Disclaimer: If you are Carey Murdock, stop reading now! We repeat, stop reading now! If you are James Hale, please continue reading.
So today is national signing day! To reflect on this creepy day where men of all ages wonder, dream and bicker about the major life decisions of 17 and 18 year old high school seniors, I thought I'd share with everyone this great recap of the 2001 OU football recruiting class.
The recap was written by some guy named AtlantaSooner (EDIT: Tony here. For those of you who actually have lives and haven't inhabited OU message boards for the last ten years, Atlanta Sooner was, back in the days of (speaking of Carey Murdock) BoomerSooner.net, the guy to go to for recruiting recaps. This was before Rivals and Scout got big. We worshiped him. So this post is yet another data point in the "Tony is dumb" category.) Even though he probably wasn't an official recruiting "expert," his thoughts, opinions and projections of the 2001 class seem to mirror the words of those recruiting scribes found all over the net. And for the most part shows how ridiculous (and funny) college recruiting rankings and analysis can really be.
Highlights are after the jump:
On Quarterbacks:
OU did not really need to sign a QB this year, but OU was definitely able to take advantage of the vast positive press generated by Josh Heupel for the new OU offense especially for the QB position. Rawls was a late target for OU not really expressing interest or showing up on the recruiting radar until around mid October. Previously it had been presumed that Matt Jones from Arkansas was OU's top QB prospect. OU also had recruiting interest from top ten QB Brodie Croyle (the number one rated QB prospect who visited OU) and Matt Leinhart from California (OU actually probably would have landed Leinhart but could only offer one QB and Rawls beat Leinhart to the one slot OU had available.). So, in terms of quality grade, OU gets an A a QB. In terms of quantity, OU only needed to sign one QB and they got a great one so an A grade for quantity.
Hmmn. OU probably should have gone after that "Leinhart" guy instead. But that probably would have dropped them to a B, and B's don't win in recruiting. Ooops. It's too bad recruiting rankings don't cover "ability to stay in the bed of a truck."
On Runningbacks:
(Donta) Hickson, (Seymore) Shaw, and (Kejuan) Jones give OU the best RB class in the nation.
Hey, I'll give 'em this: Seymore Shaw did end up having a somewhat productive career for OSU and then UCO.
On Wide Receievers:
Brandon Jones 6-2,205,4.5 Texarkana, TX. Jones is almost universally ranked as the number one WR in the state of Texas...He is a definite threat to play next year since he provides a big target at WR that is not currently found in the Sooner WR core (Will Peoples who is redshirting also provides this type of potential)
Unfortunately, it's the Brandon Jones, Adrian Petersons' and Tommy Harris' of the world that give these recruiting experts a bit of a leg to stand on. Fortunately, they also compare these guys to players like Will Peoples to kind of shoot down those legs. (Tony here again: The other day I ran across the fact that Will Peoples is a strength and conditioning coach at Minnesota. Isn't that weird? No? Oh. Sorry. But you know what is? Your face. Ooh. Take that.)
On Tight Ends:
Chris Chester 6-4,230, 4.6 Tunnel, CA. Chester is a prospect that was not high on the recruiting lists early but had a fantastic senior years demonstrating big play ability as a hback/tight end. For his senior year, he had incredible stats with 815 yards and 11 touchdowns receiving and 450 yards and five touchdowns running. The Sooner coaches appear to want use Chester as a tight end and as a hback (similar to Josh Norman). Chester is a definite threat to play next year. Chester is very highly ranked now, according to rivals he is a top ten tight end nationally.
Chris Chester plays center in the NFL. So at least they got the talented part right. But is it strange to anyone else that an interior lineman was at one point compared to Josh Norman?
Defensive Line:
Tommie Harris 6-4,278,4.7 Killeen Tx. Quite simply by Rivals recruiting service, Tommie Harris is the number one ranked DT in the nation. By almost every other recruiting service, Tommie Harris is first team all american recruiting prospect at DT. Harris is the cousin of former Sooner Stockar McDougle and OU did a good recruiting him away from FSU, Miami, and UT. Tommie had 70 solo tackles and nine sacks as a senior as a junior he had 139 tackles (81 solo) and five sacks. If he is eligible, I predict that he will play next year adding depth and more of a pass rushing threat from our front four. Also, Tommie is listed some places in the 260 range, but he will probably be in the 280 to 285 range when he reports to OU.
What's that saying about a broken clock? It even shines on a dogs ass some days? Something like that. I can't remember exactly since I'm distracted by the horde of models trying to beat down the door. Why won't they ever leave me alone?
Linebackers:
Fred Fleeks 6-2,210,4.5 Navasota, TX. An early verbal to OU something of a sleeper but OU coaches loved Fleeks on film and offered very early. Fleeks had a very productive year and is a big time hitter. As a senior, recorded 98 tackles and three sacks, and had 264 tackles, seven sacks and two interceptions during his high school career.Fleeks will more than likely redshirt and projects at OLB after bulking up to 230 range and hopefully keeping his speed, or he could possibly stay in his current size with his great speed and play safety.
Which is worse, making Fred Fleeks your recruiting sleeper pick, or selecting Brandon Jones as your 2007 fantasy football sleeper pick? (Hey there cats and kittens, it's Tony again. I remember the recruiting of Fleeks vividly. Somehow, fans managed to convince themselves, though no one had ever seen film of him, that Fleeks was going to be the next great star linebacker at OU. I'm not sure that, to this day, I've seen a photo of him. It was like as time moved on, the legend of Fred Fleeks grew and grew. I distinctly remember someone creating an image of him wearing a cape. Fleeks lasted less than a season at OU. People are stupid. Especially babies.)
Defensive Backs:
Eric Bassey 6-1,170,4.35. Garland TX. Bassey is the true cover corner in this class.
Well, to be fair, look at the other DB's in this class: Bobby Klinck, Justin Williams, Jowahn Poteat, Avery Shine. So AtlantaSooner is technically correct. Bassey was the best true cover corner in his class. But that's sort of like naming Clark Matthews the smartest writer at this web site. Not exactly a high bar.
Kickers:
Michael Northen 6-0,190 Houston, TX. Northen is the first kicker recruited by the Stoops staff. He had good stats as a senior averaging 44 yards a punt.Northen was also the first verbal commitment of this recruiting season. Northen also excelled as a place kicker. It's not really been determined if he will punter or place kicker at OU or whether he will do both.
The answer is neither. Moving on.
Class evaluation:
This is probably the best class signed by OU since Switzer's second to last class that included Stacey Dillard and Mike Gaddis among others that class never reached its' potential due to defections and probation problems.
How prophetic. In any event, I hope that today while you are listening to people talk about how great the players are that OU and OSU signed, you will think back on the excellent job the recruiting analysts did back in 2001.
