All Things Class of 2026 Gophers Football Recruiting Thread (Offers, Videos, Tweets, Rankings and More)

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We’re taking two QB’s and Pioneer press has a story about it behind their paywall.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
15 days to signing day and holding at 30 commits at this point.

Five composite 4 starts on 247.
25th rated composite class
6th in the B1G
15th in average grade in B1G

How much will this change in 15 days?
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15th in average grade isn’t great.
 


Gopherchase said:
15th in average grade isn’t great.
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Of the worthless team metrics the average per recruit one is probably the most worthless. There are 4 classes in the Big Ten where the average recruit ranking is 90 or better (USC, Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan).

We are in the 87.xx range with 5 other teams, there are 4 in the 88.xx range, and 2 each in the 89.xx and 86.xx range. In other words we are recruiting players that on paper are very comparable to the players being brought in by 13 of the other 17 teams in the conference.
 


247 jumped Howie Johnson 4 points to a 94. He's now our highest rated 26 recruit on their rating system.
Rico Blassingame and Aiden Aytch now both 90 4-stars and are our # 3 and 4 rated recruits.
Cold Spring tackle Andrew Trout drops to 3 star, 89.

A jump of 4 points is pretty rare, and pretty cool.
 

We should see if we can get Howie Johnson Forest Lake teamate to walk on as a kicker. Kids got a cannon of a leg and new to football. I mean would be a sure thing on kick offs as far as high and deep kicks. Seems like the diamond in the backyard type kicker. We do have the Alexandria kid from 2025 though.
 



gopherdudepart2 said:
Kids got a cannon of a leg and new to football.
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I don't know who you're referring to, but you might be surprised how many kids fit your description. I spend a lot of time at soccer/football fields and see quite a few kids practicing kicking footballs that are quite impressive, yet only get d3 offers at best.

I think there are a lot more good kickers than there used to be.
 

Word said:
I don't know who you're referring to, but you might be surprised how many kids fit your description. I spend a lot of time at soccer/football fields and see quite a few kids practicing kicking footballs that are quite impressive, yet only get d3 offers at best.

I think there are a lot more good kickers than there used to be.
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They did a story on him on Kare 11. I'm drawing a blank on his name but they dude could really boom kick-offs.
 


USAF said:
247 jumped Howie Johnson 4 points to a 94. He's now our highest rated 26 recruit on their rating system.
Rico Blassingame and Aiden Aytch now both 90 4-stars and are our # 3 and 4 rated recruits.
Cold Spring tackle Andrew Trout drops to 3 star, 89.

A jump of 4 points is pretty rare, and pretty cool.
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Unfortunately our two decommit OTs got bumped to four stars, McMorris is just outside the top 100 list and is rated as a 94.
 



USAF said:
Hahaha. It's easily the most worthwhile.

Easily.
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tbh i think star rating breakdown probably is more helpful. if anyone has ever studied the difference between a 3star 86 and a 3star 87 (and 85, 88, and 89) I haven't seen it. It has been pretty clear that cumulative class success over time (one year samples are generally not as predictive) as it averages out based on player star ratings and overall composites have been helpful. They assign the same score based on star rating but then break it down by the ratings within that to tier players more as your highest scoring guys are "worth" more to your class score (i.e a 99 overall guy is going to be worth his full rating and guys are worth lower "fractions" of their ratings as they move down your class). Idea being, you shouldn't get your class dung all that much by filling your class with a lower rated local guy who's just a place holder unless that's what all your guys are.

It's part of why I wouldn't say a ton about "average" class rating, but if you have no 5 stars and minimal 4 stars, you're going to have a hard time. There's a reason we look so overmatched against Oregon and that's because they're 11th ranked guy would be the best rated guy in our class

Our class is fine. Same as all PJs classes have been. Nothing that's going to jump us over a bunch of other teams or separate us from the middle pack at all.

tl,dr; star ratings and percentages of your guys in that star rating are probably more predictive. There's probably not much difference in a class full of 3star 87s vs 3star 86s
 


gopherdudepart2 said:
We should see if we can get Howie Johnson Forest Lake teamate to walk on as a kicker. Kids got a cannon of a leg and new to football. I mean would be a sure thing on kick offs as far as high and deep kicks. Seems like the diamond in the backyard type kicker. We do have the Alexandria kid from 2025 though.
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Except that (new) walk-ons aren't a thing anymore.
 







upnorthkid said:
tbh i think star rating breakdown probably is more helpful. if anyone has ever studied the difference between a 3star 86 and a 3star 87 (and 85, 88, and 89) I haven't seen it. It has been pretty clear that cumulative class success over time (one year samples are generally not as predictive) as it averages out based on player star ratings and overall composites have been helpful. They assign the same score based on star rating but then break it down by the ratings within that to tier players more as your highest scoring guys are "worth" more to your class score (i.e a 99 overall guy is going to be worth his full rating and guys are worth lower "fractions" of their ratings as they move down your class). Idea being, you shouldn't get your class dung all that much by filling your class with a lower rated local guy who's just a place holder unless that's what all your guys are.

It's part of why I wouldn't say a ton about "average" class rating, but if you have no 5 stars and minimal 4 stars, you're going to have a hard time. There's a reason we look so overmatched against Oregon and that's because they're 11th ranked guy would be the best rated guy in our class

Our class is fine. Same as all PJs classes have been. Nothing that's going to jump us over a bunch of other teams or separate us from the middle pack at all.

tl,dr; star ratings and percentages of your guys in that star rating are probably more predictive. There's probably not much difference in a class full of 3star 87s vs 3star 86s
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Well said, the nuanced breakdown of recruits in terms of ratings is pointless. Clearly 5* and 4* prospects have a better chance of being stars then 3* players but digging much deeper than that is not really worth the effort because it is such an inexact science.

The recruiting sites will tell you that a player is the 750th best prospect in the country....but the reality is that once you get beyond the best of the best recruits.....they are basically just throwing darts at a board.

Our class on paper looks very comparable to the majority of the Big Ten. There are a few that are clearly better and a few that are clearly worse but it is splitting hairs trying to draw a meaningful distinction between the majority of the classes in the middle.
 

caliGopher said:
Except that (new) walk-ons aren't a thing anymore.
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They are if your school isn't offering a full 105 scholarships for all 105 roster spots. I've seen recruits announcing PWO offers from Wisconsin, among other schools, which tells me that Wisconsin, at least initially, is not offering a full 105 scholarships.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Well said, the nuanced breakdown of recruits in terms of ratings is pointless. Clearly 5* and 4* prospects have a better chance of being stars then 3* players but digging much deeper than that is not really worth the effort because it is such an inexact science.

The recruiting sites will tell you that a player is the 750th best prospect in the country....but the reality is that once you get beyond the best of the best recruits.....they are basically just throwing darts at a board.

Our class on paper looks very comparable to the majority of the Big Ten. There are a few that are clearly better and a few that are clearly worse but it is splitting hairs trying to draw a meaningful distinction between the majority of the classes in the middle.
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They just grade the kids that the computer kicks out the order they are ranked. No one sites and determines if a kid is top 100 or 250 or 300. It's simply their grade and then the order is spit out. If 200 kids have the same grade, the difference in 100 and 300 could be zero.
 

USAF said:
Hahaha. It's easily the most worthwhile.

Easily.
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In this day with so many transfers and significant recruiting class size differences, I don't think any one metric is good by itself. For instance, Wisconsin's average per recruit is higher but Minnesota has 13 players ranked 88 or higher while Wisconsin has just 7.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
They just grade the kids that the computer kicks out the order they are ranked. No one sites and determines if a kid is top 100 or 250 or 300. It's simply their grade and then the order is spit out. If 200 kids have the same grade, the difference in 100 and 300 could be zero.
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Right, but there are still people that will get caught up in that number like it has some value when in reality it really doesn't once you get past the really high rated recruits.

Not as bad as it used to be but some still put too much stock in the evaluations of recruiting sites and act like there is a meaningful difference between a player with a .8750 rating and one with a .8633 or whatever.
 




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