Menet + Simmons + Sanders + Hill = PSU's most fearsome foursome in quite some time

[ChiTownLion]

Keep up the good work, CJF & Staff.



TOP 4 PLAYERS IN PENN STATE RECRUITING CLASSES

2016
35. OL Michal Menet
40. DE Shane Simmons
50. RB Miles Sanders
63. CB Lavert Hill

2015
77. RB Saquon Barkley
87. CB Garrett Taylor
115. WR Juwan Johnson
129. DE Ryan Buchholz

2014
58. TE Mike Gesicki
163. WR DeAndre Thompkins
197. WR Saeed Blacknall
206. WR Chris Godwin

2013
7. QB Christian Hackenberg
48. TE Adam Breneman
191. OT Andrew Nelson
196. DE Garrett Sickels

2012*
154. WR Eugene Lewis
324. DT Jamil Pollard
366. TE Brent Wilkerson
391. RB Akeel Lynch

2011*
94. OG Angelo Mangiro
134. DE Anthony Zettel
151. RB Bill Belton
160. OT Donovan Smith

2010*
68. LB Khairi Fortt
89. RB Silas Redd
91. QB Rob Bolden
124. OL Miles Dieffenbach

2009*
38. OL Eric Shrive
111. CB Darrell Givens
148. WR Justin Brown
157. LB Gerald Hodges

2008*
131. LB Michael Zordich
132. LB Michael Yancich
275. OL Matt Stankiewitch
287. DB D'Anton Lynn

2007*
83. OG Stefen Wisniewski
128. DT Devon Still
173. ATH Chaz Powell
265. OT Josh Marks

2006*
27. DE Maurice Evans
43. CB A.J. Wallace
71. WR Chris Bell
72. OG J.B. Walton

2005*
4. WR Derrick Williams
15. CB Justin King
81. LB Jerome Hayes
165. ATH Lydell Sargeant

2004*
13. LB Dan Connor
15. QB Anthony Morelli
120. DT A.Q. Shipley
169. DE Tyrell Sales

 

[BobPSU92]

I thought Penn State Football was supposed to die off. Huh.

 

[cvilleelkscoach]

I will be very surprised if Hill becomes a lion.

 

[jerseylion109]

crazy to see the effect of 2012 and then the trend upwards....we are on the rise baby

 

[sluggo72]

I'd let them play a snap first

 

[OaktonDave]

I will be very surprised if Hill becomes a lion.

Interesting. I'll be very surprised if he doesn't.

 

[jennjeffjoe]

Interesting. I'll be very surprised if he doesn't.

Keep up the good work, CJF & Staff.

View embedded media

TOP 4 PLAYERS IN PENN STATE RECRUITING CLASSES

2016
35. OL Michal Menet
40. DE Shane Simmons
50. RB Miles Sanders
63. CB Lavert Hill

2015
77. RB Saquon Barkley
87. CB Garrett Taylor
115. WR Juwan Johnson
129. DE Ryan Buchholz

2014
58. TE Mike Gesicki
163. WR DeAndre Thompkins
197. WR Saeed Blacknall
206. WR Chris Godwin

2013
7. QB Christian Hackenberg
48. TE Adam Breneman
191. OT Andrew Nelson
196. DE Garrett Sickels

2012*
154. WR Eugene Lewis
324. DT Jamil Pollard
366. TE Brent Wilkerson
391. RB Akeel Lynch

2011*
94. OG Angelo Mangiro
134. DE Anthony Zettel
151. RB Bill Belton
160. OT Donovan Smith

2010*
68. LB Khairi Fortt
89. RB Silas Redd
91. QB Rob Bolden
124. OL Miles Dieffenbach

2009*
38. OL Eric Shrive
111. CB Darrell Givens
148. WR Justin Brown
157. LB Gerald Hodges

2008*
131. LB Michael Zordich
132. LB Michael Yancich
275. OL Matt Stankiewitch
287. DB D'Anton Lynn

2007*
83. OG Stefen Wisniewski
128. DT Devon Still
173. ATH Chaz Powell
265. OT Josh Marks

2006*
27. DE Maurice Evans
43. CB A.J. Wallace
71. WR Chris Bell
72. OG J.B. Walton

2005*
4. WR Derrick Williams
15. CB Justin King
81. LB Jerome Hayes
165. ATH Lydell Sargeant

2004*
13. LB Dan Connor
15. QB Anthony Morelli
120. DT A.Q. Shipley
169. DE Tyrell Sales

 

[jennjeffjoe]

Thats very good, and interesting information (ChiTownLion)-- keep it coming....

 

[bjf1984]

Keep up the good work, CJF & Staff.

View embedded media

TOP 4 PLAYERS IN PENN STATE RECRUITING CLASSES

2016
35. OL Michal Menet
40. DE Shane Simmons
50. RB Miles Sanders
63. CB Lavert Hill

2015
77. RB Saquon Barkley
87. CB Garrett Taylor
115. WR Juwan Johnson
129. DE Ryan Buchholz

2014
58. TE Mike Gesicki
163. WR DeAndre Thompkins
197. WR Saeed Blacknall
206. WR Chris Godwin

2013
7. QB Christian Hackenberg
48. TE Adam Breneman
191. OT Andrew Nelson
196. DE Garrett Sickels

2012*
154. WR Eugene Lewis
324. DT Jamil Pollard
366. TE Brent Wilkerson
391. RB Akeel Lynch

2011*
94. OG Angelo Mangiro
134. DE Anthony Zettel
151. RB Bill Belton
160. OT Donovan Smith

2010*
68. LB Khairi Fortt
89. RB Silas Redd
91. QB Rob Bolden
124. OL Miles Dieffenbach

2009*
38. OL Eric Shrive
111. CB Darrell Givens
148. WR Justin Brown
157. LB Gerald Hodges

2008*
131. LB Michael Zordich
132. LB Michael Yancich
275. OL Matt Stankiewitch
287. DB D'Anton Lynn

2007*
83. OG Stefen Wisniewski
128. DT Devon Still
173. ATH Chaz Powell
265. OT Josh Marks

2006*
27. DE Maurice Evans
43. CB A.J. Wallace
71. WR Chris Bell
72. OG J.B. Walton

2005*
4. WR Derrick Williams
15. CB Justin King
81. LB Jerome Hayes
165. ATH Lydell Sargeant

2004*
13. LB Dan Connor
15. QB Anthony Morelli
120. DT A.Q. Shipley
169. DE Tyrell Sales

Nice snapshot....kinda' gives an impression of how things are going.

From a pure athletic talent standpoint, I don't know if any class (since the 25 scholarship limits came into play) can match the 2006 class......certainly none in recent memory.
Hopefully, wherever this class ends up, we will not see 1/2 a class washed out due to off field issues - as we saw with that 2006 group.
There were probably 20 guys in that class with legit NFL level potential.

 

[royboy]

Nice snapshot....kinda' gives an impression of how things are going.

From a pure athletic talent standpoint, I don't know if any class (since the 25 scholarship limits came into play) can match the 2006 class......certainly none in recent memory.
Hopefully, wherever this class ends up, we will not see 1/2 a class washed out due to off field issues - as we saw with that 2006 group.
There were probably 20 guys in that class with legit NFL level potential.

Yeah, Joe's later years had classes with a lot of attrition, for all sorts of reasons. I think Joe just didn't vet the kids as well as he previously had.

Franklin's personality, energy, and strong "we are family" concept seems likely to reduce attrition.

 

[GregInPitt]

I don't know how you arrived at your top 4. Stars? 247 player ratings (i.e. points)?

But what the mini lists tell me is that only slightly more than half of the top recruits really become multi-year stars for the team. Yes, I believe it is an even lower percentage for the lower rated kids, as stars do matter (on average).

But if we went back to each of those classes and picked the best player or players, the best player may not be among the 4 highest rated players. My opinion of the best players, #1 and #2, follows. And what I find is that the majority of the best players came from among the top 4-6 rated players of each class. But about half of the top rated players were below average players or non-contributors. But there are a good many great PSU players among these years (as there were in the past with Conlan, Ham....) such as Hill, ARob and Mauti that were not highly rated.

The bottom line is that from every class a team really only needs 6-8 very good to great players to field a great team. That's less than half of each class. So in a great class having 10 players that turn out to be outstanding players will pretty much lead to a run at a conference championship if it is complemented by only average classes and not severely impacted by early NFL entry. Will the 2016 class be a class like that? It's obviously harder for a smaller class to lead the charge to being a great team, but if CJF can bring in 20 in this class and he proves to be a great evaluator and developer of talent, ...... A staff just has to find talent. Sure it's easier to recruit the kids with the measurables and then if half develop into top players you have a shot at a great team. But if the staff is superior in evaluating high school players, they can get kids like Conlan, ARob, Hill.... to complement the 4 and 5 star kids and build a great team.

2004
#1 Connor
#2 Shipley
Clark, one of the lowest of the group turned out pretty special as a Senior after spending a year at prep school.
Note that on Rivals Harrison was rated higher than Sales. Neither were big time multi-year contributors.

2005
Williams
King
Also, two of the lowest rated, Shuler and Baker, turned out pretty special as well.

2006
Odrick
Bowman
Honorable mention to Royster and Mabin, two lower rated players.
I have AJ Wallace, Logan-El, Odrick, and Evans as the top rated.
Bowman was pretty highly rated as well. So were Phil Taylor (great player, poor behavior) and Bell (a bust).

2007 (Rivals top 4 of Sukay, Wisniewski, Still, Powel., and Collasanti-LB)
Wisniewski
Still
Honorable mention to Moye, lower rated recruit

2008 (Beachum was the highest rated, and could replace Lynn or Stankiewitch)
Mauti
Zordich

2009 (Newsome rated above Hodges, Givens and Brown)
Hodges
Hill (2 star)

2010 (tops on Rivals of Forte, Redd, Hull, P.Jones and Bolden)
Hull
D. Jones

2011 (Rivals top of Zettel, Smith, Barnes, and Oakman)
A. Robinson
Zettel
Note that Oakman may turn out as good as ARob, just not for us....

2012 (Gaia, Stanko, and Wartman were rated as high as Wilkerson and Lynch)
A. Johnson
Wartman
Honorable mention to J.Lucas and J.James, both lower 3 star recruits than the tops of the class.

2013
Hack
Can't pick a #2 yet, but I believe it will be from Hamilton, Breneman, Bell, Nelson or Sickels,

 

[lionlurker]

It is way too early to count these chickens, before they are hatched.

 

[GregInPitt]

Silly me. I thought you did some homework and authored this post. But then I find that it's a cut and paste from Pennlive..... The Shame of it all......

 

[grinagrin]

I don't know how you arrived at your top 4. Stars? 247 player ratings (i.e. points)?

But what the mini lists tell me is that only slightly more than half of the top recruits really become multi-year stars for the team. Yes, I believe it is an even lower percentage for the lower rated kids, as stars do matter (on average).

But if we went back to each of those classes and picked the best player or players, the best player may not be among the 4 highest rated players. My opinion of the best players, #1 and #2, follows. And what I find is that the majority of the best players came from among the top 4-6 rated players of each class. But about half of the top rated players were below average players or non-contributors. But there are a good many great PSU players among these years (as there were in the past with Conlan, Ham....) such as Hill, ARob and Mauti that were not highly rated.

The bottom line is that from every class a team really only needs 6-8 very good to great players to field a great team. That's less than half of each class. So in a great class having 10 players that turn out to be outstanding players will pretty much lead to a run at a conference championship if it is complemented by only average classes and not severely impacted by early NFL entry. Will the 2016 class be a class like that? It's obviously harder for a smaller class to lead the charge to being a great team, but if CJF can bring in 20 in this class and he proves to be a great evaluator and developer of talent, ...... A staff just has to find talent. Sure it's easier to recruit the kids with the measurables and then if half develop into top players you have a shot at a great team. But if the staff is superior in evaluating high school players, they can get kids like Conlan, ARob, Hill.... to complement the 4 and 5 star kids and build a great team.

2004
#1 Connor
#2 Shipley
Clark, one of the lowest of the group turned out pretty special as a Senior after spending a year at prep school.
Note that on Rivals Harrison was rated higher than Sales. Neither were big time multi-year contributors.

2005
Williams
King
Also, two of the lowest rated, Shuler and Baker, turned out pretty special as well.

2006
Odrick
Bowman
Honorable mention to Royster and Mabin, two lower rated players.
I have AJ Wallace, Logan-El, Odrick, and Evans as the top rated.
Bowman was pretty highly rated as well. So were Phil Taylor (great player, poor behavior) and Bell (a bust).

2007 (Rivals top 4 of Sukay, Wisniewski, Still, Powel., and Collasanti-LB)
Wisniewski
Still
Honorable mention to Moye, lower rated recruit

2008 (Beachum was the highest rated, and could replace Lynn or Stankiewitch)
Mauti (not a top rated recruit)
Zordich

2009 (Newsome rated above Hodges, Givens and Brown)
Hodges
Hill (2 star)

2010 (tops on Rivals of Forte, Redd, Hull, P.Jones and Bolden)
Hull
D. Jones

2011 (Rivals top of Zettel, Smith, Barnes, and Oakman)
A. Robinson
Zettel
Note that Oakman may turn out as good as ARob, just not for us....

2012 (Gaia, Stanko, and Wartman were rated as high as Wilkerson and Lynch)
A. Johnson
Wartman
Honorable mention to J.Lucas and J.James, both lower 3 star recruits than the tops of the class.

2013
Hack
Can't pick a #2 yet, but I believe it will be from Hamilton, Breneman, Bell, Nelson or Sickels,

Mauti low rated?...i seem to recall he was in the army all american game...

 

[GregInPitt]

Mauti low rated?...i seem to recall he was in the army all american game...

I rechecked and you are correct. He was a 4 star, 5.8 rating, on rivals. My bad, and I'll correct it.

 

[TheGLOV]

I thought Penn State Football was supposed to die off. Huh.

Many people out there did hope so but alas,.......it did NOT happen!!!

 

[bmw199]

If we add Betiku and Gary that top 4 gets even better...

 

[jerseylion109]

I would be very surprised if hill is a nittany lion as well

 

[ChiTownLion]

If we add Betiku and Gary that top 4 gets even better...

Nice to see Ellison Jordan rated as Scout's No. 10 DT in the nation and No. 70 overall.
this HTML class. Can't seem to link the article from my mobile device.

 

[Mister Magoo]

Rivals continuing it's trend of not ranking PSU commits as high as other services. Why anyone would pay Rivals for information is beyond me.

Sanders - 55
Simmons - 64
Menet - 85
HILL - 167

Others
McGovern - 186
Zembiec - 231

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/rankings/rank-3513/2016