Something just doesn't look right in the ranking of OL recruit Luke Fortner. He is ranked as the number 5 OL on the front page and when I pulled up his profile he only had a 5.5, 3 star ranking. Anyone know what the deal is with this seeming incongruent information. It seems to me if he was the number 5 OL he should be at least a 4 star. If not that would seem to indicate that the quality of the OL recruits this year is not very good.
Ranking of Luke Fortner
- Thread starter C1180
- Start date
C1180 I've brought his name up a few times and have looked at that as well.
I believe he is listed as the top 5 Centers, but maybe thats changed, either way that seems ridiculously low as far as a rating.
Sure glad we got LF
I believe he is listed as the top 5 Centers, but maybe thats changed, either way that seems ridiculously low as far as a rating.
Sure glad we got LF
When we recruited Sam Simpson several years ago he was ranked the #1 center prospect in the country but he too was only a 3 star.
It's fair to say they are never ranked where they should be. Getting labeled a center out of high school knocks you down a few pegs every time. It's pretty ridiculous to be honest. It may not be the most important position on the OL but great offenses always have great centers. Bad centers can still really hurt you. The position will never get the respect it deserves
Calling the blocking assignments make the center position much more important, the position needs a leader and very good intelligence to handle the job, and it looks like we have both in our current and committed players at that position. I really think Drake being the leader he is reported to be AND a VERY good player should help other great OL want to play with him. Fortner seems to be another along this line, along with being very underrated and yes, centers AND kicker's/punters are very underrated for some reason. I think most kickers/punters that are rated a 5.5 are usually among the best in the nation. and I think both of ours attained that rating. Masthay was a 5.2 IIRC.
That's pretty accurate, centers for whatever reason just don't get the respect they should from Rivals or anyone else for that matter. No idea why, maybe its because they can be a bit shorter than OT who get all the praise. Maybe its because more kids can physically play an outstanding center because they don't have to be 6'5"+ with 37+ inch and 310+ with good agility to play center. Pretty unfair to them, our last 2 centers were 5.5 guys one was a 4 year starter and now a 3 year starter in the NFL and the other was a 3 year starter and getting a shot at the NFL, argueably our 2 best OL over that period.
Fortner is a project with a good frame. It doesn't matter where he ranks now. Fortner is ranked as a center, but he will probably become a guard for us. Offensive linemen need time to develop. Stoops would not have offered him a scholarship if he couldn't play SEC football. Fortner already sports offers from Maryland and Cincinnati, with Michigan State evaluating. Marrow is scooping up a lot of Ohio prospects this year, and Fortner is another good pick up for us.
