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Feldman: Why offensive line is the toughest position for...
>>This week when your favorite team announces its signing class, or when you hear about the four- or five-star recruit that your school did or did not get, remember this number: 2.4.
That is the average star ranking of the 15 offensive linemen voted to the Pro Bowl last year who were evaluated in the era of the recruiting star system. None of them were ranked as five-star prospects; four were four-star guys — the same number as there were zero-star players. Joe Thomas, the best offensive tackle of his era, went to 10 Pro Bowls in his 11 seasons. Thomas once was ranked as the nation’s No. 18 offensive tackle prospect. None of those 17 graded ahead of him went on to start in the NFL as tackles. From the 2015 signing class, prospects who are seniors now, Clemson’s Mitch Hyatt is the only four- or five-star O-line recruit (according to 247Sports) to make first-team all-conference.<<
>>Getting a sense of just how much they actually love football is another must. “I’d take a three-star guy that loves football over a five-star guy that loves recruiting any day,” Hand says.<<
>>Getting to know the kind of person who you are recruiting — what makes them tick, how tough they are, or just how important football is to them — is harder now than ever because the recruiting calendar has sped up so much.
“You can kinda get to know them over social media,” Kelly says. “Nowadays, a lot of kids don’t like talking over the phone. That’s the hard part. How well can you get to know him based on the rules now? Camps are an important part. You have to see how they work. You get them in camp and you want to see what can this kid pick up when we start doing drill work? What type of learner is he?”
McLeod, who runs Duke’s recruiting operation, says everybody recruits the same 40 offensive linemen. “And then you get past them, it’s like who are we gonna get? That’s why camp is so important. But now everybody’s throwing out those meaningless offers and kids don’t even want to come to camp.”<<
Feldman: Why offensive line is the toughest position for...
>>This week when your favorite team announces its signing class, or when you hear about the four- or five-star recruit that your school did or did not get, remember this number: 2.4.
That is the average star ranking of the 15 offensive linemen voted to the Pro Bowl last year who were evaluated in the era of the recruiting star system. None of them were ranked as five-star prospects; four were four-star guys — the same number as there were zero-star players. Joe Thomas, the best offensive tackle of his era, went to 10 Pro Bowls in his 11 seasons. Thomas once was ranked as the nation’s No. 18 offensive tackle prospect. None of those 17 graded ahead of him went on to start in the NFL as tackles. From the 2015 signing class, prospects who are seniors now, Clemson’s Mitch Hyatt is the only four- or five-star O-line recruit (according to 247Sports) to make first-team all-conference.<<
>>Getting a sense of just how much they actually love football is another must. “I’d take a three-star guy that loves football over a five-star guy that loves recruiting any day,” Hand says.<<
>>Getting to know the kind of person who you are recruiting — what makes them tick, how tough they are, or just how important football is to them — is harder now than ever because the recruiting calendar has sped up so much.
“You can kinda get to know them over social media,” Kelly says. “Nowadays, a lot of kids don’t like talking over the phone. That’s the hard part. How well can you get to know him based on the rules now? Camps are an important part. You have to see how they work. You get them in camp and you want to see what can this kid pick up when we start doing drill work? What type of learner is he?”
McLeod, who runs Duke’s recruiting operation, says everybody recruits the same 40 offensive linemen. “And then you get past them, it’s like who are we gonna get? That’s why camp is so important. But now everybody’s throwing out those meaningless offers and kids don’t even want to come to camp.”<<
