So as not to derail the Welcome thread, the Deveney commitment got me thinking about recruiting and rankings more broadly.
If Deveney was part of last year's class, he would be considered a massive reach guy with no offers. By taking a prep year, he has a number of P5 offers and is viewed as a good commit.
My question is what changed and was are the implications for how we think about other commits?
What Changed:
- More exposure by going through another year of recruiting...particularly as he hasn't played much football in the past.
- He will be a year older and stronger when he gets to college and will always be a year older than the rest of his class...providing a physical advantage vs where he would be if he was part of the prior class. Is he a better player...maybe/maybe not, but is lower risk from a physical standpoint.
Implications:
- I think that it means that we aren't dooomed when guys commit without a ton of offers.
- I think it means that we may need to be more patient than an Ohio State when it comes to guys being ready to contribute...our guys may need a year or two to close the gap with other places.
- Coaching matters, strength and conditioning matters.
- You would always prefer to get the most college ready players as possible, but seemingly a guy can go from unknown and unwanted to desirable in a year...development matters and a lot can happen between when a kid joins a program and when he leaves. You can come in with all the talent in the world and waste it or come in with mediocre talent, develop, work hard, and surpass the more talented kids.
Maybe I'm just rationalizing recruiting that is not at the high end of our conference, but I strongly believe that other than the top teams, that talent levels are pretty much the same and that what kids and coaches do when they get here matters more than whether the average rating in your class is 5.5 vs. 5.6.
Thoughts?
If Deveney was part of last year's class, he would be considered a massive reach guy with no offers. By taking a prep year, he has a number of P5 offers and is viewed as a good commit.
My question is what changed and was are the implications for how we think about other commits?
What Changed:
- More exposure by going through another year of recruiting...particularly as he hasn't played much football in the past.
- He will be a year older and stronger when he gets to college and will always be a year older than the rest of his class...providing a physical advantage vs where he would be if he was part of the prior class. Is he a better player...maybe/maybe not, but is lower risk from a physical standpoint.
Implications:
- I think that it means that we aren't dooomed when guys commit without a ton of offers.
- I think it means that we may need to be more patient than an Ohio State when it comes to guys being ready to contribute...our guys may need a year or two to close the gap with other places.
- Coaching matters, strength and conditioning matters.
- You would always prefer to get the most college ready players as possible, but seemingly a guy can go from unknown and unwanted to desirable in a year...development matters and a lot can happen between when a kid joins a program and when he leaves. You can come in with all the talent in the world and waste it or come in with mediocre talent, develop, work hard, and surpass the more talented kids.
Maybe I'm just rationalizing recruiting that is not at the high end of our conference, but I strongly believe that other than the top teams, that talent levels are pretty much the same and that what kids and coaches do when they get here matters more than whether the average rating in your class is 5.5 vs. 5.6.
Thoughts?
