[old spanish trail]

That is always the case.  I think broadly speaking, the problem is that although the recruiting rankings have only mildly declined, the bigger issue is that we’ve been getting more Hinton’s and fewer Nugents.  Walker Little and Foster Sarell did not have 5* careers. On the other hand, David DeCastro (4*) and Jonathan Martin (3*) did.

This to me suggests that the if we are to assign responsibility for the dip in performance, it’s probably 10% recruiting and 90% player development (both S&C and technique).  Maybe it’s a bit higher on the recruiting if you give credit for being able to spot underrated recruits (your Ben Gardners of the world that don’t get love from the recruiting services but are better than their star rating); however that is hard to distinguish from player development easily.

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To focus on Hinton for a moment, I have followed him much more closely than other OL the last 2 years because his family background was interesting. I thought his frosh year justified his fairly high ranking. He was quite good in rush off not so good in pass pro. Last year he looked like he'd never played the position before. Often frozen in space while DL ran around him to either side. He rarely latched on to DL, especially on run plays as he did frosh year, when he would latch and then often drive to the ground, especially on the goal line. It was puzzling to say the least. In pass pro he was a veritable statue. So wha' happened?

[old spanish trail]

That is always the case.  I think broadly speaking, the problem is that although the recruiting rankings have only mildly declined, the bigger issue is that we’ve been getting more Hinton’s and fewer Nugents.  Walker Little and Foster Sarell did not have 5* careers. On the other hand, David DeCastro (4*) and Jonathan Martin (3*) did.

This to me suggests that the if we are to assign responsibility for the dip in performance, it’s probably 10% recruiting and 90% player development (both S&C and technique).  Maybe it’s a bit higher on the recruiting if you give credit for being able to spot underrated recruits (your Ben Gardners of the world that don’t get love from the recruiting services but are better than their star rating); however that is hard to distinguish from player development easily.

_______________________________________-

To focus on Hinton for a moment, I have followed him much more closely than other OL the last 2 years because his family background was interesting. I thought his frosh year justified his fairly high ranking. He was quite good in rush off not so good in pass pro. Last year he looked like he'd never played the position before. Often frozen in space while DL ran around him to either side. He rarely latched on to DL, especially on run plays as he did frosh year, when he would latch and then often drive to the ground, especially on the goal line. It was puzzling to say the least. In pass pro he was a veritable statue. So wha' happened?