Top players in each class over the last few years

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MNVCGUY

MNVCGUY

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Was listening to Mason on Barrerio's show the other day and he claimed that he and his coaches would rank the players in their recruiting classes after signing day and then again after spring ball and one more time after the season. And he claimed the list would often look very different. So thought it would be interesting to look back on some past Gopher classes to see who the top 3 players ended up being and where they were ranked on signing day. Obviously this list will be subjective (sure I will miss some guys)...but for what it is worth:

2014:
Rodney Smith - .8351 - #9 on signing day
Steven Richardson - .8141 - #13
Jonathan Celestin - .7980 - #18

2015: This really was a brutal recruiting class
Shannon Brooks - .8431 - #7
Jacob Huff - .8155 - #19
Winston DeLattibourdere - .8347 - #12

2016: top 2 spots were easy. #3 was a lot tougher due to multiple options. Really strong/deep class
Antoine Winfield - .8285 - #16
Tyler Johnson - .8643 - #3
Carter Coughlin - .9566 - #1

2017: Lacks the depth of 2016 but lots of good players from this class as well
Mohamed Ibrahim - .8395 - #9
Tanner Morgan - .8375 - #10
? - Andries, JMS, CRAB, Mafe....really not sure where to go with #3 in this group

2018: Top 2 were easy, #3 spot was tough again
Rashod Bateman - .8914 - #3
Daniel Faalele - .9008 - #2
Mariano Sori-Marin - .8444 - #21

2019: Little early to say with this group
Trill Carter - .8585 - #12
Tyler Nubin - .8896 - #1
TBD - Guedet, Kramer, MBS

2020: Way too early to say on this group but early contenders
Daniel Jackson - .8982 - #1
Ky Thomas - .8863 - #3

2021: Same as 2020, way too early to say.
Mar'Keise Irving - .8932 - #3
Justin Walley - .8647 - #14

Not sure what if anything this proves. But looking back on the classes one thing that definitely stands out is that the best players in the class are often not the ones with the highest ranking next to their name on signing day.
 
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Fun info. This phenomenon is what contributes to the uniqueness of college football. Would be interesting to identify the lowest rated player, that rose the highest, under what coach?
 

GraniteCityGopher said:
Fun info. This phenomenon is what contributes to the uniqueness of college football. Would be interesting to identify the lowest rated player, that rose the highest, under what coach?
Click to expand...
Winfield would seem like a strong contender for that honor, at least in the classes I looked at.
 

GraniteCityGopher said:
Fun info. This phenomenon is what contributes to the uniqueness of college football. Would be interesting to identify the lowest rated player, that rose the highest, under what coach?
Click to expand...
Fleck recruiting has been higher in the rated player as most players were rated .82 or higher. Kill has some lower rated players. Here are some of the bight stars

2011- Cedric Thompson .7444
2012- Eric Murray .7791
2013- Jalen Myrick .8150
2014- Jonathan Celestin .7980
2016- Ko Kieft .8037
2018- Nathan Boe .8237
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Fleck recruiting has been higher in the rated player as most players were rated .82 or higher. Kill has some lower rated players. Here are some of the bight stars

2011- Cedric Thompson .7444
2012- Eric Murray .7791
2013- Jalen Myrick .8150
2014- Jonathan Celestin .7980
2016- Ko Kieft .8037
2018- Nathan Boe .8237
Click to expand...
Crazy how good Murray was compared to that rating. He's parlayed that into over $23M of earnings in the NFL, and he's only 27.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
Fleck recruiting has been higher in the rated player as most players were rated .82 or higher. Kill has some lower rated players. Here are some of the bight stars

2011- Cedric Thompson .7444
2012- Eric Murray .7791
2013- Jalen Myrick .8150
2014- Jonathan Celestin .7980
2016- Ko Kieft .8037
2018- Nathan Boe .8237
Click to expand...
From that list Eric Murray would seem like the winner hands down. Was a phenominal college player and has had a really solid pro career as well. Thompson was a good college player but never really stuck at the pro level.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Was listening to Mason on Barrerio's show the other day and he claimed that he and his coaches would rank the players in their recruiting classes after signing day and then again after spring ball and one more time after the season. And he claimed the list would often look very different. So thought it would be interesting to look back on some past Gopher classes to see who the top 3 players ended up being and where they were ranked on signing day. Obviously this list will be subjective (sure I will miss some guys)...but for what it is worth:

2014:
Rodney Smith - .8351 - #9 on signing day
Steven Richardson - .8141 - #13
Jonathan Celestin - .7980 - #18

2015: This really was a brutal recruiting class
Shannon Brooks - .8431 - #7
Jacob Huff - .8155 - #19
Winston DeLattibourdere - .8347 - #12

2016: top 2 spots were easy. #3 was a lot tougher due to multiple options. Really strong/deep class
Antoine Winfield - .8285 - #16
Tyler Johnson - .8643 - #3
Carter Coughlin - .9566 - #1

2017: Lacks the depth of 2016 but lots of good players from this class as well
Mohamed Ibrahim - .8395 - #9
Tanner Morgan - .8375 - #10
? - Andries, JMS, CRAB, Mafe....really not sure where to go with #3 in this group

2018: Top 2 were easy, #3 spot was tough again
Rashod Bateman - .8914 - #3
Daniel Faalele - .9008 - #2
Mariano Sori-Marin - #21

2019: Little early to say with this group
Trill Carter - .8585 - #12
Tyler Nubin - .8896 - #1
TBD - Guedet, Kramer, MBS

2020: Way too early to say on this group but early contenders
Daniel Jackson - .8982 - #1
Ky Thomas - .8863 - #3

2021: Same as 2020, way too early to say.
Mar'Keise Irving - .8932 - #3
Justin Walley - .8647 - #14

Not sure what if anything this proves.
Click to expand...

MNVCGUY said:
But looking back on the classes one thing that definitely stands out is that the best players in the class are often not the ones with the highest ranking next to their name on signing day.
Click to expand...
 


Trey Potts is a 2019 guy, right? He should easily be in the top 3 in my opinion.
 



SonjayLarrick said:
Trey Potts is a 2019 guy, right? He should easily be in the top 3 in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Forgot to include him with the TBD guys. Issue with Trey is small sample size and cloudy future prospects at the moment.

That's why I added the too early disclaimer with the 2019, 2020, and 2021 classes. We haven't seen enough of those guys to really know and there are number of guys in those classes that haven't seen the field yet but could still easily become great players before it is all said and done.
 






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