Hits, Guys and Misses

LarryISU

Well-Known Member
Feb 10, 2013
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Often on local sports radio here in Omaha the on-air guys try to rank their recruiting classes, sometimes in hindsight, sometimes projecting the future. They label recruits as a hit, a miss or a guy. Roughly, a "hit" is someone who contributes in a fairly substantial way and lived up to the recruiting hype and a "guy" is someone who plays some and helps the team but was not necessarily crucial to improving the team.

So for example, our 2016 class at ISU, I might rate in this way:
Sean Foster .8893 (miss) Chase Allen .8655 (guy) Deshaunte Jones .8577 (hit) Eyioma Uwazurike .8504 (hit) Jalen Martin .8499 (miss) JaQuan Bailey .8469 (hit) Kene Nwangwu .8426 (guy) Jacob Park .8417 (miss) Lawrence White .8537 (guy) David Montgomery .8348 (hit) Zeb Noland .8300 (miss) Oge Odeogu .8292 (miss) Arnold Azunna .8263 (guy) D’Andre Payne .8248 (hit) Joshua Bailey .8234 (guy) Tymar Sutton .8213 (miss) Thadd Daniels .8200 (miss) Romelo Webster .8153 (miss) Jamahl Johnson .8147 (hit) Dylan Soehner .8125 (guy) Josh Mueller .8067 (miss) Jatairis Grant .8050 (guy) Keenan Forbes .8032 (miss) Clifford Fernandez .7998 (guy) Carson Lensing .7920 (guy) Justin Stewart .7919 (miss) Karson Green .7859 (miss) Steve Wirtel .7797 (hit)

Obviously this is very subjective and that is what can make it interesting, to see how people differ on various recruits. For example, Foster has played some, but certainly has not lived up to his recruiting ranking, so I call that a miss. Some might rate him a guy since he has stayed all the way and did play and contribute. Jacob Park is what some might call a hit since he started so many games, but he could be a guy because he never really fulfilled his potential. I rated him as a miss because he just abandoned the team, maybe he had good reason, but just from a team standpoint I think he was a miss. Anyway, share your thoughts on the class if you wish. Thanks.
 
Soehner has out-performed his ranking compared to his recruiting hype. He's not asked to be overly flashy. I'd say he's a hit. I'm about where you are with everyone else. Had Kene been able to stay healthy, I could have bumped him up, but unfortunately he's been dinged-up for much of his career.

I was thinking Sutton was going to be one to watch based on things I'd read and footage.
 
Regarding our recruiting "hits" I think it is promising how many of our all-time highest rated recruits are on the team for next year.

#3 Joseph Scates
#4 Jirehl Brock
#5 Hunter Dekkers
#10 Breece Hall
#13 Sean Foster
#15 Latrell Bankston
#17 Sean Shaw, Jr.
#19 Blake Peterson
#20 Aidan Bouman
#22 Joey Ramos
#23 Cole Pedersen
#24 Daniel Jackson
#25 Isheem Young
#27 O'Rien Vance
#28 Darien Porter

That is 15 of our top 28 players since I think 2002. That's a lot of good, and mostly young, talent.
 
I'd say that Montgomery kid should be more of a "guy," he could've worked his way to "hit" if he stayed another year.



*Jimlad* even though it shouldn't need to be said.
 
2017
 
What did Clifford Fernandez ever do to deserve to be a "guy"? Serious question because I just don't remember.

As for the 2017 class... I was really high on Cordarrius Bailey when we got him. I just loved his highlight videos. Seems like he's one of those tweener guys that they just can't figure out if he should be a DE or LB?? Similar to McDonald.
 
What did Clifford Fernandez ever do to deserve to be a "guy"? Serious question because I just don't remember.

You are right, just going from memory I thought he played quite a bit, but actually he didn't and it looks left he only stayed here one year. "Miss"!
 
Kinda hard to call guys still on the team with two more years of eligibility a “miss”.

In defense of Psyched, as I stated at the outset, this is all subjective. And it is based on this point in time. Shoot, you can rate the 2020 class already if you wanted to. That's kind of what Jay Jordan did with his recent article regarding the 2020 roster and recruits. Jay looked at our recruits bios and tape and said, you know what, this TJ Tampa is a "hit."

So to say a kid that will be a junior next year is a "miss" just means he has not yet come close to contributing to the team in the way that you expected he would when he signed. AS OF TODAY, he is a "miss." Now, he can really come on next year (like a Marcel Spears did) and he turns into a "guy" or even a "hit."

I find it quite interesting when the local radio guys rate the Huskers because it can be really eye-opening how many of their recruits end up as a "miss" or just a "guy." They get 4 star recruits and then two years later they aren't playing or they have transferred. Probably explains, to a large extent, their on-field results the last 5 years or so.
 
2017 is too young to call anything but hits at this point unless they aren't on the team anymore.
 
1620thezone in Omaha did their recruiting roundtable this morning to discuss the Husker recruiting class. So, they are already rating the 2020 recruits they pick to excel and those they just aren't sure about yet.

I thought the most telling comment I heard from them is that no one really wanted to put any confidence yet into any of their OL signees. As they discussed, on the OL is where your higher rated recruits can wash out but then some low-rated kid or even a walk-on turns out to be a good starter. So, there is no way to look at a new 2020 OL recruit and have any guess about his future on the team.

So, it's not just ISU. I think unless you are a top blue-blood program, this is how most fans feel about their OL recruits.
 
In defense of Psyched, as I stated at the outset, this is all subjective. And it is based on this point in time. Shoot, you can rate the 2020 class already if you wanted to. That's kind of what Jay Jordan did with his recent article regarding the 2020 roster and recruits. Jay looked at our recruits bios and tape and said, you know what, this TJ Tampa is a "hit."

So to say a kid that will be a junior next year is a "miss" just means he has not yet come close to contributing to the team in the way that you expected he would when he signed. AS OF TODAY, he is a "miss." Now, he can really come on next year (like a Marcel Spears did) and he turns into a "guy" or even a "hit."

I find it quite interesting when the local radio guys rate the Huskers because it can be really eye-opening how many of their recruits end up as a "miss" or just a "guy." They get 4 star recruits and then two years later they aren't playing or they have transferred. Probably explains, to a large extent, their on-field results the last 5 years or so.
A lot of expositing for me to reply “I disagree” to. I apologize for not answering in kind.
 

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