Official 2014 Recruiting thread

You always want to win the battle for local talent, but I will gladly trade IL and NJ recruits for those from FL, TX, and CA. In 2013, the top 3 states for D1 recruits were TX (368), FL (350), and CA (349). IL was 8[SUP]th[/SUP] with 82, NJ was 11[SUP]th[/SUP] with 63, and IA was tied for 33[SUP]rd[/SUP] with 13 (Football Signing Day - MaxPreps).

Another interesting stat is the ratio of high school football players to D1 signees. This reference is a couple years old (RivalsHigh - Talent pool: Where the DI signees come from), but in 2011 FL was tops with a ratio of 111 (to 1). The ratio in CA was 412 and in TX it was 454. The 3 states where UI is hammering us? NJ had a ratio of 575, IL's was 679 and IA's was 2161. I don’t have data to support this assertion, but if you look at big-school football in FL, the ratio is A LOT more favorable than 111. I saw Coach Mess at a spring game in FL this year and there were at least 5 kids with ISU offers playing in the game. Since the talent density is 6 times higher in FL than in IL your recruiting dollar (and time) go a lot further. I recognize that there is a lot of competition for those kids, but if you can get them on campus for a visit the program sells itself.

It looks to me like CPR is fishing in better waters than Ferentz. I think we should keep fighting for the in-state kids, but with the exception of a few select recruits the Hawks can have NJ and IL.

Good stuff. Not to mention, we've gotten the #1 in-state 2 years in a row. The previous two years, the #1 player left the state. And over the last 3 years, we've gotten more in-state kids than Iowa has.

Is the in-state talent level better this year than years past? We won't know that for a few more years.
 
There were three good recruits instate this year. Two of them were in Iowa's traditional recruiting sweet spots. We got one of the three. I'm not complaining.

I thought it went something like this, "There are three really good recruits in the state this year. We got one of them, one didn't qualify, and the third went to Iowa. Which is basically the same thing."
 
"Four"? If you're considering Nelson one of the top four, his best asset that has Stanford and ND interested is his grades, not sheer athleticism...


LOL, then why did Iowa St, Nebby, Wisconsin and Arkansas want him?
 
Good stuff. Not to mention, we've gotten the #1 in-state 2 years in a row. The previous two years, the #1 player left the state. And over the last 3 years, we've gotten more in-state kids than Iowa has.

Is the in-state talent level better this year than years past? We won't know that for a few more years.

I see some trouble for Big Ten teams outside of UM, OSU and PSU in the future. Those guys, specifically oSU and Michigan are swallowing up all of the higher level players. Case in point: Delano Hill. He committed to Iowa, blew up, got a Michigan offer late and switched. Urban and Hoke are really going to recruit locally very hard and they have been very successful. That leaves a lot less for other Big Ten teams to grab in the region as far as upper level recruits. Now, you throw in the fact that for that generic three star guy, they have to battle ISU, Charlie Weis, Northwestern and even Indiana and they are getting hit from both directions. Teams like MSU, Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska, I feel are really going to have to expand their recruiting nationally. Paul RHoads saw that. He saw that there are many more competant players in the south and Cali so rather than waste a bunch of time in the midwest for a guy like Delano Hill, he cut his losses and created a base in the south. Now we are seeing ISU move a little more into the midwest, mainly Wisconsin and Illinois, but we will always be going hard is Florida and Texas as well as California when possible. The midwest is just very very tough because of the lower density of BCS caliber athletes. In large, Big Ten recruiting is kind of junk. Outside of Northwestern (Which should be our model IMO) none of the non-powerhouses are doing much and Meyer kind of let them have it last winter. I'm not a huge Meyer fan but he was spot in in what he was saying. They just aren't cutting it in terms of talent. Hell, last night we jumped Iowa and I wouldn't doubt if we end above Iowa. That still shouldn't happen right now.
 

What do you mean, "link"? I just said it, didn't I?

The kid is 6'7", and has ludicrous grades and ACT score. He's not a David Irving-type phenomenal athlete. That's why he's not an "elite" prospect. He's a good prospect, who seems to be lacking something to be a top prospect at any single position--lacking the frame to be a top left tackle, the downfield speed to be a top tight end, and the explosiveness to be an elite defensive end. With those kind of grades and that frame, you take him, and hope he turns into a solid player somewhere.

Hey, maybe he'll get faster or more explosive once he gets into a college weight program. If so, good luck to him--but right now, he's not up there with Lazard, Pierschbacher and Scheel.

My opinion, of course.
 
What do you mean, "link"? I just said it, didn't I?

The kid is 6'7", and has ludicrous grades and ACT score. He's not a David Irving-type phenomenal athlete. That's why he's not an "elite" prospect. He's a good prospect, who seems to be lacking something to be a top prospect at any single position--lacking the frame to be a top left tackle, the downfield speed to be a top tight end, and the explosiveness to be an elite defensive end. With those kind of grades and that frame, you take him, and hope he turns into a solid player somewhere.

Hey, maybe he'll get faster or more explosive once he gets into a college weight program. If so, good luck to him--but right now, he's not up there with Lazard, Pierschbacher and Scheel.

My opinion, of course.

Exactly. You stated why ND and Stanford offered him as if your opinion is fact. It may be correct but we don't know.
 
Has there been any new news on Nile Sykes? He had a couple of visits and is a pretty highly touted player. Would be an excellent get. Is a coincidence we seemed to cool after we got Seonbuchner?
 
Could be a good pick up. Only 1 BCS offer besides us right now but that may change in the next year. Love me some DTs

If he is getting interest from Florida and Miami thats never a bad sign and has a decent offer list already, I like it!
 
"Four"? If you're considering Nelson one of the top four, his best asset that has Stanford and ND interested is his grades, not sheer athleticism...
Not true by a long shot. If it was only his size he wouldn't be getting offers from the programs that have offered. He is rated as 35th best DE prospect on Scout, 89 rating on 247. 5.6 3 star and 30th best TE prospect on rivals. It's his athleticism that the schools coveted. The don't want a tall guy just bc he is tall.
 
Bump. This should never leave the first page and we were getting far to close to that. Enough sw ia talk and all the other crap. Lets get back to what's comming next. Kenric just commit already!
 

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