FB Recruiting TBT: Looking at Rutgers and Akron projected starters as recruits

[Knight Owl]

I get it- pretty much any given day, a favored team could have everything go wrong and the underdog can have everything go right.

but if the HS rankings are putting fear into some fans, that is crazy. OMG- we have a walk-on LT and a 2 star RB…is there anyone on the Akron roster that was a high 3 star playing better?
Our RB and LT mentioned are playing like 5 stars and both will be in the NFL.
Maybe count how many players on the field will be wearing an NFL jersey at some point.

And could you imagine the fear on paper is QB’s like GW or Art had transferred there? lol

Whoa! Five stars generally project as higher round NFL draft picks despite the stars being handed out years before their likely draft year and are mostly based on raw athleticism. Schiano understands the star system for what it is with its innate biases. KM isn’t ever a five star even if he plays ten years in the NFL and accumulates 7,500 yards there.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Whoa! Five stars generally project as higher round NFL draft picks despite the stars being handed out years before their likely draft year and are mostly based on raw athleticism. Schiano understands the star system for what it is with its innate biases. KM isn’t ever a five star even if he plays ten years in the NFL and accumulates 7,500 yards there.

You don’t think KM is playing like a 5 star? And ok- maybe Pierce is not playing like a 5 start but he is doing what you would expect for a high 4 star.
Btw- any college kid that is on the NFL radar is playing to the level of expectations of a 4 star.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

How do you look at that and come to the conclusion that Akron has "talent" on paper?

These guys transferred to one of the worst FBS programs. If they played to their HS rankings they wouldn't be at Akron.

Their OL/DL will not be able to compete with ours and will eventually get worn down.

Not to toot my own horn but what did I tell you.

 

[Knight Owl]

You don’t think KM is playing like a 5 star? And ok- maybe Pierce is not playing like a 5 start but he is doing what you would expect for a high 4 star.
Btw- any college kid that is on the NFL radar is playing to the level of expectations of a 4 star.

I’m saying KM’s measurables aren’t five star. I believe his high school coach had to do some convincing for him to even get a Rutgers offer and I’m sure he’s gotten stronger each season.
His secret seems to be his vision and patience combined with low center of gravity power.
His listed 4.5 40 will be good enough for NFL teams to give him a look for sure but I bet some GM’s will not be able to justify drafting him because of his measurables and lack of size. If I’m KM’s agent I’d invent a metric called “comfortable squat weight/body weight ratio” because I think that’s KM’s secret sauce and I bet his ratio would be in the 2.5 range or even higher these days which is crazy.

 

[yesrutgers01]

I’m saying KM’s measurables aren’t five star. I believe his high school coach had to do some convincing for him to even get a Rutgers offer and I’m sure he’s gotten stronger each season.
His secret seems to be his vision and patience combined with low center of gravity power.
His listed 4.5 40 will be good enough for NFL teams to give him a look for sure but I bet some GM’s will not be able to justify drafting him because of his measurables and lack of size. If I’m KM’s agent I’d invent a metric called “comfortable squat weight/body weight ratio” because I think that’s KM’s secret sauce and I bet his ratio would be in the 2.5 range or even higher these days which is crazy.

That has nothing to do with what I said...

 

[Knight Owl]

That has nothing to do with what I said...

The stars are meaningless after high-school ends. I’m trying to embrace Schiano’s mindset. He and his staff have the ability to turn three star guys into NFL caliber players no matter the position group. Boise St beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and finished 12-0 with two and three star guys.

 

[ashokan]

Ray Rice made All State as a DB and not RB
He had three stars and three offers (as an "All Purpose Back")
He came to RU because PSU wanted him as a DB and GS told he could be a RB

Mahomes was a 3 star dual threat.
Butch Davis at Miami used to seek out the more marginal players because he felt the top recruits were already coached-up to their potential

 

[yesrutgers01]

The stars are meaningless after high-school ends. I’m trying to embrace Schiano’s mindset. He and his staff have the ability to turn three star guys into NFL caliber players no matter the position group. Boise St beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and finished 12-0 with two and three star guys.

Are you sort of not understanding my point?

 

[Knight Owl]

Are you sort of not understanding my point?

I don’t disagree that if KM finished this season vs high-school kids he would look like Earl Campbell playing on that carpet in the Astrodome.😂 Somebody bring back tear-away jerseys!

 

[yesrutgers01]

I don’t disagree that if KM finished this season vs high-school kids he would look like Earl Campbell playing on that carpet in the Astrodome.😂 Somebody bring back tear-away jerseys!

WTF are you rambling about? My point is- he plays like a kid that would have been ranked a 5 star.
Either you are missing the point or you are gust a troll or idiot.
I am still hoping it is the former

 

[Knight Owl]

WTF are you rambling about? My point is- he plays like a kid that would have been ranked a 5 star.
Either you are missing the point or you are gust a troll or idiot.
I am still hoping it is the former

KM has put on at least 15 pounds of muscle since his senior year of high-school. I’m not gonna compare him to highschool kids since he’s become a power running back. He was listed at 195 pounds by Bosco as a senior.

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[Kbee3]

KM has put on at least 15 pounds of muscle since his senior year of high-school. I’m not gonna compare him to highschool kids since he’s become a power running back. He was listed at 195 pounds by Bosco as a senior.

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You could see the explosiveness when he was at Bosco. I thought he was the better back on the team.
And that was before he's improved so much here at Rutgers.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

The stars are meaningless after high-school ends. I’m trying to embrace Schiano’s mindset. He and his staff have the ability to turn three star guys into NFL caliber players no matter the position group. Boise St beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and finished 12-0 with two and three star guys.

Weren’t you the one who said you were worried based on the side by side comparison and that you’d feel better if we had more of a running threat at QB?

 

[yesrutgers01]

KM has put on at least 15 pounds of muscle since his senior year of high-school. I’m not gonna compare him to highschool kids since he’s become a power running back. He was listed at 195 pounds by Bosco as a senior.

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I’m not sure why you think I am saying he was a 5 star coming out of HighSchool. I am saying that in the last 2 years at Rutgers, he has built himself up to be playing to the expectations of many 5 stars.
This is the same with any kid playing up to NFL potential or elite college level.
If you are playing that well in your 3-5 year in college, you may have been a walk-on but built yourself to catch and or pass those kids ahead of you in Highschool.

 

[Knight Owl]

Weren’t you the one who said you were worried based on the side by side comparison and that you’d feel better if we had more of a running threat at QB?

Ajani is that guy. A running QB can keep you from losing games against mediocre teams when you don’t have elite WR’s and TE’s and GW proved that.
If the game against Nebraska is 7-3 late in the fourth quarter and the offense has just punted five straight series I’m all for giving Ajani a shot and run the friggin’ Veer offense if it matriculates the ball down the field.

 

[Knight Owl]

Ajani is that guy. A running QB can keep you from losing games against mediocre teams when you don’t have elite WR’s and TE’s and GW proved that.
If the game against Nebraska is 7-3 late in the fourth quarter and the offense has just punted five straight series I’m all for giving Ajani a shot and run the friggin’ Veer offense if it matriculates the ball down the field.

The modern Veer and Shoot version of course…
Keep the passing game a threat.
Ajani is 230 with a 4.5 40.
So far so good for AK though. Love his quick and fluid release…and he’s accurate.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

The modern Veer and Shoot version of course…
Keep the passing game a threat.
Ajani is 230 with a 4.5 40.
So far so good for AK though. Love his quick and fluid release…and he’s accurate.

AK seems like a serviceable enough scrambler to me. There was no reason to have him run vs. Akron and risk injury but he also hasn’t been sacked yet this season.

 

[Knight Owl]

AK seems like a serviceable enough scrambler to me. There was no reason to have him run vs. Akron and risk injury but he also hasn’t been sacked yet this season.

Yeah. And the WR’s are starting to get separation as the route running gets better. I’m just a fan of giving opposing coaches more things to think about. And maybe Ben Black and Dy Miller are ready to run some jet sweep action. Haven’t seen that yet.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Yeah. And the WR’s are starting to get separation as the route running gets better. I’m just a fan of giving opposing coaches more things to think about. And maybe Ben Black and Dy Miller are ready to run some jet sweep action. Haven’t seen that yet.

I get it but I think the carry number relative to Gavin is more about the relative confidence in his throwing ability than lack of confidence in his legs. There’s no point in having your QB1 take unnecessary hits in blow out wins.

 

[Knight Owl]

I get it but I think the carry number relative to Gavin is more about the relative confidence in his throwing ability than lack of confidence in his legs. There’s no point in having your QB1 take unnecessary hits in blow out wins.

Ajani is fresh and would like a chance to steamroll a corner.🤷‍♂️

 

[NickRU714]

Ahh one of my favorite reoccurring arguments that people twist themselves in knots.

“Stars don’t matter! Look at KM!! Look at all the players who are outperforming their ranking!”

“Look at how great our recruiting rankings are! We are moving up the list! It’s proof the team is getting better! We have so many highly rated recruits!”

So do stars matter or do they not?

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Ahh one of my favorite reoccurring arguments that people twist themselves in knots.

“Stars don’t matter! Look at KM!! Look at all the players who are outperforming their ranking!”

“Look at how great our recruiting rankings are! We are moving up the list! It’s proof the team is getting better! We have so many highly rated recruits!”

So do stars matter or do they not?

Stars correlate in aggregate with success. But 2+ years into a career the college career to date is a much better indicator of projecting forward looking success than the original HS ranking. Case in point - it is unlikely that a kid who was ranked higher than Kyle in HS who has demonstrated nothing over his career (same age) would do better than Kyle in a game today using HS recruiting as a predictor. But on the other hand - going back to Kyle’s ranking in HS - for every 10 kids ranked around that level - far less end up being productive college players than taking 10 high 4 stars at random (for example).