There has been a fair amount of fan grumbling on this site and others about the number of 3 stars UM is taking this year, particularly when you contrast that to the 2019 recruiting outlook, where UM has landed, is leading for, or in the top group of so many top 100 players.
Here is my speculation:
It's not that Harbaugh, et. al. don't want "all the five stars", but because of a few factors including (1) a small class size, and (2) virtually ZERO (maybe excluding tailback) need for a single true freshman to play next season they are going for guys who show the upside and body types that they want.
The OL are tall, lean, undersized (for now). The Frey approach. The sites tend to hold back on boosting star ratings, from what I can tell.
The first QB taken - Milton - is all upside.
The DBs are of a very particular body type and the athletes that Don Brown wants, etc.
Schoonmaker. Most gemmy of all the hidden gems.
So... not looking for guys who can play right away, because the depth next year is going to be the best we have seen in a decade - or two. But guys they can coach up to be better than higher ranked players.
Flip the script for 2019, and we need stars and athletes who will compete for playing time right away. Guys are going to graduate or take their games to the NFL. A smaller 2018 class size may also have provided more "allocated recruiting time per viable recruit" with respect to the 2019 class also, giving the staff more opportunity, per capita, to build relationships, hence maybe better early returns with respect to the star gazer lens.
Here is my speculation:
It's not that Harbaugh, et. al. don't want "all the five stars", but because of a few factors including (1) a small class size, and (2) virtually ZERO (maybe excluding tailback) need for a single true freshman to play next season they are going for guys who show the upside and body types that they want.
The OL are tall, lean, undersized (for now). The Frey approach. The sites tend to hold back on boosting star ratings, from what I can tell.
The first QB taken - Milton - is all upside.
The DBs are of a very particular body type and the athletes that Don Brown wants, etc.
Schoonmaker. Most gemmy of all the hidden gems.
So... not looking for guys who can play right away, because the depth next year is going to be the best we have seen in a decade - or two. But guys they can coach up to be better than higher ranked players.
Flip the script for 2019, and we need stars and athletes who will compete for playing time right away. Guys are going to graduate or take their games to the NFL. A smaller 2018 class size may also have provided more "allocated recruiting time per viable recruit" with respect to the 2019 class also, giving the staff more opportunity, per capita, to build relationships, hence maybe better early returns with respect to the star gazer lens.
