Two-Year Haul (long)

ghost2

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I've done this post a couple times before, and I still find it's useful to look at classes from a two-year perspective when examining hits, misses, and needs for the future. You can find the one I did last year here: https://www.canesinsight.com/thread/recruiting/97149 if somebody wants to look at a THREE-year haul lol.

Anyway here's the 2017 version -




QB - Allison, Perry, Weldon - Grade - A-

I expected/wanted us to land 2 QBs this year after landing Allison and we did exactly that. I don't know if there's that "superstar" sure-fire blue chip in this bunch (y'know, like Kyle Wright...) but these are potentially three gifted young QBs with different skillsets. Allison kind of faded off the radar a bit last year after failing to lock in the backup job, so if he wants to make any kind of a move, now's the time. Having said that, I expect one of these three guys to be our starter in 2017. I'd guess we nab one QB in 2018.

RB - Homer, Burns - Grade C+

I wanted us to take 2-3 RBs this year and we ended up with Burns. I probably would have made this grade a D+ at best if just looking at this year's recruiting, but early buzz on Homer is very positive. That's good because with only landing the injury-prone Burns this year, we need Homer to log legitimate minutes this year to keep Mark Walton fresh and healthy. We probably now need to try and sign 3 RBs in 2018, IMO. Or a stop-gap transfer.

WR - Mullins, Bruce*, Richards, Njoku, Harley, Thomas, Dallas - Grade - A+

*no longer with the team

I wanted 3-4 WRs and we got a dynamic 3 to go with a good haul in 2016. With Bruce gone, the recruitment of Jeff Thomas became one of the most pivotal of the entire class (having missed on Jeudy, Holloman, Smith, et al.) Landing him and Harley lends much-needed speed to this position. Njoku is underrated. I still don't think Dallas ends his career at WR, but he's a dynamic athlete wherever he plays. I think we go after 3 more WRs in 2018.

TE - Irvin, Haskins, Polendy - Grade - B

I was really hoping we could land M'Kitty this year, but Polendy gives us that in-line tough guy TE to supplement Irvin and Haskins from 2016. If those two can keep on Richt's good side and produce this year, we'll be in good shape. I'd like us to land 2 TEs in 2018.

OL - Johnson, Brown (transfer), Donaldson, Herbert, Gaynor, Dykstra, Hillery - Grade - A

This, along with WR and DB was the single biggest position of need going into this recruiting cycle, IMO, and the coaches hit it out of the park. Having only signed Tre Johnson in 2016, we nabbed an amazing group of 5 this year. Donaldson, Herbert, and Gaynor can and should play early. Hillery and Dykstra can redshirt and grow into their respective positions. I still want 3 more OL next year.

DE - Jackson, Bethel, Johnson, Garvin - Grade - A-

Another VERY good two-year pull for the Canes here. Joe Jackson is a flat-out stud. Johnson and Garvin are both monsters in the making. And Bethel showed some nice flashes as well this year. I'd look for us to sign maybe 1 or 2 DEs in 2018.

DT - Martin, Ford - Grade - B-

Martin is a work-in-progress. Coach Kool LOVES Jon Ford and that's good enough for me. I would have liked another body here just for numbers' sake, but I expect us to take at least 2, maybe pure DTs in 2018.

LB - Quarterman, Pinckney, McCloud, Jennings, Wilder, Steed - Grade - A-

Three entrenched starters and three depth guys that fit very well into Diaz's system - I don't know how we could have done much better in two years. Jennings' talent level has been questioned on this board and others, so we'll watch and wait. I would like us to take 2 LBs in 2018 - we need to start recruiting for the post-Bermuda Triangle II years.

CB - Young, Bandy, Dean - Grade - C+

I wanted 4 CBs in this class. We landed Bandy and Dean (maybe Dallas if he moves around.) Don't get me wrong, I think Bandy is a stud and may be the best true CB in South Florida this year, and Dean is a great two-year stop gap. Young can and should be a great CB here. That said, we missed on some guys we wanted and the numbers were already tight. I'd like us to nab 6 DBs in 2018 - at least 3 should be true CBs.

S - Finley, James, Wright, Carter, Smith - Grade - B

I looked for us to take 1-2 safeties in 2017 and we got good ones in Amari Carter and Derrick Smith. I think Carter will play early. Jury is out on the 2016 still - hopefully at least one can make a move and push for playing time. Again, I'd like to see 2-3 more safeties in the 2018 class.


Overall Two-Year Class Grade - B+

If we had landed McFarland and any ONE more of the CBs we were recruiting, this two-year group moves to an A, IMO. That said, we definitely addressed needs - transformatively so - at OL and WR, got the QBs we wanted, added depth at LB and DL, and got some definite quality players at DB (just not enough of them lol.) Going into 2018 I'd rank our needs as:

1) DB
2) RB
3) DT
4) LB
5) TE

Honorable mention: OL (because always...)
 
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The 2015 class was disgustingly bad.

Golden should never have been allowed to step foot on campus after the Penn State debacle.

The top of the 2014 class was pretty good, but the bottom was pathetic.

Golden's recruiting in 2015 and 2014 was basically a waste of time. Everyone knew he would be gone.

Richt needs one more cycle to get us back to the promised land.
 
It's easy to see why Diaz, Kool, Banda, Searles, Dugans and Hartley are good recruiters. Great personalities.

It's easy to see why Thomas Brown and Mike Rumph are not good recruiters. Great position coaches but have zero personality.

Jon Richt is stealing money from Miami.
 
Great post, thanks. RB was a huge failure, can't believe we didn't have a backup to McFarland. I just can't understand our continual troubles landing quality CBs, we have struggled at this position for years and it is just inexcusable. Have to knock it out of the park in 2018
 
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It's easy to see why Diaz, Kool, Banda, Searles, Dugans and Hartley are good recruiters. Great personalities.

It's easy to see why Thomas Brown and Mike Rumph are not good recruiters. Great position coaches but have zero personality.

Jon Richt is stealing money from Miami.

Yes, because Jon Richt definitely didn't lock down N'Kosi for us... Tired of people trashing this guy.
 
forgot to add smith to the safety list . . . i think he has potential to be a real player for us
 
The 2015 class was disgustingly bad.

Golden should never have been allowed to step foot on campus after the Penn State debacle.

The top of the 2014 class was pretty good, but the bottom was pathetic.

Golden's recruiting in 2015 and 2014 was basically a waste of time. Everyone knew he would be gone.

Richt needs one more cycle to get us back to the promised land.

Honestly. All of his classes were brutal even 2012.
 
It's easy to see why Diaz, Kool, Banda, Searles, Dugans and Hartley are good recruiters. Great personalities.

It's easy to see why Thomas Brown and Mike Rumph are not good recruiters. Great position coaches but have zero personality.

Jon Richt is stealing money from Miami.

He pretty much single handedly brought Nkosi to us, so I think he's earned at least one year's paycheck
 
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Nice breakdown. Botton line, there's more than enough here to win the coastal and win 10.
 
This is fantastic. Great job ghost. It's always important to look at classes with the previous one. You should remove Bruce as he's not a factor anymore. Great job!
 
Exactly what I was saying earlier. These last two classes complement each other very well
 
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Good write-up. We could lose our 2-deep defensive tackles and our starting tailback. You'd think the priorities would be: (1a) DT, (1b) RB, (3) CB. Everything else normal numbers.
 
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It's easy to see why Diaz, Kool, Banda, Searles, Dugans and Hartley are good recruiters. Great personalities.

It's easy to see why Thomas Brown and Mike Rumph are not good recruiters. Great position coaches but have zero personality.

Jon Richt is stealing money from Miami.

Agreed.
 
It's easy to see why Diaz, Kool, Banda, Searles, Dugans and Hartley are good recruiters. Great personalities.

It's easy to see why Thomas Brown and Mike Rumph are not good recruiters. Great position coaches but have zero personality.

Jon Richt is stealing money from Miami.

Don't agree with you often, but this post is 100% spot on!
 
It's easy to see why Diaz, Kool, Banda, Searles, Dugans and Hartley are good recruiters. Great personalities.

It's easy to see why Thomas Brown and Mike Rumph are not good recruiters. Great position coaches but have zero personality.

Jon Richt is stealing money from Miami.

He pretty much single handedly brought Nkosi to us, so I think he's earned at least one year's paycheck

Do you honestly believe the **** you just typed?
 
It's easy to see why Diaz, Kool, Banda, Searles, Dugans and Hartley are good recruiters. Great personalities.

It's easy to see why Thomas Brown and Mike Rumph are not good recruiters. Great position coaches but have zero personality.

Jon Richt is stealing money from Miami.

He pretty much single handedly brought Nkosi to us, so I think he's earned at least one year's paycheck

Do you honestly believe the **** you just typed?

Perry decommitted... you rarely get decommitments back and at the time perry was being courted by auburn, Tennessee and others as well... jon richt did put in work to get him back
 
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