Feelings about your Teams 2012 Recrutiting Class?

[Monty80]

with the 2012 classes pretty much wrapped up with the exception of a few recruits (Diggs, etc).
how do u think your class turned out?

were needs filled?

hits, misses, surprises, etc.

[wicket]

Ive made my opinion of NDs class known pretty well i think, I think its a bad class with too few difference makers and too many projects, also just flat out too few bodies at positions of need.

Going in to this class one could identify for big needs in this class for ND, in order of importance: CB, RB, WR and Safety

CB: Tee Sheppard
Great prospect but 1 is about 2-3 guys to few. Need is not filled at all although I do think that Tee will start day 1

RB: Keivarae Russell and Williams Mahone
Good prospects, not a special class but job done id say with two backs who fit the system yet compliment each other.

WR: Chris Brown, Justin Ferguson
Chris Brown is a big hit-or-miss kind of guy with exceptional athleticism, Justin Ferguson is a scrub. Needed at least 4 receivers this class and needed an elite one, got nowhere close to either.

Safety: Elijah Shumate, Nicky Baratti, John Turner and CJ Prosise
2 good prospects, 1 project and 1 mindboggling take. I guess since it was a need its good to play big numbers here. Shumate was one of the bigger catches this class though. I guess i can call this need filled although in reality the 2 decent prospects are both pure strong safeties which means we still have a need at free safety next year.

Other positional grades:
QB: A
OLine: C+
DLine: A-
Linebacker: Incomplete

Hits:
- Elijah Shumate, tough pull out of a school and with a background that usually doesnt bode well for the Irish
- Gunner Kiel, anytime you can get a kid to decommit twide and still EE on your school its nice
- Tee Sheppard, even though he was a lock as long as the academic board didnt screw it up (grades are fine, kid is just almost deaf so needs to have arrangements for the classes).

Misses
- Ronald Darby, worst miss, HUGE position of need, kid rocksolid for most of the year and even wouldve come back if the staff didnt throw a hissyfit after he decommitted.
- Arik Armstead, wouldve committed if we let his brother in
- Deontay Greenberry, wtf happened i still dont really get
- Brian Poole, nice effort though
- Guys like Amara Darboh, Jordan Westerkamp, Jordan Payton and Ian Thomas who would all offer an upgrade over Ferguson and with numbers needed at wideout at least one or two more of these guys shouldve been in this class
- Guys like Marcus Rios, Donaldven Manning and Ishmael Adams, same story, needed bodies never got enough of them
- Ifaedi Odenighbo
- David Perkins & Taylor Decker

Recap:
Even with how crappy this class was my biggest issue is still taking Daly and Turner. The lack of numbers on vital position and the sheer lack of quality in this class makes it a bad effort by the ND staff. I have no doubt in my mind that 3 years down the road this class or lack thereof will come back to haunt Kelly and his staff. Basically ND took a year of scholarship reductions usc-style but without the quality of prospects.

Overall grade: D+

[Monty80]

Collins was the most surprising pickup even though Bama has felt confident about getting him for a very long time. the Louisiana draw still had alot of people doubting, which was understandable, Yeldon was also big because Bama needed at least one elite back. Drake is a very good athlete but its not a guarantee he stays at RB, he needs to get bigger in the leg area. both RBs are very versatile

The misses for Bama was getting an elite QB and a elite NG/DT type kid. Taylor and Lake have potential but they are both still raw.
its a wait and see on Alec Morris, the coaches had other options after missing on the 2 top guys, but they wanted him, so they definitely are higher on him than most national observers. if anything I think he will at least pass Ely on the depth chart.

needs were filled in the other areas especially at WR where some potential gamebreakers are present, at CB where immediate help is needed, Dixon and Belue should see the field very early if not starting, and at LB where Bama got a 4 star caliber kid in every LB position on defense

Position Grades:
QB - C+
RB - A+
WR - A+
OL - B
DL - B+
LB - A+
DB - A+
K - A+

Overall this was a great class, really cant complain about too much, some people wonder about taking Gulledge but he is one of those kids that can make an easy transition to the OL, since he played there this year and was solid, if things dont work out on the DL.

[Monty80]

Ive made my opinion of NDs class known pretty well i think, I think its a bad class with too few difference makers and too many projects, also just flat out too few bodies at positions of need.

Going in to this class one could identify for big needs in this class for ND, in order of importance: CB, RB, WR and Safety

CB: Tee Sheppard
Great prospect but 1 is about 2-3 guys to few. Need is not filled at all although I do think that Tee will start day 1

RB: Keivarae Russell and Williams Mahone
Good prospects, not a special class but job done id say with two backs who fit the system yet compliment each other.

WR: Chris Brown, Justin Ferguson
Chris Brown is a big hit-or-miss kind of guy with exceptional athleticism, Justin Ferguson is a scrub. Needed at least 4 receivers this class and needed an elite one, got nowhere close to either.

Safety: Elijah Shumate, Nicky Baratti, John Turner and CJ Prosise
2 good prospects, 1 project and 1 mindboggling take. I guess since it was a need its good to play big numbers here. Shumate was one of the bigger catches this class though. I guess i can call this need filled although in reality the 2 decent prospects are both pure strong safeties which means we still have a need at free safety next year.

Other positional grades:
QB: A
OLine: C+
DLine: A-
Linebacker: Incomplete

Hits:
- Elijah Shumate, tough pull out of a school and with a background that usually doesnt bode well for the Irish
- Gunner Kiel, anytime you can get a kid to decommit twide and still EE on your school its nice
- Tee Sheppard, even though he was a lock as long as the academic board didnt screw it up (grades are fine, kid is just almost deaf so needs to have arrangements for the classes).

Misses
- Ronald Darby, worst miss, HUGE position of need, kid rocksolid for most of the year and even wouldve come back if the staff didnt throw a hissyfit after he decommitted.
- Arik Armstead, wouldve committed if we let his brother in
- Deontay Greenberry, wtf happened i still dont really get
- Brian Poole, nice effort though
- Guys like Amara Darboh, Jordan Westerkamp, Jordan Payton and Ian Thomas who would all offer an upgrade over Ferguson and with numbers needed at wideout at least one or two more of these guys shouldve been in this class
- Guys like Marcus Rios, Donaldven Manning and Ishmael Adams, same story, needed bodies never got enough of them
- Ifaedi Odenighbo
- David Perkins & Taylor Decker

Recap:
Even with how crappy this class was my biggest issue is still taking Daly and Turner. The lack of numbers on vital position and the sheer lack of quality in this class makes it a bad effort by the ND staff. I have no doubt in my mind that 3 years down the road this class or lack thereof will come back to haunt Kelly and his staff. Basically ND took a year of scholarship reductions usc-style but without the quality of prospects.

Overall grade: D+

love this breakdown btw

[CaneLB]

Collins was the most surprising pickup even though Bama has felt confident about getting him for a very long time. the Louisiana draw still had alot of people doubting, which was understandable, Yeldon was also big because Bama needed at least one elite back. Drake is a very good athlete but its not a guarantee he stays at RB, he needs to get bigger in the leg area. both RBs are very versatile

The misses for Bama was getting an elite QB and a elite NG/DT type kid. Taylor and Lake have potential but they are both still raw.
its a wait and see on Alec Morris, the coaches had other options after missing on the 2 top guys, but they wanted him, so they definitely are higher on him than most national observers. if anything I think he will at least pass Ely on the depth chart.

needs were filled in the other areas especially at WR where some potential gamebreakers are present, at CB where immediate help is needed, Dixon and Belue should see the field very early if not starting, and at LB where Bama got a 4 star caliber kid in every LB position on defense

Position Grades:
QB - C+
RB - A+
WR - A+
OL - B
DL - B+
LB - A+
DB - A+
K - A+

Overall this was a great class, really cant complain about too much, some people wonder about taking Gulledge but he is one of those kids that can make an easy transition to the OL, since he played there this year and was solid, if things dont work out on the DL.

Yeldon is a better fit at WR than Drake. He's elite in space and has the height/size of a bigger WR. Drake is more athlete than RB but WR doesn't make sense cause he's somewhat stiff. He does need to bulk up in the lower body but he has explosive power and looks best running downhill. I think he's overrated in the rankings system but he fits Bama well so he can be a serviceable back.

[Monty80]

Yeldon is a better fit at WR than Drake. He's elite in space and has the height/size of a bigger WR. Drake is more athlete than RB but WR doesn't make sense cause he's somewhat stiff. He does need to bulk up in the lower body but he has explosive power and looks best running downhill. I think he's overrated in the rankings system but he fits Bama well so he can be a serviceable back.

yeldon is better fit at WR and RB than Drake, based on what i heard even Drake's coaches feel he might need to change positions to excel, of course I want him to stay at RB, so if he can exceed there that will be great.

thanks, can u give us your Cane breakdown.

[CaneLB]

Eventually.

[kkolumbo]

I feel that Auburn did a fantastic job of meeting needs. When you look at our avg star ranking we had a pretty good year reeling in talented guys that could help fill our depth chart with more talent, since we return about 37 guys on our 2-deep.

The OL was probably our biggest need coming in, and we've filled that and then some with as of now about the 5th ranked OL class, or so. Adding Jordan Diamond, hopefully, later tonight would certainly put us right there behind Stanford as the #2 OL class, or close to it.

Next was adding some playmakers at WR, and keeping JaQuay Williams and Ricardo Louis is more than enough for me. I have felt that Louis is vastly underrated as a playmaker, he's just raw. Really like how we met this need. Adding Diggs would be some REALLY good icing on the cake, but not counting on it.

Next was TE. After Lutz is gone we only have Brandon Fulse at TE, so getting some immediate help there was crucial just in case one of those guys goes down. Ricky Parks is a physical specimen and should be able to contribute right away. Darrion Hutcherson is a 6'7, 250 lb athlete that could stay at TE or move to the DL/OL, but either way he needs to develop a little more of a meanstreak. However the biggest pickup we got for our TEs was getting fullback Jay Prosch as a Transfer from Illinois. This will allow the TE to play TE exclusively. Lutz has been underutilized because he was probably our best blocker last year but is such a great receiving TE too. Prosch will help big time.

Lastly, our last need would be considered getting a few quality LBs. I feel that getting a MLB was more important than OLB, and Cassanova McKinzy is, physically, ready to help out right away if need be. He is another kid that needs to learn to play with more effort consistently and get a little meaner on the field but he certainly has the size and talent to help. Mitchell is a project, plain and simple, but has tons of athleticism at 6'2, 200 lbs and runs in the 4.4s. I think he could move to safety if VanGorder chooses to go back to having bigger LBs.

Grades:

QB- B (Pike has huge boom or bust potential, but with Loeffler's QB coaching ability I think Pike should be thrilled)
RB- B+
TE- A+ (I think Parks and the TE from USC are the 2 best in the class)
WR- A
OL- A+

DL- C (wasn't a need, but missing on Goldman, Ward, Jenkins and Williams hurt....still like Nero and President's upside though)
LB- B
CB- B+
S- n/a

Overall I'd say Auburn had a B+ class. The meat of the class is on par with what we've had the past two classes, we just didn't have the two or three 5* guys that we've gotten recently to really anchor the top.

[wicket]

I have michigan as the #2 oline class regardless of if they nab diamond, I can get why you would have auburn as #2 though.

[apkguitar]

QB Skyler Mornhinweg
Needed: One guy as insurance in case of transfers/injuries.
Got: Exactly that.
Grade: B

RB Matt Jones
Needed: At least two solid 4* quality guys since we lack both depth and talent currently.
Got: Just one solid 4* guy. We're still going to have to hope that a bunch of guys that have been injury prone in the past can stay healthy. And we still don't have anyone that seems poised to be the clear cut #1 guy.
Grade: D+

WR Latroy Pittman, Raphael Andrades
Needed: Some solid playmakers. Preferably two or three guys that can come in and compete for playing time immediately.
Got: Two guys that are unlikely to contribute in any immediate capacity beyond ST. Unless we get Diggs we bombed this bad.
Grade: D-/B (B with Diggs, D- without)

TE Colin Thompson, Kent Taylor
Needed: Not a giant need in this class, but preferably at least one solid pickup.
Got: Two of the best TEs in the nation that should come in and compete for playing time immediately. Colin Thompson should easily step on campus as our best blocking TE.
Grade: A+

OL D.J. Humphries, Jessamen Dunker
Needed: 4-5 guys, at least 2-3 of which could compete immediately.
Got: One elite quality tackle and another high quality guard. Quality is high, but we needed more bodies.
Grade: C-

DT Damien Jacobs (JUCO), Jafar Mann, Dante Phillips
Needed: 2-3 solid prospects. Not necessarily needed to be competitive this season, but good enough to be able to contribute next year.
Got: No elite prospects, but three guys that are all good prospects that should be able to help with depth and contribute down the road.
Grade: A-

DE Jonathan Bullard, Quinteze Williams, Bryan Cox Jr.
Needed: Some guys that could contribute immediately. Had to play a DT at DE last year and we needed bodies and talent.
Got: Exactly what we needed. Some really good looking guys in this group.
Grade: A+

BUCK Dante Fowler Jr., Alex McCalister
Needed: Someone that could compete immediately. Ronald Powell isn't getting it done and showed little improvement.
Got: An elite pass rusher that can compete immediately and another good athlete.
Grade: A

LB Antonio Morrison, Jeremi Powell
Needed: Solid depth that can contribute down the road.
Got: Two guys that are really questionable. They're bodies at least, but not really UF quality players.
Grade: D

CB Brian Poole, Willie Bailey
Needed: One or two guys that could compete immediately. Injuries were a big problem last year and our lack of depth really showed.
Got: A really good player that can contribute immediately and a nice athlete for added depth.
Grade: A

S Marcus Maye, Rhaheim Ledbetter
Needed: Two or three guys that can at least contribute early and develop into starters in the future.
Got: Two nice looking prospects. Just about what we needed.
Grade: A

Overall: A-