually very inaccurate. They either don't get the same level and quality of information on kickers as they do other positions, OR they don't have a very sophisticated technical system for coming up with the ratings. I'd guess the former. But, I'm happy to see that they've given Wile the rating he deserves. Here's a dumb question - why is it that there are no 4 or 5 star kickers listed in either Scout or Rivals?
January 28th, 2011 at 7:31 PM ^
It's not really an indictment on the current system. Kickers are hard to evaluate considering the lack of buzz surrounding them. It's not like they do sick juke moves and crush running backs on their way to the ball.