Looking back at our 2010 & 2011 recruiting classes...

[TrustInDan]

2010- the production from this class is about what we should have expected. But it wasn't a star studded class to begin with, & it's still too early to judge some of our signees.

Michael Carr- I was really excited about this kid's future. Transferred/Quit team.
Kaleb Eulls- Really needs to step up next year. Hasn't met expectations.
Dylan Favre- Yikes. Transfer.
Matt Wells- Out of position. Needs to be a SS, IMO.
Damien Robinson- Watched him in high school. Knew he wasn't a 4* recruit. Softie, but can still provide some depth.
Chris Hughes- Production has dropped off a bit after freshman season, due to our "read then react" defense. Is a better LB when plays with instincts.
Curtis Virges- Haven't noticed much of an impact when he's in the game.
Malcolm Johnson- Been a great surprise, should be our best receiver/TE next season.
Jameon Lewis- State fans have been a bit frustrated with his progress as a receiver, but he was a raw player with alot of talent coming in 2 years ago. Needs time to develop.
Nick Griffin- Will be our best RB the next 2 seasons.
Jay Hughes- Smart, instinctive player. I like how he played towards the end of the season.
Dillon Day- Great find by our staff.
Robert Johnson- I love what ROJO brings to our receiving corps. Big & Physical.

2011- Unfortunately, this class will be remembered as the one that got away, with our biggest commitments flipping at the last minute. GTHOM.

Derek Milton- I have a eerie feeling he won't be with us much longer, he's a solid RB, but might be 4th string next season behind Moore.
PJ Jones- Likes to party.
Kendrick Market- Like most of you, I want to see this kid play more.
Preston Smith- hard nosed player. Great find.
Benardrick McKinney- May turn out to be the best player in this class. 2* recruit out of Tunica. I remember the day he committed, we all thought WTF Dan?!
Dee Arrington- I'm not sure what to make of him yet. Seems slow to react.
Justin Cox- Glad he re-committed.
Dak Prescott- Best backup QB in our history. Seriously.
Joe Morrow- I hope not another Co-Eric Riley.
Devin Fosselman- Pissed when I heard he quit the team.
Josh Robinson- I like what he gave us out of the backfield this season. Should be a good RB the next few years.
Zachary Jackson- Was a dandy dozen player, if I remember correctly. Might end up just providing depth.
Justin Malone- 2* recruit, that should be starting on our OL next season. Overachieved.

Tried to highlight the recruits that made the biggest impact thus far by under/overachieving & i didn't want to include players that have already graduated (Vick Ballard). But as I went through player- for - player, I was surprised at the production we have recieved out of these 2 classes already. Nothing spectacular, but most of these kids are RS-Freshmen & Sophomores. I truly believe missing out on Rajon Neal, CJ Johnson, Jason Croom, Jermaine Whitehead, Nick Brassell hurt us a little bit this year. We lacked some "star power" that would have helped us tremendously, especially in big games.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Damien Robinson has terrible footwork. Not good if you play tackle.

 

[stinkfoot]

Jermaine Whitehead gets his name called quite a bit during AU games as he constantly gets burned for touchdowns. Besides he made a "business decision" to go to AU. We told you Damien Robinson was a big bag of dough.

 

[121Josey]

Nice Work! Agree for the most part on your evaluations.

Didn't realize how much 2010 has underperformed. Maybe they'll further surprise us in the next two years.

 

[johnson86-1]

2010- the production from this class is about what we should have expected. But it wasn't a star studded class to begin with, & it's still too early to judge some of our signees.

Michael Carr- I was really excited about this kid's future. Transferred/Quit team.
Kaleb Eulls- Really needs to step up next year. Hasn't met expectations.
Dylan Favre- Yikes. Transfer.
Matt Wells- Out of position. Needs to be a SS, IMO.
Damien Robinson- Watched him in high school. Knew he wasn't a 4* recruit. Softie, but can still provide some depth.
Chris Hughes- Production has dropped off a bit after freshman season, due to our "read then react" defense. Is a better LB when plays with instincts.
Curtis Virges- Haven't noticed much of an impact when he's in the game.
Malcolm Johnson- Been a great surprise, should be our best receiver/TE next season.
Jameon Lewis- State fans have been a bit frustrated with his progress as a receiver, but he was a raw player with alot of talent coming in 2 years ago. Needs time to develop.
Nick Griffin- Will be our best RB the next 2 seasons.
Jay Hughes- Smart, instinctive player. I like how he played towards the end of the season.
Dillon Day- Great find by our staff.
Robert Johnson- I love what ROJO brings to our receiving corps. Big & Physical.

2011- Unfortunately, this class will be remembered as the one that got away, with our biggest commitments flipping at the last minute. GTHOM.

Derek Milton- I have a eerie feeling he won't be with us much longer, he's a solid RB, but might be 4th string next season behind Moore.
PJ Jones- Likes to party.
Kendrick Market- Like most of you, I want to see this kid play more.
Preston Smith- hard nosed player. Great find.
Benardrick McKinney- May turn out to be the best player in this class. 2* recruit out of Tunica. I remember the day he committed, we all thought WTF Dan?!
Dee Arrington- I'm not sure what to make of him yet. Seems slow to react.
Justin Cox- Glad he re-committed.
Dak Prescott- Best backup QB in our history. Seriously.
Joe Morrow- I hope not another Co-Eric Riley.
Devin Fosselman- Pissed when I heard he quit the team.
Josh Robinson- I like what he gave us out of the backfield this season. Should be a good RB the next few years.
Zachary Jackson- Was a dandy dozen player, if I remember correctly. Might end up just providing depth.
Justin Malone- 2* recruit, that should be starting on our OL next season. Overachieved.

Tried to highlight the recruits that made the biggest impact thus far by under/overachieving & i didn't want to include players that have already graduated (Vick Ballard). But as I went through player- for - player, I was surprised at the production we have recieved out of these 2 classes already. Nothing spectacular, but most of these kids are RS-Freshmen & Sophomores. I truly believe missing out on Rajon Neal, CJ Johnson, Jason Croom, Jermaine Whitehead, Nick Brassell hurt us a little bit this year. We lacked some "star power" that would have helped us tremendously, especially in big games.

We are definitely missing star power. If we had CJ Johnson and Jason Croom, we would have looked a hell of a lot different this year. Not sure if we should have gotten Croom, but all we had to do for Johnson was match the 17ing offer. Second dumbest recruiting decision by Dan after counter-offering Cecil $0.

We are going to really need some guys from the 2011 class to make a jump next year and provide some start power. I think Nick Griffin could be a big-time player for us. But for the other players from the 2010 class, I don't see a reason to expect them to give us much beyond what they already do. Certainly they will improve, but I don't see any starts in waiting. Maybe Robert Johnson could make a jump, but you have to think if he's close enough to where all he needs is some reps that he would have been close enough to get more playing time this year considering our weakness on the outside.

 

[TheBigDA]

Thing that gets me is that we showed Moncrief no love. If we had showed any interest he would have came. He was the key to that entire class. If we would have got him the we would have got Brassell Singelton Johnson. Biggest blunder by our staff to date.

 

[Rutherford B. Hayes]

Joe Morrow- I hope not another Co-Eric Riley

How many of y'all saw Co-Eric Riley play in Juco? They guy was an absolute freak. His Juco coach at Gulf Coast told me Riley was the best received they had ever had. LSU was all over him and Riley chose Crxxm. I read that Crxxm didn't like Riley because Riley would not focus on blocking. Whether Riley flamed out on his own or if Crxxm ruined him, we never saw the fabulous catches at MSU that I saw Co-Eric Riley make at Gulf Coast.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Another Rebel great that really wanted to be a dawg

Shame

 

[NCDawg.sixpack]

Our Jr. College OL from California provided great depth for us, right? Great evaluation by Mullen and staff.

 

[maroonmadman]

Co-Eric didn't really have anybody throwing the ball to him that was worth half a **** back then either. Kind of hard to be a good reciever without an even half decent passer.

 

[AlSwearengen]

Thing that gets me is that we showed Moncrief no love. If we had showed any interest he would have came. He was the key to that entire class. If we would have got him the we would have got Brassell Singelton Johnson. Biggest blunder by our staff to date.

I don't know if this is right. I remember people saying that an alum in his hometown had him wrapped up after his tenth grade year. People also said we had no chance to get him and that may be why we didn't try.

 

[MStateFan22]

CJ tried to recruit him to MSU and Moncrief told CJ that the MSU coaches weren't showing him any or much love. Don't know if he was every really interested in MSU or not.

 

[engie]

Ultimately, these two classes are a big problem for us that are/have been preventing us from taking another step forward...

That's why we are trying to sign 6-8 JUCOs this year, and I imagine we are going to try to do the same next year to bridge the gaps left in those two classes...

 

[Rutherford B. Hayes]

Agreed. Even hard when the idjit coach won't play his great talent.

I know Co-Eric was a Crxxm recruit. However, with rare exceptions (Jerious), the idjit corch refused to play better players from the Sherrill era. I have a friend who was a Crxxm recruit and who told me he and others got to play when there were better players on the bench. But they played because they were Crxxm recruits, and the better talent sat on the bench simply because they were Sherrill recruits. As my friend says, "Crxxm was good for me but bad for the team."

I say Crxxm ruined Co-Eric.

Co-Eric didn't really have anybody throwing the ball to him that was worth half a **** back then either. Kind of hard to be a good reciever without an even half decent passer.

 

[Singer]

We are definitely missing star power. If we had CJ Johnson and Jason Croom, we would have looked a hell of a lot different this year. Not sure if we should have gotten Croom, but all we had to do for Johnson was match the 17ing offer. Second dumbest recruiting decision by Dan after counter-offering Cecil $0.

We are going to really need some guys from the 2011 class to make a jump next year and provide some start power. I think Nick Griffin could be a big-time player for us. But for the other players from the 2010 class, I don't see a reason to expect them to give us much beyond what they already do. Certainly they will improve, but I don't see any starts in waiting. Maybe Robert Johnson could make a jump, but you have to think if he's close enough to where all he needs is some reps that he would have been close enough to get more playing time this year considering our weakness on the outside.

You obviously are very knowledgable and very attentive in your assessment it good to see someone making educated opinions and not being completely negative in your comments. I agree almost completely and where I don't completely agree I can understand and respect your opinions. I respect this assessment very much not that anyone cares what I think but props to you.

 

[Palos verdes]

I'm not sure on Milton yet. I really wish that our other 3 tailbacks had gotten more carries this year. Griffin had a wasted year, for sure. Regarding the others, missing on Brassell hurt us the most on the field. He may have dancing rice in his head, but him and Cox are the only elite playmakers in either class. I'm just glad we are finally looking beyond our region for talent. Since Brewster entered the fold we seem to be broadening our horizons in the recruiting game. I think Mullen's original recruiting strategy to hunt within such a localized area has proven to be detrimental.

 

[DAWG61]

So it's year 4 and 2 of his recruiting classes are wastes? That's never good

 

[Cubswillwinitonedaydawg]

This. My roommate went to his high school. Word around Raleigh was that he was an ole miss lock from day 1 for whatever reason.

 

[maroonmania]

That's always what I understood as well*

This. My roommate went to his high school. Word around Raleigh was that he was an ole miss lock from day 1 for whatever reason.

.

 

[maroonmania]

I believe we all pretty much knew we had two rather weak recruiting years...

So it's year 4 and 2 of his recruiting classes are wastes? That's never good

in a row there. Last year and what we have so far this year is more like what it will take to maintain any level of success. Its also why we are having to hit the JUCO ranks pretty hard right now.

 

[kired]

In comparison to what we got during the Croom era (since those classes have now all graduated), I'd say the 2010 class will be along the lines of 2007. And 2011 will be like 2005 & 2006.

If you look back at Croom's classes --- 04 and 08 were terrible. 05 & 06 were slightly better. 07 was similar quality to 05/06 except it was larger - so basically it added a few more starters and built depth. This is exactly the same thing Mullen did in 2010. Average talent, but a large class. We enrolled 24 and still have 21 on roster or already graduated (JUCOs).

2011 is similar talent level to 2010 but just smaller. We enrolled 20, and only had 17 left on the roster this year. We'll probably get 8-10 starters out of that class. Hopefully 2012 turns out to be like 2009 - above average talent & a large class (currently have 24 guys on roster that signed this spring).

What Mullen has not done is have a complete bust like Croom did in 2004 and 2008... or at least it doesn't appear that way at this point.