[2024] Recruiting Class Grades Batch 8

[tsweezy]

Back and rolling

 

@Weeze @Ricky Campbell

 

University of Florida

Southeastern Conference

2023: 9-4 (5-3)
 

Recruiting Class Basics:

FLA signed 1 5-star, 7 4-stars, 8 3-stars, and 6 2-stars. They signed 10 players with B or better potentials and 5 B overalls. Rankings below:

ESPN: 73rd
Rivals: 3rd
247: 10th

Composite: 9th

 

Signees below:

Name	Stars	Ovr	Pot	Pos	Archetype	City	State
Mark Yamada	3	C	B-	C	Pass Blocking	Miami	FL
Robert Alvey	3	C	B+	C	Line Captain	Orlando	FL
Juan Hartmann	3	C+	C+	CB	Ball Hawk	Fort Myers	FL
Juan Parker	2	C	C	CB	Man Coverage	Oakdale	CA
Tomasz Piller	2	D	A-	CB	Man Coverage	Orlando	FL
John Harwell	4	C+	B	DE	Speed Rusher	St. Johns	FL
Charles Knight	2	D	C+	DE	Balanced	Savannah	GA
Michael Baig	4	C+	C+	DT	Pass Rusher	Minneola	FL
Willie Mendez	2	C-	B-	FB	Blocking	Elizabeth	NJ
Shaun Thomas	4	B-	B	FS	Zone Coverage	Tampa	FL
Shankar Briggs	0	D	A	ILB	Field General	Gibsonton	FL
Gordon Battista	3	C	B-	K	Power	Miami	FL
Bubba Payne	4	B-	A-	OG	Pass Blocking	Fleming Island	FL
Michael Wilmes	3	C	C	OLB	Run Stopper	Jacksonville	FL
Joshua Leale	4	B-	C+	OT	Balanced	Naples	FL
Christopher Turnbull	4	B-	C	OT	Run Blocking	Oviedo	FL
Charles White	3	C-	B	P	Balanced	Key West	FL
Maximillian Howard	5	B+	B	QB	Balanced	Bolles	FL
Edward Carlson	3	C	C	QB	Pocket	Marion	IN
Edward Khanum	0	D	F	RB	Balanced	North Miami	FL
Paul Pomposelli	3	C	C	SS	Zone Coverage	Watkinsville	GA
Christopher Roberson	2	D	B-	TE	Receiving	Woodstock	GA
Joseph Howell	0	D	A+	TE	Receiving	Blountsville	AL
Edward Watkins	4	B-	B+	WR	Route Runner	Melbourne	FL
Joshua Dow	2	D	B-	WR	Red Zone Threat	San Antonio	TX

 

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	Croot Grade
C	B+	Tim Grugier is a stud, but they went a lot of years without getting his backup. Last season they finally signed a 3 star (with A+ potential!) so next year they'll have another starter, but it's a big drop from an A overall to a (So) 3 star.	2	A pair of high potential 3 stars leaves this position group very full of gems to polish. All different archetypes, one of them will pop up as a star imo	B-
CB	B-	Pretty solid groups here. They've got an A- overall top line starter (man cover guy) and then a bunch of B overall zones behind him. Last year they signed a pair of zone 4 star B overalls and a good 3 star. That group leaves them well set for years	3	Interesting here. A pair of man corners and a ball hawk. I think this is honestly ideal. It would've been tough to pass Moore or Mendoza so they got some man guys to set up a transition to man scheme (the easier to recruit imo)	C+
DE	B	Another group that doesn't have a great starting option, but has a lot of depth. Each of the last two classes have a B overall 4 star in-state edge who redshirted and have years left to grow. They also have a solid swathe of 3-star depth	2	They kept it up with yet another 4 star speed rusher. With 3 in a row the room is officially well stocked and in great healthy shape	B-
DT	B	Quite a bit thinner here. Gilliam is an A- senior nose tackle who can clog up running lanes. The next best player is a (So) B- who is much worse. Beyond that they have a couple junior C overalls who won't be good. So they definitely need talent + depth here	1	They got half of it! A four star pass rusher definitely adds talent to the room and will be a starter next season	B-
FB	A	I hate FBs, but shoutout to Tommy Murton, dude is a stud and the best overall player on this team	1	Signed a blocking 2 star because I guess they're sticking to their identity as a ground and pound team? Or just to protect Howard more	C
FS	B	A bit thin at the moment but good pipeline. They have a B+ ball hawk senior and then signed a 4 star man FS last cycle and redshirted him. Looks like years of high B / low A play in the cards	1	Position battle alert? Even though they have (Fr) B- John Lee (Man cover) from last class, they signed a B- guy in Shaun Thomas (zone coverage) with higher potential. Considering they're only 1 class apart, it looks plausible that Shaun catches up and starts next season and John is either a dominant backup, switches positions, or transfers. (Or maybe Shaun doesn't progress and just stays a mostly backup)	B+
ILB	C+/B-	Can't tell if they're running a 3-4 or 4-3 but either way it's ehhh. Francisco Reza is a blue chip from last cycle who is certainly very good... but he's the clear best player in the room. They have a senior B- who's leaving and then another 2 star after that. Kinda sparse	1	Ok they definitely need to be doing a 4-3. They only took a walkon which means next year they'll have exactly 1 start-able player at this position	D
K	C+	Solid but unspectacular. 2 star B- senior and 3 star B- sophomore. Both should hit the gimmes	1	Huh, they signed a 3-star last cycle and immediately signed an almost identical prospect. Bit of a waste imo but it's not actively bad	C
OG	C+/B-	Again, really low on depth here. Kelvin Williams was a good blue chip signee last cycle, but having your true soph be a starting LT never bodes well for how the room looks. Next to him is currently projected to be a senior 2 star C+ (not good to start that in the SEC) and then last years redshirted 3 star freshman. Desperately need more good players	1	Damn, Bubba Payne is a VERY good player. B- overall, A- potential. He's immediately good enough to be a starter which means Florida has their next 3 years all planned out here (although they won't be great this season	A-
OLB	C+	What have they been doing for years? Two seniors (B+/C+) is pretty mid for starters, and then they skipped two cycles and signed 2 (Fr) who are C+/Cs now. Ok future projection but it'll be a while before this room is a strength	1	Added another average 3 star run stopper. Good addition to keep piling up depth at least, although he's not very notable in any way	C+
OT	C+/B-	3 Bs means they have options. Two are senior pass blockers nd the other is a (So) 3 star. They have another (So) C+ so this is a dramatically average kind of room	2	Great pickups! Two 4-star B- overalls is almost as good as it gets. Turnbull gets to bring them back to their run blocking roots and Leale is nice and balanced. Look for these guys to work their way into the lineup by next season	A
P	C	They signed an average power punter last cycle and now he's the only option	1	They... signed the same exact guy again. At least they have some injury insurance now	C
QB	C+/B-	Honestly this is not a good room... for now. Kevin Jones is last years 4-star signee who redshirted and now is a B- balanced guy... and is the best option in the room. With C throw power and throw accuracy. Yikes. He should be good eventually but not this year. They also signed a 3-star Edward Carlson who nobody will ever care about	2	Home run alert! Matt Howards brother max joins arch-rival Florida and frankly projects as an even better prospect. Nearly an A overall as a true freshman he is by far the best QB option now, an above average starter nation-wide and with B potential and 4 years of starts, he's gonna be an early first round pick. Doesn't get better than this	A+
RB	B-	Ryan Bowman probably deserves more national respect than he's gotten so far, but with A- overall he now has some attributes to back it up. I think he'll put up good numbers this year and (So) Dustin Wilkinson is a solid B overall player to rotate in and transition to bellcow status next year. They also signed FOUR 3 stars last year (none have broken out yet) so one of them has to hit big right?	1	After the aforementioned FOUR signees last year they punted on this cycle and took a walkon	-
SS	B	Chris Nieves is very good. A overall he's a top-3 player on the team and you love a good ball hawk. The issue is he's the only SS on the roster and is graduating after this year. Whoever they signed is going to be the starter next season	1	Paul Pomposelli is... ok. A 3 star C, I don't think he'll be ready next season and probably a liability for 1 or 2 more. A bit disappointing and it really makes you wonder if they'll move one of those FS's to SS to try and avoid starting him early	C
TE	C+	Nobody here is inspiring. Justise Andrews is a (Jr) 3-star who finally crossed into B- overall (but still isn't that good). Last year they signed a 3 star who also isn't ready yet... That's just about it.	2	Very underwhelming. A 2 star D overall and a walk on aren't really talent elevators or even good depth	D+
WR	C+	Bruce Gedeon is a great dude. A overall, A potential, good route running, he's a deserved WR1. Huerter is their current WR2. He's a B- (Jr) 2 star. Behind that are a ton of C+ players. It's a VERY shallow room and pretty easy to gameplan against. Don't love it for Max's first year	2	Edward Watkins is a great pickup! A B-/B+ freshman, he's immediately in contention for WR2 and is a long term companion / soulmate for Max Howard. They also signed Josh Dow who's a random 2 star. I do think they need to after higher potential players though. Last year they signed 3 C potential guys and as predicted, they're all still C overalls. Max needs some targets to grow with	B-

 

 

Honestly this year was overshadowed by last years class which I thought was very good and underrated. It's a bit of a hi/lo group where they have some really, really good additions, but also a couple of position groups where they signed some redundant recruits, and some positions that I think definitely need a focus on getting baseline talent in still. Still, you can see the ship turning in the right direction and just stacking classes like this WILL eventually turn them into at least a top-20 team so they're going the right way and just need to keep the same strategies

 

Class Grade: B

 

 

 

Stanford University

Pacific-12 Conference

2023: 9-4 (5-3)
 

Recruiting Class Basics:

STAN signed 5 4-stars, 16 3-stars, and 4 2-stars. They signed 8 players with B or better potentials and 2 B overalls. Rankings below:

ESPN: 7th
Rivals: 29th
247: 20th

Composite: 21st

 

Signees below:

Name	Stars	Ovr	Pot	Pos	Archetype	City	State
Edward Clark	3	C	B	C	Balanced	Bessemer	AL
Juan Flores	2	D	B+	C	Pass Blocking	Greenwood	MS
Jason Romney	3	C+	B+	CB	Zone Coverage	Pella	IA
Jesse Chamberlin	3	C+	C+	CB	Zone Coverage	Osceola	AR
Stuart Pagano	3	C	C	CB	Zone Coverage	Troutdale	OR
Eugene Knight	4	C+	C+	DE	Balanced	Converse	TX
Frank Seifert	3	C	C	DE	Balanced	Lafayette	IN
John Behrends	4	B-	C	DT	Nose Tackle	Colquitt	GA
Mike Baghdasaryan	3	C	A	FB	Blocking	Wilson	NC
Vincent Czelusniak	3	C+	C+	FS	Zone Coverage	New Orleans	LA
Brian Antos	3	C	C+	ILB	Coverage	Athens	IL
Thomas Salassi	2	D	C+	K	Power	West Covina	CA
Nicholas Sunley	3	C	C+	OG	Run Blocking	Haltom City	TX
Juan Montes	3	C	C+	OG	Balanced	Savannah	GA
David Britt	2	C	C+	OG	Run Blocking	Four Oaks	NC
Chad Smith	4	C+	C+	OLB	Pass Rush	Hobart	IN
Phillip Yates	2	D	B-	OLB	Pass Rush	Hoschton	GA
Young Lulla	3	C+	B	OT	Run Blocking	Escalon	CA
Peter Mulholland	3	C	B-	OT	Balanced	Lebanon	OR
Daniel Wolfson	3	C	C	P	Power	Tampa	FL
Kirby Lee	3	C	B+	QB	Pocket	Savannah	GA
Edgar Guo	4	B-	B+	RB	Receiving	Marietta	GA
William Grant	3	C	B	SS	Zone Coverage	Atherton	CA
John Scarborough	3	C	C	TE	Receiving	Spotsylvania	VA
Walter Gordon	4	C+	C	WR	Possesion	Washington	DC

 

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	Croot Grade
C	B-	Pretty middle of the road here. Sean Cubillan is a solid B+ senior and Cunningham is a B overall (So) who is a good 2 year starter behind him. They probably need more bodies though	2	Got them. A 3 star and 2 star with B/B+ potentials they should keep the room humming along	C+
CB	B-	Well they're in the middle of changing from Man to zone which is always an uncomfortable transition. Makes the top end a bit suspect one way or another with a B+/B- starting duo. They got a pretty solid 3 star last cycle who's progressing well but they do need more	3	A trio of 3 stars high C+ overalls is certainly a good addition. Jason Romney is the headliner with the highest overall and highest potential (B+). They can afford to take redshirts too as they aren't needed for a few more years	C+/B-
DE	B	A nice deep room. Brandon Gordon is the best player at B+ and the other option likely goes to blue chipper Kyle Weber (So) for the next few years. They signed a nice pair of 3 stars last year so they have depth	2	Now this room is looking good. Eugene Knight was a big pick up as a blue chip from texas, and pairs with another solid 3 star in Frank Seifert. They're both balanced and Stanford has good flexibility to do whatever they want with DEs	B-
DT	B	Pretty much the same as DEs honestly. They've got a trio of pass rushers at the top (B+/B/B-) followed by a nose tackle and balanced 3 star they signed and redshirted last year. Are they moving to nose tackles at DT now?	1	Seems like it. John Behrends is a good B overall 4-star nose tackle who can clog up all rushing lanes. I think this pretty well shows that they're going to transition to a 3-4 eventually which I'm good with	B+
FB	C+	Yadda yadda, they have a pair of 3 stars	1	Signed another 3 star (A potential!)	B-
FS	B	Mateo is a senior A- overall who's a top-5 player on the team. I think he's the ideal player to prevent deep passing plays. The only other backups are mediocre 2 and 1 stars	1	Well they signed a 3 star which is a step in the right direction. I'm not sure Czelusniak (bless you) is going to win the starting job next year but it's honestly a possibliity and if not he'll still be in line to start in a few years	C+
ILB	B	Wait what? I don't want to be mean but Cingrani might be one of the more disappointing 5-stars I've seen. He's a (So) coverage backer who is still just a B+.which is good, but not what you expect from a top-30 prospect. Next / behind him they have a bunch of C+ players who are just meh	1	Brian Antos is your normal 3 star who fits in as a depth option but doesn't have a lot of star power or high potential. I'm a little surprised since they seem to be setting up for a 3-4 that they don't hit this position harder.	C
K	C+/B-	They've got one option: Tyler Hill. Great progressions though as a B- 2 star but they only have 2 more years with him. Time to sign his successor	1	They did so, getting another 2 star (albeit a lower potential one). I guess he's the heir apparent but I just refuse to say too many good things about a D overall C+ potential signee	D+
OG	C+	Full of average guys here. They have some options between run/pass/balanced blockers with a couple of B options. Gerson Cunningham is the best prospect as a B overall (So), and they signed a pair of 3 stars last cycle too who look fine	3	Well they're certainly filling out the room. 3 signees: all C/C+ guys means they're not going to be lacking for depth but they don't have a ton of star power in the room either.	C+
OLB	C+	A lot of old heads here, but sadly none really progressed well. A B overall and a bunch of identical C+ options. They signed a nice pass rusher in last years cycle but have to wait for him to blossom	2	Added another blue chip in Chad Smith, a pass rusher from indiana (along with a D overall 2 star). Chad is definitely the best future prospect in this room and should start next season. I like the commitment to setting up for a 4-3 too.	B-
OT	B+	This is their best room so far and it has some heavy hitters. Curtis Tracy is the 2nd best player on the team with A overall as a pass blocking (Jr) 4-star. He's got 2 more years of A level LT play. Next to him they'll have to decide between senior 2 star Armbrister and last years redshirted 4-star Ronald Peterson. I'm going to assume Peterson wins the job to get better progressions for the future and it'll be a good combo	2	They have two solid options already, and just signed a pair of 3 stars (B/B- potential). I think this was solid, but in low pressure situations I think it's worth shooting for even higher potentials	C+
P	C	A B- junior 3 star is a pretty bog standard guy for a P5 team to have at this position. He's fine, not much more to say	1	Added his future replacement in Daniel Wolfson a 3-star all the way from Florida. Perfect spot to redshirt and take over as a (So) for 3 years	C+
QB	B	Kind of a full room here with 7 QBs on scholarship including the pair of 1 star scramblers they signed last year. Mike Shaffer is the 5th year Field General A- overall player. A+ IQ and B throwing stats makes him a higher end starter which is nice to see. The next guy in line is (So) Kyle Ham, a B- blue chip field general. Besides having good test grades he hasn't shown much yet but he has another year to develop before starting	1	Nobody is really behind Ham, and Kirby Lee is just.. ok for the future as a 3 star pocket from Georgia. I don't have much knowledge about him, but if they desire, they can surely get an elite QB in this upcoming cycle	C
RB	A	Vontae Knebel is one of the best RBs in the country and in line for a first round draft grade next year. They have a few B- players as well including Watkins (So) speed back. Knebel is en route to set a bunch of career rushing records and it'll be sad to see him go. Watkins is good but he can't fill those shoes	1	Edgar Guo on the other hand may actually be a replacement for Knebel. A B overall with B+ potential he projects to be a bright star and is probably the easy starter by next season	B+
SS	B	Logan Jordan is a good player in prime trajectory. A (So) 3 star who's already B overall, there's not much to worry about. They have a solid senior backup too	1	William Grant was the 3 star higher potential guy this cycle. I think he fits well as Jordans backup for a few years followed by maybe a short starting stint if he progresses well.	C+
TE	B+	Scott Franco is good, and then a major drop-off behind him. A- (Jr), but the other 2 juniors are just C+ guys. All players in this room are receiving threats so it's nice to see a consistent plan. Rough progressions but they should have talent	1	Added another average 3 star and hope that this one pans out a little bit better. Solid continuation	C
WR	B+	They are deep thanks to last years class. They have a pair of seniors at the top of the depth chart and then you can see the work that they put in last cycle. 4 star B, 4 star B, 3 star C+/A-. That is a really good trio who should be seeing the field already and will grow into some nasty options.	1	Added another blue chip and this room is officially very good with 3 freshman blue chippers. I don't have many notes on this front: good job	B

 

 

Stanford doesn't have that much talent right now, but they've built a pretty solid base. Some of their 3 stars have progressed spectacularly well, but they've also recruited more than expected 3/C/Cs who haven't been as inspiring. I know they are the most snakebitten team in the country in terms of being spurned in flip decisions (that Stanford admission committee am I right), so kudos for setting the table with a very solid base to work off of. They've patched pretty much all major holes at this point and have a lot of flexibility to recruit however they'd like going forwards (although I hope they get higher potential for their 3 stars if possible)

 

Class Grade: B-

 

Next up: ILLI, WISC

 

School	Grade	Batch
Western Michigan	A-	Intro
Purdue	A	1
Northern Illinois	C+	1
Michigan	B-	2
Washington State	B/B+	2
Tulsa	B/B+	3
Temple	C+	3
Kansas	B	3
James Madison	C+/B-	4
BYU	C	5
Florida State	B-	5
Indiana	B	5
Houston	B	6
UNLV	B+	6
Georgia	B-	7
Bowling Green	B-	7
Florida	B	8
Stanford	B-	8

 

 

 

 

 

[Ricky Campbell]

Very fair and thorough breakdown - I think you nailed the status of the Stanford program currently.