Recruit Rankings
USC wide receiver commits Robert Woods and Kyle Prater are ranked the Nos. 3 and 4 players in the nation in Scout.com's final rankings. Offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson, still being recruited by USC, is No. 1.
USC is also recruiting the No. 7 player, defensive lineman Jackson Jeffcoat, and the No. 19 player, wide receiver Christian Green.
Dillon Baxter is reported to be undecided and rivals ranks Ronald Powell ahead of Seantrel Henderson now.
Jeffcoat does not have USC in his top four any longer. It's OK, Houston, TX and ASU. USC has been eliminated.
Dillon Baxter is back solid with SC. His commitment wavered a little after PC left but he's back on point.
In looking at this year's Rivals Freshman All-American list it is interesting to note there are only three 5-star recruits on the list (of course two out of the three on the list are USC de-commits Vontaze Burfict and Manti Te'o). There are ten 2-star recruits (ignoring kickers and punters) on the list.
Given there are about 30 5-star recruits it seems fair to wonder if USC is not the only team that squanders talent or if maybe these rankings do not correlate strongly to how players will do.
richie.........too early to know. A 2-star recruit is usually going to schools that aren't the best, so they get more playing time as a freshman. A 5 or 4 star player at a USC or Florida won't get as much playing time or will be red-shirted. You really have to look after their 2nd or even 3rd year.
Burfict and Te'o really hurt. There aren't as many top linebackers this year. If they had Telfort it might not have hurt as bad with losing Burfict and Te'o.
$uckaFREE,
Where are you hearing that Baxter is back solid with SC?
Here's an article from the OC Register that refutes that.
http://usc.freedomblogging.com/2010/01/19/recruiting-dillon-baxter-unsure-about-usc/30335/
I think Baxter is very important to this class so if you have more insight I would greatly appreciate your passing along of any information/support you may have.
Trojan Conquest,
I think you are right about the players on better teams getting less of a chance to play. I used the freshman team for a few reasons:
1. Rivals lists the recruiting ranking right next to the name so it's easy.
2. On any given team, if a freshman (real or redshirt) were to play it would be weighted towards the 5-star guys (if those are an accurate assessment of talent).
3. Freshman have not had as much time to be developed and grow and thus should align more closely with the ranking from a year or two earlier.
I guess my point is not weather it is a good or not, but that too many fans get excited about all the 5-star recruits we get and I do not see that lining up with All American lists. I do not accept that it is because of poor coaching, because the same staff takes walk-ons and turns them into top NFL draft picks.
Sure I would rather see USC get a 5-star guy then a 2-star guy, but I cannot get excited about rankings. I guess it does fills the time in the off-season.
KUSI has Dilon Baxter's commitment tonight in an in-studio interview. http://www.kusi.com/home/82127512.html?video=YHI&t=a