Because some posters here don't seem to understand that most of us are here on this board to bloviate and be arm-chair coaches for our own entertainment, the analysis for them is that everything is perfect now and will be perfect forever, as every recruit will be all-conference every year they are here and all will be first-round picks.
For everyone else, here is a limited-excuses look at the class, including scholarship tranfers. Obviously there are a ton of mitigating factors, but given that these are the guys putting on the uniform, this is what I think we got. I'll rank by position group, so the stronger the group, the higher up the list:
QB: Jordan Smith is the best player in the class. Obviously every QB has an adjustment period but he has excellent phone-booth quickness. There was a clip in the tape I posted yesterday where he was caught from behind, but plenty of defenders had faster straight-line speed than QF too. Obviously a comparison to the GOAT isn't fair, but Smith is a better athlete and looks like a more instinctive runner than McCloud. Ketravis Marsh has two obvious positives- height and arm strength, and two obvious areas of improvement- accuracy and weight. Fortunately, he'll gain weight naturally in S&C and good coaching should improve the accuracy. Cade Fortin was a well-regarded recruit who was beat out by a guy who will probably be a first round pick. He has prototype size and arm strength, and he isn't slow. On the flip side, he apparently missed most of his senior season in high school and sat out last year, so he's only thrown 65 passes in three years, and he was below 50% on those 65 passes, so there some work to do. At a minimum, he and McCloud should push each other enough that we can expect better QB play next year. Grade: A-
DB: Mac Harris is a guy to get excited about at safety. Not sure he'll play this year, but as a QB, a Nate Allen comparison is fair. Chris Townsel needs to gain weight, but as an early enrollee, he should be ready to go. I think Ben Knox ends up at safety- obviously size runs in his family and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up at 6'2" 205+. AJ Hamilton is a fun guy to watch- I'm not sure he's the same playmaker that Ronnie Hoggins was, but as Hoggins and Deatrick Nichols proved, 5'9"-5'10" CBs can be succesful in the AAC. All are CCS guys. Grade: B
RB: I really like Brian Battie as another Kelly Joiner type of gadget player. He could bulk up a bit and become a muscle-hamster type of guy, but for right now, he's a 10 touch type of guy. I'm assuming Felix is coming in at RB- he'll be the starter and should be able to be productive right away if we can block for him. If Felix is coming at WR, this grade plummets (unless Johnny Ford goes back to RB), as Joiner is the only scholarship back who has carried the ball before, and neither he nor Battie is built to be a full-time back. Berry has some skill but is a complete unknown. Even with Felix, I think we needed another long-term guy who profiles as an every down back. Not sure if Jerome Ford was an option, but he would have solved a lot of problems. Grade: B-
Edge Rusher: Had Edmond signed, this is the #2 position group, but he was a very significant loss. Camiel is probably OLB and Logan will be a DE, but given that Camiel is the type that could very well blow up to 235 in S&C, he might put his hand on the ground sometimes, so I'll group them together. Both are guys who need to get bigger and stronger. Logan is an Eric Lee/Mike Love type that isn't a freak athlete but should be buildable, and Camiel is a great athlete who could play at 220. We needed an extra guy here though. Grade: B-
PK: Sackett was better as a freshman than as a sophomore at UTSA, but he's a welcome addition to what should be a good competition there, especially now that Justin Burke is flipping burgers (fun fact- every 5th burger he flips gets blocked). Grade: C
O-line: Even if we call Anderton a scholarship player, we needed 4 in this class. None of the three guys are strike you as being obvious early-impact players, but all three seem like worthwhile projects. Given that the hit-rate for linemen is 50% or less, it needs to be a focus of next year's class. The fact that the staff doesn't see Anderton as a scholarship player right now is concerning, so this might be a two-man class in their eyes. Grade: C-
WR/TE: I don't care what the issue was with Bell- I think it was a mistake by a staff that is not accustomed to life in the middle of the recruiting totem pole. We are not in a position to be turning away playmakers who want to be here, especially so they can go to a team that we play every year. Bell has maturity issues- he wanted his ego stroked and his move yesterday was classless, but we needed him more than he needed us, so play to the immaturity and stroke his ego a bit, then come down hard on him once he's in the building. Dollison is a good slot prospect and given that he's here already, he should be playing in the fall. Brown is like Marsh- two obvious positives- straight line speed and height, and two obvious areas of improvement- weight and route running. Those are both things that can be improved upon. I would not like Willis at WR, but as a hybrid TE/WR, sure, why not take a chance. Quality TEs seem to be the rarest type of recruit these days. All three of these guys are out of state and played against questionable high school competition. Grade: C-
DT: Nothing against Tuitopou, but he's a depth guy who will only be here for two years, and I think we needed a high school DT in this class. Peek is a non-entity on the field, but as a Stanford grad, he could set a good example in the classroom for the younger guys. Grade: C-
MLB: Didn't get one. Macon showed what a real MLB can do for a defense. Mitigating factor is that there might not have been any in our wheelhouse once CJS took over. Grade: D
Overall grade: fortunately, we did the best at the most important position. On the whole though, it's a C class that I'm struggling to see really providing much of a supporting cast to either QB and is very thin on the front 7 of the defense. Most of the decommits since CJS took over went down in the world- Merriweather-Lewis signed with a JUCO, Evan Webster signed with FAMU, Berrong to Kent State, and Coleman went to FAU. I don't blame CJS for Edmond- seems like Edmond got some bad advice. CCS found several guys who were lured to P5 way before the P5 was sniffing around, but he also put the next staff behind the 8-ball with so many grades guys. In addition to the guys above, Gentle Hunt and Taron Keith seem to have gone nowhere, and Bailey-Brown signed with Southern Piss. Fortunately, I think last year's class had some real talent in it, and next year's class will almost certainly better. It's a transition class, and those are always rough and seem to be getting tougher as the early signing day grows even more important.
For everyone else, here is a limited-excuses look at the class, including scholarship tranfers. Obviously there are a ton of mitigating factors, but given that these are the guys putting on the uniform, this is what I think we got. I'll rank by position group, so the stronger the group, the higher up the list:
QB: Jordan Smith is the best player in the class. Obviously every QB has an adjustment period but he has excellent phone-booth quickness. There was a clip in the tape I posted yesterday where he was caught from behind, but plenty of defenders had faster straight-line speed than QF too. Obviously a comparison to the GOAT isn't fair, but Smith is a better athlete and looks like a more instinctive runner than McCloud. Ketravis Marsh has two obvious positives- height and arm strength, and two obvious areas of improvement- accuracy and weight. Fortunately, he'll gain weight naturally in S&C and good coaching should improve the accuracy. Cade Fortin was a well-regarded recruit who was beat out by a guy who will probably be a first round pick. He has prototype size and arm strength, and he isn't slow. On the flip side, he apparently missed most of his senior season in high school and sat out last year, so he's only thrown 65 passes in three years, and he was below 50% on those 65 passes, so there some work to do. At a minimum, he and McCloud should push each other enough that we can expect better QB play next year. Grade: A-
DB: Mac Harris is a guy to get excited about at safety. Not sure he'll play this year, but as a QB, a Nate Allen comparison is fair. Chris Townsel needs to gain weight, but as an early enrollee, he should be ready to go. I think Ben Knox ends up at safety- obviously size runs in his family and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up at 6'2" 205+. AJ Hamilton is a fun guy to watch- I'm not sure he's the same playmaker that Ronnie Hoggins was, but as Hoggins and Deatrick Nichols proved, 5'9"-5'10" CBs can be succesful in the AAC. All are CCS guys. Grade: B
RB: I really like Brian Battie as another Kelly Joiner type of gadget player. He could bulk up a bit and become a muscle-hamster type of guy, but for right now, he's a 10 touch type of guy. I'm assuming Felix is coming in at RB- he'll be the starter and should be able to be productive right away if we can block for him. If Felix is coming at WR, this grade plummets (unless Johnny Ford goes back to RB), as Joiner is the only scholarship back who has carried the ball before, and neither he nor Battie is built to be a full-time back. Berry has some skill but is a complete unknown. Even with Felix, I think we needed another long-term guy who profiles as an every down back. Not sure if Jerome Ford was an option, but he would have solved a lot of problems. Grade: B-
Edge Rusher: Had Edmond signed, this is the #2 position group, but he was a very significant loss. Camiel is probably OLB and Logan will be a DE, but given that Camiel is the type that could very well blow up to 235 in S&C, he might put his hand on the ground sometimes, so I'll group them together. Both are guys who need to get bigger and stronger. Logan is an Eric Lee/Mike Love type that isn't a freak athlete but should be buildable, and Camiel is a great athlete who could play at 220. We needed an extra guy here though. Grade: B-
PK: Sackett was better as a freshman than as a sophomore at UTSA, but he's a welcome addition to what should be a good competition there, especially now that Justin Burke is flipping burgers (fun fact- every 5th burger he flips gets blocked). Grade: C
O-line: Even if we call Anderton a scholarship player, we needed 4 in this class. None of the three guys are strike you as being obvious early-impact players, but all three seem like worthwhile projects. Given that the hit-rate for linemen is 50% or less, it needs to be a focus of next year's class. The fact that the staff doesn't see Anderton as a scholarship player right now is concerning, so this might be a two-man class in their eyes. Grade: C-
WR/TE: I don't care what the issue was with Bell- I think it was a mistake by a staff that is not accustomed to life in the middle of the recruiting totem pole. We are not in a position to be turning away playmakers who want to be here, especially so they can go to a team that we play every year. Bell has maturity issues- he wanted his ego stroked and his move yesterday was classless, but we needed him more than he needed us, so play to the immaturity and stroke his ego a bit, then come down hard on him once he's in the building. Dollison is a good slot prospect and given that he's here already, he should be playing in the fall. Brown is like Marsh- two obvious positives- straight line speed and height, and two obvious areas of improvement- weight and route running. Those are both things that can be improved upon. I would not like Willis at WR, but as a hybrid TE/WR, sure, why not take a chance. Quality TEs seem to be the rarest type of recruit these days. All three of these guys are out of state and played against questionable high school competition. Grade: C-
DT: Nothing against Tuitopou, but he's a depth guy who will only be here for two years, and I think we needed a high school DT in this class. Peek is a non-entity on the field, but as a Stanford grad, he could set a good example in the classroom for the younger guys. Grade: C-
MLB: Didn't get one. Macon showed what a real MLB can do for a defense. Mitigating factor is that there might not have been any in our wheelhouse once CJS took over. Grade: D
Overall grade: fortunately, we did the best at the most important position. On the whole though, it's a C class that I'm struggling to see really providing much of a supporting cast to either QB and is very thin on the front 7 of the defense. Most of the decommits since CJS took over went down in the world- Merriweather-Lewis signed with a JUCO, Evan Webster signed with FAMU, Berrong to Kent State, and Coleman went to FAU. I don't blame CJS for Edmond- seems like Edmond got some bad advice. CCS found several guys who were lured to P5 way before the P5 was sniffing around, but he also put the next staff behind the 8-ball with so many grades guys. In addition to the guys above, Gentle Hunt and Taron Keith seem to have gone nowhere, and Bailey-Brown signed with Southern Piss. Fortunately, I think last year's class had some real talent in it, and next year's class will almost certainly better. It's a transition class, and those are always rough and seem to be getting tougher as the early signing day grows even more important.
