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2021 Recruiting Class Countdown: The Top 10

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Lance Roffers said:
All prospects are going to control their outcome to some point through their own character and will. Additionally, injury luck is needed to reach best outcomes.

On the OL, this is even more true than most positions. The position requires intelligence more than any position outside of QB, really. The position requires a level of toughness that is beyond most positions as the difference between good ones and great ones can be as little as inner-desire to get the job done while in pain, or exhausted, or after having been beaten previously.

I defy anyone to watch the physical skills of several HS OL coming out who failed and tell me that they failed due to physical tools. They failed because of the mental side of the position and winning in HS due to those physical gifts.

When I grade OL play, there are two outcomes: Got job done or didn't get Job done. Getting knocked on your behind but somehow keeping the defender of your QB (without hold) is better than movement skills that take your breath away but letting your QB get hit at the end. Coaches want a guy who loves the grind, has the skills to do the job, and the intelligence to know what to do on every single play.

Techniques will need to be taught to almost all of these HS OL. Give me the above things and I'll believe in the coaches ability to teach them the rest if the prospect really wants it. Seymore seems to really want to be great when you watch him on tape.
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It's a complicated assessment for OL. I mostly agree with your conclusion but not the statement that people failed due to physical tools. I mean, in any pool of kids, there is a top 10% and a bottom 10%. They're all big. Part of the issue for OL is making sure we know what we mean by physical tools. How important is size vs. strength vs. hands? Hips/legs vs. arms/chest? Flexibility? Balance, footwork.... Those are physical traits. It's a different solve set for OL than other positions, imo.

All that aside, I agree with you that the toughness attributes are really, really important at OL for the reasons you mention. But we have also done a poor job of projecting the physical traits, IMO. We've looked at huge kids for ages as somehow 'prototypes.' Cyrim Wimbs, Bain, McMeans, Barney, Donaldson, Symonette, BW, Isidora, J. Brown, Darling, Figeuroa. Other than Figueroa and Isidora, not sure the other really big bodies we've signed panned out very well. Darling was passable. The guys who were big but could really move -- Franklin, Flowers -- did better. I understand that you can say we mis-assessed their toughness, but I think we also just didn't appreciate how their bodies would translate. I could do the same thing for the tall thin guys we've tried to project at OL going back the same period. Very spottoy outcomes. Yes we need to get the personal trait stuff right but we'd almost certainly up our batting average if we'd do a better job of also understanding what projection risk we're taking on their physical attributes.

Really like your comment on how you grade OL - it's a very different mindset to think about than how well you did it. If it's a series of pass/fail grades, then showing up all the time is critical. In other positions, it may be more about makign a tough catch now and then. Very different personality profile to look for based on that.
 
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Lance Roffers said:
Safe to say I’d have made things a lot easier on myself by having Brinson at 8 and George at 11.
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Safe to say that a lot of the feedback you're receiving indicates that folks tend to prefer prospects with the ability to be outside receivers. That's not a criticism of anyone as much as it's simply an observation.

I appreciate your analysis and the insight you provided into how you've gone about ranking the incoming class. Thanks again!
 
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Great analysis Lance as always. Can’t wait to look back at this 2021 recruiting class in a few years and reshuffle they number and importance to the team overall after they’ve been in the system for a while.
 
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raytiller said:
They all razor thin if that’s the case but he’s 6’2 and his high point is really nice for his age. Proven soflo wr i still like Smith and George just think Brinson skillet is more advanced WR at this stage.
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To be clear, which I don’t think I was the first time, when I said razor thin, I meant the differences in the three not their weight.

They all are in the same tier and could essentially have the best outcome for each.

People love lists, so I ranked them rather than just leaving in tiers, but suffice to say I liked all three.
 
Arroyo was brought up yesterday

as much as I like Mallory (I’m probably a bigger fan than most) it’s the rest of the TEs that I’m interested to see

is he too thin to see significant time this year?
 
JHallCanes said:
Arroyo was brought up yesterday

as much as I like Mallory (I’m probably a bigger fan than most) it’s the rest of the TEs that I’m interested to see

is he too thin to see significant time this year?
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Nah man. He does not have to line up in line to get PT. He’s a matchup nightmare everywhere else right now.
 
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KingB02 said:
Nah man. He does not have to line up in line to get PT. He’s a matchup nightmare everywhere else right now.
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Oh for sure. I guess what I meant is can he handle blocking so he can get more PT? That’s what I meant when I said “significant”

or is he a glorified receiver at this point? (Not that that’s bad)

im a huge fan
 
JHallCanes said:
Arroyo was brought up yesterday

as much as I like Mallory (I’m probably a bigger fan than most) it’s the rest of the TEs that I’m interested to see

is he too thin to see significant time this year?
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I generally just expect true freshmen to need time. Late in the season he could emerge if he’s as good as advertised.
 
Lance Roffers said:
As fall camp gets underway this is another chance to tell me how wrong I am about Romello Brinson.

Already look low on Garcia.
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Love the analysis. It’s hard to see any of these guys being misses.

I would have found a way to put Chase Smith in there. Probably bump McGlaughlin and shuffle a couple spots. But with a class this strong you have to make hard choices.
 
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