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Wake Forest Football Recruiting

Like the fact that Dreyln Ford is a high level basketball player: https://www.tidewaternews.com/2018/03/07/drelyn-ford-honored-for-court-performance/ . Often times, multi-sport athletes don't receive as high recruiting rankings (see Jesse Bates) as kids that focus on a single sport and make every showcase, prospect camp and recruiting combine. The kid is tall and athletic. Long way to go, but lots of potential.
 
Does anybody have any info on the last "stud" DE we landed, Mike Allen? Still injuried, in the doghouse, hasn't developed, etc?

I mean, I've written the same couple sentences on Mike Allen seemingly a dozen times the last couple months. He missed a big chunk of fall camp with an injury, is buried on the depth chart and hasn't made a presence yet. He's a redshirt freshman. The light flips 'on' for different players at different times. For a variety of reasons, it hasn't for him yet. If he doesn't make a big jump by this time next year, I think it would be safe to be alarmed. Since he's not seen a single snap so far (even on special teams), I'd have to assume he's been limited by injuries more than anything.
 
Not trying to be sunshiny but stars typically mean nothing. They've become less and less meaningless every year. This is obviously not counting 5 star and high 4 star recruits. Plenty of no star - 3 star guys have gone on the have tremendous careers at Wake.
 
Not trying to be sunshiny but stars typically mean nothing. They've become less and less meaningless every year. This is obviously not counting 5 star and high 4 star recruits. Plenty of no star - 3 star guys have gone on the have tremendous careers at Wake.
Do you have data to back this up? Or just your anecdotal observations? If anything, the greater concentration on recruiting by fans/services and technology should be improving the rating system.
 
http://www.ultimaterecruit.com/757football/recruit757-fab-30-drelyn-ford-12/

Ford is a 2 star.

You never know what a young football player will turn into. See Khalil Mack. 2 star.


Thanks.
Obviously a bit of a project, but he looks good as both an offensive and defensive end as well as a very good basketball player. Needs a couple of years of S&C but maybe he hasn't had a real growth spurt yet. If he has natural speed, agility and hands, that's a good thing.
Wasn't Aaron Curry about 205 lbs when he came to Wake.
 
Concerned that there are no local colleges in TN that have offered. There are 10 Division 1 programs and not a single offer?
 
Do you have data to back this up? Or just your anecdotal observations? If anything, the greater concentration on recruiting by fans/services and technology should be improving the rating system.

I believe we had a multi-page thread on this around this time last year. Not sure I remember how the numbers broke down of 2 and 3 Star players who were busts, against 2 and 3 Star players who panned out or exceeded expectations. I do recall many more 3 Star guys in the NFL than 4 and 5 Star, which is because there are more 3 Star recruits overall.

If you look at our roster over the last 10-15 years I think you’ll find that we’ve had more middle of the road/underrated recruits that panned out versus failed.

Anecdote: see Jesse Bates, Kevin Johnson, Chris Givens, Greg Dorth, Joe Looney, Nikita Whitlock, Alphonso Smith, Jon Abbate, Riley Skinner, John Wolford, too early to call but Sam Hartman most likely. The list goes on for WF recruits that were passed on by other programs who ended up having awesome college careers or going to the NFL.
 
Do you have data to back this up? Or just your anecdotal observations? If anything, the greater concentration on recruiting by fans/services and technology should be improving the rating system.

There’s no data to back that up. Higher stars are more successful overall. There are far more 2 and 3 stars so it seems like they perform close to 4 stars.
 
The way I see it is if you took 1,000 2, 3, and 4 star recruits and averaged their skill/production then the results would support the ratings in a statistically significant way. Howeva I think there are definitely attributes at the recruit level that don’t necessarily translate to their rating that can be leveraged if properly identified and/or developed. My #feeling is Clawson has some of these attributes he looks for and his track record with lower level recruits exceeds the average.
 
TE Brenton Strange went to WF camp; WF offered him (along with a ton of other schools). He was a 4 star TE. Strange committed to PSU after last weekend (I assume he went to last weekend's tOSU/PSU game). Once that option was off the table, WF offered and got a commitment from Ford. You don't have to even look at recruiting rankings to know that WF preferred Strange (the higher rated recruit); just look at the order of the offers and the commitments. That said, Clawson and his staff have been good at finding guys like Ford - off the radar guys that have come to WF and become big time players (Bates, Haynes, Benzinger, Bassey, Dortch -- all of whom may play in the NFL). As mentioned above, Ford is a multi-sport athlete from a small school; so, the reason why he is a two star is because no one has evaluated him. Our staff has; not important that the 247 guy from VA didn't know him. Dude has a high ceiling. Glad we got him.
 
The way I see it is if you took 1,000 2, 3, and 4 star recruits and averaged their skill/production then the results would support the ratings in a statistically significant way. Howeva I think there are definitely attributes at the recruit level that don’t necessarily translate to their rating that can be leveraged if properly identified and/or developed. My #feeling is Clawson has some of these attributes he looks for and his track record with lower level recruits exceeds the average.

Exactly. The fact that we have a staff who is good at finding and/or developing talent that isn't as highly rated does not mean that "stars typically mean nothing" or that "They've become less and less meaningless(ful?) every year."
 
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Clawson himself has acknowledged the star ratings. When we were getting ready to play Notre Dame he kept saying "they get the 4 and 5 star guys." We've been good at finding diamonds in the rough for sure and ratings aren't the be all end all. But certainly in general a 4 star > a 2 star
 
Exactly. The fact that we have a staff who is good at finding and/or developing talent that isn't as highly rated does not mean that "stars typically mean nothing" or that "They've become less and less meaningless(ful?) every year."

Shut up b hole!

Where's Sokolove to jump in with a perfectly crafted post when I need him.
 
I don't look at stars as much as I do offers and as far as I can tell he had 2, Old Dominion and Wake. He could end up be a decent player (and I hope he is) but seems to me the odds are long
 
Don't know why I read that as Franklin, TN. Either way, there are 14 division 1 school in Virginia.

Not sure where you are getting your information. There are 54 Division 1 (smallest schools) public schools in Virginia, and Franklin HS plays in a district that also houses Division2 and Division 3 teams.
 
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