Recruiting vs. Mo and Kansas

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robsker

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According to Sports Illustrated, Missouri already has verbals from three top 150 players --- a QB, a TE, and an OT (all scoring over 80 on the SI scale of potential) --- and they have have as well verbals from an ILB at 75 and another player at a 40. NU has Bodtman and Randle at a 75, Robinson at 45 and Pensick and Zimmerer at 40. According to SI, a ranking of 50 or below is a "project player."

So.... so far, Missouri is crushing NU in 2009 recruiting. They already have 3 verbals from top 150 players and are in on many more remaining uncommitted top 150 players than is NU. From the SI perspective anyway, and their assessments are really detailed, Only two of the five NU verbals are ranked above the "project player" level.

As for Kansas, their recruits, as per SI, are slightly better prospects than are NU's and both are well behind MU. OU is, of course well ahead of MU (as is Texas).

Not a good start for NU in 2009 recruiting --- if SI assessment is a reliable measure.

 
And verbals committments who can't sign for another 9 months mean what again? NOTHING

Rememeber these are mostly 17 year old kids who can't decide anything at this point. We will be just fine. ;)

 
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It's May and we only have 5 recruits. I don't think you should be hitting the panic button yet. Most of MU recruits are in state where there is more talent than in NE.

 
Overland Park Husker said:
It's May and we only have 5 recruits. I don't think you should be hitting the panic button yet. Most of MU recruits are in state where there is more talent than in NE.
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Good point.

There is no panic because Pelini will get, I think, players with the desire that he is looking for. It is just that the national-level players we will land, in number, will be mid conference (likely) and likely will be fewer than Missouri will get (and maybe Kansas too). That said, it is what you do with them that matters. And hopefully, Pelini and crew can get the most out of what he recruits.

 
I don't expect Pelini, like Osborne, will have many top ten recruiting classes throughout his career here, and Pelini could care less.

 
Spartness said:
I don't expect Pelini, like Osborne, will have many top ten recruiting classes throughout his career here, and Pelini could care less.
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Osborne had few top 10 classes. He had solid classes (typically) but there were years when NU was far from the top. As for Pelini, I'd bet a million dollars that given the choice he'd rather have a top 10 class than a top 35 or 40 class --- it is just that he does not have the choice --- this is recruiting, not drafting.

My point with this post is that there are many out there that think that NU has more talent than MU and Kansas and that our "talent advantage" will be increasing. I counter and say that Mu has much better talent than NU and KU is at least equal to NU. And both programs are perched better than are we (in terms of national perception) and that, at least to date, if anything the talent advantage that they have over NU appears to be widening. Why is this important for NU fans like us to know? It is so that when we play MU and KU we realize that we are the underdogs and do not expect to win (hope yes, expect no). That is important so that the fans do not turn on these players and coaches when a 10 win season eludes us --- and we appreciate what we have. A 10 win season is nowhere in sight anytime soon. A talent edge to our immediate competition is some of that reason.

 
But TO used an idiosyncratic O that didn't rely on the same type of players. We didn't need pro-type qb's. We needed wr's that were could block their butt-off and catch the occasional ball when thrown. Linemen were shorter guys with quick feet that could pull like a muther. Our O didn't require the same kind of players others covetted. So our O didn't call for the type of guys that got the most attention from other schools.

Plus our S&C used to be such that we got more out of our guys than about any other program.

Also, Osborne best teams were damn athletic and he did have some highly-ranked classes.

Now we are recruiting the same offensive players as the rest and our competition is no-longer lagging in S&C.

Ya Bo is a motivator that preaches aggression and fundamentals, he'll get a lot out of players and will look for guys that fit husker-mold. But folks still need to recognize that some differences that enabled TO to win without highly ranked recruits are gone.

 
Danimal said:
But TO used an idiosyncratic O that didn't rely on the same type of players. We didn't need pro-type qb's. We needed wr's that were could block their butt-off and catch the occasional ball when thrown. Linemen were shorter guys with quick feet that could pull like a muther. Our O didn't require the same kind of players others covetted. So our O didn't call for the type of guys that got the most attention from other schools.

Plus our S&C used to be such that we got more out of our guys than about any other program.

Also, Osborne best teams were damn athletic and he did have some highly-ranked classes.

Now we are recruiting the same offensive players as the rest and our competition is no-longer lagging in S&C.

Ya Bo is a motivator that preaches aggression and fundamentals, he'll get a lot out of players and will look for guys that fit husker-mold. But folks still need to recognize that some differences that enabled TO to win without highly ranked recruits are gone.
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Danimal: great post --- one of the best of recent times and as succinct and accurate an assessment of the Osborne era as I have read in a long time.

It would be nice if, somehow, NU could find a niche-type approach that would work. We, my friend, are in for a long period of rebuilding. We, the faithful, need to be patient. The program that Pelini inherited is worse in most respects than was the one Callahan inherited. The Callahan years, which were supposed to be rebuilding years, actually moved the program in the wrong direction. There has not been any forward progress in the NU football program, really, in 10 years. To expect Pelini to turn this around quickly is unrealistic.

He'll have to do it with players of limited skill. Hopefully he is what many think he is --- a miracle worker who can squeeze 100% of the potential out of his players. These next two years are critical in NU showing some life and to make the program attractive again.

 
Do you guys realize that, Missouri and Kansas used to be in this same position where we outrecruited them every year? Seems like they are getting along just fine.

 
My point is Pelini could care less about how Rival and Scout rate his classes. This has been discussed many times. He has his own rating system. Some of our future recruits will be on those services' radar screen; some will not. So what's really a top ten class? Pelini may consider some of our commitments three- or four-star players.

 
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Spartness said:
My point is Pelini could care less about how Rival and Scout rate his classes. This has been discussed many times. He has his own rating system. Some of our future recruits will be on those services' radar screen; some will not. So what's really a top ten class? Pelini may consider some of our commitments three- or four-star players.
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Good point.

 
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