How Miami's Recruiting can return us to greatness

[motorcitycane]

It's no secret that recruiting is the lifeblood of college football. For most teams the better off recruiting transfers to many wins. There are always bust in CFB and there are always hidden two and 3 star gems. Look at the NFL draft every year. You'll see some low 3 star or two star guy sneaking into the first round.

I'm a believer that if you are able to consistently land guys ranked in the top 10 at their position that it will eventually pay off for you. Yes some of those kids bust. Especially at QB, but I believe as we stack this class with guys ranked in the top 10 of their positions that it will lead us to more competition throughout.

Looking back on our recent classes we signed and have some real talent. Stacking talent with more talent increases competition and the weak will transfer out. The true competitors will stay.

Let's recap the top 10 national players from each Miami Recruiting class.
2016
RB:#10 Travis Homer

WR:#2 8 Ahmon Richards (Wasn't top 10 at position but was a FRESHMAN AA)

DE: #16 Joe Jackson (NOT TOP 10 but FRESHMAN AA)

LB: #5 Shaq Quarterman (FRESHMAN AA)
#19 Michael Pinckney (FRESHMAN AA)

2017
QB: #6 N'Kosi Perry
WR: #6 Jeff Thomas
OL: #10 Navaughn Donaldson
DE: #6 DJ Johnson

2018
QB: #4 Arthur Sitkowski
RB: #2 Lorenzo Lingard, #7 Cam'Ron Davis
WR: Hightower and Pope (dropped in Rankings but were top 10)
TE:#1 Brevin Jordan #9 Will Mallory
OL: #5 Cleveland Reed
CB: #9 Joshua Jobe


I'm sure we will add a few more studs in the 18 class and even some Jeff Thomas type surprises later down the line.

That means in 2018 we will have 18 players on the roster who were top 10 type players at their position coming out of high school.
Our goal is to make the playoffs and we are missing some studs at very crucial places still the top teams are stacking players year after year. We need to reach that level of consistency.

Let's look at our competitors and see what they are doing by the 2018 season.

Alabama
2015 Class had 14 players ranked top 10 in their position groups
2016 Class had 15 players ranked top 10 of their position groups
2017 Class had 22 players ranked in the top 10 of their position groups
2018 class is weak right now

Ohio State
2015 Class had 10 players top 10 in their position
2016 Class had 13 Players ranked top 10 in their position group
2017 Class had 14 Players ranked in Top 10 of their position Group
2018 9 of 10 commits are in top 10 of their position groups

Clemson
2015 8 top 10 of their position group
2016 8 top 10 of their position group
2017 3 Top 10 of position group
2018 3 Top 10 in their Position Group

FSU
2015: Signed 10 ranked in top 10 of position group
2016: Signed 15 in top 10 of their position group
2017: Signed 11 in top 10 of position group
2018: 5 commits in top 10 of position group.

The key area of struggle for Miami seems to remain the same. Our OL Recruiting needs to significantly improve and our DT area needs to improve. We have done great in the player development areas with lower ranked players and made some of them draft eligible. but can you imagine our player development with the top guys in the country at their positions?

We've had a problem with highly rated DT's and OL coming here. That's something that I hope we can address in this class.

 

[Oicu812]

Your post also reflects how far out we were talent wise...when this staff showed up!! Great job with what they came here to. Looking at those numbers, its also clear, although vast improvements have been made, we still have a ways to go yet, before we have the quality depth, some of the other programs have to work with. We've seen improvements pretty much across the board with this staff, I think they need another year or 2 of stacking chips before we see what they're really capable of doing for us.

 

[Billy D Williams]

I think this year is when people realize that The U is on the way back. Recruits have already taken notice. IMO 2019 is when we blow up as a top five team and get into considerations for the BCS playoff. I will agree all this will depend on us consistently signing top DT's and OL.

 

[brock]

Your post also reflects how far out we were talent wise...when this staff showed up!! Great job with what they came here to. Looking at those numbers, its also clear, although vast improvements have been made, we still have a ways to go yet, before we have the quality depth, some of the other programs have to work with. We've seen improvements pretty much across the board with this staff, I think they need another year or 2 of stacking chips before we see what they're really capable of doing for us.

Miami will have a top 5-10 roster talent wise after the 2018 class gets here, we aren't that far away

 

[grover]

Yeah, we put a lot of kids in the league even during the dark decade of late Coker, Shannon and Golden. But most of them were late round and UFA. That's a 8-10 win team with a decent staff. The Alabama, Ohio State, FSU recruiting numbers show that you need higher-level talent to break into the 10-12 win / Top 5 teams. We've had a few like Artie and Njoku, but not enough to get to that next level, and they all seem to leave too early for the team get the full benefit. Stacking will help solve both problems.

 

[Gatorhater]

Heard Gino on radio today talking about Tez. He made a big point that our greats did not show up as 1st round picks. They work hard and helped each other work even harder. The U made them great. Development is still key.