'13 CO OT John Lisella (Signed to Colorado)

[Duff Man]

I think the bigger question to ask about Lisella: knowing the desperate need for OL in this class and over the next couple classes, was offering Lisella (a big-time project) way back in May really a smart idea by the last staff?

[Quattro]

I guess my point was that they don't base their ratings on the interest they are receiving, rather their own evaluations, which usually agrees with the coaches. If they based it off of interest it'd be a horrible system that would be very inaccurate.

[buffaholic]

i think the bigger question to ask about lisella: Knowing the desperate shortage of scholarships and the massive numbers of holes to fill in this class and over the next couple classes, was offering lisella (a big-time project) way back in may really a smart idea by the last staff?

fify

[buffaholic]

I guess my point was that they don't base their ratings on the interest they are receiving, rather their own evaluations, which usually agrees with the coaches. If they based it off of interest it'd be a horrible system that would be very inaccurate.

Very naive my son. How many guys does Rivals have covering Colorado? How many times does he visit? How many in-persons? Very, very naive.

The ratings are largely tied to the quantity and quality of offers. Kids who are getting offers from SJSU only, are never evaluated (on film or in person) by anyone from the services. I am talking with first hand information here.

[buffaholic]

Additionally, when a 2-star guy with a couple crappy offers suddenly is "discovered" by the BCS schools, his rating goes up. His film hasn't changed, and nothing else has changed.

[buffaholic]

Virtually always. Take a kid who is rated as a 2* kid and let him get offered and take a trip to Texas or Oregon and watch how fast his number of stars jumps.

The star ratings have been argued ad nauseum on this site but history has shown two things. One is that kids with higher star rating have a higher chance of turning into solid players. Second is that the top programs don't get there or stay there with bad recruiting so if those programs are interested in a kid it usually means that the evaluation of the kid should be looked at if he is ranked low.

None of this is absolute. A kid like Lisella can turn out to be a pro prosect but he has a lot further to go to get there than the typical kid with a USC offer.

At the same time the 4* and 5* kids aren't lining up to go to a program that was 1-11 last year and hasn't won a bowl in a decade. If CU is going to get significantly better we have to find a bunch of guys who aren't high on the radar who can develop into the kind of players that can compete with the guys who develop earlier like Ryan Miller did.

My gut feeling is that Lisella is one of those guys. Put the weight on, mature physically, and be able to contribute at the PAC level as a jr. and sr. I'd much rather take a guy like him than a guy who is much more developed but isn't likely to ever be more than a high FCS kid like a lot of the guys that Hawk was recruiting at the end.

Wish I would have read this perfectly constructed argument before replying to 'Tini's posts.

It's really a very accurate measure. When a guy has many offers from top programs, he should be a 4/5 star. It's been validated by the best programs. Great programs don't stay great programs by mis-evaluating recruits. They can fall fast when they do miss on a consistent basis. That doesn't mean that HCMM isn't as good as Nick Saban. HCMM's job at SJSU is a lot harder as he's got to find bigger projects.

[Duff Man]

Let's try to keep this thread on track, guys.

[o_robbie]

You are correct that my argument is flawed. I need to shut up bout it cause I'm obviously bias. But I said John's ceiling is how Ryan Miller performed at CU. Ryan Miller's upside is plenty higher than Lisella's but Ryan underperformed at CU because of his injuries. He will be the first person to say that. And his blood clot and other health issues played a role in not getting more offers, but a greyshirt is completely necessary. He is not ready yet, but the potential is there. Lesson learned don't post about your friends hahaha

I am actually very excited about the signing. I love the idea of GS lineman. I just disagree that he has that upside of Miller. Actually, let me put it this way. He has as much upside as all other athletic tall people. I know nothing of his genetics however. You being an insider should know if he has an older brother who is 270 or if his dad is a filled out 250. If you are personally looking at his genetic tree and see thick bodied men who were smaller in weight at 18 then I will concede that he has more upside than other tall athletes.

What a few other people said about Miller I can't argue with. He was already a heck of a lineman at 18. I think there is a kid heading to Michigan who could have been the next Miller here at CU. 4 year starter. We just couldn't get him on board.

I guess we will see in 5 years if Lisella is all conf. 1st or 2nd team like Miller was. I respect your opinion and hope you are right. CU really needs to hit the lottery on some project lineman.

[Buffnik]

Now 2* on Rivals.

[Jens1893]

Buff

[BehindEnemyLines]

Welcome to the Black-n-Gold young man!

[14er]

Looking forward to watching your progress on the field. Welcome