[2024] Recruiting Class Grades Batch 1

[tsweezy]

It's that time of year again! Time to hand out recruiting class grades!

This is the set I'd done before progressions so it may look a little different or be immediately invalidated, who knows!

 

Purdue University

Big Ten

2023: 7-6 (4-5)
 

Recruiting Class Basics:

Purdue signed 1 5-star, 14 4-stars, and 5 3-stars. They signed 10 players with B or better potentials and 6 B overalls. Rankings below:

ESPN: 81st
Rivals: 2nd
247: 6th

Composite: 9th

 

Signees below:

School	Name	Stars	Ovr	Pot	Pos	Archetype	City	State
PURD	Dennis Long	3	C	B+	C	Pass Blocking	Clanton	AL
PURD	Steven Shepherd	4	B	C	CB	Zone Coverage	St. Petersburg	FL
PURD	Chris Longacre	4	B	B-	CB	Zone Coverage	Gaffney	SC
PURD	Aaron Thompson	3	C	B	DE	Run Stopper	McKinney	TX
PURD	James Morrison	3	C	D+	DE	Balanced	Leesville	LA
PURD	Gregory Boyd	0	D	A	DE	Balanced	Fairbanks	AK
PURD	William Campbell	0	D	B+	FB	Receiving	Fairbanks	AK
PURD	Michael Lyles	3	C	C+	FS	Zone Coverage	Palos Heights	IL
PURD	Gerard Donner	4	C	D+	ILB	Coverage	Jackson	TN
PURD	Jonathan Bolduc	4	C	B-	ILB	Run Stopper	Maple Park	IL
PURD	Anthony Detweiler	4	C	B-	K	Power	Baton Rouge	LA
PURD	Aaron Rudd	4	B	C+	OG	Pass Blocking	Ruston	LA
PURD	Jamal Dunn	0	D	A	OG	Run Blocking	Eielson AFB	AK
PURD	Willie Hicks	4	C	B+	OLB	Pass Rush	Watkinsville	GA
PURD	Michael Chen	5	B	C+	OT	Pass Blocking	Park Ridge	IL
PURD	Juan Camacho	4	C	B+	OT	Pass Blocking	Frisco	TX
PURD	William Weinstein	4	C	D+	OT	Run Blocking	Tampa	FL
PURD	David Winkler	0	F	A-	P	Power	Fairbanks	AK
PURD	Jose Acosta	4	C	C+	QB	Field General	Batavia	NY
PURD	Gerald Wasserman	4	C	B-	RB	Power	Marion	AR
PURD	James Diaz	3	C	C+	RB	Speed	Fort Lauderdale	FL
PURD	Jason Jacques	0	D	A+	SS	Ball Hawk	Anchorage	AK
PURD	Gregg Malloy	4	C	B	TE	Receiving	Sumrall	MS
PURD	Jesus Montijo	4	B	C+	WR	Route Runner	Fort Pierce	FL
PURD	Jose Perez	4	B	B-	WR	Speed	Fresno	CA

 

Below is a breakdown position-by-position of (from L-R) their current roster, what they did on the trail, and the grade I gave them in recruiting that position.

Position	Current position grade	Current status	Number signed	Recruiting status
C	C+	Purdue has had a good string of center recruiting the last 2 years. Signing a pair of 3-stars 2 years ago and a high C 4 star last season. All have high potentials and will be serviceable next season and quite good for the next 3 years after that. Interestingly they have one of each archetype: Pass/run block / line captain. Curious if Tibbs takes over or if the guys a year older hold him off	1	With Tibbs last year there wasn't much pressure on this class. Dennis long was a good pickup as a 3 star with B+ potential so after 2 years or so he should be a quality backup / potential upperclassman starter	B-
CB	C+	Ehh, another issue with mismatched archetypes. They have 2 B overalls going into next year, one man and one zone (and both are starters the year after that too it looks like). Bit surprising they have no juniors on the roster. Last year was a bit of a meh year with a single 3 star at this position so they're a little sparse in the far future	2	Well. They knew they were thin for the future and this must have been a room they circled. Two B overall zone corners is an astounding pickup and this was a top-3 CB haul in the country I think. Longacre and Shepherd will push for playing time and may be immediate CB3/4 and hit the big time as upperclassmen	A-
DE	A	Oh right, the major major major class win from last year. Hector Galvan and Bryce Speer are the best returners in the room and were true freshmen this year. Soooo I'm assuming they're at least rolling out a pair of high Bs / low As on the edge next year and then a few years of A overalls with solid backup options as well. The only reason it isn't an A+ is because they don't (yet) have a superstar. Next year it will be	3	Hector and Bryce already have the edges locked down for years so this group is almost irrelevant for the next couple years. As such you can tell that they just got some filler 3-stars in case of injury. Overall not important and it seems like DE was treated as such this cycle	C
DT	B	It's a bit thin of a room, but there is talent. McCoy will be a high B/low A RS JR and Sam Chaplin will be a high B second year player. That is a really good base for the future (and they have a good backup option behind them. Of course those are the only 3 in the room so they need to reload ASAP	0	A bit concerning here. They already had pretty few bodies and to take 0 puts a lot of stress on the class next year. I can't remember if they run a 3-4 which wouldn't make it as big of a deal, but you always want to see a continuous flow of talent so and injury or bad decision luck doesn't screw you in the future	D-
FB	-	None on next season's projected roster	1	I'm not counting walkons, but it is very funny that the collective alaska walk on talent all came to Purdue. Weird outreach strategy but we'll see if it pays off	-
FS	A-	Akeem Bailey will be a really good 4th year starter (and 5th year starter the year after that). They also signed his replacement last season in Tubbs who will get some seasons to develop and then be a great starter in his own right.	1	Just like at C, they signed Tubbs last year who is earmarked as "the guy" for the future. This class just needed some filler and injury insurance and that's what they got. Not that Lyles is really bad per se, he's just uninteresting	C
ILB	B+	A room well stocked with talent. Bruce is their A- overall next year senior starter who's traced the ideal 4-star trajectory (B -> B+ -> A-) thus far and is a thumper up the middle. '21 4-star signee Jimenez is still only a B- but projects as the number 2 in the room next year. Behind them are 5 more 3/4 star underclassmen offering quality depth in spades	2	Ok they're definitely running a 3-4. They already had overflowing amounts of depth in this room and signed ANOTHER pair of 4-stars (coverage and run stopper). With this variety of archetype coverage they have so many mix and match options for the future and true competition to find some elite players	B+
K	C-	Only one kicker, a C overall rising RS JR. D- power, C+ accuracy ain't gonna cut it for high stakes situations. Ideally he gets crooted over, or at the least a backup/future replacement found soon	1	They knew they needed a new starting kicker pretty urgently and they wound up getting a blue chip in Detweiler. The 15th ranked K in the class, but with high potential he's not an immediate upgrade but is a very good long term signee who will offer them some good stability	B
OG	C+	More disappointing than I thought, but pretty young still. Only 1 rising senior and he's a B- overall OG2. Their #1 is an A potential rising RS JR 3-star who should be an A- next season and has 2 years of lockdown OG1 solidified. Behind them are 3 second year 2/3 stars who haven't amounted to much yet	2	One of the few rooms without a blue chip, they changed that with high ranking Aaron Rudd who has all-conference future expectations as a pass blocker. They're likely relying on shifting some tackles to guards though as Rudd was their only scholarship signee	B+
OLB	A-	Linebacker is pretty solid for the boilermakers. Piscotty will almost certainly be an A overall starter on one end as a senior. The other spot is almost definitely going to be an A- overall RS SR in Robinson. Unfortunately, after they leave there's a whole bunch of unproven material behind them (although they'll all have 2 more progressions to turn into something). 5 3-star underclassmen either C or C+ with frankly mid potential, you assume at least 1 becomes good starting quality options but no homerun hitters in that room at the moment	1	They had a ton of 3-stars and Willie Hicks is the perfect addition. A 4-star B+ potential, he won't start right away, but doesn't need to. I think he progresses quickly and is a great 2-3 year starter before going pro	B
OT	B+	Another room without much star power but good progressions. They'll have a RS JR/SR at the top two spots who are currently B overall with high potential. I'm projecting a B+ and A- on either side (both pass blockers). Behind them is a bunch of forgettable 3-stars, the brightest spot of whom is RS FR Brandon Douglas (currently a C+ overall with A potential) He's in line to start in '25 but nobody else on the roster looks like a future above-average P5 starter	3	One of their best rooms. They knew they had just a bunch of filler coming up here and wanted to upgrade and they got some huge signees. Michael Chen was this class's 5-star signee and caused the staff some panic when he began considering notre dame after being slow played for a few weeks. Ultimately he did wind up choosing Purdue, alongside 2 4-star C overalls. I like Camacho's potential better than Weinsteins, but 3 blue chips in one class is an absolute home run. They are set here.	A
P	B	They just signed Mohammed Roberts last class, a 4-star C overall. He'll win the position by default for the next few years which is fine, He's good enough	1	They just signed Roberts last class, not at all a priority	C
QB	A-	How can you give an A- to a room that just got a 5-star QB last year?? Simle. Laasko might as well be Helen Keller with how he sees the field. Field generals typically need more seasoning and gameplanning to support their strengths but he looked bad when seeing action. Embarrassingly lost his starting job to rising 5th year Ankou kind of bad. You wonder if there will be a legitimate battle next season between (likely) A- overall Ankour and Laasko. Ankou has likely shown enough that with ok progressions will hang onto his status as the best option in '24, but if it's close maybe Laasko gets the nod to boost his development with another year as the starter? Definitely the most interesting position battle on the roster. Also they signed 4-star Max Benson last cycle who will never start and was a blatent attempt to grub extra crooting points (same with 3-stars Baldridge). Get ready to learn Calculus buddy.	1	While Laasko looked unimpressive to start he still has a 5-star pedigree and it's tough to imagine they could've found anyone better. They took a discount-Laasko prospect here just to maintain bodies each year but I highly doubt Acosta does much in his career beyond film room prep	B-
RB	A-	Woah, well this certainly bolsters that QB battle. Marcus Dade (on paper at least) looks like a bonafide stud. A- overall as a 4-star RS SO, Purdue should get 2 years of A overall production from this backfield WR (A+ catching and route running already!). For a change of pace, last cycle they recruited 4 star Louis Fink who's only a C+ now, but should grow enough to have a smooth takeover when Dade leaves.	2	Continuing the surprising tradition of great RB croots, they take another 4-star in Wasserman with B- potential as a power back. Love his addition to the stable especially combined with an average 3 speed guy. I think their rushing attack will be quite good in the future	B
SS	B-	Well on the bright side, Caleb is a 3-star success story. RS SO B overall B potential already, the next 2 years should feature high B+/low A production which makes it an above average position for the conference. Unfortunately if he gets hurt there are no other SS on roster. Dire need of one.	1	?? They have 1 SS on roster next year and signed 0 here? They'd better hope it's an easy Slide Over from FS and Lyles can be a backup for both positions because this is a serious injury concern in the future. Absolutely tier 1 need next cycle	F
TE	C+	Pretty mediocre here. James Smith was a 3 star who took a redshirt and is their best overall option as a C+ RS FR. TBD if he had great progressions or if their dream starter (SO Wynns) was just lazy as he's only the 3rd best C+ TE despite his billing as a blue chip 4-star. They're all nominal receiving options but don't scare anyone at the moment	1	While Wynns had a disappointing start, they are already moving to their next 4-star good potential meal ticket in Malloy. I think they will all hit a spurt at once and while the TE room looks pretty weak now, in 3 years they'll have a really fearsome room. (Of course they'll never find another McKinney)	B-
WR	B	A DEEP room here. Top 2 options are rising 4/5th year seniors with B+/B current overalls. Having 2 borderline A- WRs is a solid enough combo at the top of the lineup. Behind them are FOUR 4-stars with freshman eligibility (and all C+ overalls). You have to assume one or two make a jump up to flat B overalls, and speedy James Harris is the likeliest candidate for WR3 next season. Certainly '25 and '26 will have a plethora of quality options	2	Wow. Laasko is absolutely going to be spoiled with weapons. They already had an absurdly deep WR room and added another pair of B overall 4-stars to the mix. A 5-star QB, great OL, phenomenal RBs, and now 6 underclassmen blue chip WRs? If this isn't a top-5 offense in the country within 2 years something went massively wrong because they have every ingredient you could ask for	A-

 

 

An absurdly loaded class filled with 15 blue chips whom every other program just seemingly… didn't bother to care about? Maybe they come in with a chip from being "unwanted". Regardless, I hadn't realized just how good the future looks for the Purdue offense, my god they are set up well. Defensively too they have talent in spades and this looks like a top-to-bottom elite, complete team outside of 1 or 2 holes. I think they'll have to wait until Longacre graduates and UCLA slacks a bit but in the future it'll be Purdue against the Penn State 5-stars for the conference title imo. Very scary to face them

 

Class Grade: A

 

 

Northern Illinois University

Mid-American Conference

2023: 10-3 (5-3)

 

Recruiting Class Basics:

NIU signed 3 4-stars, 17 3-stars, and 5 2-stars. They signed 17 players with B or better potential and 0 B overalls. Class rankings below:

ESPN: 13th
Rivals: 77th
247: 33rd

Composite: 36th
 

Signees below:

School	Name	Stars	Ovr	Pot	Pos	Archetype	City	State
NIU	David Litzinger	3	C	B	C	Pass Blocking	Kiln	MS
NIU	Pete Flores	2	C	B	CB	Zone Coverage	Dallas	TX
NIU	Andrew Coleman	3	C	A-	DE	Balanced	Edwardsville	IL
NIU	Robert Asmus	2	D	B+	DE	Balanced	Otsego	MI
NIU	Jamie Powroznik	4	C	B	DT	Pass Rusher	Tallapoosa	GA
NIU	Oscar Brinkley	3	C	A+	FB	Receiving	Yuba City	CA
NIU	Daniel Kovacs	3	C	C+	FS	Zone Coverage	Montgomery	AL
NIU	Mario Glenn	4	C	B	ILB	Speed	Detroit	MI
NIU	Kenneth Daughdrill	2	D	B+	ILB	Field General	Las Vegas	NV
NIU	Renato Dejesus	3	C	C+	K	Accuracy	Bountiful	UT
NIU	Ralph Morales	3	C	B-	OG	Run Blocking	Romoland	CA
NIU	Keith Austin	3	C	D	OG	Balanced	Sacramento	CA
NIU	Christopher Anderson	3	C	B	OLB	Coverage	Rockford	IL
NIU	Mickey Kenney	3	C	B+	OLB	Coverage	Jefferson City	MO
NIU	Cesar Flores	3	C	B+	OT	Pass Blocking	Morton	IL
NIU	Daniel Bennett	4	C	C+	P	Accuracy	Shrewsbury	MA
NIU	Jermaine Morgan	3	C	A-	QB	Balanced	Grayslake	IL
NIU	Juan Vega	3	C	C+	QB	Balanced	Hiram	GA
NIU	Ruben Saucedo	3	C	B+	RB	Speed	Las Cruces	NM
NIU	Alexander Costa	3	C	C+	RB	Balanced	Keller	TX
NIU	Bruce Morris	2	D	B+	SS	Zone Coverage	Kapa'a	HI
NIU	Michael Ray	3	C	B	TE	Receiving	Princeton	IL
NIU	Ryan Hester	3	C	C+	WR	Speed	Spring Valley	IL
NIU	Tommy Mcclellan	3	C	B+	WR	Red Zone Threat	Parkersburg	WV
NIU	Markus Lindsey	2	C	B	WR	Route Runner	Parkland	FL

 

Below is a breakdown position-by-position of (from L-R) their current roster, what they did on the trail, and the grade I gave them in recruiting that position.

Position	Current position grade	Current status	Number signed	Recruiting status
C	C-	Rising senior line captain Tevon Daniels is a likely B- guy who can hold his own against bad MAC teams but be a liability against the BGSU/WMUs of the conference. Unfortunately behind him are ghastly 1/2 star D overalls. The future does not look so hot for the next few years here	1	Litzinger is immediately the future at the position. He luckily gets a year to develop but will likely be relied on as a second year starter	C+
CB	B-	Ah you hate to see a promising room marred by mismatched man vs. zone corners. They have a good trio of to-be upperclassmen B/B- players who will be fairly solid after progressions. They also have a couple of 2-star depth players who won't be pressed into action quite yet, but aren't really splashy either	1	CB wasn't the most pressing need and it wasn't the most stacked class, only 1 2-star is a pretty meh impact but they needed to focus resources elsewhere for now	C-
DE	B-	One of 4 blue chips on the roster, Patmon will likely be an A- overall senior next year and the bright spot by far of the defensive line. They have a few other speed rush options behind him, and the room in general has good potential. A couple 3 stars will be in for a few years which is better than most MAC teams can say	2	Again, a pretty good room relative to the rest of the roster and not as dire of a need. Still though I love Coleman as a prospect and think they did get a slight upgrade in how good their future here looks	C+
DT	C-	MUCH worse than the DEs. A pair of senior 2-stars who will be low B/B- players just isn't an intimidating presence. And behind them are a pair of 1 stars from the '21 class. They got a D overall 2-star last year but that should NOT be the future highlight of a position group	1	They were in horrible shape for the future here but signed a near-instant impact player in Powroznik. He could headline the center of that DL for years to come and let's the staff focus elsewhere. Great sign	B+
FB	C	Reggie Lee is... fine? If they want to use a FB in the offense though they'll need to croot one cause he's leaving after this year and then they'll be bare	1	I may not care about FBs but Ape looks like he does. An A+ potential 3 star is rarer than you think, and those guys tend to turn into pretty dominant players by their senior years. I think Brinkley is a guy the coaches are going to game plan to take advantage of his talents in the future	B+
FS	C+	Another room with a rising senior 4-star! Neasman is a classic mop up zone coverage guy who should synergize well with the CBs. Certainly going to be a top-5 player on their roster next year but there is a STEEP dropoff after him. 1/2 star D overalls are all that's left in the room once he leaves and they need some semblance of future hope beyond that	1	A 3CC+ player is usually a boring filler guy, but for this room he represents a significant step up over their last 2 classes and again will likely start after a year of progressing.	B-
ILB	C+	A more solid room, Thornburg is a rangy B overall senior next year with a pair of ok backup Jrs behind him. Unfortunately no ILBs crooted last year so a pretty high priority to get someone rostered here	2	Another blue chip in Mario Glenn is huge after not signing any ILBs last year. I think he's going to be another anchor in the center of the D to elevate that group. High potential too means they got a future pro so kudos	B
K	C-	Cornell (highest rank in the military) is going to be their quality senior starter and then once he leaves.. they nominally have a 1-star to replace him. No bueno	1	Like I said, when you have nothing in the pipeline even an average 3 star can be a savior. DeJesus is that savior at kicker and offers good stability	C+
OG	C-	A lot of road grading run blockers, but no 3 stars in this room. The rising seniors are ok, but they only took a pair of 1-stars last year and a single 2 the year before so another dropoff inbound	2	Another upgrade with a pair of 3-stars to upgrade the level of talent in this room. As usual the caveat is that they aren't immediate impact players but I'd sure as hell rather start an upperclassman 3-star than rely on 1 and 2s beating the odds	C+
OLB	C	Eatmon is going to be pretty solid at one end, and then Oreilly is a high potential 3 who they signed last cycle and while he will start earlier than he should and make plenty of mistakes, he has great potential for the future.	2	I like the future of OLB here. They actually had good underclassmen options and signed a pair of high potential 3 star guys. Both coverage archetypes im always a bit curious if archetype selection is on purpose or just whatever it happens to end up with	C+
OT	C	Better than most rooms, they signed a pair of 3 stars last cycle and have some par-level seniors for next season	1	Like OLB they already had some ok pickups and continued with a B+ potential pass blocker in Flores who should be a plus level contributor as an upperclassman. I like it	C+
P	-	None rostered	1	They had NO punters rostered so anybody would've been a huge bump for the room. However they went out and snagged a blue chip punter meaning they have 4 years on lock from Bennett which is about as much as you can reasonably ask for from special teams	B+
QB	C	I guess Vasquez is the assumed senior starter next year? A balanced 3 star the only other option would be Field General Yonny Durr if he makes a good progression and NIU wants 2 years of QB continuity. Everyone else on the roster is a mediocre 2-star	2	I wasn't impressed with their QB prospects and this was a chance to do something splashy and leave a mark on the program. Morgan and Vega are fine, I like Morgan's potential better, and while I think they're upgrades that won't lose games for NIU, I don't know if I'd expect them to be game changers (although Morgan has that potential for the future)	C+
RB	B	The only offensive 4-star, Woodard is a B overall sophomore who will likely be the focal point of the next 2 years of offense. Speedy Jamarco Woods will be the lightning as an expected B+ senior back beside him. Another pair of 3-star power backs serve as backups and depth. Good deep setup for them here	2	Woodard is holding this room down so not the biggest need but again, signing a pair of 3-stars is a big floor raiser for this program so you absolutely can applaud that	C+
SS	B-	McLemore is a good B+ senior thumper who makes up part 2 of a projected really good safety pair. The 4-star from FL is making his swan song, but they do actually have a good 3-star replacement behind him. Last year's signee was only a 1-star though, so that line of quality is going to be broken a bit	1	Morris has ok potential, but definitely not a future star imo. It wasn't the biggest need but it'd be nice to get a prime SS player for the future soon.	C
TE	C+	Stop me if you've heard this before. A good rising senior (3 star A potential Rice) is going to offer ~B+ play for a year and then they will immediately rely on some 1/2 star underclassmen who currently look like trash and need phenomenal progressions	1	I hated their future TE options but Ray is a solid, above-avaerage 3-star with good potential, and that's 100% better. I think he will be a good safety valve for whoever eventually wins the QB battle from this class	C+
WR	B-	A bit deeper with a few 2-stars scattered in the room and actually good youth movement. I don't particularly love the QB room, but these guys will probably do their best to make them look serviceable. I think Graveman could make a push for an all-conference mention next season as NIU would do well to force feed him the ball	3	Eh, kind of the definition of mediocre here on paper. I think this will (in the near term) be a run driven program and the WRs aren't bad… they just don't look special. Of course you can't tell who will progress well and turn into that good option so I guess we'll wait and see	C

 

On paper, not a top, top class but it didn't need to be to raise the future prospects for this team. The MAC is about to turn into an extremely top heavy league and ape urgently needed to turn the crooting ship if he wanted to separate from the bottom 2/3 of the conference. I think he did that with this class. A LOT of just solid 3-stars who establish a new, higher base for each position, and even a smattering of blue chips and Uber-high potential players to add some excitement. A great springboard class that puts out fires and makes it less urgent in the future

Class Grade: C+

[Ape]

2 hours ago, tsweezy said:

On paper, not a top, top class but it didn't need to be to raise the future prospects for this team. The MAC is about to turn into an extremely top heavy league and ape urgently needed to turn the crooting ship if he wanted to separate from the bottom 2/3 of the conference. I think he did that with this class. A LOT of just solid 3-stars who establish a new, higher base for each position, and even a smattering of blue chips and Uber-high potential players to add some excitement. A great springboard class that puts out fires and makes it less urgent in the future

Yes this was the goal when I missed the first three weeks. I would have loved to go for a future sure fire QB1 among others you mentioned but it just wasn’t in the cards with the hole I dug for myself to start the cycle off. My next class is one I can’t miss on our the program will have some misstep years.