- Joined
- Oct 21, 2011
- Messages
- 15,655
Criteria used:
(a) Offensive Skill Position players (no OL)
(b) last 5 years of recruiting (including this one)
(c) from the State of Florida
(d) how I would have ranked them as prospects coming out of HS (not once I saw them in College)
(e) ***I personally ranked prospects on a balance of production and ceiling. So, as others have noted, there's an element of "it seems like you're giving some weight to their NFL prospects." In fact, it's more of a "ceiling" weight. I rank prospects based on what type of ceiling I think they can hit in their last year or two of college.***
(f) Obviously, once we've gotten a look at these guys in college, many of these rankings would be different. To be fair to the 2013 guys, I wanted to go based on how I thought of the players coming out as HS prospects.
Without going to deeply into the databases, here's how I'd rank the state of Florida's offensive prospects (coming out of high school) at SKILL POSITIONS in the last 5 years:
1. Sammy Watkins - Thought he was the best player I had seen in a very long time. It's been discussed ad nauseum.
2. Duke Johnson - Most pure RB I had seen since Frank Gore. My style of RB (so that probably played a role in how I felt). Thought he was the closest thing to Ladanian Tomlinson I had seen since LT's Horned Frog days.
3. Gio Bernard - Loved his style. Readily admit I'm inclined to like these squattier backs. His inside running was pure. He's made me look good.
4. Trent Richardson - He's made me look bad. He was hyped. I liked him. Probably thought less of his explosiveness than I should have, in hindsight.
5. Aaron Murray - Always tough to read QBs, but thought he had everything to be a star. Accurate, nice release, decent feet. He's disappointed me.
6. Alex Collins - No need to get into this again. He's now properly hyped. Fell in love with his game when I started following his team because one of my employees has a son who plays OL for him. He was ranked somewhere in the 20s as an RB. People see him a star now, but I still think he deserves to be maybe curiously high on this kind of list.
7. Orson Charles - I loved him out of HS, as did mostly everyone. He has disappointed. I'd classify this as a miss.
8. Stacy Coley - Like him because I think he'll be able to get separation on anyone. Hope he keeps it together. Hope it happens at Miami. The difference between this spot and Kadron Boone's spot (#17) is my hope that Stacy has matured.
9. Teddy Bridgewater - His feet are much better than I thought they'd be. An "after I see him in College" list would have him quite a bit higher. His accuracy has exceeded expectations.
10. Amari Cooper - Probably my biggest "miss" on this list and probably my biggest "miss" in my years of following recruiting. Everyone knew he was probably a top 3 athlete in the State. When I went to see him, he looked bored and disinterested. Multiple times. He put it all together immediately at Alabama.
11. A.C. Leonard - Yikes. At Tennessee State now. Thought this guy had everything you'd want athletically. Can't even explain what happened here.
12. Jake Rudock - Probably a lot higher than most people would have had him on a prospect list. I have to own up to the fact I really liked him and it may not work out well. Still early in his career and let's see if he wins the job at Iowa this year.
13. Angelo Jean-Louis - FML.
14. Derrick Henry - Others may have him higher. Long-term, I don't think he's on the level of the previous RBs. Maybe it's a matter of style preference.
15. Nick O'Leary - Wasn't as hyped about him as others because, as most on the old Grassy board talked about, he seemed like a clear H-Back. FSU has stunted his development. I think he's a better player than what he has shown so far.
16. Jacoby Brissett - We know this story.
17. Kadron Boone - Loved this guy coming out of HS. Hasn't done what I expected so far, but it's still early. I thought he had everything to become an NFL player.
18. Geno Smith - Obviously, this would be too low. Really settled his feet down in College.
19. Kelvin Taylor - Might make me eat my words and ranking.
20. Jeff Driskel - Still not a huge fan of his game, but he's obviously improved. Much more balanced. I thought he'd look a lot like what he did as a True Frosh, but then I did NOT expect what he sometimes looked like in his 2nd year. Next year, he can make this ranking look very bad.
21. Christian Green - Wasn't a huge fan of his game relative to his bigtime ranking. He did well his Frosh year, but then came down to earth last year. Still too early to say, but so far I feel solid about how I had thought of him.
22. Eduardo Clements - Was he going to be a CB? Was he going to be Clinton Portis? My old HS beat his team and that kind of tempered expectations, but I thought he'd be better than what he has shown. Last chance, it seems.
23. Mario Pender - Could make me eat my words and ranking.
24. Chris Dunkley - Guy's all over the place. We'll see.
25. Duron Carter - smh.
Left off Nukeese Richardson and a handful of others I liked. Totally missed on guys like Stedman Bailey, for example. Stephen Morris wouldn't have been on my list, so can't suddenly say he would be because he's going to be an All-ACC guy next year.
I almost certainly forgot guys, again. Point is to get the discussion going. Feel free to make your own lists.
(a) Offensive Skill Position players (no OL)
(b) last 5 years of recruiting (including this one)
(c) from the State of Florida
(d) how I would have ranked them as prospects coming out of HS (not once I saw them in College)
(e) ***I personally ranked prospects on a balance of production and ceiling. So, as others have noted, there's an element of "it seems like you're giving some weight to their NFL prospects." In fact, it's more of a "ceiling" weight. I rank prospects based on what type of ceiling I think they can hit in their last year or two of college.***
(f) Obviously, once we've gotten a look at these guys in college, many of these rankings would be different. To be fair to the 2013 guys, I wanted to go based on how I thought of the players coming out as HS prospects.
Without going to deeply into the databases, here's how I'd rank the state of Florida's offensive prospects (coming out of high school) at SKILL POSITIONS in the last 5 years:
1. Sammy Watkins - Thought he was the best player I had seen in a very long time. It's been discussed ad nauseum.
2. Duke Johnson - Most pure RB I had seen since Frank Gore. My style of RB (so that probably played a role in how I felt). Thought he was the closest thing to Ladanian Tomlinson I had seen since LT's Horned Frog days.
3. Gio Bernard - Loved his style. Readily admit I'm inclined to like these squattier backs. His inside running was pure. He's made me look good.
4. Trent Richardson - He's made me look bad. He was hyped. I liked him. Probably thought less of his explosiveness than I should have, in hindsight.
5. Aaron Murray - Always tough to read QBs, but thought he had everything to be a star. Accurate, nice release, decent feet. He's disappointed me.
6. Alex Collins - No need to get into this again. He's now properly hyped. Fell in love with his game when I started following his team because one of my employees has a son who plays OL for him. He was ranked somewhere in the 20s as an RB. People see him a star now, but I still think he deserves to be maybe curiously high on this kind of list.
7. Orson Charles - I loved him out of HS, as did mostly everyone. He has disappointed. I'd classify this as a miss.
8. Stacy Coley - Like him because I think he'll be able to get separation on anyone. Hope he keeps it together. Hope it happens at Miami. The difference between this spot and Kadron Boone's spot (#17) is my hope that Stacy has matured.
9. Teddy Bridgewater - His feet are much better than I thought they'd be. An "after I see him in College" list would have him quite a bit higher. His accuracy has exceeded expectations.
10. Amari Cooper - Probably my biggest "miss" on this list and probably my biggest "miss" in my years of following recruiting. Everyone knew he was probably a top 3 athlete in the State. When I went to see him, he looked bored and disinterested. Multiple times. He put it all together immediately at Alabama.
11. A.C. Leonard - Yikes. At Tennessee State now. Thought this guy had everything you'd want athletically. Can't even explain what happened here.
12. Jake Rudock - Probably a lot higher than most people would have had him on a prospect list. I have to own up to the fact I really liked him and it may not work out well. Still early in his career and let's see if he wins the job at Iowa this year.
13. Angelo Jean-Louis - FML.
14. Derrick Henry - Others may have him higher. Long-term, I don't think he's on the level of the previous RBs. Maybe it's a matter of style preference.
15. Nick O'Leary - Wasn't as hyped about him as others because, as most on the old Grassy board talked about, he seemed like a clear H-Back. FSU has stunted his development. I think he's a better player than what he has shown so far.
16. Jacoby Brissett - We know this story.
17. Kadron Boone - Loved this guy coming out of HS. Hasn't done what I expected so far, but it's still early. I thought he had everything to become an NFL player.
18. Geno Smith - Obviously, this would be too low. Really settled his feet down in College.
19. Kelvin Taylor - Might make me eat my words and ranking.
20. Jeff Driskel - Still not a huge fan of his game, but he's obviously improved. Much more balanced. I thought he'd look a lot like what he did as a True Frosh, but then I did NOT expect what he sometimes looked like in his 2nd year. Next year, he can make this ranking look very bad.
21. Christian Green - Wasn't a huge fan of his game relative to his bigtime ranking. He did well his Frosh year, but then came down to earth last year. Still too early to say, but so far I feel solid about how I had thought of him.
22. Eduardo Clements - Was he going to be a CB? Was he going to be Clinton Portis? My old HS beat his team and that kind of tempered expectations, but I thought he'd be better than what he has shown. Last chance, it seems.
23. Mario Pender - Could make me eat my words and ranking.
24. Chris Dunkley - Guy's all over the place. We'll see.
25. Duron Carter - smh.
Left off Nukeese Richardson and a handful of others I liked. Totally missed on guys like Stedman Bailey, for example. Stephen Morris wouldn't have been on my list, so can't suddenly say he would be because he's going to be an All-ACC guy next year.
I almost certainly forgot guys, again. Point is to get the discussion going. Feel free to make your own lists.
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