Professor Chaos
02-06-2012, 07:09 PM
So I've been looking around on AGS for the last week or so checking out other schools recruits trying to put together a somewhat objective analysis of the NDSU recruiting class. It seems the presiding opinion on this board is that this is an outstanding class overall. I think the class is just as good as most others I've seen but there are too many schools to count who also think their recruiting class is spectacular. Having said that here's my (hopefully) educated rankings and opinion on each player in the class:
NOTE: I am including Dinwiddie since it looks like he is coming.
The Top Tier
Jacob Davis - Has the physical tools to dominate at this level. Has the speed and size combo to be an immediate contributor and a future All-American if he works to improve and stays healthy. If he really fell through the cracks merely due to KU and K-State not paying enough attention the Bison got incredibly lucky to land him.
Dee Gray - From the sounds of it he's a leader who's unselfish but also plays with an attitude. The size is there so if he can show that he has consistent hands he could be a premier FCS reciever even without top end speed. If both he and Vraa reach their potential you've got NFL size WRs on both sides of the field.
Brett Pierce - Another player who is physically ready to play right now. The fact that he's a hockey goalie shows that he has the agility to play DE and he should have the size to play DT in a year or two as well. I see him as a Justin Tuck type big DE who can also move inside on passing downs and beat opposing O-lines with speed or power.
Derek McGinnis - His mechanics look to already be in college form. His arm strength isn't at the same level but certainly seems adequate for a west coast passing offense. I love the fact that he accepted the challenge of coming into a logjam at QB. It shows he has confidence is his abilities and the willingness to work for his opportunity to play.
Zach Johnson - He will be the best O-lineman of this class in my estimation. He has the agility already at 300+ pounds to be a very good FCS lineman and once he gets on a training program that should only improve. I could see him playing next year if necessary.
DeSean Warren - Reminds me of Travis White in a lot of ways. He seems like a guy who could line up in a lot of different places a la Percy Harvin. His health is the only concern but if he stays healthy his speed will be an excellent compliment to the size of Gray and Vraa.
Marcus Brantley - Hits like a ton of bricks. Not sure about his pass coverage skills but he has the making of a very good safety or even a corner if his speed is as good as advertised. If he and Heagle are able to get on the field at the same time I pity the opposing recievers who have to run crossing routes against them.
Deveon Dinwiddie - Speed, speed, and speed is what excites me about this kid. He's a home run hitter in the backfield who I could also see returning kicks. Not sure about his durability but with the stable of backs that NDSU has I'm guessing he won't be asked to carry the load.
The Middle Tier
(9) Austin Farnlof - I love his enthusiasm about playing for the Bison. I'll take a marginal talent who is willing to work his butt off over a blue chip talent who expects things to be handed to him. Not sure if he's ready to play just yet but with the work ethic he seems to have he should be a very good one in a couple years.
(10) Carey Woods - Talented but raw, I think Gray and Warren have a better chance of seeing the field before Woods. He's probably the best combination of size and speed the Bison have at WR so perhaps the most potential of any WR currently on the roster but it'll take some coaching to make him an impact player on the D1 level.
(11) M.J. Stumpf - I have heard that this kid has broken helmets with some of his hits. You gotta love a hardnosed ND kid like that. It soudns like he's a worker and, again, he may not be the most talented but he's talented enough to be a difference maker at this level if he works at it and stays healthy.
(12) Jack Plankers - You can't teach the size that this kid has but I worry a bit about his agility against smaller quicker DEs in pass protection. I think he'll be a bulldozer in run blocking but if he's going to be a tackle he's going to have to be a complete O-lineman.
(13) Bo Liekhus - I've had a hard time gauging him. Just based on NDSU's good fortune in Nebraska I feel good about him. He looks like he's a tackling machine but didn't see a lot of him playing the pass. Seems kind of like Stumpf where they may move him to OLB but he seems like he's got the spead to play Safety as well.
(14) Chuks Amaechi - Potential is there but he'll be a project at DE I think. I assume the coaches have a plan for him so I'll go with it but I think he's a couple years away from being a contributor.
(15) Landon Lechler - Perhaps the biggest project of the class. He looks to have the agility to play OT but he needs to add a lot of strength. It's been done before but it's asking a lot of a kid to put on 40-50 pounds of a muscle in a year or two.
The Bottom Tier
(16) Zach Riopelle - Tough to find a lot of info on him so the unknown is the primary reason why I rated him as one of the lower prospets in this class. He's got good size to be an OLB in this system and he seems like an athlete so the potential is there.
(17) Sam Hahn - Another Nebraska player who wasn't on anyone else's radar so I'm guessing he's got some ability, or else we wouldn't have offerend and UNL wouldn't have been looking at him to walk-on, but he's got a ways to go before he's ready to contribute.
(18) Andy Smith - Appears to be a very good athlete but not spectacular at any one aspect of his game. Seems to me that there's a lot of Safety recruits in these last two classes so he'll have lots of competition but we'll need someone to step up at that position opposite Heagle in the next few years.
(19) Justin Arp - Not sure if he's destined to be a DE or a TE so it's tough to get too high on his potential at either position yet. The ND recruits, for the most part, seem to have the willingness to stick around and put in their dues to the program and his versatility will be good for depth at multiple positions.
(20) Tom Barneson - Tough to rate kickers with the position players and I'm not sure why we recruited a walk-on a year after giving a scholarship to another kicker. I'm guessing it's just for competition. At any rate, we saw last year the value of having a good kicker so any depth is good depth and should make both kids better.
Obviously, ranking these kids is tough going only off tape, the metrics on Rivals, and comparisons to other recruits but I agree that this is a pretty good class overall. It's on par with any other class I've looked at around the country at the FCS level but of course I'm incredibly biased. For a lot of these guys I have preconcieved notions about based on articles I've read and other schools who were on them so I'm sure another person ranking them could be vastly different. There's a good mix of guys who are physically ready to play right away and guys who will be projects but with a lot of potential. The key, as always, will be retention. If 80% of these kids stay the full 4-5 years there will be a lot of impact players in this class.
Alright, tear apart my rankings as will. Put your own ranks up or sort them into tiers like I did. It might be interesting to come back and look at this in a couple years to see how right or wrong we were.
NOTE: I am including Dinwiddie since it looks like he is coming.
The Top Tier
Jacob Davis - Has the physical tools to dominate at this level. Has the speed and size combo to be an immediate contributor and a future All-American if he works to improve and stays healthy. If he really fell through the cracks merely due to KU and K-State not paying enough attention the Bison got incredibly lucky to land him.
Dee Gray - From the sounds of it he's a leader who's unselfish but also plays with an attitude. The size is there so if he can show that he has consistent hands he could be a premier FCS reciever even without top end speed. If both he and Vraa reach their potential you've got NFL size WRs on both sides of the field.
Brett Pierce - Another player who is physically ready to play right now. The fact that he's a hockey goalie shows that he has the agility to play DE and he should have the size to play DT in a year or two as well. I see him as a Justin Tuck type big DE who can also move inside on passing downs and beat opposing O-lines with speed or power.
Derek McGinnis - His mechanics look to already be in college form. His arm strength isn't at the same level but certainly seems adequate for a west coast passing offense. I love the fact that he accepted the challenge of coming into a logjam at QB. It shows he has confidence is his abilities and the willingness to work for his opportunity to play.
Zach Johnson - He will be the best O-lineman of this class in my estimation. He has the agility already at 300+ pounds to be a very good FCS lineman and once he gets on a training program that should only improve. I could see him playing next year if necessary.
DeSean Warren - Reminds me of Travis White in a lot of ways. He seems like a guy who could line up in a lot of different places a la Percy Harvin. His health is the only concern but if he stays healthy his speed will be an excellent compliment to the size of Gray and Vraa.
Marcus Brantley - Hits like a ton of bricks. Not sure about his pass coverage skills but he has the making of a very good safety or even a corner if his speed is as good as advertised. If he and Heagle are able to get on the field at the same time I pity the opposing recievers who have to run crossing routes against them.
Deveon Dinwiddie - Speed, speed, and speed is what excites me about this kid. He's a home run hitter in the backfield who I could also see returning kicks. Not sure about his durability but with the stable of backs that NDSU has I'm guessing he won't be asked to carry the load.
The Middle Tier
(9) Austin Farnlof - I love his enthusiasm about playing for the Bison. I'll take a marginal talent who is willing to work his butt off over a blue chip talent who expects things to be handed to him. Not sure if he's ready to play just yet but with the work ethic he seems to have he should be a very good one in a couple years.
(10) Carey Woods - Talented but raw, I think Gray and Warren have a better chance of seeing the field before Woods. He's probably the best combination of size and speed the Bison have at WR so perhaps the most potential of any WR currently on the roster but it'll take some coaching to make him an impact player on the D1 level.
(11) M.J. Stumpf - I have heard that this kid has broken helmets with some of his hits. You gotta love a hardnosed ND kid like that. It soudns like he's a worker and, again, he may not be the most talented but he's talented enough to be a difference maker at this level if he works at it and stays healthy.
(12) Jack Plankers - You can't teach the size that this kid has but I worry a bit about his agility against smaller quicker DEs in pass protection. I think he'll be a bulldozer in run blocking but if he's going to be a tackle he's going to have to be a complete O-lineman.
(13) Bo Liekhus - I've had a hard time gauging him. Just based on NDSU's good fortune in Nebraska I feel good about him. He looks like he's a tackling machine but didn't see a lot of him playing the pass. Seems kind of like Stumpf where they may move him to OLB but he seems like he's got the spead to play Safety as well.
(14) Chuks Amaechi - Potential is there but he'll be a project at DE I think. I assume the coaches have a plan for him so I'll go with it but I think he's a couple years away from being a contributor.
(15) Landon Lechler - Perhaps the biggest project of the class. He looks to have the agility to play OT but he needs to add a lot of strength. It's been done before but it's asking a lot of a kid to put on 40-50 pounds of a muscle in a year or two.
The Bottom Tier
(16) Zach Riopelle - Tough to find a lot of info on him so the unknown is the primary reason why I rated him as one of the lower prospets in this class. He's got good size to be an OLB in this system and he seems like an athlete so the potential is there.
(17) Sam Hahn - Another Nebraska player who wasn't on anyone else's radar so I'm guessing he's got some ability, or else we wouldn't have offerend and UNL wouldn't have been looking at him to walk-on, but he's got a ways to go before he's ready to contribute.
(18) Andy Smith - Appears to be a very good athlete but not spectacular at any one aspect of his game. Seems to me that there's a lot of Safety recruits in these last two classes so he'll have lots of competition but we'll need someone to step up at that position opposite Heagle in the next few years.
(19) Justin Arp - Not sure if he's destined to be a DE or a TE so it's tough to get too high on his potential at either position yet. The ND recruits, for the most part, seem to have the willingness to stick around and put in their dues to the program and his versatility will be good for depth at multiple positions.
(20) Tom Barneson - Tough to rate kickers with the position players and I'm not sure why we recruited a walk-on a year after giving a scholarship to another kicker. I'm guessing it's just for competition. At any rate, we saw last year the value of having a good kicker so any depth is good depth and should make both kids better.
Obviously, ranking these kids is tough going only off tape, the metrics on Rivals, and comparisons to other recruits but I agree that this is a pretty good class overall. It's on par with any other class I've looked at around the country at the FCS level but of course I'm incredibly biased. For a lot of these guys I have preconcieved notions about based on articles I've read and other schools who were on them so I'm sure another person ranking them could be vastly different. There's a good mix of guys who are physically ready to play right away and guys who will be projects but with a lot of potential. The key, as always, will be retention. If 80% of these kids stay the full 4-5 years there will be a lot of impact players in this class.
Alright, tear apart my rankings as will. Put your own ranks up or sort them into tiers like I did. It might be interesting to come back and look at this in a couple years to see how right or wrong we were.