I've been thinking about this class for awhile now.
And I agree we don't seem to be chasing many "elite" (defined as "five star") guys.
I think our approach is somewhat intentional.
I imagine that with a strong season, there will be an uptick in interest among a few, "elite" recruits.
Conversely, I also look at our roster and see that most position groups have a lot of young talent.
One approach to recruiting would be to simply recruit the best players available, and worry about things like cohesion, playing time, and team chemistry later, if at all. To a degree, I think OSU does that. They've loaded up on running backs and receivers over the past two classes, knowing some of those guys are simply going to fall by the wayside, never play, and probably transfer.
Sometimes it works great. Alabama has the #1 class just about every year, and they've been great on the field too.
But as I look at this team, not just this year but for the foreseeable future, I think the coaching staff probably likes what they have at most position groups, and will probably give the current, very young team a chance to mature and become elite before trying to recruit over anyone.
With that said, there are certainly some position groups where we still need better talent (OL, RB), and some where you always need depth (DT, DB). And I think Jim will always recruit the QB position hard, because he knows how important it is, and he won't worry about potential transfers there.
But I do think that with this current class, he's building depth, finding guys with development potential, and chasing a few, select elite players, as opposed to going all out for five star kids. In 2019, with some spacing between 2016 and 2017, I think we'll again be more aggressive with the five stars.
And I agree we don't seem to be chasing many "elite" (defined as "five star") guys.
I think our approach is somewhat intentional.
I imagine that with a strong season, there will be an uptick in interest among a few, "elite" recruits.
Conversely, I also look at our roster and see that most position groups have a lot of young talent.
One approach to recruiting would be to simply recruit the best players available, and worry about things like cohesion, playing time, and team chemistry later, if at all. To a degree, I think OSU does that. They've loaded up on running backs and receivers over the past two classes, knowing some of those guys are simply going to fall by the wayside, never play, and probably transfer.
Sometimes it works great. Alabama has the #1 class just about every year, and they've been great on the field too.
But as I look at this team, not just this year but for the foreseeable future, I think the coaching staff probably likes what they have at most position groups, and will probably give the current, very young team a chance to mature and become elite before trying to recruit over anyone.
With that said, there are certainly some position groups where we still need better talent (OL, RB), and some where you always need depth (DT, DB). And I think Jim will always recruit the QB position hard, because he knows how important it is, and he won't worry about potential transfers there.
But I do think that with this current class, he's building depth, finding guys with development potential, and chasing a few, select elite players, as opposed to going all out for five star kids. In 2019, with some spacing between 2016 and 2017, I think we'll again be more aggressive with the five stars.
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