Not sure what a guy 15 years ago has to do with this, but yeah, he was definitely a bust. Probably more so because he turned out to be a scumbag vs an actual talent issue, but I digress. I too was surprised a highly rated player could become a bust, but I've seen one or two more occurrences since then across CFB.
Regarding the "rankings", I'm more of an offers guy myself. Which I thought was the SOP around here as well, but might have changed. Hard to keep up. Even though this new guy just picked up a good offer from one of the more respected B12 programs, I'll still be cautiously optimistic on talent if we land him. Certainly has the right starting pieces with size and athleticism though. Also guessing it might be a while before he sees the field with what *would be* is in front of him.