What do you feel better about when it comes to a recruit? Stars and ranking Coaches eval offer list or combine workout. I.E. a 3 star like Mccloud getting high praise at orlando workout.
At this point in the game a lot is unknown. Coaches and recruiting services are catching up to one another. I think it is important to acknowledge that other teams will pass out offers that have not been extended yet and recruiting services will bump players. A good offer list is usually a leading indicator of getting bumped in the rankings. Also the rankings in February of 2025 are what matter most. The rankings in March-May of the cycle usually differ quite a bit than the final rankings. LJ McCray for example was a low pedestrian 4* this time last cycle. He was not a can’t miss 5* recruit like he was billed at the end of the recruiting cycle.
I’ve also heard that a lot of the rankings go hand-in-hand with the number of camps/combines the recruit goes to
I do believe we've passed on some guys because they had issues of personality, character and family our head coach could see or heard from teachers. And we've also moved out a lot of those guys he inherited.
His highlights make him look like a freakin beast. It reminds me of Lyons with not the same getoff. He looks the part.
Stars tend to matter. Some "can't miss" prospects do miss, and some lower ranked players are big hits, but the chance of making the NFL draft is higher for a 5 star than for any other lower rating. Even the Ole HBC once said that the recruiting services "pretty much" had the ratings right.
When it comes tonthese kids getting their star ranking It's a little bit of them all when it comes down to it. Evals/ workouts, camp production/participation, school/geographical region they're in etc. But it's also a lot like a popularity/PR contest. Those who don't participate much in camps, go to high profile schools like Mater dei in cali, IMG in fla or Westlake in Texas or do many interviews often go under evaluated and unnoticed, especially if they also are over shadowed from the spotlight , because of another more talked about player ahead of you on depth chart. (Trask). Let me see some good film, against good competition and then a great workout for the staff ending with a great in person evaluation
It all depends on which coaches are doing the evaluations. I like the way Napier and company evaluate players. The 5* stars are nice... if Napier agrees with them. However...How many 5* star duds have we passed on these last 2 years? Sometimes these ranking services get 5* star evaluators correct... but they do not tell you about major character flaws that can infect a locker-room like cancer. No 5* star player is worth destroying your locker room from within. In Napier I trust...
Omar Hunter came to UF as a 5* DT. Urbs even called him the Tim Tebow of his recruiting class. It took him 4 plus years to see the field in a meaningful way.
Agree, I also look at HS production and level of competition. Not that bad competition is a bad thing, but if the competition is sub-par, I'd expect complete domination by a recruit. I believe the recruiting services probably put more into camp evaluations, than actually going and seeing these kids play. The character issues are something the university has a greater ability to dig into, and is where developing good relationships with HS coaches and AD's is also important.
Percy Harvin came here as a 5 * and immediately contributed and may have been the best reason that UF had a Natty in 2006 considering his work against those Razorbacks. See how that works.
While I love the idea of getting a kid that has flown under the radar, I look at who else has offered. I want to be beating out Bama and UGA, not Western Michigan and Chattanooga.
I think Ol and Dl are toughest positions to evaluate at HS level. More 5 stars flame out at those positions than any other. DL in particular where kids go from being best player on field that can run around inferior opponents just using athleticism to suddenly needing to play their assignments and gaps in a controlled fashion where opponent is just as good as they are. How many times have we seen a DE rush behind the QB in the pocket as speed no longer works to get to QB. Take themselves out of play completely. Can’t protect against run and can’t get hand up to tip a pass.
The thing is that you can put about as much trust in the "offer" sheet as you can the "reported" NIL. Some of it is nothing more than fantasy on the recruit's part and there was never a commit-able offer. Now if Nicky Saban was showing up at said recruit's house multiple times, then I would give that a little more credence.
Yet some surprises are out there. Look at the Verse kid from FSU. He literally came out of nowhere to be a very good player. I agree that CBN has a good eye for players, especially the "developmental" ones. I really like the 3 star pickup of Jeramiah McCloud. Check the film on this guy, I think he makes some serious moves up the "star" ladder.
