🏈 Since We're Drawing Near To Signing Day...when It Comes To Evaluations / Rankings, Where Do You Go?

[TerryP]

The one place I don't look is the Scout network.

Setting aside their UI, which I've had my issues with, I simply don't like the way their ratings system works. There's a big "Warnings" label that needs to be on their rankings pages.

They're unique, and their methods make sense...to a degree. I don't see consistency from year to year which puts them as a last resort in my book(marks.)

You see, there's a key to Scout, and that's to always remember their individual ranking (stars predominantly in Scout's case) the number of stars is not an indicator of the player's true ability. Their star rankings are based on the overall group of players coming out in a specific year, not how good a certain player happens to be.

That means a guy who is a three-star recruit in a very deep year, talent wise, might have been a four-star recruit in another year. Or vice versa.

If there were a page here that listed all of the recruits, and their rankings, it would probably be using the 247 Composite system...FYI.

 

[planomateo]

247 is primarily who I use, the UI is much nicer than the others. Funny to me that ESPN (tons of money/resources) has been trying to get their foot in the door in this business and 247 jumped in and quickly has surpassed everyone (my opinion).

That being said, conversation yesterday with an Aggie. If X player goes to Texas, Rivals will give him his 5th star, but if he comes to Texas A&M he'll stay at 4 stars are drop to a 3 star. Sounds like an Auburn fan huh...

 

[BamaFan334]

I have always stuck with Rivals. I am starting to get sick of Mike Farrel, and TerryP gave everyone the heads up on him, but the way he'll demean a 16, 17, and 18 year old kid pushes me to the point of not caring for him. The whole business like mindset that makes it ok to talk trash or glorify adolecent kids pisses me off, and he does that the the T, but I enjoy the input from the other writers and analyst they have. I guess it's more of just who I have used for over ten years now since I started following recruiting.

 

[UAgrad93]

I rely on 247sports for my info. I think that whole crew does a better job from top to bottom.

 

[TerryP]

I have always stuck with Rivals.

I have likes and dislikes for their system. @planomateo brings up a point that relates to one of my likes. Their scoring system on recruits tells quite a bit. If a guy happened to be a 4-star with a grade of 6.0 and commits to a school then gets that 6.1 grade (5-star) that's really not much of a "bump." Show me a 5.8 that jumps, with a commitment, to a 6.1 and fans have a point. Yet, they never can show you just that case.

They do put a lot of value in one game—US Army All-American Bowl—which contradicts what they'll establish a player as (grades/rankings) based on their own summer camps—contradicts what players have done throughout the season in some cases.

A big dislike I have is they tend to rate players based on trends. Here's a prime example. A few years ago you wouldn't find a quarterback in their Rivals100 that wasn't over 6'. Now, with guys like Russell Shepard having success in the NFL (Farrell said it's made an impact, NFL performances) and Manziel at A&M you'll see these "dual-threat," highly ranked and graded quarterbacks.

In terms of the coverage Bama gets on the Rivals.com network through Bone? He's a story in and of himself...

 

[TerryP]

I rely on 247sports for my info. I think that whole crew does a better job from top to bottom.

Their Crystal Ball thing has jumped the shark. In the least, it needs to be retooled quite a bit.

 

[Bamabww]

In terms of the coverage Bama gets on the Rivals.com network through Bone? He's a story in and of himself...

Agree. I've met him a couple of times after a couple of ballgames and even though a couple of months apart, he called me by name when I walked over to him. I still wonder what I did during our first meeting that caused him to remember me.

But to respond to your question, I was a charter member of Tidesportsextra.com way back when they still were independent of Rivals and was grandfathered into the Rivals network when they merged the two. They have some good recruiting info, mostly from Bone, but the forum is terrible. Nothing like the friendliness you find here.

One of the "benefits" of being grandfathered in is I only pay half price to be a member. So for $49.99 a year I have access to the info I steal and share over here.

Don't want to hijack the thread you started but @TerryP, do you remember the old Crimson Corner we belonged to back in the day? That was a trip wasn't it?

 

[mhardiman]

Crimson Corner

Where the heck did Ken go to; don't know who his connection (insider) was, but especially in recruiting it seemed we knew how our recruiting class was going to shake out in mid-December. Fun times!

 

[Bamabww]

Where the heck did Ken go to

I lost track of him and most of the others. He did have good recruiting info, no doubt about it.

 

[ElephantStomp]

I rely on this place. I don't visit none of the recruiting services because I think it's all b.s. I've seen way too many "experts" just tear a kid apart and I don't like that.

The one person I will never follow, listen to, etc is that dumba$$ Luginbill (sp?) he seems like a tool, seems stupid as all get out, and again seems like a tool

 

[TerryP]

But to respond to your question, I was a charter member of Tidesportsextra.com way back when they still were independent of Rivals and was grandfathered into the Rivals network when they merged the two. They have some good recruiting info, mostly from Bone, but the forum is terrible. Nothing like the friendliness you find here.

The Tidesportsextra's gig was Bone's third, maybe fourth, paycheck in the recruiting biz. If you think about this you'll probably remember...Jay Lisby brought AB in for Bamamag when he was a frosh in college. His sophomore year in school saw him get a spot with the T-town News along with his job at Bamamag...wasn't long after that Scout put him in a Regional position...rest is so called history.

 

[bamafan9201]

I rely on a mixture of things, from news stories to espn to rivals. I rarely bite on the rumors though, because they're generally just speculation of a friend of a friend in the recruiting world it means nothing.

 

[TerryP]

The one person I will never follow, listen to, etc is that dumba$$ Luginbill (sp?) he seems like a tool,

Luginbill fits what Churchill said about Russia..."a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, in an enigma."

We talk about some players while wondering what they are thinking when we see one school, a transfer to another, and then another transfer on top of that...some go to the point of calling them primadonna's. He was one of the first to do the school shuffle going from JUCO, to Ga Tech, then back to a directional school in Kentucky.

What he likes about the current state of college football is something I don't—the basketball on carpet trend. It's understandable. His coaching tenure included stops in the AFL and the XFL.

That said, his biggest issue with recruiting comes back to the "fan boy" in his personality. I don't have much of an issue with how they've set up their ranking system. I do look skeptically on some of what he says because I think it falls down to what he wants to see versus what a specific player may do. (See Julio.)

I rely on a mixture of things, from news stories to espn

Two things ESPN does I like. One, you can normally use their star rankings to determine which kids can contribute immediately. Much like Rivals calls their 6.1 scored prospects as "Franchise players" ESPN considers their five star guys as players who can make an impact immediately. A four star guy shows that promise, but is more of a "special teams players" in their frosh year and then contributing when they are a sophomore.

They don't put as much emphasis on camps like Rivals and Scout. They claim they don't put stock on offers but also say they consult college "sources" to determine players abilities—a bit of a contradiction there, in my opinion.

Funny thing to me about ESPN is they brag about how their positional rankings are the best in the industry but their success rate isn't any better than anyone elses. Ironic they miss on QB raNkings A LOT, with an ex-QB being their lead guy.

 

[psychojoe]

He's been doing it longer than the others. Rodney Orr with Tider Insider.

 

[TerryP]

He's been doing it longer than the others.

Gotta give Kirk that nod. He was in the business when fans were calling 1-900 numbers for reports.

 

[UAgrad93]

You guys remember the name Forrest Davis?

 

[TerryP]

You guys remember the name Forrest Davis?

The “Forrest Davis Football Recruiting Guide.” The last I heard from him was around JPW's senior year in high school when Davis had his son—a backup at Hoover behind JPW—ranked as a three star QB prospect. I know he continued on the radio a little while after that.

Geez, when did I run across his mag...mid to late 80's I guess.

 

[psychojoe]

I remember Bill Eliot used to do the same on basketball in these parts. Forest used to be a regular guest on the talk shows.

How soon I forgot the days when Bama Magazine was a monthly print publcation.

 

[UAgrad93]

Davis had me ranked behind Stan White and Gary Clayton out of Parker HS.

 

[TerryP]

I remember Bill Eliot used to do the same on basketball in these parts. Forest used to be a regular guest on the talk shows.

How soon I forgot the days when Bama Magazine was a monthly print publcation.

A guy that's a member if the alumni association here has every copy published. Impressive collection going through it...