The Way Forward

[dyersburgcatfan]

Ok, unless there are a couple of really big unforeseen surprises, this class is going to close out a lot lower than the last two. It will be an average class, maybe even good for usual UK recruiting, but not stellar like we have seen recently.

But because of really good recruiting the last couple years, we should be able to field a really good team this Fall. Not elite, but good...at least better than we have seen in quite some time, and certainly should be improved over this past season.

So the upcoming season is critical for going forward. My gut feeling is that if we falter this year and have a losing record, recruiting is going to drop back to pre-Stoop's era. If, however, we put together a good year, go to a half-way decent bowl, avoid the negative publicity that some of our players have brought us with off the field antics, then everything begins to look a lot better and prospective recruits will give us a more serious look. 2016 could then be a very good year in recruiting and this year would become just a momentary blip in the building process.

 

[RV2]

This class is not bad or average. It's very good. It's just low on numbers. The quantity is down but the quality is still good. You can't compare a class of 25 vs a class of 15 by looking at team rankings. What you must look at is the average star rating. Someone on another thread said this class was ranked 50 so that means it's no better than the 2010 class which also ranked 50. The average star rating for the 2010 class was 2.77 while the current average for this class is 3.13 which is the second best average star rating we've ever had, only surpassed by last year's 3.32. Stoops first class was 3.05 which was the first time we ever averaged getting over a 3 star recruit.

 

[C1180]

Originally posted by RV2:
This class is not bad or average. It's very good. It's just low on numbers. The quantity is down but the quality is still good. You can't compare a class of 25 vs a class of 15 by looking at team rankings. What you must look at is the average star rating. Someone on another thread said this class was ranked 50 so that means it's no better than the 2010 class which also ranked 50. The average star rating for the 2010 class was 2.77 while the current average for this class is 3.13 which is the second best average star rating we've ever had, only surpassed by last year's 3.32. Stoops first class was 3.05 which was the first time we ever averaged getting over a 3 star recruit.

And that the truth.

 

[bushwacker mack]

We were spoiled by our last two classes. We are forgeting we have some quality talent in this years group.

 

[Cal-El]

The sad thing is if Joker was still here, we would be salivating over this class. Heck, not just Joker, any UK coach. I think Brooks' highest class was 36th and a few bounced around the 40's and 50's.

But this is a good class. And it's not even considering the transfers. With the two transfers, UK would be sitting 40-45 range....with 10 open spots.

Now if we finish strong, theres no reason we can't have a class fall around 20. Even if we don't finish really strong, we should end up with a class around 30.

Not bad considering all the decommitments.

 

[tdcat]

Originally posted by RV2:
This class is not bad or average. It's very good. It's just low on numbers. The quantity is down but the quality is still good. You can't compare a class of 25 vs a class of 15 by looking at team rankings. What you must look at is the average star rating. Someone on another thread said this class was ranked 50 so that means it's no better than the 2010 class which also ranked 50. The average star rating for the 2010 class was 2.77 while the current average for this class is 3.13 which is the second best average star rating we've ever had, only surpassed by last year's 3.32. Stoops first class was 3.05 which was the first time we ever averaged getting over a 3 star recruit.

Exactly.

Yes the decommits have been frustrating but contrary to some of the posts I have read, this class is nothing like what Joker signed.

Yes, we did lose Riley and Hamilton and Strowbridge. I would like to have them.

However, Strowbridge was a bit of a tweener between DT and DE and didn't seem to have a great first step. He looked more like an undersized DT than a DE to me. I like Daniel more for that DE spot and we kept him. We need to add two more next year.

As for the DT spot, if you haven't watched Provitt's film you should. He looks dominating. He is the type of DT you want on the nose. He will give us depth behind Elam and will takes Lewis' place in that rotation. The one gap DT is harder to find and I think Provitt will be more important than Hamilton in the long run. Meant and Middleton are more like Hamilton and they are both young. The 2016 recruit London would be a big get at the DT spot and he does like us early.

As for Riley, he had length and likely will develop into a good player. That said, I am excited to see how Joshua Allen develops. This idea he is a Joker like recruit is ridiculous. How many 6'4" guys did Joker recruit who could run a 4.6 40, were all state at WR in Alabama or led a state like New Jersey in sacks? That is a different league of athlete than we use to get.

 

[Deeeefense]

I wish the services would do away with the team rankings. They are so misleading but people just keep roboticly looking at the ranking number and making incorrect assumptions about them. A recruiting class is a heck of a lot more than a number on a web page.