Closing out the 2014 Class

You bank it for next year when we have a better chance at landing stud recruits unless McDowell jumps on board.

maybe we could flip C.J Hilliard from Iowa and then we could be the leader for his brother.

you're not counting mark schlissel?

I think Jeff Jones is the most likely to commit.  McDowell I think will go to Michigan State honestly.  He visited them most recently (I think), and they did just win the Rose Bowl.

I think whatever schollies we have left will be banked for next year.  This class was never going to be ranked that highly by the websites due to the size it was going to be since we took 27 and 25 the last two years, and unlike a class from the previous regime, those classses have stayed pretty much in tact except for Ringer.  And he was due to injury wasn't he?

It just hasn't yet been made official. 

There were 4 real positions of need and we did a good job filing 3 of them  - QB (Speight), high end WR (Harris), high end CB/athlete (Peppers), high end pass rushing DE (closest we got was Marshall).  Considering the small available size of the class and the lack of drama outside of Hand/McDowell, the 2014 class should be considered a success. 

There's enough talent up and down the roster now along with some meaningful game day experience to make real progress on the field over the next year or two, regardless of whether anyone else is added at the end of this class. 

It's really all about the game day coaching now.  That's the part we should be more concerned with rather than whether we're able to poach another 4 star player or two before NSD.

I thought Michigan was going to pull in a surprise recruit in the 2013 class, and then NSD came and went without much fanfare (aside from Derrick Green's commitment near the end of the recruiting cycle). We probably could have reeled in Jones or Mack if we wanted, but for whatever reason, things have fizzled there, too. Personally, I would like to see us go after a running back in this class, and Mack could play a number of positions. But if they're not good fits for the program, there's no use wasting a scholarship.

I doubt any of those 3, though. 

They might move another grayshirt to a scholarship like they did with Pallante as well. 

It's been reported that no RB will be taken in 2014 supposedly, so DL is the most likely place for them to look further down and try to get a late commit from someone since it's doubtful McDowell is going Blue at this point.

I do think theres a 51% chance that Mcdowell goes blue.

1-2 Dennis Norfleets this in this class? wow, can you imagine what this offense would look like next year if we had THREE Dennis Norfleets on our team? Our base play would be the Jet-Sweep-Quadruple-Reverse.

I can see the merit in making sure former walk-ons keep their scholarships, but only if they have in fact won out a start position or significant playing time in the 2-deep.  But otherwise, just handing out scholarships to 2-stars or fringe 3 stars just to fill up the class doesn't make sense to me.

That being said, we've gotten into this odd scholarship pattern of large classes, then very small classes, largely due to the massive turnover from the last coaching regime.  I'd prefer that we get to a more balanced approach with every class in the high teens or low 20's.  In theory, the graduation or attrition of each class would become more balanced and thus more conducive to a true "system"--especially on the lines, as well as more consistent senior leadership.  We took big classes in 2012 and 2013, so at some point in the future we knew we'd have to pay the piper.  The issue was whether to spread that pain out a little bit over a few seasons, or concentrate that into a shorter timespan.

Maybe by taking an even smaller class in 2014, this allows us to get back to "class size normalcy" that much earlier, provided that we also have the discipline not to over-stack the recruiting classes when the 2012 & 2013 classes begin to leave the program (i.e. lose 22 seniors, but replace them w/ only 18 or 19 recruits). That way, when the small senior recruiting class of 2014 does graduate in 2017/2018, we've got another 3-6 scholarships ready to go and we can recruit a more normal 19-21 player class the next year.  The down-side of course is that when the large (numbers wise) and talented recruiting classes of 2012 & 2013 leave the program, we will be faced with a potentially tiny cadre of senior leadership, and thus we will want to rely on the under classmen (i.e. the recruiting classes of 2015-2017)---which is a situation similar to what we found ourselves in 2013.   

And if we are going to try and balance-out the scholarships year to year, that means that not only will we need to avoid the temptation to binge on scholarships again when they become open starting in 2015-2017, it means we will also have to be far more efficient in evaluating talent & the character of some of the 2015-2017 recruits who will be leaned on heavily as underclassmen.

Of course, maybe by then Hoke will be let go and the entire recruiting plan will be a giant tire-fire ala the RichRod depature.  So maybe it's not worth considering too much.....

closed out and we will not be adding any more recruits.  I guess its not surprising given our season and Sparty's assendence, but it sure is depressing. 

Lets hope the 2014 mojo continues in EL this Saturday.

Unless we get one big surprise on signing day. Overall a good solid class.  We are ranked in the 20 to 30 range of recruiting classes, mainly because of our small class size. My biggest disappointment was not getting Hand. If we were playing better this season, Hand would not have bypassed us for AL. I think we will surprise the experts next season with 10 wins and perhaps a major upset or two.