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Interesting recruiting comparison, 2008 vs 2006

K

ketelmeister

Well-Known Member
Oct 24, 2006
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I did a comparison of all of the 2006 recruits under Dan McCarney and all of the current crop of 2008 recruits under Gene Chizik and found an interesting comparison.
Average Height of recruits:
2006: 6'1"
2008: 6'4"
The 2006 group consisted of 30 in that class and the 2008 list is 19. The current group is just under the 6-4 mark. Not sure if this means anything scientific. It may simply be the positions recruited or may mean that Chizik is looking for bigger frames and in general taller players. Nonetheless, he seems to be recruiting fewer smaller players. DM had 5 players 5-10 and 2 players 5-9. I'm not making any judgements here, just an observation.

Chiziks 2007 class averaged just over 6-3
 
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That's an interesting stat. At face value it's hard to judge what impact it'll have but there's no denying that size does matter in football.
 
In the past ISU has been pushed around by everyone it seems like except Iowa (because that is our Superbowl game and we are really pumped for it....jk) and Chizik seems to be going after more size and more athletes than what we have had here in the past. Hopefully it pays off. Only time will tell.
 
Dan loved to have his DB's at 5'8" or 5'9". At that height, they play better with a 12 yard cushion.



(sarcasm)
 
I think that is a wise decision. I always noticed that Hayden's Hawkeye teams were always 2 or 3 inches taller across the board than the Cyclones. Of course back then, ISU rarely even kept it close to Iowa in FB.

Taller players are able to get up to a good playing weight without forcing on weight (more fat). That will in turn, keep them more mobile while still playing at high weights. It gives you more versatility with players because they are always able to put on weight and move to a different position if things don't work out at their original position.

If a 6'2-3" LB doesn't work out at LB, you can move them to DE or DT. You can't really do that with a 5'11" LB. If a 6'4" DL or TE doesn't work out at their intended position, they can move to OL, etc.

Taller players also have longer arms which almost alway help FB players. Arm length is a messurment that all pros scouts take on perspective players.

On the OL it is much easier to pass block a DL when you have long arms to get a full extension and keep the DL away from you. The D benefits from longer arms by being able to make takles, swat balls and break up passes that they wouldn't be able to make with a shorter reach.

Of course we all know what an extra couple of inches and longer arms will do for a WR/TE.
 
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I was just going to post something about that 2006 class. If you really look at it, there are alot of decent players on there, and that class had alot of ***'s (three star) athletes.

Actually, it had the most of any class on cyclonereport.com. And, this class will be what we will be relying on for leadership for the next few years. So, really I am glad McCarney's last class was actually pretty decent. I just hope Chizik can recruit, and develop the players he has and win more games.
 
Stormin' said:
I was just going to post something about that 2006 class. If you really look at it, there are alot of decent players on there, and that class had alot of ***'s (three star) athletes.

Actually, it had the most of any class on cyclonereport.com. And, this class will be what we will be relying on for leadership for the next few years. So, really I am glad McCarney's last class was actually pretty decent. I just hope Chizik can recruit, and develop the players he has and win more games.
Click to expand...

There almost a dozen or so of that 2006 class that aren't even on the team now. There were definitely some good ones like Arnaud, A-Rob and Lamaak, etc. But when Mac resigned in Fall '06 our 2007 recruiting was very weak. We were having some real problems and it would have been a real disaster. I think we had less than a half dozen commits when Mac resigned. Chizik brought in some pretty decent players considering and was able to keep a few of Mac's halfway decent recruits like Bass. But many like Eilert were let loose and told to find a program better suited for them. Evidently Chizik thought he could get better.
 
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