Zips pick up a LB

[ZachTheZip]

http://akron.scout.com/a.z?s=333&p=8&a...amp;nid=3154977Apparently, this guy is a Zip. Is this the top secret recruit Captain?

[Z.I.P.]

http://akron.scout.com/a.z?s=333&p=8&a...amp;nid=3154977Apparently, this guy is a Zip. Is this the top secret recruit Captain?

230 pounds, and can't beat five seconds for 40 yards? Why did we offer him, exactly?

[Captain Kangaroo]

http://akron.scout.com/a.z?s=333&p=8&a...amp;nid=3154977Apparently, this guy is a Zip. Is this the top secret recruit Captain?

I don't think so.

[g-mann17]

http://akron.scout.com/a.z?s=333&p=8&a...amp;nid=3154977Apparently, this guy is a Zip. Is this the top secret recruit Captain?

230 pounds, and can't beat five seconds for 40 yards? Why did we offer him, exactly?

Could have been his 25 inch vertical, or the fact that he's 230 and will probably put on 15-20 pounds. Which would make a decent strong side end.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Interesting Column - Is Dearborn is in the Middle East?

[g-mann17]

Interesting Column - Is Dearborn is in the Middle East?

Well I know most of Detroit is pretty bombed out.

[Buckzip]

http://akron.scout.com/a.z?s=333&p=8&a...amp;nid=3154977Apparently, this guy is a Zip. Is this the top secret recruit Captain?

230 pounds, and can't beat five seconds for 40 yards? Why did we offer him, exactly?

Could have been his 25 inch vertical, or the fact that he's 230 and will probably put on 15-20 pounds. Which would make a decent strong side end.

over 5 seconds is even slow for a DE. That is DT speed. at 230lbs he will need some serious weight.

[ksu sucks]

http://akron.scout.com/a.z?s=333&p=8&a...amp;nid=3154977Apparently, this guy is a Zip. Is this the top secret recruit Captain?

230 pounds, and can't beat five seconds for 40 yards? Why did we offer him, exactly?

Could have been his 25 inch vertical, or the fact that he's 230 and will probably put on 15-20 pounds. Which would make a decent strong side end.

over 5 seconds is even slow for a DE. That is DT speed. at 230lbs he will need some serious weight.

Honestly, many O-Linemen run around a 5.1-5.3. That's REALLY slow for a D end!

[Roo]

http://akron.scout.com/a.z?s=333&p=8&a...amp;nid=3154977Apparently, this guy is a Zip. Is this the top secret recruit Captain?

230 pounds, and can't beat five seconds for 40 yards? Why did we offer him, exactly?

Could have been his 25 inch vertical, or the fact that he's 230 and will probably put on 15-20 pounds. Which would make a decent strong side end.

over 5 seconds is even slow for a DE. That is DT speed. at 230lbs he will need some serious weight.

Honestly, many O-Linemen run around a 5.1-5.3. That's REALLY slow for a D end!

Why are we constantly going after bottom rung 1 and 2 star players....getting the QB was nice, but we need more quality in our recruits. I saw we lost the three star DB back to Toledo, but grades were a question, but he had talent..From the last couple of years it is clear that we need more talent, one star DEs isn't going to progress this team...

[g-mann17]

http://akron.scout.com/a.z?s=333&p=8&a...amp;nid=3154977Apparently, this guy is a Zip. Is this the top secret recruit Captain?

230 pounds, and can't beat five seconds for 40 yards? Why did we offer him, exactly?

Could have been his 25 inch vertical, or the fact that he's 230 and will probably put on 15-20 pounds. Which would make a decent strong side end.

over 5 seconds is even slow for a DE. That is DT speed. at 230lbs he will need some serious weight.

Honestly, many O-Linemen run around a 5.1-5.3. That's REALLY slow for a D end!

Why are we constantly going after bottom rung 1 and 2 star players....getting the QB was nice, but we need more quality in our recruits. I saw we lost the three star DB back to Toledo, but grades were a question, but he had talent..From the last couple of years it is clear that we need more talent, one star DEs isn't going to progress this team...

Yep, next year JD should just go after 3 star or better recruits. None of this going after people that just need some development time to be a contributor anymore. And if we only get 2-3 people recruited than that's good enough at least we had a high average in are star to recruit level.Seriously, do you think the coaching staff doesn't try? They just pick names? They obviously saw something in the kid they thought they could develop. It's very easy to bring someone who runs a 5 in the 40 and bring him down to a 4.7 or 4.6. Maybe his first move isn't quick, so he has a slow start. Maybe he has not developed into his frame yet, you never know. But until we our constantly winning championships, we are going to be taking "developmental prospects". It's still better than 7 years ago when it was "walk-ons welcome". Because we couldn't fill our scholarships with recruits.Anyone know what Jay Rohr or John Mackey were ranked by rivals?

[timmyboy]

here are a few stats i looked up.class of 2005 recruits had 5 3 star athletes in it.class of 2006 had 4 3 star athletes in it.class of 2007 had 7 3 star athletes in it.and the class of 2008 had 4 3 star athletes.Kevin Grant : 2 star athlete and he turned out to be a pretty good one for us.Jay Rohr: a 2 star athlete and was also a good LB for us.Mackey: again, 2 star and turned out to be one of the better defensive players we had in years, nobody had more heart.and finally, NY Giants stand out return man Dom. Hixon was only a 2 star prospect coming out of columbus. and from the looks of it, he is doing pretty good for himself.and now on to the 3 star athletes we had.class of 2005:Brandon Anderson: played in certain schemes before becoming a constant in our secondary and did a nice job.Zach Anderson: a decent guard for us and prob one of the most highly touted OL me have ever signed.Jose Cruz: Had alot of potential, dropped some easy passes and ultimately decided to leave us.Carlton Jackson: a great guy, and a great athlete. another one who had a world of talent, but just couldnt seem to get the job done here at akron. Had a very good season for morgan state. ( had one of the top plays of the year on espn)Marlon terry: Who is this, not sure that i ever seen him play for us..... class of 2006:David Harvey: played and had one very good season for us, and has not been on the field since then. world of talent, does us no good if he cant get his grades straight.Andre Boone: he looked as if he could be the best RB to put on a zips uniform when we seen him in the highlight films..... did he ever even get to start for us?Mark Jackson (OL): was ranked as the 5th best center in the country, but couldnt hack it in the classroom and ended up prepping and going to another school.class of 2007:Casey Estrada: Big,Strong. Has a chance to be a starter, but looks as if he will be a serviceable back up.Vince Hill: Never even made it to campus, and it may be a good thing....he could have been a cancer spot for our WR group.Da'Von Moore; Not to sure bout him, but his higlight film was very impressive.Matt Rodgers: could be the best kept secret we have. Has alot of talent and could be the best QB we have on our team.....if he is ever givent he chance.Almondo Sewell: Great defensive player for us. worth all of the hype he gets and more.Paul Simkovich: Was also highly touted out of HS. I believe he is a back up. Bryan Williams: Love seeing the local boy do nice things for the hometown team. was a very good payer for us, and probably the best return man that we have ever had come thru here.my point is... You dont have to have the top notch 3 star athlete to have a winning football team, you just have to have the right players to fit the type of system that you have or are trying to put into place. I hate the 3-3-5 defense and i believe that hurts us because we have guys playing out of position because of it. if their going to have the defense, then get the players who are used to playing in that system and quit trying to play a player out of position and make him somthing he isnt.

[Still-a-zip]

Recruiting stars mean nothing. Look at some of the big schools in years past. A lot of the stars on the team weren't 4 or 5 stars. Laurinitis was 3 stars, Crabtree-2 stars, Malcolm Jenkins-3 stars. Then there are a lot of 4 and 5 star kids you have never even heard of because they never seen the field. 90 percent of the players that are on these websites have never even been seen in person by the guys who run these sites. Just like the previous post a lot of the better players at UA were only 1-2 stars. There are too many intangibles to measure if a kid is going to be good or not (heart, work ethic, character, etc). This kid will probably end up being an offensive lineman. They'll get him in the weight room, add some muscle, and a lot of fat! Most high school programs do not have very good weight programs. This area is a little spoiled when it comes to that b/c HS football is taken very serious around here. Scott Smith from Col. DeSales started at center for 4 years here (98-01) and he came in to the program weighing 215 lbs, but played at 285-290. But it is fun to look at the stars!

[johnnyzip84]

Very nice analysis, timmyboy My only minor comment is that I wouldn't exactly call CJ7's season at Morgan State in 2008 "very good". It was only fair in my estimation (see link). BTW, while checking for his stats, I stumbled upon the website shown in the link. That's one pretty nice research tool for sports stats of ALL kinds! Everyone should try it out. It has plenty of individual Zip stats for football and basketball, both current and past. There are various sorting and graphing techniques available as well. It's extremely comprehensive. For instance, a few clicks told me that Humpty, despite his trials along the learning curve of MAC hoops, still has a higher FG percentage (40.5) than Jimmal Ball's career 40.0 mark. Unfortunately turnovers are not included.Link

[timmyboy]

Very nice analysis, timmyboy My only minor comment is that I wouldn't exactly call CJ7's season at Morgan State in 2008 "very good". It was only fair in my estimation (see link). BTW, while checking for his stats, I stumbled upon the website shown in the link. That's one pretty nice research tool for sports stats of ALL kinds! Everyone should try it out. It has plenty of individual Zip stats for football and basketball, both current and past. There are various sorting and graphing techniques available as well. It's extremely comprehensive. For instance, a few clicks told me that Humpty, despite his trials along the learning curve of MAC hoops, still has a higher FG percentage (40.5) than Jimmal Ball's career 40.0 mark. Unfortunately turnovers are not included.Link

I was comparing what he did this year and what he did for us when he was playing here.... and comparing them, he had a very good year ha ha. i would take a 2 star prospect who is willing to be coached and listens over some of these 3, 4 and 5 star players who have heads that are so big from the hype that they got while in high school, that their head wont fit into a helmet.

[Buckzip]

Stars don't mean everything, but I guarantee you that there are more studs from 3* and above than there are from 1-2*.There is a reason that the schools with the highest * average are the same teams that are constantly top 20.I see a lot of guys here get excited when we get a verbal from a 1-2*. All I can think is wow. If he is a 1-2* and UA is his only offer, it's possible he isn't that great.As for how someone looks on a highlight tape, everyone looks great on a highlight tape. Hence the name.

[RACER]

your 100% on with the teams that get the high stars do well.the fighting irish consistantly land top 5 recruiting clasess.don't forget they have been in the poulan weed eater bowl the last five years.that should be proof enough.

[Buckzip]

your 100% on with the teams that get the high stars do well.the fighting irish consistantly land top 5 recruiting clasess.don't forget they have been in the poulan weed eater bowl the last five years.that should be proof enough.

Thanks for the exception. Charlie Cheeseburger has lots to do with that.Why don't you go find me the last NC, or even top 20 team that was made of all 1-2*?You can probably find 1 exception there too.

[ZachTheZip]

your 100% on with the teams that get the high stars do well.the fighting irish consistantly land top 5 recruiting clasess.don't forget they have been in the poulan weed eater bowl the last five years.that should be proof enough.

Thanks for the exception. Charlie Cheeseburger has lots to do with that.Why don't you go find me the last NC, or even top 20 team that was made of all 1-2*?You can probably find 1 exception there too.

Buckzip, the number of stars a player has is a reflection of who offered them, not of their athletic ability. Just look at scout's page for Akron recruiting: they made every single one of our recruits a 2-star guy today, where there used to be quite a few 1-star guys. They did that because MAC recruits are automatically 2-stars unless they have a significant amount of offers from BCS schools.

[Zipgrad01]

your 100% on with the teams that get the high stars do well.the fighting irish consistantly land top 5 recruiting clasess.don't forget they have been in the poulan weed eater bowl the last five years.that should be proof enough.

Thanks for the exception. Charlie Cheeseburger has lots to do with that.Why don't you go find me the last NC, or even top 20 team that was made of all 1-2*?You can probably find 1 exception there too.

Buckzip, the number of stars a player has is a reflection of who offered them, not of their athletic ability. Just look at scout's page for Akron recruiting: they made every single one of our recruits a 2-star guy today, where there used to be quite a few 1-star guys. They did that because MAC recruits are automatically 2-stars unless they have a significant amount of offers from BCS schools.

That is not entirely true. Patrick Nicely is a 3 star knocking on 4 star and he doesn't have one BCS offer. There is a reason for the most part that MAC schools have their players rated as 2 stars. For goodness sakes watch the games. Most of the MAC players are just not as talented. Like anything else, there are a few guys that fall through the ratings crack like a Domenik Hixon, James Harrison, Ben Roethlisburger, Greg Jennings, etc... All those 4 and 5 star guys that USC, Miami, Florida, Texas, OSU, Oklahoma, etc.. gets every year sure seem to make a difference, don't they? Those teams recruit the cream of the crop BASED ON ATHLETIC ABILITY. The scouting services obviously see a kid not getting offers from bigger schools and most of the time correctly grade them out at a lower star level. I have no idea why some people on here think there is a conspiracy to downgrade MAC recruits star levels. Go to Rivals and click on the Akron verbals. Half of them show Akron as their ONLY OFFER! Go to any BCS conference and click on their players. Even the 2 and 3 star guys have multiple BCS offers. These programs have been doing this for decades. They know what they are doing.

[Zips Win!]

your 100% on with the teams that get the high stars do well.the fighting irish consistantly land top 5 recruiting clasess.don't forget they have been in the poulan weed eater bowl the last five years.that should be proof enough.

Thanks for the exception. Charlie Cheeseburger has lots to do with that.Why don't you go find me the last NC, or even top 20 team that was made of all 1-2*?You can probably find 1 exception there too.

Buckzip, the number of stars a player has is a reflection of who offered them, not of their athletic ability. Just look at scout's page for Akron recruiting: they made every single one of our recruits a 2-star guy today, where there used to be quite a few 1-star guys. They did that because MAC recruits are automatically 2-stars unless they have a significant amount of offers from BCS schools.

That is not entirely true. Patrick Nicely is a 3 star knocking on 4 star and he doesn't have one BCS offer. There is a reason for the most part that MAC schools have their players rated as 2 stars. For goodness sakes watch the games. Most of the MAC players are just not as talented. Like anything else, there are a few guys that fall through the ratings crack like a Domenik Hixon, James Harrison, Ben Roethlisburger, Greg Jennings, etc... All those 4 and 5 star guys that USC, Miami, Florida, Texas, OSU, Oklahoma, etc.. gets every year sure seem to make a difference, don't they? Those teams recruit the cream of the crop BASED ON ATHLETIC ABILITY. The scouting services obviously see a kid not getting offers from bigger schools and most of the time correctly grade them out at a lower star level. I have no idea why some people on here think there is a conspiracy to downgrade MAC recruits star levels. Go to Rivals and click on the Akron verbals. Half of them show Akron as their ONLY OFFER! Go to any BCS conference and click on their players. Even the 2 and 3 star guys have multiple BCS offers. These programs have been doing this for decades. They know what they are doing.

Thanks genius! Now get off this board and go find a buckeye board to get off on.

[Valpo Zip]

your 100% on with the teams that get the high stars do well.the fighting irish consistantly land top 5 recruiting clasess.don't forget they have been in the poulan weed eater bowl the last five years.that should be proof enough.

Thanks for the exception. Charlie Cheeseburger has lots to do with that.Why don't you go find me the last NC, or even top 20 team that was made of all 1-2*?You can probably find 1 exception there too.

Buckzip, the number of stars a player has is a reflection of who offered them, not of their athletic ability. Just look at scout's page for Akron recruiting: they made every single one of our recruits a 2-star guy today, where there used to be quite a few 1-star guys. They did that because MAC recruits are automatically 2-stars unless they have a significant amount of offers from BCS schools.

That is not entirely true. Patrick Nicely is a 3 star knocking on 4 star and he doesn't have one BCS offer. There is a reason for the most part that MAC schools have their players rated as 2 stars. For goodness sakes watch the games. Most of the MAC players are just not as talented. Like anything else, there are a few guys that fall through the ratings crack like a Domenik Hixon, James Harrison, Ben Roethlisburger, Greg Jennings, etc... All those 4 and 5 star guys that USC, Miami, Florida, Texas, OSU, Oklahoma, etc.. gets every year sure seem to make a difference, don't they? Those teams recruit the cream of the crop BASED ON ATHLETIC ABILITY. The scouting services obviously see a kid not getting offers from bigger schools and most of the time correctly grade them out at a lower star level. I have no idea why some people on here think there is a conspiracy to downgrade MAC recruits star levels. Go to Rivals and click on the Akron verbals. Half of them show Akron as their ONLY OFFER! Go to any BCS conference and click on their players. Even the 2 and 3 star guys have multiple BCS offers. These programs have been doing this for decades. They know what they are doing.

Thanks genius! Now get off this board and go find a buckeye board to get off on.

Wow! so let me get this straight, unless you feel that the MAC recruits are the best recruits on earth, you are not welcome on this board?

[Blue & Gold]

I'm not getting in on this argument here, but if you guys want to see something that's rather depressing, go to Rivals and check out the Conference USA recruiting classes. As far as star-ratings go, their classes are absolutely blowing ours out of the water.

[tbozeglav]

I didn't to stick my head in this argument, but I am going to.\<rant>Honestly, I don't give a crap what someone's star rating is. Just because someone is a 4 star rating player doesn't mean they are going to be starting by their second year. SO WHAT if that player only had offers from non BCS schools? Its not like their future success depends on how many big name schools try to recruit them. People around here need to stop for a minute and pull the splintery 2x4 out of their a$$es and realize that we have no say in who gets recruited and what their star ratings are. I put my trust in our coaching staff to continually look at prospects and try to find the ones that work best for our system, as should all of you. I won't worry a single bit over our recruits. I don't care who they recruit. I just want a team that will put in 60 minutes of hard work and will give me some victories. I couldn't care less WHO they are. I care about what they can do.</rant>

[pdt1420]

I think the main point here is that regardless of star rating, Akron isn't seriously competing with any large BCS schools for individual recruits. Those schools are all fighting for the same kids, and in some part because of that, they get rated more highly. You don't see USC and OSU battling over a 1-2* recruit.Likewise, it's not as if the large BCS schools are recruiting based soley on rating... "Yes, we'd like to offer so-and-so a scholarship because we saw on rivals that he got 5 stars... what?... no, that's ok, we don't need to see any film on him, just tell us his position and we'll start him in the fall..."Having a high star rating is an indication that there is a better chance that individual will successful. That's all it is... the higher our average star rating gets, the more probable that our recruits will be studs.Can we have a whole class of 1 stars that end up playing in the NFL... I guess, but it's far less likely than if we had a class of all 5 stars.Who's arguing this?

[zen]

I think the main point here is that regardless of star rating, Akron isn't seriously competing with any large BCS schools for individual recruits. Those schools are all fighting for the same kids, and in some part because of that, they get rated more highly. You don't see USC and OSU battling over a 1-2* recruit.

I think the main point here (which got lost) is not about the effect of ratings, recruiting, and success, but instead about how likely it is a recruit can be under-rated.... OR, fit into one program better than other one.The off-tangent started with the point that in general you can correlate a statistical accumulative affect of ratings to the overall level of the program, which is probably quite true... but I don't think that refutes the validity to the idea that an individual recruit can turn out to be much better than a rating.... no?