A look back at the 2016 recruiting class and how it fared (so far!)
At the start of every season I take a look back at how our graduating class has performed and thought this 2016 class was very interesting. They still have, hopefully, the spring season to boost their resumes but in general it looks to have been a tough recruiting class compared to the others we've seen and are still watching.
Other than gifting us with a great OL Rams class, which is critical, this class really struggled. Here are the 5 substantial contributors
- Dillon Radunz
- Jabril Cox
- Adam Cofield
- Cordell Volson
- Karson Schoenning* (big impact but short contribution timeline)
Not sure people remember but look at this breakdown now that the class is in their last year:
QB: Henry Van Dellen, our promising QB prospect, broke rules I believe and left the program. PWO Steven Nava also left.
RB: Adam Cofield was the only RB signing so thankfully he hit as a prospect.
FB: Zak Kuntz was a very exciting FB prospect that left the program but don't recall the reason. I don't think it was playing time. Injuries?
WR: Trevor Heit and Cole Jacob were our top two contributors since Sean Engel (highly touted) and Kiwanna Durant (probably #2 WR in this class) left the program
TE: Braydon Lund was easily the #1 TE in this class and left the program. The other two were Biegler and Pauly who switched positions. Biegler the noticeable contributor.
OL: This class crushed it as mentioned above. Radunz, Volson, Schoenning, and Kubas from one class is stellar. Couldn't happen to a more critical position and saving grace of the class.
DE: Justice Kelly was our only DE in this class. Guy busted his butt an entire career as a deep backup but wasn't a contributor.
DT: Quinn Alo was the only DT in this class. Quinn floated between OL and DL as depth and flirted with the 2 deep. Biegler moved over and helped this position.
LB: Jabril is HoF, Kennelly took over as Long Snapper, and Moses Nyangacha had promise as a flex LB/S but left the program.
CB: Felix Dixon was our prized CB and he left early. The other 3? Darren Kelley transfer was underwhelming, Victor Kizewski didn't play, and neither did Ross Godfrey.
I didn't list all the players that left and/or had minimal impact for an attempt at brevity. Compared to the two previously completed classes this was a scary result but we reloaded instead of rebuilt thankfully.
Just to compare, these were the HIGH impact contributors. There were MANY other above average starters not listed.
2014: Easton Stick, Lance Dunn, Darrius Shepherd, RJ Urzendowski, Tanner Volson, Greg Menard, Aaron Steidl, Jalen Allison
2015: James Hendricks, Bruce Anderson, Derrek Tuszka, Ben Ellefson, Robbie Grimsley, Marquise Bridges, Zack Johnson, Ty Brooks, Brock Robbins
Very possible that part of the reason for this underwhelming class is that we knocked it out of the park the 2 years prior so it is probably natural that there was more attrition than normal.
However, here are future high impact Seniors to show that current success doesn't stifle future stars.
2017: Christian Watson, Seth Wilson, Noah Gindorff, Josh Babicz, Michael Tutsie, Spencer Waege, Nash Jensen, Josh Hayes, Jackson Hankey (handful of others close to this group)
2018: Trey Lance, Jalen Sundell, Tony Pierce, James Kaczor, Phoenix Sproles, Jayden Price, Hunter Luepke (early for this speculation but there are other exciting ones too)
I would like to thank all the players in the graduating 2016 class as this was not meant as a slight and us fans appreciate your hard work and dedication to the team. You kept the tradition alive and for that we are very thankful! OABAAB!
As always, thanks for reading my longwinded rants.
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Originally Posted by El_Chapo
