@DMoney:
We've had plenty of those kids, and we didn't win with them. That's why our head coaches are unemployed and our players are employed. The same players who couldn't play defense in 2015 learned pretty quick in 2016. The same thing is happening on offense this year.
It’s been said that in a bubble, everything correlates to the bubble. We keep having this discussion because you can’t avoid trying to take everything back to one aspect of bad coaching. It’s weird, because we both agree our coaching has sucked. Yet when we talk talent, roster composition, evaluations, you just can’t avoid defensively responding as if the discussion is a distraction from bad coaching. I probably should give up discussing it with you, but I know you’re passionate about this team and CFB, and so I just can’t understand why you’re not more interested in thinking about how we can get better at getting the right roster talent, and managing it effectively. It’s a huge part of a successful program. And something we have not done well enough, and arguably have done a lot worse than your stats imply, for reasons we’ve all rehashed around here.
We don't have an Alabama-style roster. Nobody thinks we do. The question should be, "Why does a .500 program keep showing up on NFL lists next to Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State?" We're always on these lists, and we're always the outlier.
I disagree. That’s not the right question. The question I focus on is ‘how do we improve this team?’ That and ‘what’s wrong with it?’ Or even, I guess, 'what might be misleading in those statistics you like to cite'? Those are different questions. You’re asking a conclusory question that keeps forcing you back to the same one-sided view of the roster. There are so many other questions you should be asking, however.
And there's a huge difference between a 6th Rounder and a plumber. If producing average pros was easy, every school would do it.
Sigh. Who are these plumbers who play for other top teams?
Since you asked, I would focus on length, toughness and twitch. Those are the three characteristics that are most difficult to develop.
Those are relevant traits, but they’re just a piece of the puzzle. Toughness can mean different things. I’d break it into likes to compete, won’t quit when things get tough, and likes contact. I think those are different traits. I also think you have to be able to see feel for the game, instincts or call it what you want, some kids have it and some don’t. But these are just generic traits. Programs need to think about what they’re looking for by position, what risks they’re taking in kids, and how to balance ‘upside’ traits with ‘downside mitigation.’ Kids who aren’t as twitchy and long and still be really valuable if they’re strong, tough, love contact and have great instincts. The right recruiting process really breaks down the roster, the needs, the ‘prototype models’ we’re looking for, the types of kids we realistically can recruit, and then has to compare one more WR to one fewer LB, balancing upside against position needs. There’s a lot of judgment calls in there. And if you don’t prioritize and organize it all, you can try to assess too many kids, miss a lot, make bad calls, and waste a lot of time. I don’t think you disagree here, just think this program should do a lot more to get into the 21st century on recruiting than it looks like it’s doing.
That same offense had a future NFL RB running for less than 700 yards and a future NFL WR putting up less than 600 yards. Both were upperclassmen. The system dragged everyone down from the top of the roster to the bottom.
It's not normal to struggle this way. Look again at the numbers in the OP. The teams that missed on their blue-chippers were perennial underachievers like FSU, Tennessee, Texas and USC. The teams that hit on their blue-chippers were the absolute cream of the crop, plus Miami.
There is a unique disconnect between our program's ability to produce pros and the performance on the field. If we can close that gap, we will be able to fill the gaps on the roster.
I know you struggle with this all. It just seems obvious to me. For a long time, our coaches have sucked, our staffs have been very weak, our administrative support has been well below other major programs, and our culture has been poor. It is what it is. Amateur, at best. We have to fix all that, but we also have to actually have an 85 man roster that’s properly constructed and balanced, so we have experience (upperclassmen who stick around and are talented), depth (including experience and talented youth), balance across the units, a talented QB and no major weaknesses. We’ve just been way off on this for too long. Empty roster spots, dead wood, holes in units, imbalance, poor QB, weak lines, lack of experienced senior leadership, and lack of competition and depth behind the starters. Those things all come together, and having 3 marginal nfl kids a year doesn’t overcome it.