carney2
March 30th, 2011, 12:00 PM
COLGATE = 57
QB Greg Sullivan has graduated and RB Nate Eachus is entering his final year of bulldozing Patriot League defenses. The Committee had hopes that this recruiting class would give us a glimpse of the future. Maybe they do. In previous years a Patsy Point total of 57 would have been considered a so-so middle of the pack performance. In 2011 however, with Patriot League recruiting appearing to be in a slump, the Raiders are near the top of the non-scholarship heap. This is a solid, but by no means spectacular, group, especially when compared to the primary competition.
NOTE – This is FCS football and players end up changing positions. The 'gates carry this to an extreme however by reporting a number of hyphenated players in their recruiting class. We have both TE/DE and QB/Ath designations. The committee may very well have some opinions as to where some of these kids will end up (the 220 lb. TE/DE is, in our opinion, not likely to be going mano a mano with many 310 lb. Patriot League offensive tackles over the next 4 years), but we need clarity. We therefore took it as it was reported and chose in favor of the first of the two designations, even though it may just be a reporting convenience. A TE/DE is, therefore, for purposes of the Patsy Ratings, a tight end. We did however, give the three TE/DEs some consideration in the Needs analysis for DL below.
THE GOOD
- Biddle is...well...Biddle, and so it shall always be. He runs the most unconventional offense in the League and it is dependent on having just the right people at a few key positions, notably RB, QB, and maybe an above average WR or two. He got himself a confirmed 2-star RB (the successor to Eachus?), three QBs, two rated, and some big, if not hyped, WRs. Also, bucking the trend that is moving TE to the college football scrap heap, this class includes 4 of these extra blockers (3 are of the hyphenated variety noted above). I guess, if we are to peek at the future, we can probably expect that the Raiders are loading up to continue their run-first style.
- 29 is a real nice size for a Patriot League recruiting class.
THE BAD
- The Committee is dedicated to the proposition that you must keep the pipeline filled. This is particularly true for positions where a lot of bodies are needed. OL is probably number one on this list where a team needs 10 players just to fill its two-deep. The Raiders recruited only 2 OL in 2011, both jumbos, and neither rated.
- In The Committee's opinion, the Raiders did not stock up well on defense, particularly at LB and DB (a Need – see below). Defense has been a sore point in Hamilton for a number of years now, and this group does little to close this gap.
QUALITY = 26: This is generally a decent number for Quality Points in Patriot League recruiting, but when you consider that almost 2/3 of these Points were accumulated by the three 2-star recruits (2 confirmed), you begin to have second thoughts. There are nine rated, but unstarred recruits.
CLASS SIZE = 6: 29 recruits.
DISTRIBUTION = 8: This class touches all the bases (again, a reminder that TE is no longer considered in Distribution),
SPEED = 7: The usual disclaimer – not much information and The Committee probably missed a few here.
TRIGGER = 0: Three QB recruits, none with star ratings.
JUMBO = 4: Two DL and two OL recruits meet the jumbo classification requirements.
NEEDS = 8 (of 12):
DL = 4 (of 5): Colgate recruited four DL candidates, two are jumbos, but only one is rated (no stars). In addition, there are three hybrid TE/DE recruits, none jumbos, but two are rated, one a 2-star, confirmed. We don't have any idea how this will play out, but the Raiders certainly get all the points based on quantity, but one point has been withheld because of the iffy nature of the quality ratings.
QB = 3 (of 4): This was a very difficult decision for The Committee. With three recruits, two rated (no stars), Biddle and staff certainly signed enough candidates. On the other hand, the primary competition seems to be signing 2-star recruits at this position. On yet another hand (3 hands?!! In this case, yes.) a Dick Biddle offense does not need and would probably end up wasting a big time, strong-armed, traditional top passing recruit. The aforementioned and recently graduated Greg Sullivan is a prime example. He was lightly regarded coming out of high school, but possessed the 3 attributes that a Biddle QB needs: excellent decision making, above average running ability, and decent passing ability to keep the defenses honest. Did Biddle recruit a Sullivan clone? The Committee has no way of knowing, although the kid designated as a QB/Ath is intriguing, and has deducted one Patsy Point rather than give it up to the unknown and unknowable.
DB = 1 (of 3): This Need was not well met with three recruits, one rated, no stars.
COMMITTEE ADJUSTMENTS = Minus 2
The Committee, as noted above, feels that too many of the quality points reside with too few recruits, and does not feel that the Raiders adequately addressed a long-standing need on defense.
THE RATINGS RACE with 2 to go:
71 Fordham
60 Holy Cross
57 Colgate
54 Lafayette
43 Lehigh
QB Greg Sullivan has graduated and RB Nate Eachus is entering his final year of bulldozing Patriot League defenses. The Committee had hopes that this recruiting class would give us a glimpse of the future. Maybe they do. In previous years a Patsy Point total of 57 would have been considered a so-so middle of the pack performance. In 2011 however, with Patriot League recruiting appearing to be in a slump, the Raiders are near the top of the non-scholarship heap. This is a solid, but by no means spectacular, group, especially when compared to the primary competition.
NOTE – This is FCS football and players end up changing positions. The 'gates carry this to an extreme however by reporting a number of hyphenated players in their recruiting class. We have both TE/DE and QB/Ath designations. The committee may very well have some opinions as to where some of these kids will end up (the 220 lb. TE/DE is, in our opinion, not likely to be going mano a mano with many 310 lb. Patriot League offensive tackles over the next 4 years), but we need clarity. We therefore took it as it was reported and chose in favor of the first of the two designations, even though it may just be a reporting convenience. A TE/DE is, therefore, for purposes of the Patsy Ratings, a tight end. We did however, give the three TE/DEs some consideration in the Needs analysis for DL below.
THE GOOD
- Biddle is...well...Biddle, and so it shall always be. He runs the most unconventional offense in the League and it is dependent on having just the right people at a few key positions, notably RB, QB, and maybe an above average WR or two. He got himself a confirmed 2-star RB (the successor to Eachus?), three QBs, two rated, and some big, if not hyped, WRs. Also, bucking the trend that is moving TE to the college football scrap heap, this class includes 4 of these extra blockers (3 are of the hyphenated variety noted above). I guess, if we are to peek at the future, we can probably expect that the Raiders are loading up to continue their run-first style.
- 29 is a real nice size for a Patriot League recruiting class.
THE BAD
- The Committee is dedicated to the proposition that you must keep the pipeline filled. This is particularly true for positions where a lot of bodies are needed. OL is probably number one on this list where a team needs 10 players just to fill its two-deep. The Raiders recruited only 2 OL in 2011, both jumbos, and neither rated.
- In The Committee's opinion, the Raiders did not stock up well on defense, particularly at LB and DB (a Need – see below). Defense has been a sore point in Hamilton for a number of years now, and this group does little to close this gap.
QUALITY = 26: This is generally a decent number for Quality Points in Patriot League recruiting, but when you consider that almost 2/3 of these Points were accumulated by the three 2-star recruits (2 confirmed), you begin to have second thoughts. There are nine rated, but unstarred recruits.
CLASS SIZE = 6: 29 recruits.
DISTRIBUTION = 8: This class touches all the bases (again, a reminder that TE is no longer considered in Distribution),
SPEED = 7: The usual disclaimer – not much information and The Committee probably missed a few here.
TRIGGER = 0: Three QB recruits, none with star ratings.
JUMBO = 4: Two DL and two OL recruits meet the jumbo classification requirements.
NEEDS = 8 (of 12):
DL = 4 (of 5): Colgate recruited four DL candidates, two are jumbos, but only one is rated (no stars). In addition, there are three hybrid TE/DE recruits, none jumbos, but two are rated, one a 2-star, confirmed. We don't have any idea how this will play out, but the Raiders certainly get all the points based on quantity, but one point has been withheld because of the iffy nature of the quality ratings.
QB = 3 (of 4): This was a very difficult decision for The Committee. With three recruits, two rated (no stars), Biddle and staff certainly signed enough candidates. On the other hand, the primary competition seems to be signing 2-star recruits at this position. On yet another hand (3 hands?!! In this case, yes.) a Dick Biddle offense does not need and would probably end up wasting a big time, strong-armed, traditional top passing recruit. The aforementioned and recently graduated Greg Sullivan is a prime example. He was lightly regarded coming out of high school, but possessed the 3 attributes that a Biddle QB needs: excellent decision making, above average running ability, and decent passing ability to keep the defenses honest. Did Biddle recruit a Sullivan clone? The Committee has no way of knowing, although the kid designated as a QB/Ath is intriguing, and has deducted one Patsy Point rather than give it up to the unknown and unknowable.
DB = 1 (of 3): This Need was not well met with three recruits, one rated, no stars.
COMMITTEE ADJUSTMENTS = Minus 2
The Committee, as noted above, feels that too many of the quality points reside with too few recruits, and does not feel that the Raiders adequately addressed a long-standing need on defense.
THE RATINGS RACE with 2 to go:
71 Fordham
60 Holy Cross
57 Colgate
54 Lafayette
43 Lehigh