[2023] Final MAC Crooting Results (User Teams Part 1: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green)

[Jieret]

 

And now, grades for (some of) the user teams!

Link to previous articles:

Post of Tables

AI Part 1 (Buffalo, CMU, EMU)

AI Part 2 (Kent State, Miami(OH), Toledo)

Remember:

• Key Recruits are not necessarily the highest-rated or highest potential players. Positional need also comes into play.
• For user classes, I will not consider 1 or 2-stars recruits as adequately filling a need except in rare circumstances. 
• Top 300 recruits will have their rank listed.
   

Akron Zips @Skye (4 4-stars, 7 3-stars, 11 2-stars, 3 1-stars), Rank 64

Name	POS	Archetype	City	State	*	OVR	POT
Miguel Lina	C	Balanced	Severn	MD	2	C	B
Jeremy Flores	CB	Zone Coverage	Atherton	CA	3	C	B-
Luis Luna	CB	Ball Hawk	New Caney	TX	2	C	C-
Dennis Cheung	DE	Run Stopper	Danville	CA	2	D	C+
Gregory Johnson	DE	Speed Rusher	Detroit	MI	1	D	B-
Donald Haskins	DE	Speed Rusher	Perris	CA	1	D	C
Armando Cantu	DT	Nose Tackle	Orlando	FL	2	C	D
Mark Clark	DT	Balanced	Indianapolis	IN	2	D	C+
Robert Mcclain	DT	Pass Rusher	Durham	NC	2	D	C+
Jack Toone	FB	Receiving	Chatham	IL	2	D	B-
Christopher Moore	FS	Ball Hawk	Albuquerque	NM	4	C	B-
Elton Williams	ILB	Coverage	Lima	OH	4	C	B-
Edgar Culbertson	K	Balanced	Cuyahoga Falls	OH	4	C	C+
Miguel Bello	OG	Pass Blocking	Pleasant Grove	UT	3	C	C+
Nicholas Fitzgerald	OLB	Pass Rush	Rockwall	TX	3	C	B
Rafael Garza	OT	Pass Blocking	Bradenton	FL	4	C	B-
Gregory Kaufhold	QB	Field General	Bushnell	FL	3	C	C-
Daniel Greenia	QB	Scrambler	Findlay	OH	1	D	C
Jose Mosqueda	RB	Speed	Gresham	OR	2	D	B-
Christopher Richards	RB	Power	Royersford	PA	2	D	B-
Glenn Johnson	TE	Vertical Threat	Carthage	TX	3	C	B+
Chun Chen	TE	Receiving	Guthrie	OK	3	C	B-
Jose Reinoso	TE	Blocking	Lufkin	TX	2	D	C+
Lester Gibbs	WR	Route Runner	Chelsea	AL	3	C	C
Lawrence Brisco	WR	Speed	Medina	OH	2	C	C+

 

Three Key Recruits: 4* ILB Elton Williams, 3* OLB Nicholas Fitzgerald, 2* C Miguel Lina

 

If the Zips run a 3-4, Williams is a favorite to win the ILB2 spot alongside senior Avery Gonzalez.  If they don't, Williams is likely to be Gonzalez's backup.   Either way, Williams is likely to see the field rather quickly.  While not as likely to see copious amount of immediate playing time, both Lina and Fitzgerald will slot into the two-deeps immediately as the best backup options behind senior starters (in Lina's case, literally the only other center option).  Yes, I'm aware Lina is only a two-star and normally just filler, but he is crucial filler.

Projected biggest needs next cycle:  C, OLB, ILB, DE.  I'm aware of what I said in the last sentence. But while Lina is crucial filler, he IS just filler.  Akron should not be satisfied with Lina snapping the ball for the next four years.

Class grade: B-.  At first I had Akron as an AI class, but I couldn't remember when Skye was hired as their coach, so I gave them credit for the class.  This would have been a higher grade as an AI class, though.  

Having said that, this is a good injection of needed talent to the Zips roster. Moore, Williams, Garza, and Fitzgerald are important additions who should not show much drop-off after the starters ahead of them graduate.  But this is a class that needed a better percentage and three and four-star players than they got.  Again, I'm aware Skye joined partway through, so I can't ding for that.  But man, what could have been with active recruiting from the beginning.

 

Ball State Cardinals @npklemm  (6 4-stars, 9 3-stars, 5 2-stars, 2 1-stars, 3 walk-ons), Rank 57

Name	POS	Archetype	City	State	*	OVR	POT
Guillermo Tomas	C	Run Blocking	Avon	OH	3	C	C+
Cesar Mateo	CB	Man Coverage	Goliad	TX	3	C	B-
Charles Coleman	CB	Man Coverage	Albany	GA	3	C	C
William Boggs	CB	Man Coverage	Rossville	GA	2	C	B-
Edward Gerlach	DE	Run Stopper	Palmer	AK	0	C	D-
Christopher Kingston	DT	Nose Tackle	Eufaula	AL	1	D	A+
Donald Horst	FS	Zone Coverage	Liberty	MO	4	C	A-
Michael Albanese	ILB	Field General	Melville	NY	4	C	C+
Benjamin Snyder	K	Balanced	Soldotna	AK	0	D	B+
Lee Hayes	OG	Run Blocking	Holliday	TX	3	C	C+
Eric Morris	OG	Run Blocking	Dexter	MI	3	C	C
Eliseo Baker	OG	Balanced	Hampton	GA	2	C	B
Juan Floresgarcia	OG	Run Blocking	Conklin	NY	2	C	B-
Carlos Lucero	OG	Run Blocking	Edinburg	TX	1	D	A+
Mitchell Neveu	OLB	Coverage	Anchorage	AK	0	D	B
Jerome Harris	OT	Pass Blocking	Hinesville	GA	3	C	C+
Kevin Johnson	QB	Scrambler	Oak Park	MI	4	C	B
Jeffrey Mona	QB	Scrambler	Ripon	CA	3	C	B-
Kenneth Curry	RB	Speed	Marietta	GA	4	C	A-
Louis Dolan	RB	Power	Arlington Heights	IL	3	C	B
Bruce Rabalais	SS	Zone Coverage	Merrillville	IN	2	C	B-
Joshua Osorio	TE	Vertical Threat	Plant City	FL	4	C	C+
Ralph Nieter	WR	Possession	Oskaloosa	IA	4	C	B+
Nick Klemm	WR	Speed	Elkhart	IN	3	C	B
Jesse Ryan	WR	Possession	Berea	OH	2	C	B-

 

Three Key Recruits: #254 4* FS Donald Horst, 4* QB Kevin Johnson, 4* WR Ralph Nieter

Horst shows the range and recognition skills to start right away if the coaches are so inclined.  Incumbent Isaac Lunsford is likely the favorite for the starting FS job, but a trial by fire for the Top-300 stud isn't out of the questions either.  Johnson is not likely to see the field for two years, but he is a key piece of the scheme the Cards' OC wants to implement once Scott Romero graduates.  Nieter will be the leader for the next wave of Ball State wideouts once the upperclassmen leave.

Projected biggest needs next cycle:  DT, K, SS, OLB.  I know there are seven strong safeties on the Cardinals roster, five of whom are sophomores.  But behind Dilson Cortes, maybe two of them are backups the coaching staff are remotely okay with seeing the field.

Class grade: B+.  My favorite thing about this class is that Klemm clearly has a vision for how he wants his team to play (Dual-Threat option offense, 3-4 Cover 2 Man defense) and the recruiting shows it.  Kevin Johnson is Exhibit #1, but also check the iOL and CB recruits.  They're also tied for the second-most blue-chip recruits in the MAC with the next team in this article, and their well-known Alaska-to-Indiana pipeline gained them walk-ons.  Of them, Benjamin Snyder might actually see some playing time if he can adjust to not kicking a frozen ball.

And if Ball State doesn't land a scholarship better kicker next cycle, of course.

 

Bowling Green Falcons @PoopyRhinoPickle  (6 4-stars, 12 3-stars, 7 walk-ons), Rank 95

Name	POS	Archetype	City	State	*	OVR	POT
Douglas Springsteen	C	Line Captain	Houston	TX	4	C	A-
Larry Einhorn	CB	Man Coverage	North Fort Myers	FL	3	C	C+
James Johnson	CB	Ball Hawk	Hamilton	OH	0	C	D
Ray Wise	DE	Run Stopper	Hilliard	OH	4	C	A-
Paul Riggs	DE	Speed Rusher	Prescott Valley	AZ	3	C	A-
Paul Sendelbach	DT	Balanced	Hopkins	MI	0	D	A+
Nigel Jackson	DT	Balanced	Louisville	KY	0	D	C+
Krishna LaBrie	FS	Run Stopper	Wall	TX	4	C	B+
Michael Hall	FS	Ball Hawk	Erie	PA	0	D	F
Michael Mora	ILB	Coverage	Lakeville	MN	3	C	B-
Travis Jimenez	ILB	Field General	Needham	MA	3	C	C+
Rudy Hernandez	K	Balanced	Jamestown	OH	0	D	A+
David Gorton	OG	Balanced	Gallipolis	OH	3	C	B-
Ravindra Clark	OG	Balanced	Orlando	FL	3	C	C+
Armando Flores	OLB	Pass Rush	Rio Linda	CA	3	C	B-
Ian Gordon	OLB	Speed	Troy	MI	0	D	C
David James	OT	Run Blocking	North Canton	OH	3	C	B
Timothy Bush	QB	Pocket	West Branch	IA	3	C	B
Irwin Schindler	QB	Scrambler	Flat Rock	MI	0	D	C+
Todd Marriott	RB	Balanced	Strongsville	OH	4	C	B-
Daniel Jones	RB	Power	Cuero	TX	3	C	C
Philip Quiton	SS	Run Stopper	Camarillo	CA	4	C	C
Francisco Ocampo	TE	Blocking	Chula Vista	CA	3	C	B-
Donald Hairston	WR	Possession	Philadelphia	MS	4	C	B-
Frank Tilghman	WR	Route Runner	Bauxite	AR	3	C	B+

 

Three Key Recruits: #169 4* DE Ray Wise, 4* SS Philip Quiton, #196 4* C Douglas Springsteen

Projected biggest needs next cycle:  P, FB, DT, TE.  

Class grade: A-.  No.  There are NOT 94 recruiting classes I'd take over this one. Let's make that clear right now.  

This is clear case of "quality over quantity," with PRP refusing to even consider 1 or 2-star players.  That even paid off with respect to their walk-ons, as Hernandez and Sendlebach seem like unpolished gems, but the plain truth is that Bowling Green simply didn't need a huge class because of their great recruiting and roster construction over the last few seasons.  Any intriguing walk-ons are just free money.

Having said that, I'm a bit surprised BGSU didn't take more swings at 5-star players.  They only went after RB Paul Meyer and lost him to Minnesota.  I thought they had enough of a roster buffer to absorb a worse class than this one, so why not try for more top-tier players even if they struck out?  But in the end this is still a great class joining a great roster - the Key Recruits I named above?  None of them are actual needs but they're the most prominent high-floor/high-ceiling backups Bowling Green has, at positions where they may see playing time sooner rather than later.

Man, this roster is just a brickhouse.

 

 

[PoopyRhinoPickle]

I appreciate the generous grade. I probably should have targeted more 5 stars, if I would have known I'd strike out on so many of my initial targets then I probably would have. A couple of the 4 stars should be pretty good by the time they hit the field but for most of these players it'll be a long time before that happens (barring injuries!).

[Jieret]

6 minutes ago, PoopyRhinoPickle said:

I appreciate the generous grade. I probably should have targeted more 5 stars, if I would have known I'd strike out on so many of my initial targets then I probably would have. A couple of the 4 stars should be pretty good by the time they hit the field but for most of these players it'll be a long time before that happens (barring injuries!).

The grade is influenced by your roster.  If any other team in the MAC (mine included) turned in that same class, I'd give a lower grade because we all have more holes/potential holes that need to be filled and the small class is a wasted opportunity to fill them.  But BGSU simply doesn't have that many holes that a low-end 4*/high-end 3* needs to address.