Recruiting with the Heavyweights (300+ final class rankings on 24/7)
First time as OP. I’d say “Be gentle”, but I know this board well enough by now to know that if you find this post worthwhile I won’t need the admonition and if you don’t… well… no amount of pleading will save me.
Since 2002 only 14 teams have finished with a final class rating over 300, an average of one a year. In 6 of those 14 years NO team cracked 300. So historically, that’s a relatively high bar to clear and a good sign of recruiting at the highest level.
I was spending some time this morning looking at how good our 2017 class might be when all is said and done. If we get all of the kids we expect to get (Singleton, Anthony, Collins, Filiaga) and a handful of others we’re not sure about (Harris, Solomon, Tufele, Gay, Slaton), we’ll finish with a 24/7 composite class ranking over 300.
Obviously Alabama and Ohio State are killing it this year and both are pretty much guaranteed to finish 300+ as well.
That got me to wondering how many times three teams have finished 300+ and the answer is… zero. It’s never happened in the 24/7 composite era which extends back to 2002 (I'm ignoring 2000-2001 because the numbers don't seem comparable).
What’s also interesting is that there is a fourth team, Georgia, who could join that particular party this year as well.
Below is the projection I saw using the 24/7 class calculator based on recruits with heavy Crystal Ball leans to each given school:
OSU: 318.52 (adding Jeffrey Okudah, Darnay Holmes and Jaylen Harris)
Alabama: 313.64 (adding Labryan Ray, Jarez Parks, Devonta Smith, Henry Ruggs… losing Najee Harris)
Georgia: 301.43 (adding DeAngelo Gibbs, Nate McBride, Tray Bishop, Leonard Weaver)
Michigan: 300.43 (adding Harris, Solomon, Singleton, Filiaga, Collins, Anthony)
Michigan is also in the thick of it for Jay Tufele, Willie Gay and Tedarrell Slaton. Adding any one of those would leapfrog us over Georgia.
Also of note… a lot has been made of OSU’s class this year. If they finish according to the projection above, that will make for the fourth best class ever (behind 2010 Florida, 2014 Alabama and 2013 Alabama). The Class Calculator doesn't give average player rating, but I suspect that's where OSU would be the top class in history. Right now they're at 95.72 which is well above the previous high of 93 and change.
While I recognize that cracking 300 would take a lot of things falling our way, I think the fact that we have a realistic shot at it two years into Harbaugh's tenure speaks eloquently about how firmly the trajectory of the program has changed under his leadership and how bright the future is for our beloved Wolverines.
Go Blue!
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:35 AM ^
Great first OP!
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^
Do you have a negative - 996299?
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:39 AM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:44 AM ^
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December 22nd, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^
Takes no time, I can go right back to watching TV or sleep, don't have to cuddle or talk to anyone, haha.
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:19 PM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:36 PM ^
Well the act of sex can be scary itself. There are women out there that are selfish and it doesn't make for very good sex. I don't think they have a clue about this. Sex is never bad but some women are so much better at it than others. Way better! So reverting to the alternative is a safe bet I guess. I do remember the first time I had sex. I was so damn scared. Yet, I was all alone and in the dark. Am I getting the point across here?
December 22nd, 2016 at 2:51 PM ^
You never need to watch infomercials again post solo relief.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:39 AM ^
I believe he vacationed in Boliva, or something like that.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:41 AM ^
He said he liked the draftageddon posts in the comments section. About 10% of the posters that despise Draftageddon downvoted him and that's how you get negative a million points.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:37 AM ^
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December 22nd, 2016 at 10:38 AM ^
I think it will ultimately come down to if we can flip Harris or not. Either way I feel great about this class and already looking forward to how the next few years shake out as our play on the field continues to grow.
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:44 AM ^
We CAN miss out on Harris and still have a 300+ class, but it would mean we'd have to hit on everyone else on the list, particularly Solomon. If we miss out on both Harris and Solomon, it can't happen.
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:56 AM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:22 AM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:25 AM ^
maybe we need to use a different term than once in a generation if it happens that frequently, unless we are talking about fruit fly generations
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:35 AM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:51 AM ^
I am sorry but regardless of how statistics work, these players are not "once in a generation" players by definition. If you want to use the "100-year flood concept" then yes, it could happen multiple times but then, by definition, Harris, Peppers and probably not even Gary meet that defintion. Can you honestly say that Harris is the type of player that is expected only once in a generation? No, he is the top rated player but not clearly better than a number of RBs in the last 20 years. So your label of those players fails and that's why people called you out on your post.
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:01 PM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^
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December 22nd, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^
I was just reading Bama's 247 recruiting round-up (I know, I know). They seem relatively confindent on Solomon. I thought Georgia was the main competition for Aubrey, but their moderator seemed like he thought they would get him.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:02 PM ^
He will be at Georgis or Michigan. Alabama is not getting him. They usually trump other schools in many cases but I don't think this one falls in that category.
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:17 PM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:48 PM ^
Sam Webb stated on a recent recruiting roundup that he was convinced Clemson was Michigan's biggest competition for Solomon. Take that FWIW.
December 22nd, 2016 at 3:47 PM ^
Clemson recrutiing is the easiest job in the world. Just wait until another staff does all the work of identifying a kid and offering him . . . and then just have your bagman swoop in in January and steal him away.
Clemson is the new Ole Miss.
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:42 AM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:04 AM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:25 AM ^
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December 22nd, 2016 at 10:42 AM ^
op, post more.
Signed, The rest of us.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:38 AM ^
Unless you're drunk. Then again, sometimes drunk ideas are the most exciting.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:46 AM ^
Is it weird that the thing I find most strange about this is that the guy beside the pool is wearing socks?
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:02 PM ^
Maybe a little, but I don't judge.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:44 AM ^
Since, for some reason, I had to double-post. I'll just put this other gif in here for a little laugh.
I'm assuming the words "Hold my beer. Watch this." preceded this event.
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:01 PM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 3:49 PM ^
No it was "Go Bucks!"
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:44 AM ^
We will continue to to compete at a very high level with classes like these.
December 22nd, 2016 at 3:25 PM ^
That was really my takeaway from this. The certain knowledge, and the peace of mind it brings as a fan, that our team and coach are competing at the very highest levels.
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:49 AM ^
The thing that I find terrific is that there is reason to think that this is what we should expect moving forward. When Harbaugh came to the job at the end of 2014, the kids he would take in the 2016 class were already being wooed by other schools. He had a lot of ground to make up building relationships in a short amount of time. But he was simultaneously laying the ground work for this epic 2017 recruiting class.
There is no reason to think that he isn't now laying the ground work for another epic class next year as well. And he obviously has the talent and the team to develop these kids into top notch players.
The future is bright for the maize and blue.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:06 AM ^
Next year's class will not be ranked as high due to the projected small size. I'd bet on it having a higher average though.
This year's class is very impressive in part because of its size. There isn't much of a dropoff towards the lower end of the rankings. It's not easy to fill such a large class without making a number of reaches.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:43 AM ^
What you're saying is...
Size matters???
/dammit
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:11 PM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:23 PM ^
But what does your wife say?
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:45 PM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^
told me it was HYUGE! when we were dating...we are now married, and somehow it shrunk.
December 22nd, 2016 at 4:08 PM ^
will still be a large number based on kids deciding they want playing time and other matters, and it will be the best average ranking based on the fact the Michigan will have 10+ players drafted this year alone.
As Steve Lorenz says, kids love the idea of teams who've won the NC, but NFL is the biggest driving factory for them. The reason they're killing recruiting this year is because of all the players they put in the draft this past Spring. Major continuted NFL drafting success will be one of the biggest factors for blue chip players.
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:46 AM ^
I think we have to be happy with a top 5. 3 or 4 years of those in a row and watch America!
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^
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