2020 recruiting class finish prediction

[Big Gucci Sosa]

Kind of optimistic of you. Figured you would of said 14-15

If we win 7 10-11. 6-6 or worse 15-20

 

[#Vol4Life1991]

If we win 7 10-11. 6-6 or worse 15-20

What about 8 or 9 wins?

 

[chattavol420]

Holy crap op. You sure are optimistic. A number 6 ranked class would be probably the best class we’ve had in 10+ years. But right now...we’re as far back as I can ever remember being. We were rarely ranked outside the top 25 even under Dooley. I do think we finish strong. There are too many ace recruiters on the staff to no make some noise. But we’re just way too far back to do as well as you think. A huge percentage of the high ranked kids have already committed to schools. My hope is in the 12-15 range. Which if we address our biggest needs (wr, dt, and dback) would be solid. We have to produce more on the field, get going early, and have a little luck to slide into the top 6. Maybe in future years. Not happening this cycle

 

[gunner]

Current commits:

4️
S Keshawn Lawrence
QB Harrison Bailey
DT Dominic Bailey
JUCO CB Art Green
C Cooper Mays
WR Jalin Hyatt

3️
CB Lovie Jenkins
RB Tee Hodge
ATH Jimmy Calloway
ATH Darion Williamson
G Javontez Spraggins
G James Robinson

2️ LS Will Albright

SILENTS (I think it’s common knowledge these 4 are gonna be in the class)
4️ DE Jay Hardy
4️ DE Tyler Baron
4️ DT Omari Thomas
4️ ILB Bryson Eason

Who I think we finish with:

5️ OLB Sav’ell Smalls (Moose working hard here. I think this reaks of the To’oto’o situation from last year. We’ll impress on the field compared to that of FSU and we fight off Washington and Oregon to get him here.)

5️ WR Rakim Jarrett (he’ll decommit from LSU around October and sign with us over Maryland on the December signing day, likely a 4️ By then, due to the fact that his top 2 is Tennessee and Maryland, and the lack of ESPNs big 5 of Bama, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma and OSU they’ll get pissy about it, because we all know field performance doesn’t matter with this stuff)

5️ TE Darnell Washington (I could be wrong here but Atlanta VOL seems way too confident here for me not to be. I think he visits the weekend before the early signing day in December and we seal the deal there.)

4️ ILB Len’Neth Whitehead (I think we miss on Sewell and get him as a consolation, even though it’s not really much of one. The wild card here is when South Carolina starts pushing)

4️ S Antonio Johnson (I think once the A&M smoke clears we’ll get him back on campus again and he’ll realize why he committed here to begin with, and recommit. If not watch for Mordecai McDaniel)

3️ RB Marvin Scott III (after missing on Holmes and likely Jordan I think we go after him hard and sign him, not hard to beat out Virginia Tech here)

3️ DE Tre’Vonn Rybka (the Kentucky talk sounds like nonsense to me, think even if for whatever reason he commits to them on the 20th we still flip him. The beatdown we put on the cats in Kroger will be all the more reason.)

3️ OT Branson Taylor (as of right now I think we miss on Morris to A&M. And instead of taking what would be a project in Tariq Stewart the staff opts to recruit this kid and sign him in February. Frame is small at 290 but at 6’6 he’s has a ton of room to grow, and we’ll be solid at OT for now so he could redshirt. And I know about his top 2, I think he decommitts from Pitt and opens it back up in December)

WR Adonai Mitchell (he’s a take rn IMO, at the rate he’s picking up offers he could be as high as a 4️ By the February signing day. He’ll have a monster senior year and we’ll end up the highest ranked skill player in the state not named Keshawn Lawrence.)

Potential git-shirts: Darion Williamson, Lovie Jenkins and Jimmy Calloway. I think we keep Calloway as a WR in this class and Lovie plans to enroll early so we’ll keep him around. Williamson, however, ends up at Memphis or another school and loses his spot basically in favor of Mitchell. That puts us at the 25 limit.

Potential transfers: I couldn’t think of any except Maryland QB Kasim Hill, and that’s only if JG goes to the NFL early. Of course this will change depending on who hits the portal after the 2019 SZN

The 247 class calculator gives this class a rating of 285.41 (they dont have Adonai Mitchell’s profile as a guy you can add to the calculator, so I kept Williamson in that spot as a body basically) to compare, that would be the number 6 class in the country for the 2019 cycle, but there’s no accurate way to see where it would put us for 2020. This recruiting cycle seems to be more top heavy than previous as the whole top 5 will probably be over 300, so I’d say we be around the 9-10 range with this class, which would be an upgrade from the previous SZN.

Of course 50 new names could show up around January and this whole thing could end up wrong but hey it’s a slow day and here’s something to think about

I would certainly be surprised if they were to finish that well.

 

[Jack Burton]

What choice does he have other than wait and see? That's literally the only pitch that's available. Early playing time doesnt work forever.

Maybe sell year 3 as a wait and see season because our ceiling is about 7 wins this year and winning 6-7 isn’t going to excite many top recruits.

I know folks are excited because Pruitt told some recruits “if we don’t win 8, look elsewhere” but last year he was also telling boosters we’d beat West Virginia. He’s competitive and optimistic which is great but it could backfire easily.

 

[jakez4ut]

Chum in the water...

 

[BeecherVol]

That would be great. I’d take it right now because we don’t have any buzz or momentum currently. I realize Pruitt is telling recruits to wait and see what we do on the field. I’m just not convinced we have the talent to get enough wins and move the needle with top guys. It’s a gamble that could pay off or really bankrupt the class.

Why is it a gamble? The cream isnt standing in line waiting on Pruitt to show them he has it moving upward before he ll take their commitments. Hes telling them to hold off until they can see the improvements to the product hes selling. I dont buy the idea he is gonna turn down players if they dont win "x" number of games this year.

It's not a gamble when that's the only move you have.

 

[Bloodrunsorange27]

That sounds like a weak effort at RB. We need 2 solid running backs in this class. The kind of players that can change a game. A couple of mid-level players isn’t going to get it done.

 

[LA Vol]

Some of these recruits are going to wait and see, no matter what Pruitt says. Pushing hard just pushes them away. He's playing the cards he has. Nobody knows better than the coaches that if the team doesn't show what recruits want to see on the field, a lot of them will go elsewhere. Pruitt has sold the dream for two years; now he has to sell progress.

 

[BeecherVol]

Some of these recruits are going to wait and see, no matter what Pruitt says. Pushing hard just pushes them away. He's playing the cards he has. Nobody knows better than the coaches that if the team doesn't show what recruits want to see on the field, a lot of them will go elsewhere. Pruitt has sold the dream for two years; now he has to sell progress.

Exactly.

And to be honest (removing allegiances), it's a prudent move by the recruits to wait until that is better answered in the fall.

It is, what it is until they get a chance to change the perception.

 

[SweetasSoda]

Some of these recruits are going to wait and see, no matter what Pruitt says. Pushing hard just pushes them away. He's playing the cards he has. Nobody knows better than the coaches that if the team doesn't show what recruits want to see on the field, a lot of them will go elsewhere. Pruitt has sold the dream for two years; now he has to sell progress.

Why is this so hard to understand?

 

[Ron Swanson]

Holy crap op. You sure are optimistic. A number 6 ranked class would be probably the best class we’ve had in 10+ years. But right now...we’re as far back as I can ever remember being. We were rarely ranked outside the top 25 even under Dooley. I do think we finish strong. There are too many ace recruiters on the staff to no make some noise. But we’re just way too far back to do as well as you think. A huge percentage of the high ranked kids have already committed to schools. My hope is in the 12-15 range. Which if we address our biggest needs (wr, dt, and dback) would be solid. We have to produce more on the field, get going early, and have a little luck to slide into the top 6. Maybe in future years. Not happening this cycle

Butch Jones signed back to back # 5 classes at UT. If he can do it, Pruitt certainly can also. To sign a Top 5 this year it would take 9+ wins. Winning 7 or more and showing real progress on the field will help the 2021 class in a big way and have real potential for a Top 5.

 

[VOLUNTEERSZN]

Butch Jones signed back to back # 5 classes at UT. If he can do it, Pruitt certainly can also. To sign a Top 5 this year it would take 9+ wins. Winning 7 or more and showing real progress on the field will help the 2021 class in a big way and have real potential for a Top 5.

To be fair, Lyle signed those classes because he backloaded on 3️ Recruits and would take all the “paper 4 stars” as in those Florida kids that were 5’9 160 with offers from Rutgers and WVU. He certainly didn’t get it by shooting for the moon like this staff has been doing.

 

[Pride85]

We will finish No. 69 in the 2020 class

Yawn.

 

[GroverCleveland]

Butch Jones signed back to back # 5 classes at UT. If he can do it, Pruitt certainly can also. To sign a Top 5 this year it would take 9+ wins. Winning 7 or more and showing real progress on the field will help the 2021 class in a big way and have real potential for a Top 5.

7-9 wins this year MAY get within sniffing distance of the top five. Have you looked at who is currently in the top 5? Who exactly would we recruit and sign to knock any of those teams out of their place? Oh wait, are we still waiting on Kirby and Ogeron to spit the bit?

 

[GroverCleveland]

might have been better to ask are we "counting on" those two to screw up.

 

[Ron Swanson]

To be fair, Lyle signed those classes because he backloaded on 3️ Recruits and would take all the “paper 4 stars” as in those Florida kids that were 5’9 160 with offers from Rutgers and WVU. He certainly didn’t get it by shooting for the moon like this staff has been doing.

I'm well aware of the quality of those classes. But he still signed back to back #5 classes, no easy feat. If he can do it so can Pruitt. And yes, Pruitt is going after higher quality players, guys who the best of the best want. And if his team shows real progress on the field this fall he'll start winning more and more of those battles.

 

[SweetasSoda]

7-9 wins this year MAY get within sniffing distance of the top five. Have you looked at who is currently in the top 5? Who exactly would we recruit and sign to knock any of those teams out of their place? Oh wait, are we still waiting on Kirby and Ogeron to spit the bit?

Of course

 

[SweetasSoda]

might have been better to ask are we "counting on" those two to screw up.

Of course

 

[Jack Burton]

Some of these recruits are going to wait and see, no matter what Pruitt says. Pushing hard just pushes them away. He's playing the cards he has. Nobody knows better than the coaches that if the team doesn't show what recruits want to see on the field, a lot of them will go elsewhere. Pruitt has sold the dream for two years; now he has to sell progress.

What type of progress though? Will 6 or 7 wins do the trick or does it have to be 8 like Pruitt has suggested? I hope he can prove me wrong but 8 seems like a tall order with what he has inherited and built so far.

 

[VOLUNTEERSZN]

I'm well aware of the quality of those classes. But he still signed back to back #5 classes, no easy feat. If he can do it so can Pruitt. And yes, Pruitt is going after higher quality players, guys who the best of the best want. And if his team shows real progress on the field this fall he'll start winning more and more of those battles.

Agreed. I think the 2021 class has potential to be top 5. The whole class except for maybe a select few 3s will be 4 and 5 stars. Only place it might be tough to recruit next cycle is at QB because Bailey might start as a true freshman and will dominate if he does, but could have as many as 5 5️s on the defensive side. We’ll also take a kicker next class so there’s one of your 3️s

 

[Utk_turtle]

The important thing is Pruitt will keep focusing on things the players can use on the field: size and speed. I’d be more worried about the stars next to their names if they made the player invincible like in Mario, but alas.

 

[BeecherVol]

What type of progress though? Will 6 or 7 wins do the trick or does it have to be 8 like Pruitt has suggested? I hope he can prove me wrong but 8 seems like a tall order with what he has inherited and built so far.

I wouldnt get hung up just on the win total because big picture it's still not gonna be 10+ which is where we re trying to back to. And that's what these kids want to be a part of.

Are you more competitive in your Ls against better rosters?
Do you have guys developing enough to get draft talk going again with your JRs and SRs?
Is there a positive buzz around the program and even in the media?

It's not just a win total.

 

[KeyVol14]

Maybe sell year 3 as a wait and see season because our ceiling is about 7 wins this year and winning 6-7 isn’t going to excite many top recruits.

I know folks are excited because Pruitt told some recruits “if we don’t win 8, look elsewhere” but last year he was also telling boosters we’d beat West Virginia. He’s competitive and optimistic which is great but it could backfire easily.

Where in the world did you read that he was telling boosters that?

 

[lilesrt]

Again, I think this class will be like last years. Around the 12 area.
5 stars - 2
4 stars - 13
3 stars - 10
Something probably along those lines.

If Pruitt is able to find low radar guys and develop them, this isn’t a bad finish (considering our lack of recent success).