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Rellyrell’s Review (Class of ‘23)

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Rellyrell said:
Now that all of the signing periods have been completed, with Miami coming up empty on NSD, I wanted to assess our current class, including the transfer portal.

First off, kudos to Mario & the staff to navigate a tumultuous season, while pulling in a solid class in his first, full cycle. The 2008 Class, however, taught me a valuable lesson; never fully focus on the team ranking per recruiting services vs. evaluating the totality of the class, itself. As an example, Team A can recruit 25 kids that included 10-5* & 15-4*. On paper, that would be the #1 class in the nation, but if 50% of that class are strictly DEs, & the other 50% are strictly LBs…u get the point.

So here are my grades for our class, per position:

QB: C+
Though I soured on Rashada as his season progressed, the fact is we solely focused on him, when red flags began to present themselves. Our QB room is a mess, & relying upon one QB via the HS ranks, a 3* at that, is risky. This is not to say Williams won’t be the next Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, or Justin Herbert, but it is to say our QB room is in dire straights & this not the way to repair it in 2023.

RB: A-
We missed on Baxter & Young, but what a great consolation prize securing the #7 RB in the nation in Fletcher & a surging 4* RB in Chris Johnson. Fletcher showed his value & abilities in The Army All American game. He appears to be the anti-Thad Franklin, & we have a great change of pace duo in the class of ‘23. We saw the RB room look good on paper, to becoming a sore spot in the blink of an eye in ‘22, & these two immensely help restore this room.

WR: B-
This is a room that needed an infusion of talent. This is also a position that had so much talent in our back yard where we left a lot of meat on the bones (pause) from a HS & Portal standpoint. We added two dynamic guys w/ the ball in their hand, but both are on the smallish side. While they will be dynamic playmakers, neither feel like a WR1 as opposed to WR2’s. It would’ve been great if they were paired with some of the other beast that were available.

OL: A+
What an absolute haul, both recruiting via HS & Portal! If there was any position on the field I was least concerned w/, it was OL. Both Mario & Alex know what it looks like, can drop names of guys they’ve coached up to the next level, & it paid dividends this cycle.

TE: A
The room already is stacked, & adding a top 5 TE in the nation, along w/ an in-line TE that can be flexed makes this a good haul that’ll shore up an already nice room

LB: A-
Best LB recruiting we’ve had in quite some time, & got **** did we need it! Hit on 3 absolute studs w/ Papo, Malik, & Francissssssssssco Mauioga, along w/ a newly minted 4-star LB in Bobby Washington. Also, picked up some nice depth pieces in Spencer & Pulliam. Not being able to snag Hill after the smoke build up sucked, but Strong & Company identified another weak spot, & absolutely attacked it.

DE: A
Deep, rotational class. Some raw talent (Acheampong, Horton) mixed in w/ some guys who should see the field early (Bain, Wayne), along w/ a vet who will see significant time via from The Portal in Deen. This room is already primed to be the anchor of the defense, & it just got better.

DT: D-
INEXCUSABLE RECRUITING HERE. Literally whiffed on everyone. The only reason y this room is not a complete F is b/c at least we were able to snag a G5 DL from The Portal (Gore) who can play all across the line. This room has been a thorn in our side for a while, & it’s unimaginable for a school that’s produced Sapp, Brown, Wilfork, Tez, Maryland, Joseph, etc. have struggled mightily to recruit here. Not in love w/ that room as a whole, so really dropped the ball here.

S: D
Again, a lot of meat left on the bones (pause) from this position. Love Antoine as a prospect, but right now we have Kam, JW0, & Markeith Williams in the entire S room. 3 guys. This was a room where we needed to recruit, at an absolute minimum, 2 guys & we didn’t fulfill that. Here’s praying to Kam & JDub stay healthy all season.

CB: B
Listen, picking up the Brown brothers, along w/ Stafford was good, but let’s keep it 100, substituting an oft injured CB in Roberts via The Portal for arguably a top 5 player in the nation regardless of position, absolutely sucks ***. I’m not going to lose sleep over any recruit who spurns us, but I’m not going to CIS the situation either & act like that chit didn’t sting. Cormani immediately changes the dynamic of the squad, especially this room. Nevertheless, a very good haul under the circumstances.

ST: N/A
Replacing Hedley “The Gawd” is going to be tough. Just b/c Joyce is from Australia like Lou doesn’t mean he’ll be Lou II, & b/c I’m not familiar w/ his game, I can’t comment on him. Just hoping he’s of the same caliber. ****, as long as he’s not remotely like Feagles, I’ll be happy.


Overall, I give this class a B+ as it took care a couple of needs (OL, LB, RB), added to others (DE, TE, CB), while leaving other rooms head scratching (DT, S, WR). Hopefully with the portal reopening later this yr, we’ll be able to change some of these rooms with better impact/depth players.

Thoughts & Discussion?
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Hard to argue anything in that post except maybe DT.

I'd give it a F+ I believe they'll probably use Horton at DT though. Not DE. Kid is already 280. As you said cannot understand why we cannot seem to recruit better at that position.

Wonderful write-up as usual.
 
I agree with many of the grades, though I would’ve been harsher at WR since we landed two stud slot wideouts but whiffed horribly on every premier X receiver target despite having substantial NIL offers on the table and immediate playing time to sell. Perfectly understandable to be excited about Washington and Joseph, though.

OL, TE, and DE were knocked out of the park. It’s the best LB class we’ve landed in a long time. RB looked troublesome for most of the cycle, but we finished very strong there despite being unable to land Baxter or Young.

This is a really, really strong class overall but QB, outside WR, and DT are glaring weaknesses and quite arguably the least talented position groups on the entire team now from a long-term roster building perspective. Considering this is now a rebuild and QB/WR/DT are as valuable as it gets, this is a big concern if the goal is to compete for playoff berths.

Both Smith & Trader, a truly premier QB prospect, and multiple studs at DT in ‘24 would go a long way towards getting the roster where it needs to be. Not to mention finally landing the Surtain and Campbell level CB we’ve been unable to close on for many years.
 
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@Rellyrell you are the man for this. Hard for me to put a top 7/8 class in the B+ category but I think you broke it down perfectly. I’m a little more bullish bc I think Roberts could kick out to Safety if need be. Supposedly guys in the team think Markeith Williams could be better than Kam.

Although it’s an unknown, I have a high degree of confidence we will get a WR1 this spring and probably another one. Potentially a DT and safety as well. A new OC and spring ball will be a boon to this team
 
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cway313 said:
This is what we've done for 20 years. Like clockwork our projects become underrated.
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Imagine falling on the sword for the OL.

Did you wake up ****ed off?

We added Cohen and Lee as well as 5 highschool OL.

Two studs and 3 kids who aren't Golden Specials at the 11th hour. Man stop.

Tripp showed up and TOOK a spot on that IMG OL.

Jesus
 
Hegemon said:
Imagine falling on the sword for the OL.

Did you wake up ****ed off?

We added Cohen and Lee as well as 5 highschool OL.

Two studs and 3 kids who aren't Golden Specials at the 11th hour. Man stop.

Tripp showed up and TOOK a spot on that IMG OL.

Jesus
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I get you disagree, smd.
 
cway313 said:
Lee and Cohen were great pickups. Kinsler, Tripp, and Frankie are projects anyway you slice it. I like the body tyles(bigger pause) but none of those guys are contributing the next 2 seasons. When half a position group is projects that is top heavy. I like my grade.
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We added 4 guys that will be sure fire starters for us the next 2 years and that usually doesn’t happen. The other 3 are projects at positions that are the hardest eval, the OL. Look, you and I see eye to eye on elite talent and that is what makes the difference. We are the only school to sign 2 five star OL this cycle, not Bama not UGA, MIAMI. If that’s not a straight A on that alone, I don’t know what is.
 
cway313 said:
I get you disagree, smd.
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Your post makes no sense. Nothing to disagree about especially with your developmental take being juxtaposed to Cristobal and Mirabals coaching of that unit.

Like really? Lol
 
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bobbydigius said:
We added 4 guys that will be sure fire starters for us the next 2 years and that usually doesn’t happen. The other 3 are projects at positions that are the hardest eval, the OL. Look, you and I see eye to eye on elite talent and that is what makes the difference. We are the only school to sign 2 five star OL this cycle, not Bama not UGA, MIAMI. If that’s not a straight A on that alone, I don’t know what is.
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I don't get how this turned into me tearing down OL class lmao. My A- vs your A isn't that big of a disparity. You are a little higher on the other 3 guys than me but my point wasn't the class or those players were trash.
 
Rellyrell said:
If Deen is going to be a DT then that’s a problem. He’s small, like 6-3 255 small. Lol. That new tidbit doesn’t change that grade, at all. Lol.

I thought B- for WR was adequate just due to the caliber of guys we did pull in. Both r dynamic, blue chip players, but their lack of size is y it’s closer to a C haul vs. B haul.
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The good news is that Deen is actually 285 now. I'm not a sunshine pumper by any means lol and I like the Deen pickup a lot. Hes legit.

he is not the war daddy type of player we needed and were gonna get with the Kentucky transfer, so its not all good at DT. But Deen is super legit at DT.
 
cway313 said:
I don't get how this turned into me tearing down OL class lmao. My A- vs your A isn't that big of a disparity. You are a little higher on the other 3 guys than me but my point wasn't the class or those players were trash.
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Don’t think you are tearing it down nor do I think it’s about the 3 projects, albeit I am higher on one of them than you are. I think Tripp and Frankie are whatever. Still, where we seem to not agree is the value Mauigoa and Samson bring to the table. Landing those two alone is an A. We had to address quality and quantity and we did both. We replace say Tripp with an Olus or another highly rated guy then it is an A+.
 
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Good List. Think you definitely point to the places we still need improvement and have a lot of work to do before we can legitimately say we are ready to compete and play in that top 10-15 year in and year out. DT legit scares me to death next year with some of the teams we have to play. A&M, Clemson, FSU, BC are all just going to pummel us down the middle if we can't prove early on we can stop the run.
 
bobbydigius said:
Don’t think you are tearing it down nor do I think it’s about the 3 projects, albeit I am higher on one of them than you are. I think Tripp and Frankie are whatever. Still, where we seem to not agree is the value Mauigoa and Samson bring to the table. Landing those two alone is an A. We had to address quality and quantity and we did both. We replace say Tripp with an Olus or another highly rated guy then it is an A+.
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What would you grade each pickup individually?
Samson A
Francis A
Cohen A
Lee A
Frankie B-
Tripp B
Kinsler B+
I didn't grow up with A+ 😭.
 
Rellyrell said:
Now that all of the signing periods have been completed, with Miami coming up empty on NSD, I wanted to assess our current class, including the transfer portal.

First off, kudos to Mario & the staff to navigate a tumultuous season, while pulling in a solid class in his first, full cycle. The 2008 Class, however, taught me a valuable lesson; never fully focus on the team ranking per recruiting services vs. evaluating the totality of the class, itself. As an example, Team A can recruit 25 kids that included 10-5* & 15-4*. On paper, that would be the #1 class in the nation, but if 50% of that class are strictly DEs, & the other 50% are strictly LBs…u get the point.

So here are my grades for our class, per position:

QB: C+
Though I soured on Rashada as his season progressed, the fact is we solely focused on him, when red flags began to present themselves. Our QB room is a mess, & relying upon one QB via the HS ranks, a 3* at that, is risky. This is not to say Williams won’t be the next Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, or Justin Herbert, but it is to say our QB room is in dire straights & this not the way to repair it in 2023.

RB: A-
We missed on Baxter & Young, but what a great consolation prize securing the #7 RB in the nation in Fletcher & a surging 4* RB in Chris Johnson. Fletcher showed his value & abilities in The Army All American game. He appears to be the anti-Thad Franklin, & we have a great change of pace duo in the class of ‘23. We saw the RB room look good on paper, to becoming a sore spot in the blink of an eye in ‘22, & these two immensely help restore this room.

WR: B-
This is a room that needed an infusion of talent. This is also a position that had so much talent in our back yard where we left a lot of meat on the bones (pause) from a HS & Portal standpoint. We added two dynamic guys w/ the ball in their hand, but both are on the smallish side. While they will be dynamic playmakers, neither feel like a WR1 as opposed to WR2’s. It would’ve been great if they were paired with some of the other beast that were available.

OL: A+
What an absolute haul, both recruiting via HS & Portal! If there was any position on the field I was least concerned w/, it was OL. Both Mario & Alex know what it looks like, can drop names of guys they’ve coached up to the next level, & it paid dividends this cycle.

TE: A
The room already is stacked, & adding a top 5 TE in the nation, along w/ an in-line TE that can be flexed makes this a good haul that’ll shore up an already nice room

LB: A-
Best LB recruiting we’ve had in quite some time, & got **** did we need it! Hit on 3 absolute studs w/ Papo, Malik, & Francissssssssssco Mauioga, along w/ a newly minted 4-star LB in Bobby Washington. Also, picked up some nice depth pieces in Spencer & Pulliam. Not being able to snag Hill after the smoke build up sucked, but Strong & Company identified another weak spot, & absolutely attacked it.

DE: A
Deep, rotational class. Some raw talent (Acheampong, Horton) mixed in w/ some guys who should see the field early (Bain, Wayne), along w/ a vet who will see significant time via from The Portal in Deen. This room is already primed to be the anchor of the defense, & it just got better.

DT: D-
INEXCUSABLE RECRUITING HERE. Literally whiffed on everyone. The only reason y this room is not a complete F is b/c at least we were able to snag a G5 DL from The Portal (Gore) who can play all across the line. This room has been a thorn in our side for a while, & it’s unimaginable for a school that’s produced Sapp, Brown, Wilfork, Tez, Maryland, Joseph, etc. have struggled mightily to recruit here. Not in love w/ that room as a whole, so really dropped the ball here.

S: D
Again, a lot of meat left on the bones (pause) from this position. Love Antoine as a prospect, but right now we have Kam, JW0, & Markeith Williams in the entire S room. 3 guys. This was a room where we needed to recruit, at an absolute minimum, 2 guys & we didn’t fulfill that. Here’s praying to Kam & JDub stay healthy all season.

CB: B
Listen, picking up the Brown brothers, along w/ Stafford was good, but let’s keep it 100, substituting an oft injured CB in Roberts via The Portal for arguably a top 5 player in the nation regardless of position, absolutely sucks ***. I’m not going to lose sleep over any recruit who spurns us, but I’m not going to CIS the situation either & act like that chit didn’t sting. Cormani immediately changes the dynamic of the squad, especially this room. Nevertheless, a very good haul under the circumstances.

ST: N/A
Replacing Hedley “The Gawd” is going to be tough. Just b/c Joyce is from Australia like Lou doesn’t mean he’ll be Lou II, & b/c I’m not familiar w/ his game, I can’t comment on him. Just hoping he’s of the same caliber. ****, as long as he’s not remotely like Feagles, I’ll be happy.


Overall, I give this class a B+ as it took care a couple of needs (OL, LB, RB), added to others (DE, TE, CB), while leaving other rooms head scratching (DT, S, WR). Hopefully with the portal reopening later this yr, we’ll be able to change some of these rooms with better impact/depth players.

Thoughts & Discussion?
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Agree I don't like our qbs now so we in trouble there, also DT is in terrible shape and S as well. Need absolute monsters next cycle that everyone wants no 4 star fillers.
 
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I like the scores. This highlights the fact that it will take us a bit of time to get where we want to be.

Some people think addiing one or two players here or there will turn us into Georgia or Bama and then they get upset when season doesn't go how they think. Another year or two of recruiting like this and we should be able to compete at the highest levels consistently. Assuming we get people who can teach, develop, and scheme properly.
 
Dwinstitles said:
Agree I don't like our qbs now so we in trouble there, also DT is in terrible shape and S as well. Need absolute monsters next cycle that everyone wants no 4 star fillers.
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Those are 3 terrible spots to be in trouble. Add in health questions in the RB room and question marks at WR and we are just a rolling Incomplete as a team right now in spite of all the high quality in this class
 
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