Few Georgia ’stars’ in newly revamped ESPNU 150 rankings
You’ll recall that we discussed the yesterday the much-maligned system of rating recruits with star rankings. Quite unscientifically, I listed the preseason All-ACC teams and All-SEC teams and pulled their corresponding star rankings from Rivals.com. The predictable outcome was that the teams weren’t made up of only 4- and 5-star players. In fact, there were more 3-stars (19) than any other ranking and more 2-stars certainly than I expected (five).
In any case, I found it interesting that just today, ESPN, the latest and certainly most formidable player in the recruiting game, has now adopted the star system for rating recruits. Previously it used the numerical grading system similar to the one favored by NFL scouts to rate players. ESPN, which co-ops with Scouts Inc. on its recruiting coverage, will continue to use the numerical ratings but will also include the more widely accepted and understood star system in its ESPNU 150 recruiting rankingsas well.
“The star system is the industry standard and we feel like the system, combined with what we already do, provides a deeper experience,” Tom Luginbill, National Recruiting Director for Scouts. Inc, told ESPN’s JC Shurbutt. “Our pro personnel numerical grading system is an industry standard in scouting, but we realize the star system is fan friendly and media friendly and we embrace that.”
You can follow the link above to find out all the details on how the star rankings correspond to the numerical grades and such. But to me the most fascinating aspect of the ratings system is how stingy the group’s analysts are with the 5-star ranking (which I very much like). It should be noted that there are only 12 5-star players in the latest ESPNU 150 rankings, which were just released Wednesday.
Here’s the explanation ESPN gives for what it takes to be ranked a 5-star prospect, which requires a numerical grade of 85 to 100: “A potential immediate game-changer at the major college level who could push for All-Conference recognition as a true freshman. Will enter college with elite skills needed to create mismatches against top-level competition. A future All-American candidate.”
Very specific. Very lofty.
For what it’s worth, no Georgians earned ESPN’s coveted 5-star ranking. MLK High running back and Florida commitment Mack Brown was the highest-rated state player at No. 16 with a 4-star score of 84 points.
Including Brown there were six Georgian’s ranked among the Top 50:
- 23 — Atlanta-Washington WR Antonio Goodwin (Auburn)
- 32 — Newnan High S Alec Ogletree (Georgia)
- 34 — Calhoun WR Da’Rick Rogers (Georgia)
- 38 — Loganville RB Storm Johnson (LSU)
- 39 — Henry County WR Markeith Ambles (Tennessee)
Fun stuff for sure. Take a look at the ESPN’s new rankings and let me know what you think.
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41 comments Add your comment
UGA_2001
August 5th, 2009
5:01 pm
Luginbill is a Tech guy, which is why he has 4 non-UGA commits from GA in his top 50. No one else does.
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
5:03 pm
Interesting that the top 6 are all uncommitted, with 4 of the 6 strongly considering Florida and 1 of the 6 considering the Bullpuppies. I believe the Gators will land 2 of the 6….Luc and Powell (sorry, Luc won’t be a Dawg).
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
5:06 pm
More interesting…of the top 25, only 10 have committed, and 5 of the 10 have committed to the Gators. Very strong. And 7 of the 10 have committed to SEC teams. Also very strong.
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
5:10 pm
Of the top 50, 24 have committed and 7 of the 24 have committed to the Gators. 2 have committed to Georgia. 14 of the 24 have committed to SEC teams. The SEC is dominating the top recruits so far, lead by of course the mighty Gators.
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
5:24 pm
From 51 to 150, 62 have committed and Texas leads the way with 7 commits, with LSU, Georgia, and Penn State having 5 commits. 4 to Bama, OU, and Ohio State. Spurrier is doing OK with 3, along with the Noles. USC only has only 2 of the bottom 100, along with the Gators.
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
5:36 pm
And….Georgia vs. Florida in recruiting….the Gators have 9 commits from the top 150 so far and Georgia has 7 commits from the top 150. Florida’s commits are on average rated much higher than the Georgia commits….translation….Florida is winning the recruiting battle for the top players in the country once again against Georgia…SO FAR…and I only think that trend will increase in the coming weeks and months. Yep….Meyer for at least 6 more years and dominance in the SEC will continue to be a Gator trend. It is reality….and yes, I really have nothing better to do with my time right now. Two more weeks of bed restriction and then back to work…just in time for the college football season.
ReptilesRule
August 5th, 2009
5:45 pm
Congrats Mack Brown. Can’t wait to see you in the Swamp!
Einstein
August 5th, 2009
5:49 pm
Don’t worry about these rankings. Does Jasper Sanks, Jamie Harris, Mudcat, Pepe Zelner, Andy Bailey, Gerald Browner, Brandon Miller, Fred Gibson, Torin Kirtsey, Cecil the diesel, et al ring a bell? All good folks, but not 5 star athletes on the field in college. Rankings should be made after the players have been on their teams for 3 years…not before they finish high school. Of course, look at all the money these services are making on nerds like you. Peace.
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
5:53 pm
Einstein…who is the “you” to whom you are referring? I don’t believe the real Einstein made such general, generalizations about people or things…in general.
Einstein
August 5th, 2009
5:57 pm
Tampa Gator…the YOU are all the folks drinking the kool aid (and paying the bucks) dispensed by these recruiting services. Peace and good luck to your Gators this fall.
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
6:00 pm
Einstein…that would not by ME!
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
6:00 pm
that should read…”that would not BE ME!”
Chip Towers
August 5th, 2009
6:07 pm
Einstein: I agree with you and I drop those names all the time in discussions about recruiting rankings. However, I’ll take issue with you on two points: (1) Freddie Gibson was a pretty darn good college football player; (2) I don’t recall Torin Kirtsey being that highly rated. Perhaps you’re confusing him with Sterling Boyd, about whom Mark Bradley and I had a laugh just yesterday.
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
6:28 pm
Chip…I think the ESPN ratings are the best because they wait until after all the college camps and the other specialized camps to finalize their ratings. They also send their “experts” to see those recruits perform in person, not just on film like some of the other ratings. If you look back at the last couple of years, ESPN’s recruiting ratings have turned out to be fairly accurate. In fact, ESPN has a posted story about the 2006 ratings of high school players. The top 10 players turned out to be really good players. Fred Gibson also was drafted by the pros and had a try with the Falcons, I believe. He just didn’t have enough bulk to play in the pros, and that same factor hindered his rise in college as well.
GTDog
August 5th, 2009
6:29 pm
Well Einstein, they are HIGH SCHOOL player ratings, not COLLEGE player ratings. I do see your point about the ratings being highly suspect, but they’re fun and give us fans something to talk about in the off-season. And yes, it IS a business, and the goal of that business is to keep the topic hot and fresh, thus maintaining interest….and subscriptions.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again here. I feel pretty confident that Richt and Meyer, etc. don’t sit in front of a computer screen all day looking at these ratings. It doesn’t mean that the Dogs and Gators don’t have great recruiting classes, but I think the coaches are judging success on based on a little different set of criteria.
So, enjoy the ratings, I’m sure they’re reasonably accurate snapshots of a player’s college potential. Just don’t get too excited one way or the other.
TAMPAGATOR: Sorry to hear you’re under the weather, I tend to enjoy your posts. Hope you get well soon…but….as long as you have some time on your hands…have you thought about looking at the ratings and whether they tend to ‘downgrade’ kids after they have committed in order to keep the excitement going with ‘top notch’ uncommitted players? I’ve heard that charge before, just never had the time to check it out….could be interesting.
GTDog say…Ruff Ruff and Bzzz Bzz
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
6:31 pm
Also, Chip and Einstein, if you can serf the internet (which I have plenty fo time to do right now), mainly reading the major newspaper sports pages on line, you can get all the recruiting information you need without paying for it…and a lot of it is published as a result of the sportswriters reading the recruiting web sites….so why pay for it…let them.
TampaGator
August 5th, 2009
6:38 pm
GTDog…the Rivals and Scouts early ratings are based a lot of personal opinion and hearsay based on watching film sent to them. However, if you look at the players most of the major schools are seriously in the hunt for, the recruiting services are fairly on target. But there are players…like the WR Florida just signed our of a prep school and from Canada before…that non of the recruiting services have information on. That makes what Florida did with the kid more impressive. They got a commit from a very talented kid that none of the recruiting services knew anything about…and still don’t. The recuitnics are getting better and better each year, although they will never be an exact science due to the fact that these are 17 and 18-year-old kids who are in the process of growing into men.
Mr. U
August 5th, 2009
6:54 pm
These recruiting boards and services dont really mean a whole lot at this point… these kids havent even played their senior season yet and you have recruiting websites saying that one running back is better than another. Who is to say that the 10th best running back in the nation is not as good as the 20th? Obviously the 5th best running back will be better than the 50th, but these kids still have an entire year of football and working out before they even get to college, then most arent even relied on/utilized until their sophomore year or better, so these kids have an average of two to three years before they will be college starters. You never know who will rise up and turn into a star…
jambee
August 5th, 2009
7:21 pm
Is that Tommy Luginbill, the guarterback that Bill Lewis stuck in the ahead of a superior Donnie Davis. Unbelievable.
GTDog
August 5th, 2009
7:22 pm
TG:
Your story of the WR is along the lines of my point exactly. My position is that the recruiting services can certainly put the kids’ names out there. And yes, I would say that you probably have 90% of the top 150 high school players on the list. But until I learn differently, I’m still of the opinion that these ratings are based primarily on stats from camps. There are players out there who don’t spend their summers chasing football camps, and of those who do, I’d rather study film and check out the kid in person.
Of course, no matter WHAT you do, it’s still a partial crapshoot to predict future success at any level. Even the NFL, with all of the resources that they put into scouting, miss on players all too frequently.
Interesting personal story: My last year of Pop Warner ball, we had an awesome team. Our starting QB was a man among boys, calling audibles and checking off plays before most college QBs were allowed to do so. He never even made his high school’s varsity team. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th string QBs went on to start 8 years on their respective varsity teams in HS, and 2 of them earned scholarships.
Okay, I’m rambling now…..better go…lol
Not Disappointed
August 5th, 2009
8:30 pm
These rankings have been wrong in the past. It’s how the player develops over the years! Ramblin Wreck!!
The
August 5th, 2009
8:42 pm
Enter your comments here
dawgydawg47
August 5th, 2009
10:00 pm
Have you noticed that most of the top ranked players have not committed? They want to keep us interested. It happens that way every year. Coincidence, I don’t think so.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
August 5th, 2009
10:21 pm
All this rating of players is not a science and quite often they are just plain wrong.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
August 5th, 2009
10:23 pm
You listed what you considered to be highly rated commits who were busts but I strongly disagree on Fred Gibson – he was successful at UGA and he was a great athlete.
TheItalianDawg
August 5th, 2009
10:38 pm
TampaGator,
I will say 50% of the 5 stars will turn big time busts, and 50% of the lower stars will turn to be great players and I know and Im sure many know as well numerous examples. I dont think Florida has more talent! I think Georgia and Florida have very similar level of talent, yes Florida have 9 in the ESPN 150 and Georgia have 7 but both have exactly 10 players graded in the 80s. I’d rather have a 2 stars die hard dawg over an overrated 5 star, its the heart what count most
Todd
August 6th, 2009
4:52 am
Tampa Gator, keep dreaming about dominance for UF. When superman leaves after this year you guys will not be the team you have seen the last 4 years. A talent like Tebow comes along about every 20-30 years. Urban is not the man you think he is. That team is built around one man and without him UF is just and average team….
Are u Serious
August 6th, 2009
6:07 am
This Espn 150 has to be the biggest joke. They have most not all but most of guys without one college offer in the top 150 over guys with multiple from division 1 school offers . Is ESPN saying they know more than the coaches that get paid to recruit the best. BIG BIG JOKE!!!!!!!!! It appears to be just a money maker. You subscribe to us. We rank your kids.
Its High school
August 6th, 2009
7:03 am
my name says it all. Why are all of us 30+ year olds worried about high school rankings.
TampaGator
August 6th, 2009
8:27 am
Todd…Tebow was not the starting QB for the 2006 NC team. Nor was he the QB of the great Utah team under Meyer. Nor did he QB for Bowling Green when Meyer took them to the top of the MAC. And I have been telling you, but you don’t listen, John Brantley is an extremely talented QB and a much better passer than Tebow (who is a good passer) and the Gators are 3-deep in big time talent at almost every position. In fact, some of the Gators 2nd and 3rd teams players might be better than some of the 1st string starters (Will Hill, Omar Hunter, Justin Trattou, and several of the “backup” cornerbacks and linebackers for example). PLUS…if you don’t think Urban Meyer is the man I think he is….go to http://www.gatorsports.com and read: “This is It.” Then you will understand why I think so highly of Urban Meyer and why he is the best college football coach in America.
Exley DAWG
August 6th, 2009
8:39 am
Todd is correct. Tebow is incredible but he is gone after ‘09. No one has his leadership skills which is his greatest attibute. Let’s see…..go to a website named gatorsports.com and hear propaganda about how great Urban Meyer is? Seems like a biased site to me. Simmer down, your to cocky.
TampaGator
August 6th, 2009
8:39 am
One more thing, Tood. If the Gators were built around one player, the Gators would not have won 2 of the last 3 national titles. And, as I said in the previous blog, if you think the Gators would be just an average team without Tebow, you obviously know nothing about the talent on the Gators roster, especially on defense.
TampaGator
August 6th, 2009
8:43 am
Exley…I should have written…visit the site only if you have an open mind and are willing to expand your thinking beyond your own opinion. If you read the story, it is not biased at all. It is one of the best journalistic pieces I have read in a while, matter of fact. Great inside on a great coach. P.S. I would have no hesitation about reading a story on Richt on “dawgsports.com” because I would be interested in learning more about Coach Richt, who I think (along with Meyer) is one of the best coaches in America (but I also think ole Willie is an outstand defensive coodinator, too).
UGA91
August 6th, 2009
10:49 am
Slow down TG! The recruiting period isn’t over and you are proclaiming UF dominance for the next 6 years. Why don’t you let these upcoming seniors play the season out, graduate, then join your program before making wild prognostications!
TampaGator
August 6th, 2009
11:51 am
UGA91…the 6 years was related to the 6-year extension contract Meyer just signed, not to recruiting of this year’s high school kids.
Instant Classic1
August 6th, 2009
12:07 pm
For all those who think UF will be nothing without Tebow, his backup was rated 5 stars on all sites and the Gatorade National Player of the Year his senior year. Its not like they have a “Joe Cox” waiting in the wings.
Bull Gator
August 6th, 2009
5:18 pm
Todd and ExleyDAWG…John Brantley holds the all-time record for touchdowns by a high school player in the state of FL. He was heavily recruited by every major college program, and was initially committed to Texas before he eventually signed with UF. The fact that he will have sat for 3 years while Tebow starred is only going to help the transition. When he does take over he will have complete command of the offense, along with the respect of his teammates. Yes Tim Tebow will go down as the greatest college player ever, but as TampaGator points out, Urban did win a BCS title in ‘06 when Chris Leak, who Johnny Brantly more resembles, was the starting QB.
Einstein
August 6th, 2009
5:57 pm
Thanks Chip for a good article. You and Bradley are correct…Sterling Boyd was supposed to be our next “Herschel”. And, how could Odel Collins miss? Ratings are fun to banter during the off-season; however, the true ratings come 4 years later. Give me a 3 star any day over a 5 star. Peace.
Something to consider...
August 7th, 2009
10:35 am
It’s so funny how everyone rates how good or bad a team will be based on a couple of star skill players. Star players can be difference makers in big games, but if there isn’t a supporting cast of “workmen” around them then the team still won’t do well.
The reason most pre-season polls end up being off is because they simply judge teams based on star power alone.
People who think Florida would be or will be a bad team without Tebow are just as silly as people who think Georgia won’t be any good this year without Stafford and Moreno.
Look at Bama’s JPW last year he looked all world at times, why? Because he had one of the most dominant o-lines in the country.
Imagine if Jay Cutler had played for UF, UGA, Tenn, Bama of Aub instead of Vandy where he had little supporting cast?
Stars are nice but championships start in the trenches.
The recipie for championship teams is this:
1. Dominant Defensive line that can disrupt the offensive backfield. If the line is strong and can get pressure the LBs and Secondary will flourish
2. Dominant o-line that can move the pile, protect the qb and give him time to go through his progressions
3. A solid QB that can protect the ball and play mistake free ball. Doesn’t have to be a superstar, although it’s a definite plus if he is, it’s not a requirement.
4. A balanced offensive attack that can move the chains and keep defenses guessing. Also need to be able to do both as some teams will be better at against the run and others against the pass, and a balanced attack gives a team the ability to exploit the defense’s weakness.
5. Team chemistry, all units playing as one and not as individuals.
Look at the last 10 national champions and judge them based off that criteria and you’ll find they all have those things, and the teams that fell short, fell short somewhere on that list.
Also look at who QB’d the National Champions from 08-98 and then think about each team as a whole: Only 4 QBs on this list could truly be considered stars – Tebow, Young, Leinart, & Weinke
2008 – UF – Tebow
2007 – LSU – Matt Flynn
2006 – UF – Chris Leak
2005 – Tex – Vince Young
2004 – USC – Matt Leinart
2003 – LSU – Matt Mauck
2002 – OSU – Craig Krenzel
2001 – Miami – Ken Dorsey
2000 – Okl – Josh Heupel
1999 – FSU – Chris Weinke
1998 – Tenn – Tee Martin
Dawg's History 101
August 7th, 2009
11:32 pm
Great posting..Something to consider. As a fomer d1-aa, player, the big men win and lose games. Few people understand that concept, and just brush off the comment, of winning the game at the line of scrimage. If Florida, now cursed with the #1 ranking, lost the same depth chart players that Georgia lost last year, they would have a similary season. Few people remember what happened the year after they won their first NC
Flo-Ri-Duh!
August 11th, 2009
6:22 am
You all missed the boat. Florida is a powerhouse because of their DEFENSE … not Tebow. Coach Strong is the heart and soul of the defense and he is the reason Florida gets great commits on defense every year. My connection tells me that Strong is being considered as the NEXT head coach at Notre Dame – not Meyer. Urban Meyer knows Strong is going to be offered a major position as a head coach soon and that is why he locked in to a six year deal NOW.