As most everyone knows, my favorite way to evaluate prospects is use to watch the tape. Seriously. There is a ton of tape available on pretty much any prospect nowadays, usually via Hudl. Just Google search the kid’s name and hudl, you’ll get his page. If it’s a common name, then add the high school to the search. It will be there 99 times out of 100. Just watch the tape.
Besides the tape, my second favorite way to evaluate prospect is other offers. While I always think this is a fun exercise that should be even more fun this cycle. So here we go… ordered roughly in order of “impressiveness,” which is a purely personal judgment call. Yes we can quibble about the ordering all day if we wanted, that doesn’t change the point: lots of good players picked NU over lots of good offers (at least in most cases).
Each kid’s name is also a link to each prospect’s tape.
DE Ashton Porter — Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, California, Colorado, Houston, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami(FL), Michigan State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Prairie View A&M, SMU, Southern, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Southern, Texas Tech, and Washington State
DE Mason Robinson — Boston College, UConn, Duke, Georgia, Marshall, Maryland, Miami(FL), Michigan, Morgan State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Toledo, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia
DB Damon Walters — Army, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami(OH), Minnesota, Missouri, Penn State, Syracuse, Tennessee, Toledo, Vanderbilt, Western Illinois, Western Michigan, and Wisconsin
OL Dylan Senda — Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Iowa, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky, Louisville, Marshall, Maryland, Miami(FL), Miami(OH), Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Penn State, Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia
TE Camp Magee — Alabama A&M, Boston College, Coastal Carolina, UConn, Duke, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Indiana, Iowa State, Liberty, Louisville, Maryland, Miami(FL), Pitt, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia
DL Tyler Gant — Arkansas, Arkansas State, Boston College, Colorado, Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Memphis, Minnesota, Nebraska, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, and Wisconsin
OL Alex Doost — Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado State, Indiana, UMass, Michigan State, Nevada, Oregon State, San Diego State, Utah, Utah State, Washington, Washington State, and West Virginia
DE Michal Kilbane — Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Charlotte, Cincinnati, UConn, Duke, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kent State, Kentucky, Marshall, Miami(OH), Ohio, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Toledo, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia
LB Nigel Glover — Akron, Ball State, Boston College, Bowling Green, UConn, Duke, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kent State, Kentucky, Liberty, UMass, Miami(OH), Minnesota, Pitt, Purdue, Rutgers, Toledo, Vanderbilt, Washington, and West Virginia
OL Jordan Knox — Appalachian State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Duke, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Georgia State, Harvard, James Madison, Liberty, Marshall, Miami(OH), Old Dominion, South Florida, Tulane, and Virginia
DB Cole Shivers — Arizona, Buffalo, Colorado, Florida State, Iowa State, Kansas, Utah State, Washington State, and Wisconsin
DL Dylan Roberts — Arizona, California, Colorado, and Washington State
LB Justin Cryer — Arizona State, Arkansas, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Howard, Memphis, Nevada, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston State, SMU, and UTSA
DB Josh Fussell — Akron, Bowling Green, Coastal Carolina, UConn, Duke, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kent State, Kentucky, Miami(OH), Minnesota, Nevada, Pitt, and Toledo
DB Jacob Lewis -- Arizona, Boise State, Boston College, California, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, SMU, Tulsa, and Utah State
OL Anthony Birsa — Army, Ball State, Eastern Kentucky, Illinois State, Indiana, Iowa State, Kent State, Minnesota, Navy, Princeton, Rutgers, Syracuse, Toledo, Vanderbilt, and Western Michigan
QB Aidan Gray — Bowling Green, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Toledo, and Western Michigan
WR Frank Covey — None
If they were to commit, Adebawore would go to the top of the list, Jenkins in the top five easily, and Ahumaraeze just above Gray.
Some takeaways:
* The defensive line recruiting is quite strong, kudos to Marty Long and the staff there
* Definitely some ”tiers” in my mind, though pretty weighted forward the top… maybe something like Tier 1 Porter through Kilbane, Tier 2 Glover through Fussell, Tier 3 Gray and Covey. Even then, the Tier 2 guys have pretty strong offer lists in most cases.
* The other obvious problem (at least in my opinion) is that our QB and WR recruiting is lagging pretty far behind the rest of the roster. I’m not sure how we could show significant improvement on offense without significant improvement recruiting those two positions. Quickly.
Besides the tape, my second favorite way to evaluate prospect is other offers. While I always think this is a fun exercise that should be even more fun this cycle. So here we go… ordered roughly in order of “impressiveness,” which is a purely personal judgment call. Yes we can quibble about the ordering all day if we wanted, that doesn’t change the point: lots of good players picked NU over lots of good offers (at least in most cases).
Each kid’s name is also a link to each prospect’s tape.
DE Ashton Porter — Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, California, Colorado, Houston, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami(FL), Michigan State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Prairie View A&M, SMU, Southern, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Southern, Texas Tech, and Washington State
DE Mason Robinson — Boston College, UConn, Duke, Georgia, Marshall, Maryland, Miami(FL), Michigan, Morgan State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Toledo, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia
DB Damon Walters — Army, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami(OH), Minnesota, Missouri, Penn State, Syracuse, Tennessee, Toledo, Vanderbilt, Western Illinois, Western Michigan, and Wisconsin
OL Dylan Senda — Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Iowa, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky, Louisville, Marshall, Maryland, Miami(FL), Miami(OH), Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Penn State, Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia
TE Camp Magee — Alabama A&M, Boston College, Coastal Carolina, UConn, Duke, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Indiana, Iowa State, Liberty, Louisville, Maryland, Miami(FL), Pitt, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia
DL Tyler Gant — Arkansas, Arkansas State, Boston College, Colorado, Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Memphis, Minnesota, Nebraska, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, and Wisconsin
OL Alex Doost — Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado State, Indiana, UMass, Michigan State, Nevada, Oregon State, San Diego State, Utah, Utah State, Washington, Washington State, and West Virginia
DE Michal Kilbane — Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Charlotte, Cincinnati, UConn, Duke, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kent State, Kentucky, Marshall, Miami(OH), Ohio, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Toledo, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia
LB Nigel Glover — Akron, Ball State, Boston College, Bowling Green, UConn, Duke, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kent State, Kentucky, Liberty, UMass, Miami(OH), Minnesota, Pitt, Purdue, Rutgers, Toledo, Vanderbilt, Washington, and West Virginia
OL Jordan Knox — Appalachian State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Duke, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Georgia State, Harvard, James Madison, Liberty, Marshall, Miami(OH), Old Dominion, South Florida, Tulane, and Virginia
DB Cole Shivers — Arizona, Buffalo, Colorado, Florida State, Iowa State, Kansas, Utah State, Washington State, and Wisconsin
DL Dylan Roberts — Arizona, California, Colorado, and Washington State
LB Justin Cryer — Arizona State, Arkansas, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Howard, Memphis, Nevada, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston State, SMU, and UTSA
DB Josh Fussell — Akron, Bowling Green, Coastal Carolina, UConn, Duke, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kent State, Kentucky, Miami(OH), Minnesota, Nevada, Pitt, and Toledo
DB Jacob Lewis -- Arizona, Boise State, Boston College, California, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, SMU, Tulsa, and Utah State
OL Anthony Birsa — Army, Ball State, Eastern Kentucky, Illinois State, Indiana, Iowa State, Kent State, Minnesota, Navy, Princeton, Rutgers, Syracuse, Toledo, Vanderbilt, and Western Michigan
QB Aidan Gray — Bowling Green, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Toledo, and Western Michigan
WR Frank Covey — None
If they were to commit, Adebawore would go to the top of the list, Jenkins in the top five easily, and Ahumaraeze just above Gray.
Some takeaways:
* The defensive line recruiting is quite strong, kudos to Marty Long and the staff there
* Definitely some ”tiers” in my mind, though pretty weighted forward the top… maybe something like Tier 1 Porter through Kilbane, Tier 2 Glover through Fussell, Tier 3 Gray and Covey. Even then, the Tier 2 guys have pretty strong offer lists in most cases.
* The other obvious problem (at least in my opinion) is that our QB and WR recruiting is lagging pretty far behind the rest of the roster. I’m not sure how we could show significant improvement on offense without significant improvement recruiting those two positions. Quickly.
