National Signing Day - Wednesday.

[bobcatbob]

Bobcat starter/depth needs after our guys transferred out:

LB (starter level and backup level) - after a lot of them from the FBS level...we just need to push our developmental guys and have a guy to match or exceed Danny U or McCade when on the field
K (starter level) - after a pile of them
S (starter or backup level) - take our time and find the right fit
QB (starter level) - not sure the coaches want one but I would try to bring in another big QB type who can excel in the run game. Chance Wilson has a big opportunity this spring to be the #2.

DT (starter level) - signed Alec Eckert from Washington State
CB (starter or backup level) - take our time and find the right fit ala Jon Johnson from last year or sign a bunch of freshman...which we did
OL (starter or backup level - signed Samora Ezekiel from North Texas and Dylan Rollins from BYU
H-back (starter level) - signed Rohan Jones from Maine

The bolded positions are the ones we've restocked while the top 4 are ones we should still recruit in my opinion. LB and K are the two biggest remaining as the coaches really like what they have at S and the competition for that 4th guy in the rotation. The QB one is just a personal opinion because I liked the Chambers role so much and Tommy has never made it through a full season healthy. However, it does lead me to believe Vigen is very confident in Reed or Wilson taking on a bigger role this year. RB, WR, TE, DE to me are all good to go with who we have coming back and the young, developing depth at those positions.

Reed and especially Wilson do need to bulk up this off season. Will be interesting to see what they look like in Spring ball.

[BelligerentBobcat]

The blurry graphics are a huge fail. After trying to read the first couple of signings on Twitter, I gave up. They made me a little nauseous... but, I also have failing eyes.

Too bad the recruits are provided with this horrible design to commemorate one of the biggest days of their athletic careers. <end rant>

This might be crazy, but perhaps teenagers have different tastes than the middle aged men who make up the majority of this board?

[basincat]

Didn't he commit to NDSU last month? He can already back out of that?

[wbtfg]

Didn't he commit to NDSU last month? He can already back out of that?

He committed to ndsu back in the fall but didn’t sign in December because of the ndsu coaching change. He re-committed in January sometime and then #ChoateHappened

[Long Time Cat]

The blurry graphics are a huge fail. After trying to read the first couple of signings on Twitter, I gave up. They made me a little nauseous... but, I also have failing eyes.

Too bad the recruits are provided with this horrible design to commemorate one of the biggest days of their athletic careers. <end rant>

This might be crazy, but perhaps teenagers have different tastes than the middle aged men who make up the majority of this board?

Different tastes and almost certainly better eyes. As an old guy myself I would know.

[MSU01]

The blurry graphics are a huge fail. After trying to read the first couple of signings on Twitter, I gave up. They made me a little nauseous... but, I also have failing eyes.

Too bad the recruits are provided with this horrible design to commemorate one of the biggest days of their athletic careers. <end rant>

This might be crazy, but perhaps teenagers have different tastes than the middle aged men who make up the majority of this board?

Personally, I'd love to see the recruiting graphics designed by a bunch of 40-something and 50-something dudes on a message board.

[AFCAT]

[AFCAT]

[AFCAT]

Of the seven Texas signees, five are playing in the secondary.

[nanacat]

I feel like this is a stellar class of athletes. Anyone else feeling good about the guys who've signed?

[AFCAT]

I feel like this is a stellar class of athletes. Anyone else feeling good about the guys who've signed?

I’ll tell you in four years.

[TomCat88]

I feel like this is a stellar class of athletes. Anyone else feeling good about the guys who've signed?

I’ll tell you in four years.

Hard to say until you see them lined up against their peers.

I think all the transfers will contribute. Of the HS players, it’ll be interesting to see how Unterrio’s ability to make would-be tacklers miss in high school translates to this level. Bowles strength and ability is impressive and I wonder if his knowledge of the game will be good enough to have him on a fast track at LB.

I think Rollins, who isn’t really a transfer or a prep signee, is a ‘can’t miss’ recruit.

Overall it’s another promising class, which has been the case every year since Choate and Vigen arrived.

[AFCAT]

I feel like this is a stellar class of athletes. Anyone else feeling good about the guys who've signed?

I’ll tell you in four years.

Hard to say until you see them lined up against their peers.

I think all the transfers will contribute. Of the HS players, it’ll be interesting to see how Unterrio’s ability to make would-be tacklers miss in high school translates to this level. Bowles strength and ability is impressive and I wonder if his knowledge of the game will be good enough to have him on a fast track at LB.

I think Rollins, who isn’t really a transfer or a prep signee, is a ‘can’t miss’ recruit.

Overall it’s another promising class, which has been the case every year since Choate and Vigen arrived.

And if history is any judge, half or more of these players won’t be around three to four years from now due to injuries, retirements, transferring, and any number of other reasons. I’m usually bad at my picks to be stars, but I do like Bowles and Rollins too. However, there were past recruits that I thought would be amazing players for the Cats and they were gone within a year or two. More than likely, there will be some PWO or partial scholly player (hello future Ty Okada or Kevin Kassis) in this group that will emerge to be a star or amazing leader, that’s what I enjoy the most with each recruiting class.

[mslacatfan]

Seth Brock and the DT from Washington (tanupo?) also look very impressive.

[Au Blue]

The blurry graphics are a huge fail. After trying to read the first couple of signings on Twitter, I gave up. They made me a little nauseous... but, I also have failing eyes.

Too bad the recruits are provided with this horrible design to commemorate one of the biggest days of their athletic careers. <end rant>

This might be crazy, but perhaps teenagers have different tastes than the middle aged men who make up the majority of this board?

I can see how they would be excited about something that's so blurry, it's barely legible, but hey, that's just my middle-aged opinion.

[kennethnoisewater]

I feel like this is a stellar class of athletes. Anyone else feeling good about the guys who've signed?

I’ll tell you in four years.

Hard to say until you see them lined up against their peers.

I think all the transfers will contribute. Of the HS players, it’ll be interesting to see how Unterrio’s ability to make would-be tacklers miss in high school translates to this level. Bowles strength and ability is impressive and I wonder if his knowledge of the game will be good enough to have him on a fast track at LB.

I think Rollins, who isn’t really a transfer or a prep signee, is a ‘can’t miss’ recruit.

Overall it’s another promising class, which has been the case every year since Choate and Vigen arrived.

And if history is any judge, half or more of these players won’t be around three to four years from now due to injuries, retirements, transferring, and any number of other reasons. I’m usually bad at my picks to be stars, but I do like Bowles and Rollins too. However, there were past recruits that I thought would be amazing players for the Cats and they were gone within a year or two. More than likely, there will be some PWO or partial scholly player (hello future Ty Okada or Kevin Kassis) in this group that will emerge to be a star or amazing leader, that’s what I enjoy the most with each recruiting class.

And we're not the only ones who don't know. Even pro scouts, who get paid a lot of money to pick the right guys, get it "wrong" all the time with their draft picks. I'm not sure what the batting average is for programs across the country, but I'd imagine if half of your recruits end up exhausting their eligibility and contributing to the program, you're doing pretty well. It would be interesting to put together a list of players who we were wrong about over the last few years. How many of them we thought would be amazing and faded away. Or how many we doubted or just didn't give much attention to that turned into all-timers.

[tdub]

I feel like this is a stellar class of athletes. Anyone else feeling good about the guys who've signed?

I’ll tell you in four years.

Hard to say until you see them lined up against their peers.

I think all the transfers will contribute. Of the HS players, it’ll be interesting to see how Unterrio’s ability to make would-be tacklers miss in high school translates to this level. Bowles strength and ability is impressive and I wonder if his knowledge of the game will be good enough to have him on a fast track at LB.

I think Rollins, who isn’t really a transfer or a prep signee, is a ‘can’t miss’ recruit.

Overall it’s another promising class, which has been the case every year since Choate and Vigen arrived.

And if history is any judge, half or more of these players won’t be around three to four years from now due to injuries, retirements, transferring, and any number of other reasons. I’m usually bad at my picks to be stars, but I do like Bowles and Rollins too. However, there were past recruits that I thought would be amazing players for the Cats and they were gone within a year or two. More than likely, there will be some PWO or partial scholly player (hello future Ty Okada or Kevin Kassis) in this group that will emerge to be a star or amazing leader, that’s what I enjoy the most with each recruiting class.

And we're not the only ones who don't know. Even pro scouts, who get paid a lot of money to pick the right guys, get it "wrong" all the time with their draft picks. I'm not sure what the batting average is for programs across the country, but I'd imagine if half of your recruits end up exhausting their eligibility and contributing to the program, you're doing pretty well. It would be interesting to put together a list of players who we were wrong about over the last few years. How many of them we thought would be amazing and faded away. Or how many we doubted or just didn't give much attention to that turned into all-timers.

It’d be an interesting exercise to correlate the percentage of “success” to star ratings. First, would be to define what success is. Starter, multi-year starter, all-conference, all-American?? Like, does a 3 star guy have a 60% chance of being a starter? 30% chance at all-conference? (Pulled those numbers from my rear). I’m sure there is correlation, but no idea how strong it is.

[allcat]

I would venture a guess that you have a higher likelihood of success in picking athletes than the general population completing a degree. The athletes get a lot more attention paid to their academic success than others.

[MSU01]

It’d be an interesting exercise to correlate the percentage of “success” to star ratings. First, would be to define what success is. Starter, multi-year starter, all-conference, all-American?? Like, does a 3 star guy have a 60% chance of being a starter? 30% chance at all-conference? (Pulled those numbers from my rear). I’m sure there is correlation, but no idea how strong it is.

Star ratings have been shown to have a correlation to players being drafted into the NFL, at least at the FBS level. The data from an article I'll give a link to below showed that:

61% of five-star recruits were drafted into the NFL.
23% of four-star recruits were drafted
5% of three-star recruits were drafted
0.5% of zero-star or two-star recruits were drafted

This would also suggest that there was a correlation between "star" status and success at the college level if we make the safe assumption that the best college players are the ones getting drafted into the NFL.

At the FCS level, I'd guess there is at least some correlation but it's going to be muddied by the fact that some FCS players aren't receiving a star rating more based on geography than based on their actual talent level. Troy Andersen didn't have a star-rating as a recruit, even though obviously he deserved one.

https://lastwordonsports.com/collegefoo ... 0the%20NFL.

[kennethnoisewater]

I would venture a guess that you have a higher likelihood of success in picking athletes than the general population completing a degree. The athletes get a lot more attention paid to their academic success than others.

That's true. Some of them don't finish just because they're human beings going to college, and that's just going to happen sometimes. It's not always going to happen because the coaches couldn't identify talent.