[2024] Recruiting Class Grades Batch 12

[tsweezy]

By now you know the drill. Leave some engagement so I'm motivated to do more and get to your team sooner

@Dr_Novella @Ewade

 

San Jose State University

Mountain West Conference

2023: 9-5 (5-4)
 

Recruiting Class Basics:

SJSU signed 4 4-stars, 9 3-stars. They signed 13 players with B or better potentials and 2 B overalls. Rankings below:

ESPN: 192nd
Rivals: 55th
247: 94th

Composite: 156th

 

Signees below:

School	Name	Stars	Ovr	Pot	Pos	Archetype	City	State
SJSU	Juan Villarreal	0	D	B-	C	Run Blocking	Livermore	CA
SJSU	Steve Ng	3	C	C+	CB	Zone Coverage	Turlock	CA
SJSU	Gerald Hill	0	D	B	CB	Man Coverage	Modesto	CA
SJSU	Alan Lang	3	C	B	DE	Speed Rusher	New Smyrna Beach	FL
SJSU	Soon Lee	3	C	A	DE	Run Stopper	Bellflower	CA
SJSU	David Steele	0	D	C	DT	Nose Tackle	Sacramento	CA
SJSU	Timothy Bachmann	0	D	A	DT	Pass Rusher	Phoenix	AZ
SJSU	Francisco Lopez	3	C	C+	FB	Blocking	Bradenton	FL
SJSU	David Tong	4	B-	B	FS	Man Coverage	Visalia	CA
SJSU	Eleazar Benavidez	0	C	D	FS	Ball Hawk	Goodyear	AZ
SJSU	Sven-David Sandstrom	3	C	A-	ILB	Field General	Finland	MN
SJSU	Hetal Zeng	0	D	A+	OG	Balanced	Long Beach	CA
SJSU	Ryan Wansley	3	C	C	OLB	Run Stopper	McCalla	AL
SJSU	Quentin Arnold	4	C+	B-	OT	Run Blocking	Swainsboro	GA
SJSU	Adam Marine	0	D	B+	OT	Run Blocking	Prescott Valley	AZ
SJSU	Hugo Miranda	3	C	C+	P	Power	Savannah	GA
SJSU	William Scott	0	B	C	QB	Balanced	Scottsdale	AZ
SJSU	Juan Amezcua	4	C+	B+	QB	Scrambler	Statesville	NC
SJSU	Shawn Adams	0	D	D+	RB	Receiving	Mission Viejo	CA
SJSU	Sanjay Dinh	0	D	F	RB	Balanced	Phoenix	AZ
SJSU	Douglas Bailey	0	D	A-	SS	Ball Hawk	Westlake Village	CA
SJSU	Harry Carrillo	4	C+	B+	TE	Receiving	Anaheim	CA
SJSU	Thomas Asaad	3	C+	B-	WR	Possesion	Dawsonville	GA
SJSU	James Hodson	3	C	A	WR	Route Runner	Orlando	FL
SJSU	Feliciano Monroy	1	D	A+	WR	Possesion	Winter Garden	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	Croot Grade
C	C+	Shake Dunn is a nice run blocking senior B overall who's capable. Behind him is last years redshirted Richard Lanier who is a pretty good 3-star that's a good fit for the future	1	Took a redshirt who is really bad, basically a non-signee	C-
CB	B-	Josh Ellison is one of the 5 star players on the roster this year. A zone senior with a bunch of A+ attributes, he projects as a draft pick after this year. Across from him is Ronnie Romack who is also a senior and much much worse (B-). They have a few C+ juniors and the only young guy is last years man coverage signee 3 star C+ / B potential. Hate seeing guys that are going to be playing the wrong archetype in a scheme	2	Steve Ng is a solid 3-star pickup but again bouncing between man and zone corners is rough. They also got a D overall walkon who I assume should never be even a backup	C
DE	B	This is actually a pretty well-managed room. They have a good B+ senior in Rashard Payne and then a pair of blue chips in White (a junior) and Maldonado ((Fr)) who have progressed well and are good future players. The only knock is that Maldonado is the only underclassman on the roster so they need more players	2	Good signings here! A pair of 3 stars with B and A potential, those guys have room to grow and project to be good starters when they are called upon in the future	B-
DT	B-	Lewis-Moore is another dominant A overall senior on this roster. He's the standard but the rest of the room is not so good in comparison. Jennings is the other senior and assumed starter (if they choose a 4-3, they could go either way). He's just a B- pass rusher, but the only other option would be C+ sophomore 3-star Mark Harrison who doesn't look ready	2	Two walk on D overalls, not great, they'll only have 2 DTs on roster next year at this rate (aside from these guys who should not be counted on)	D
FB	C-	Rufus Hickey was a solid signee last season, but a C/C (Fr) is just not something that will get a high grade as a starter for this season. Obviously he'll get better over the years	1	Took another 3 star here. Lopez is a blocking 3CC+ prospect which is a quality FB recruit	C+
FS	B-	Beckham is a quality man coverage safety with more straight line speed than anything else. The B+ senior is gonna lock it down this year, but everyone else on the roster is C+ or worse. Maybe Escareno takes a big step but it projects to be a let down coming up	2	Great time to make this signing. David Tong is the clear best (scholarship) recruit for this cycle. An in-state kid he's a B overall already with B potential to boot and a blue chip designation. I think he's going to seamlessly step in as the starter next season and for the rest of his time there.	A-
ILB	C	I said they could run a 3-4, but only for one year. Martin and Schmidt are the senior B- options, one is a pure cover linebacker and the other a straight run stopper (neither are good at the other). Going to be curious who gets the start in a 4-3, scheme dependent I guess. Next year they'll have a senior 2-star (C overall) and a 1-star.. so they're lacking a bit going forward	1	Sven-David Sandstrom was a quality signing. I'm assuming they will end up in a 4-3, and Sandstrom is the prototype field general C overall A- potential and he's going to try and win the starting job next year, maybe the year after he'll get it	C+/B-
K	A-	The rare high A kicker, Currie could be a draft pick after this year. Behind him Tille was last years 3 star signee who will eventually take over	0	Didn't sign any	-
OG	B-	Similar story to a lot of rooms. A pair of seniors (B+/B overall) who are quality options this season, followed by a meh junior (2 star C+ Swoope) and then a solid 3-star from last season ((Fr) Landesman). I'd assume the team follows the trajectory of one good year here, then a big letdown next season and a climb back up	1	Didn't sign any, got a D overall A+ potential walk on. Urgently need a few players this cycle	D
OLB	C	A pretty average room nation-wide. A senior Speed B overall on one side and then C+ Pass rusher Alex Jordan on the other. Daniel Berrios was a good 3CC+ signee last season but again, you need more in the pipeline than what they have	1	Signed another 3CC player in Ryan Wansley, a run stopper all the way from Alabama. I like the signing but for OLB I would've liked to see 2 guys	C
OT	B	David Bryant make a big jump to A ovearll and wants to demonstrate his blue chip pedigree as this years LT. Opposite him at RT there's a close race between 2 run-blockers: Sr Hollis-Jefferson and Jr Korey Gonzalez. Last cycle they signed two 3 stars and I think they have a good path to starting relatively soon	2	Quentin Arnold is going to insert himself in that conversation though. A 4-star with B- potential, he's already a better ron blocker than Galea but his pass blocking is just atrocious. Fix that and he could win a starting spot by next season. They also took a D overall walkon	B-
P	B-	Seth Webb has a high B overall, but he's a senior so they need to sign next years starter	1	They did. Hugo Miranda is a 3 star power punting prospect who is going to be the default starter next season	C
QB	B	This could be argued to a B+ if you like scramblers. Jones-Smith is a physically elite player, but I just can't bring myself to give a high rating to a QB with C TP/TA. Last year they took Dung Te, a balanced 4-star who's got a B- now and is almost certainly the starter next year	2	:eyes: wow. What a class for them. They lucked into the best walk-on in the country this year with William Scott, a B overall who would be on the cusp of 5-star status as a regular starter. Frankly he may contend to be a starter THIS year if the (assumed) option gameplan doesn't work out. The guy really hurt is the actual scholarship 4-star signee: Juan Amezcua, another scrambler with B+ potential. This is going to be a really intriguing QB battle between Scott, Te, and Amezcua (all freshman) and I assume we'll see a transfer or 2 by the end of it	A
RB	B+	Another well set room. Astudillo is for sure the starter as a B+ receiving senior. Sean Roberts could actually see some goal line looks though as a blue chip power junior. And then beyond that, last years redshirted freshman Jeff Swanson is a speed back B- overall and the future star here. Great pairing with the QBs as well	2	After signing Swanson last year it wasn't a priority. They only got 2 (bad) walkons	-
SS	C-	Rough options here. Mejia is probably the best player as a C+ senior, but he's so bad they might as well start last years signee Clifton Holt, a C+ overall as well. He's still going to be bad but at least he'd get starting progressions and come back.	1	Took a bad walkon, I guess Holt is the long term starting option here	-
TE	C	Another eh room. Wyatt Howard is the best option and he does have good hands, but he's gone next year and nobody in this room has really shown anything imo.	1	Carrillo is another good pickup. A blue chip with B+ potential he could push to be TE2 this year and will undoubtedly be the starter next season	B
WR	B+	No matter who ends up winning the QB competition, they'll have options to throw to. JaVale Ni is another of the fab 5, an A overall possession senior he'll be the primary target. They have another B+ senior possession player in Tommy Smith too. Behind that, they signed a 4star B overall in the last 2 classes and both Stevens and Sanborn are good options at WR3 and 4 and will turn into all-conference contending starters down the line	3	Went deep here instead of tall. A pair of high potential 3-stars and an A+ 1-star, the WR room is quite good and deep now. Very healthy	C+

I was a bit down on this until I got to the skill positions. QB/RB/WR rooms look really, really good actually, especially William Scott walking on. The rest of the roster though: not so much. I think this years team is gonna be high up in the Mountain Best (TM) and then slump quite hard next season before trending up again after that. In the end, this class saw some really good additions but when you only sign 13 players, you just can't sustainably do that. There are quite a few positions that are running low on players and I would love to see SJSU sign 20 3/4 stars next season by any means necessary to bridge that gap.

 

Class Grade: C

 

 

 

Utah State University

Mountain West Conference

2023: 6-7 (3-5)
 

Recruiting Class Basics:

UTST signed 1 5-stars, 2 4-stars, 12 3-stars, and 10 2-stars. They signed 16 players with B or better potentials and 1 B overalls. Rankings below:

ESPN: 16th
Rivals: 47th
247: 23rd

Composite: 28th

 

Signees below:

School	Name	Stars	Ovr	Pot	Pos	Archetype	City	State
UTST	Thomas Barrett	2	D	A-	C	Run Blocking	Morristown	NJ
UTST	Jesus Chavira	3	C	B+	CB	Man Coverage	Springtown	TX
UTST	Jeffrey Verret	2	C-	B	CB	Zone Coverage	Vero Beach	FL
UTST	Robert Gillette	3	C	A+	DE	Run Stopper	Stockbridge	GA
UTST	Guillermo Hernandez	3	C	B+	DE	Balanced	Bountiful	UT
UTST	Simon Duncan	3	C	A	DE	Run Stopper	Atlanta	GA
UTST	Roberto Manning	4	C+	A	FB	Blocking	St. Johnsbury	VT
UTST	David Holt	2	D	B-	FB	Blocking	Surprise	AZ
UTST	Robert Garcia	2	C-	B-	FS	Zone Coverage	Mission Hills	CA
UTST	Steven Warren	2	C-	C	FS	Man Coverage	North Fort Myers	FL
UTST	Ryan Sanders	4	C+	A	ILB	Speed	Highland	UT
UTST	Emilio Wade	3	C	B	K	Power	Logan	UT
UTST	David Pflanz	3	C	B-	OG	Pass Blocking	Destrehan	LA
UTST	Rob Browne	2	C-	B	OG	Balanced	Austin	TX
UTST	Russell Bilek	2	C-	B-	OG	Pass Blocking	Roswell	GA
UTST	Greg Perea	2	C-	B-	OG	Balanced	Moab	UT
UTST	John Conti	5	B	B	OLB	Pass Rush	Tooele	UT
UTST	Kerry Howell	3	C	C	OT	Pass Blocking	Cullman	AL
UTST	Benjamin Green	2	C-	A-	OT	Run Blocking	Escalon	CA
UTST	Manuel Esquivel	2	D	B-	P	Power	Tomball	TX
UTST	Lawrence Shelbourne	3	C-	A	RB	Power	Norcross	GA
UTST	Grant Santora	3	C	B-	SS	Man Coverage	Brooklandville	MD
UTST	John Love	3	C	A	TE	Vertical Threat	Las Vegas	NV
UTST	Norman Narciso	3	C	A-	WR	Route Runner	Draper	UT
UTST	Andre Charles	3	C	B	WR	Speed	Wichita	KS

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	C-	Adam Albright isn't a bad starter, he's actually quite capable in pass pro as a B- overall. The real issue is that he's graduating and the only other player is Ulysses Cardenas: a D overall 1 star. That's not going to cut it for next year	1	Honestly, Thomas Barrett won't cut it either. A 2 star A- potential he'd be fine if you just expected him to sit and grow a few years, but a D overall is not going to be a good starter by next year. I guess they can always shift an OG over	D+
CB	B+	Austin Robin is a really good senior here. A's everywhere and A+ coverage. He's as lock down as it gets and the only sad part is he's leaving. Thereis an interesting 3-way battle brewing between Igwebuike, Omameh, and Anderson for CB2. I think the ball hawk or zone upperclassman gets it and again, another roster with some old zone corners and then a clear drop into man corners for the underclassmen.	2	Chavira is a good B+ potential 3-star pickup and should turn into a starter at some point. I'm less sold on Verret (particularly because he's a zone guy and all the other underclassmen are man). pick an archetype!	C+
DE	B	A really deep room here. Dalton Miley is a B+ near-A level player who stops the run on one side and comes back next year (with A- potential he'll be really good). I assume Goeddel wins the opposite side as a pass rusher and then you've got two really high potential 3 stars as (So) balanced options	3	They had a lot of high potential 3 stars and now they have even more. A REALLY solid future. Gillette is a cool C overall A+ potential with Hernandez and Duncan as fellow 3-stars with B+/A potential. I like this strategy a lot when the freshmen are unlikely to start soon, snag as high potential guys as you can. Nice work	B
DT	B	Well, maybe they should've had some of those DEs be DTs. Right now they have A- Travis Bolles as the number one option (he's very good) followed by pass rusher Trevon Watt (So) B-. Then they signed a pair of 1-stars last cycle who are still very bad. I'm not sure if they want to become a 3-4 or a 4-3 defense but either way they need to have more than 1 servicable player in the room next season	0	They won't. Didn't sign any	D
FB	B+	Got a couple good options, but idk how to use FBs. Buster Irving looks quite good	2	Roberto Manning looks solid too, A potential blue chips are nothing to sneeze at. idk how they'll play 2 good FBs tho	B/B+
FS	A-	Malik Johnson is a really good clean up guy who actually can blitz with his A+ pass rush. I'd like to see how they utilize that toolset this year. Behind him are a couple high potential 3 stars from the last two classes who are more thumper-style players. good set up	2	Chris Herold was last years signee and he should be good with A- potential. They didn't need much this year and got 2 2-stars (with just ok potential). I don't think they needed both and would be surprised if these guys start anywhere	C-
ILB	B-	I'm assuming they're going 4-3 because Neasman fits it really well and nobody else should be starting yet. The 2-star Field general is a B overall who's really smart and not very athletic. The issue is the other 3 in the room aren't even smart. On the bright side Neasman returns for next season too	1	As eluded, there's no replacement for Neasman in the works. Ryan Sanders is that guy though. A rare Utahan blue chip, Sanders has A potential and just needs a little seasoning before becoming a team leader in the middle	B
K	C+	Morel has a good leg but he's not accurate. They get this year and next with him and then I guess Dunfee (C- / A+) will take over for two years. It's ok	1	A little shake up, Emilio Wade signs and is better than Dunfee with B potential as well. I would guess he's the next heir apparent to Morel	C+/B-
OG	B	Brett Koch is a solid A- run blocker, and the other slot will be either of the B- pass blockers, (So) Tobin probably gets the start with his younger age and will turn into a really good payer. They took an average doublet of 3-stars last cycle	4	Four signees is crazy, all C overalls with B potential too (1 3, 3 2 stars). Pflanz is the top option and all pass blockers or balanced. More injection of pipeline talent	C
OLB	A	Henry Gomes is 1 of 2 5-star recruits and was the bellcow of the inaugural class. He has had a slightly below expected progression as he's only an A- as a junior. Still though, he is quite a fearsome edge rosher and is paired with B+ cover 'backer in Rob Moore. Behind them is a drop off to Sang Nguyen, a (Fr) 3 star C overall who is the only future player	1	FIVE STAR ALERT. Wow I thought recruiting OLBs was hard as hell but Utah State snags their second 5-star here. John Conti is an in-state pass rushing phenom with B potential. It's plausible for him to take a starting job this year, but likely sits and starts next year in place of departing Rob Moore. Really good pickup though.	A
OT	B+/A-	It's a really good sign when your starters are good and coming back next year. Cairo Urias is A- already and Harrison is a B+ junior. Run/Pass blockers, I think it's clear UTST will have one side of the line to run at and one side for pass pro. This is going to be a really good pair next year and then you move to current (Fr) Wilkerson and Bucklen (3C/C+) as the future starters	2	Kerry Howell slides right in as a 3CC player, but I'm not too high on Ben Green. More of a fillter class here and they have a ton of underclassmen at the position now.	C
P	C-	Trenton Ahmad didn't take much of a step last year, and the So 3-star C overall is just a very very average punter. The bright side is he'll grow with reps right?	1	Signed a random 2-star. Ahmad is young enough that this wasn't needed imo	C-
QB	A-/A	Vic Telis worked his ass off over the off-season and jumped to an A overall. A+ throw power and throw accuracy makes him frankly in contention to be a top-5 QB this year. The only negative is a C+ IQ so he can make some bad decisions. I'm really, really high on him this season though. They also have a good succession plan with (So) JR Stephens in line to take over as the starter next year. The Pocket blue chip from Hawaii already has B/B+ TP/TA and should step right in for the next 2 years. Very impressive	0	Didn't sign any. Next year they'll probably want to get Stephens successor	-
RB	B/B+	Not as good as the QB room, but Ramon is a really well-rounded back and Clagget has grown better than expected. Both of these guys return next year too so even if this year the ground game is "slightly" above average, next year it will be really strong	1	Shelbourne is a great pickup with the starting spot currently iced up. The 3 star has A potential and is a power back which is a nice change of pace	C+/B-
SS	C	Only one guy in the room: B- run stopper Logan Bradley. Just too thin a position group for me and he has pretty mediocre coverage skills. Please get someone else in here	1	Santora is a relatively solid pickup. More of a cover safety, the 3 star is B- potential and provides at least some depth and a future	C+
TE	B	Ughhh still mad I don't have Su'a-Filo after I accidentally dropped his scholarship offer in the last week of the 2021 cycle. He's become a B overall starter with a ton of athleticism for the Aggies. Also in the class was (So) Hosmer who's just as good but much more of a blocker. They didn't sign any last year though	1	John Love is bottom of the room for now with his C overall. But he does have A potential and will almost certainly be TE2 in 2 years from now so just develop and grow for now	C+
WR	B+	Telis definitely has some options here. The highlight is last years 5-star signing: Thomas Daly who's an A- overall now and pretty good at just about everything except being fast. They have a B+ senior at the 2 slot and then a B and B- to round out the starting group. Kind of a small room in my opinion but damn Daly is gonna be a star	2	Fleshed the room out a little with a pair of 3 star signees (A-/B potential). I think this is solid, although I would like to see them stretch for another blue chip target this cycle	C+

I actually like this roster way more than I thought I would. They've had some good developmen and especially with having Telis at QB I think they can make noise in the Mountain Best. In terms of recruiting they've stuck to a strategy of signing high potential 3 stars and a couple big fish and those guys for the most part project to be upper level starters and their pipelines for each room are well-maintained. They might be in the best shape for the future of any of their conference rivals (Save maybe UNLV). I think it's sustainable, effective, and they should be pleased with what they've been doing. Keep it up

 

Class Grade: B

 

 

 

 

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
Wisconsin	B+	9
Illinois	C	9

Tulane	B	10
California	C+/B-	10
Clemson	C	11
Ball State	C/C+	11

San Jose State	C	12
Utah State	B	12
Tennessee	A	Not Published - lmk if anyone wants to see

 

Last 3 on my docket: Navy, WVU, Utah