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Two Deep Analysis, Player Source Breakdown...

mb5789

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I wanted to dive into the source of the two deep (pre-season) to figure out which classes our players came from that Rutgers recruited from HS, which players were transfers and which players were walk ons. Here's what I found:

Offense
Position1st TeamRecruiting Class/Portal2nd TeamRecruiting Class/Portal
QBAthan KaliakmanisTransferAjani Sheppard2023
RBKyle Monangai2020Sam Brown V2022
WRDymere MillerTransferChristian DremelWalk on
WRChris Long2020Ben Black2024
WRIan Strong2023KJ Duff2024
TEKenny Fletcher2022Victor Konopka2020
LTHollin PierceWalk onReggie Sutton2018
LGBryan Felter2020Taj White2022
CGus Zilinskas2021Terrence SalamiWalk on
RGKobe Asamoah2022Nick Oliveira2023
RTTyler Needham2021Shedrick RhodesTransfer

Defense
Position1st TeamRecruiting Class/Portal2nd TeamRecruiting Class/Portal
DEWesley Bailey2020Jordan WalkerWalk on
DTKyonte Hamilton2021Zaire Angoy2021
DTMalcolm RayTransferKeshon Griffin2021
DEAaron Lewis2020*Jordan Thompson2021
LBMohamed Toure2019Moses Walker2022
LBTyreem Powell2020Dariel Djabome2022
CBEric RogersTransferAl-Shadee Salaam2021
FSFlip DixonTransferKaj Sanders2024
SSShaquon Loyal2021Joe Lusardi Walk on
CBRobert Longerbeam2020Bo Mascoe2023
NBDesmond Igbinosun2021Sage Clawges2023

Here's the full breakdown by class/source:

ClassStarters (% of starters)Players on 2 deep (% of 2 deep)Signees (Class only)
Transfer5 (23%)6 (14%)---
Walk on1 (5%)5 (11%)---
201801 (2%)NA (basically no one with eligibility left)
20191 (5%)1 (2%)NA (basically no one with eligibility left)
20207 (32%)8 (18%)22
20215 (23%)9 (20%)22
20222 (9%)6 (14%)21
20231 (5%)5 (11%)20
202403 (7%)27

Some takeaways for me:
- The class of 2020 is carrying this team and this program. Schiano and company had a very high hit rate on the guys he brought in after he was hired. The majority of our best players all came from the class of 2020, particularly the guys who Schiano landed after taking the job (Kyle Monangai, Robert Longerbeam, Tyreem Powell, Aaron Lewis, Wesley Bailey, etc. He also landed Max Melton after he was hired who went onto the NFL already).
- The class of 2021 has produced a good amount of players in terms of both starters and 2 deep players, but I wouldn't say the class has produced many impact players. Shaquon Loyal, Gus Zilinskas and Kyonte Hamilton are the only 3 guys that (IMO) even come close to being impact guys. The other 6 players from the 2021 class in the two deep are well below average B1G starters/depth.
- The class of 2022 was a complete dud. These are the guys in their JR or RS SO seasons. Only 29% of that class is currently in the 2 deep, with many of those players being some of the most problematic on the team (Moses Walker, Dariel Djabome, Taj White, etc)
- 25% of our two deep are either transfers or walk ons.
- We will be losing (at least) 9/11 starters on defense and 4/11 starters on offense next year, with most of those players being our best players on the team. We will need to heavily subsidize this rosters with portal players this off-season if we want to be competitive in 2025.
 
I wanted to dive into the source of the two deep (pre-season) to figure out which classes our players came from that Rutgers recruited from HS, which players were transfers and which players were walk ons. Here's what I found:

Offense
Position1st TeamRecruiting Class/Portal2nd TeamRecruiting Class/Portal
QBAthan KaliakmanisTransferAjani Sheppard2023
RBKyle Monangai2020Sam Brown V2022
WRDymere MillerTransferChristian DremelWalk on
WRChris Long2020Ben Black2024
WRIan Strong2023KJ Duff2024
TEKenny Fletcher2022Victor Konopka2020
LTHollin PierceWalk onReggie Sutton2018
LGBryan Felter2020Taj White2022
CGus Zilinskas2021Terrence SalamiWalk on
RGKobe Asamoah2022Nick Oliveira2023
RTTyler Needham2021Shedrick RhodesTransfer

Defense
Position1st TeamRecruiting Class/Portal2nd TeamRecruiting Class/Portal
DEWesley Bailey2020Jordan WalkerWalk on
DTKyonte Hamilton2021Zaire Angoy2021
DTMalcolm RayTransferKeshon Griffin2021
DEAaron Lewis2020*Jordan Thompson2021
LBMohamed Toure2019Moses Walker2022
LBTyreem Powell2020Dariel Djabome2022
CBEric RogersTransferAl-Shadee Salaam2021
FSFlip DixonTransferKaj Sanders2024
SSShaquon Loyal2021Joe LusardiWalk on
CBRobert Longerbeam2020Bo Mascoe2023
NBDesmond Igbinosun2021Sage Clawges2023

Here's the full breakdown by class/source:

ClassStarters (% of starters)Players on 2 deep (% of 2 deep)Signees (Class only)
Transfer5 (23%)6 (14%)---
Walk on1 (5%)5 (11%)---
201801 (2%)NA (basically no one with eligibility left)
20191 (5%)1 (2%)NA (basically no one with eligibility left)
20207 (32%)8 (18%)22
20215 (23%)9 (20%)22
20222 (9%)6 (14%)21
20231 (5%)5 (11%)20
202403 (7%)27

Some takeaways for me:
- The class of 2020 is carrying this team and this program. Schiano and company had a very high hit rate on the guys he brought in after he was hired. The majority of our best players all came from the class of 2020, particularly the guys who Schiano landed after taking the job (Kyle Monangai, Robert Longerbeam, Tyreem Powell, Aaron Lewis, Wesley Bailey, etc. He also landed Max Melton after he was hired who went onto the NFL already).
- The class of 2021 has produced a good amount of players in terms of both starters and 2 deep players, but I wouldn't say the class has produced many impact players. Shaquon Loyal, Gus Zilinskas and Kyonte Hamilton are the only 3 guys that (IMO) even come close to being impact guys. The other 6 players from the 2021 class in the two deep are well below average B1G starters/depth.
- The class of 2022 was a complete dud. These are the guys in their JR or RS SO seasons. Only 29% of that class is currently in the 2 deep, with many of those players being some of the most problematic on the team (Moses Walker, Dariel Djabome, Taj White, etc)
- 25% of our two deep are either transfers or walk ons.
- We will be losing (at least) 9/11 starters on defense and 4/11 starters on offense next year, with most of those players being our best players on the team. We will need to heavily subsidize this rosters with portal players this off-season if we want to be competitive in 2025.
That’s a good analysis and why the recruiting rankings, especially for schools outside the top 15, should be taken with a grain of salt. Below are RUs composite class rankings:

2020. #62
2021: #39
2022: #33
2023: #57

Once you get past the top 12-15 classes, the level of talent evaluated gets very dicey.
 
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