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Recruiting targets, how did we do?

MtnBuff

Not allowed in Barzil 2
Club Member
I don't want any names, at least until after LOI day but now that the class is substantially finished it is time to look at this cycle and how the coaches did.

Coming off a 3-10 season, especially with a staff that has for the most part only had one year to build relationships since most were in the NFL 15 months ago, a class rating in the high 30's is a pretty good job.

I also look at the class and unlike some recent classes virtually every player in the class had offers from other AQ level schools. We didn't get a lot of 4* types, didn't win a lot of battles with USC, Oregon, or other traditional recruiting powers but we got guys that other schools battling for what we are wanted. Overall a lot of quality 3* types but not a lot of national sizzle.

We also addressed some serious needs. We got what looks to be a quality QB, we got a bunch of what look to be quality D-linemen which after QB may be the hardest position to find quality at. We got much faster, especially at DB and got some quality WRs and TEs, with a bonus with being strong in Texas at those positions. And we didn't spend a scholly on another kicker.

Negatives, not enough O-linemen, missed on some bigtime OL talent in Colorado. Some good looking RBs but not likely the gamebuster we could use who will dominate. Also not much at LB (although we may fill from other positions.)

Now for the questions. Did the staff undershoot, overshoot, or just flat miss something they should have had. Did they settle to low for guys and in the end cost themselves someone who would be better. Did they take any guys who just don't deserve to get offers at this level to fill positions. Did they take to many guys at a position because they could get guys there.

Again I don't want to deal in names at this point, just general impressions of the recruiting cycle.
 
Our biggest need was to upgrade size and athleticism and feel we accomplished that. Would love to top this class off with one more surprise high profile guy, but I am pleased with the way things shaped up.
 
Overall, I think this year was a success. The exceptions were in-state and OL recruiting, though they really go hand in hand. Marshall needs to start earning his paycheck. The only other concern I have is that, after a bit of a slow start to the class, the staff took some risks in the middle of the process, particularly along the d line, that meant they couldn't take a couple of more talented players, IMO, who tried to commit late. GB was a nice surprise as a recruiter though, and they really finished strong, assuming everyone is solid.
 
Overall, I think this year was a success. The exceptions were in-state and OL recruiting, though they really go hand in hand. Marshall needs to start earning his paycheck. The only other concern I have is that, after a bit of a slow start to the class, the staff took some risks in the middle of the process, particularly along the d line, that meant they couldn't take a couple of more talented players, IMO, who tried to commit late. GB was a nice surprise as a recruiter though, and they really finished strong, assuming everyone is solid.

Marshall's main recruiting area wasn't Colorado.

I'm also curious to who the talented players we didn't take due to numbers are.
 
Very disappointed with the OL recruiting. We whiffed on the three biggest targets - two of whom had said at one point or another that CU was at the top of their list. We lost them so early in the process that I have to assume it was due to a lack of effort on the recruiters part.

Having said that, I think we did reasonably well in the other areas. We can't afford to whiff on Fox next year, though. He's a must-get.
 
Overall, I think this year was a success. The exceptions were in-state and OL recruiting, though they really go hand in hand. Marshall needs to start earning his paycheck. The only other concern I have is that, after a bit of a slow start to the class, the staff took some risks in the middle of the process, particularly along the d line, that meant they couldn't take a couple of more talented players, IMO, who tried to commit late. GB was a nice surprise as a recruiter though, and they really finished strong, assuming everyone is solid.

We needed to find DL, CB, WR and TE candidates to play right away. We got numbers there so that is good.

Rankings seem to have more error for some positions than others. For DL, WR and CB, natural abilities seem to dominate these positions. Anyone remember when AJ Green and the other freakish WR signed at Georgia and Alabama? They were immediately big difference makers. I think those are two positions where you got to get 4-star guys. We did at CB and didn't at WR. However, we got 3 guys that can come in and play right away. I think we had our best DL haul in at least 10 years. We got numbers for sure. 7 DL, 5 CBs, 3 WRs.

And we got a top QB, which I've not seen happen in about 10 years.

I'm pretty confident in our staffs ability to develop LB's and Linemen. A pretty good haul imo for a 3 win team. We need to win 6-7 next year which is a tall order given the guys we lost and the number of freshman we will playing.
 
Very disappointed with the OL recruiting. We whiffed on the three biggest targets - two of whom had said at one point or another that CU was at the top of their list. We lost them so early in the process that I have to assume it was due to a lack of effort on the recruiters part.

Having said that, I think we did reasonably well in the other areas. We can't afford to whiff on Fox next year, though. He's a must-get.
Fox is not a must get. That's premature.
 
Overall, I'm happy with the projected class. However, we need to keep more of the in-state talent, especially OL. I hope we fix that next year.
 
Fox is not a must get. That's premature.

He's a must get from the standpoint that we have to do a better job of keeping the elite in-state guys at home. He's also a must-get because we basically whiffed on our OL recruiting this year. We can't afford to do that again next year.
 
megan_fox_foxy.jpg
 
Marshall's main recruiting area wasn't Colorado.

I'm also curious to who the talented players we didn't take due to numbers are.

I understand Colorado isn't his primary area, but the position coach certainly has an impact on recruiting. There were a number of talented OL who had serious interest in CU, but barring a last-minute surprise, only two will sign. Some of that accountability has to be on Marshall. And I'm referring specifically to Solo and Rippy. This is pure speculation on my part, but my gut says the staff reached it's limit for risk-tolerance, and couldn't take them. Had they not taken on a few of the earlier academic risks, this may not have been an issue.

Overall, though, I'm happy. It's a very solid class, and once the LOI's come in on Wednesday, I'm not going to waste any time on the ones who got away.
 
Lets also remember that it will be very hard to top this years ranking next year even if we do have more 4 stars.

Need to focus on quality over quantity (and this class is quality, no knock on it), but we need to get some high profile OL, LB, RB, WR and TE. Win the battle for the top in-state kids.
 
Have you seen the Rivals rating for NU? They are still ranked ahead of us with only 14 recruits, I think it was. (BTW, Scout has them somewhere around #55, showing the disparity of player ratings AND their team formulas).
 
Have you seen the Rivals rating for NU? They are still ranked ahead of us with only 14 recruits, I think it was. (BTW, Scout has them somewhere around #55, showing the disparity of player ratings AND their team formulas).

Very interesting, Utah is another example of this.

I was just basing it off where SC is ranked with a small class and they still are bringing in a talent loaded class. These formulas are confusing sometimes, which is why my number one focus on a recruit is his offer list.
 
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