Why doesn't NFL Draft mirror Rivals rankings?

[HudsonGator]

February 14, 2013

Why doesn't NFL Draft mirror Rivals rankings?

Dallas Jackson
Columnist

Since 1998, there have been 12 quarterbacks taken with the first pick in the NFL Draft -- and 2013 could make it 13 as the Kansas City Chiefs reportedly are mulling taking West Virginia's Geno Smith.

But that trend hasn't been reflected in recruiting rankings as Rivals.com has named a defensive end the top prospect in four of the past five classes, including the initial class of 2014 Rivals100 ranking, with Woodbridge (Va.) High DE Da'Shawn Hand in the top spot.

Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell said if the rankings were simply about predicting the NFL draft, Rivals.com would just tab QBs. But they are not.

"Some people will say quarterback is the most valuable spot because it goes first in the NFL Draft every year, but future projections are only part of the equation when it comes to rankings," Farrell said. "The way positions get overvalued as you move up the ladder is a part of the rationale of why a quarterback isn't our top guy every year. I would love it if there were a quarterback worth that top spot every year, but the bottom line is that so much with a quarterback is mental; and that is one of the hardest parts to determine on this level.

"Some people will say quarterback is the most valuable spot because it goes first in the NFL Draft every year, but future projections are only part of the equation when it comes to rankings," Farrell said. "The way positions get overvalued as you move up the ladder is a part of the rationale of why a quarterback isn't our top guy every year. I would love it if there were a quarterback worth that top spot every year, but the bottom line is that so much with a quarterback is mental; and that is one of the hardest parts to determine on this level.

"I don't want it to sound like an easy way out, but when you see a big, rare athlete at the defensive end position, or an incredibly athletic offensive tackle, or a linebacker that can rush and cover in space with all the physical tools, or even a cornerback that has size and speed, those are easier to rank than high school quarterbacks.

"The competition level that a quarterback goes against in high school changes from player to player, as do his receivers, linemen, everything really, and we are against the wall in that aspect," Farrell said. "When I hear that Rivals missed on this guy or that guy, it isn't really true or fair. Some guys get into a system that is wrong for them or one that really benefits their game. Some develop late. Some have an 'it factor' that you just can't see when you put them in a camp setting."

Three of the four quarterbacks who reached the AFC and NFC Championship games were rated as three-stars by Rivals.com. Tom Brady was in college before the first class of players was evaluated in 2002.

Matt Ryan was a three-star from Philadelphia (Pa.) William Penn Charter. He ran a Wing-T offense in high school and had only four offers being ranked No. 25 at his position in the class of 2003.

Colin Kaepernick famously had only one football offer coming out of Turlock (Calif.) Pitman. He was a touted baseball player with a handful of offers to stay on the diamond but chose football. He was a three-star and the No. 34 player at his position.

Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco had six offers and chose Pittsburgh before transferring to Delaware. He was the No. 39 pro-style quarterback from Audubon (N.J.) High....

http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com...sp?CID=1471836

[NoahBeanBizzel]

It's because recruiting doesn't matter. Ron Zook brought in the number one class in the country, and he never one more than eight games. Like Muschamp said: the stars don't matter. If they did, Zook would still have a headset on his skull.

It's not about the x's and o's; it's about the jessies and joes. In other words, you have to coach these kids up. Nobody was better than Meyer when it came to this.

[Tasselhoff]

Noah
You may want to rethink what you posted. When you say it isnt the x and o it is the jessies and joes ....you are saying that it is in fact NOT the coaching but instead the recruiting that matters....which seems to be the opposite of tbe point you wanted to make...

Or more likely I just missed something

[gatorchamp27]

Originally Posted by NoahBeanBizzel

It's because recruiting doesn't matter. Ron Zook brought in the number one class in the country, and he never one more than eight games. Like Muschamp said: the stars don't matter. If they did, Zook would still have a headset on his skull.

It's not about the x's and o's; it's about the jessies and joes. In other words, you have to coach these kids up. Nobody was better than Meyer when it came to this.

Or more like Meyer didnt coach chit. Meyer was and is a creative fixer and seller of many things especially a college football program but coaching isnt necessarily something that I can give him an abundance of credit for.

[tilly]

Originally Posted by NoahBeanBizzel

It's not about the x's and o's; it's about the jessies and joes. In other words, you have to coach these kids up. Nobody was better than Meyer when it came to this.

I both agree and disagree with your conflicting statement. The x's and o's refer to coaching them up.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tablet using Gator Country

[tilly]

Originally Posted by gatorchamp27

Or more like Meyer didnt coach chit. Meyer was and is a creative fixer and seller of many things especially a college football program but coaching isnt necessarily something that I can give him an abundance of credit for.

Hmmm...did you ever watch HIS special teams? He directly coached that unit, and they were amazing.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tablet using Gator Country

[gatorchamp27]

Man are you seriously talking about a special teams group that he loads with starters. I give him credit for finding Brandon James yes, but how much coaching did that take, or putting the ball in Percys hand how much coaching did that take? Like I said he is creative and got a lot of blocked kicks from it, but his overall coaching is coming up short.

[GatorEst1992]

If anyone is good at coaching kids up it would be spurrier I mean look what he's done at sc, if foley wouldn't of been a douche and hired spurrier instead of meyer we wouldn't be talking about saban and alabama

[HudsonGator]

Originally Posted by NoahBeanBizzel

...It's not about the x's and o's; it's about the jessies and joes. In other words, you have to coach these kids up. Nobody was better than Meyer when it came to this.

[Tebowism0823]

Originally Posted by GatorEst1992

If anyone is good at coaching kids up it would be spurrier I mean look what he's done at sc, if foley wouldn't of been a douche and hired spurrier instead of meyer we wouldn't be talking about saban and alabama

Yeah keep telling yourself that. Spurrier was the douche who thought the job should just be given to him. Meyer was 10x the hire spurrier would've been.

[tilly]

Originally Posted by gatorchamp27

Man are you seriously talking about a special teams group that he loads with starters. I give him credit for finding Brandon James yes, but how much coaching did that take, or putting the ball in Percys hand how much coaching did that take? Like I said he is creative and got a lot of blocked kicks from it, but his overall coaching is coming up short.

He coached the special teams. They were highly successful. Isnt that the bottom line? They lose to USCe in 06 without speecial teams....and I'm not refering to Harvin or James.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tablet using Gator Country

[Tebowism0823]

Originally Posted by gatorchamp27

Man are you seriously talking about a special teams group that he loads with starters. I give him credit for finding Brandon James yes, but how much coaching did that take, or putting the ball in Percys hand how much coaching did that take? Like I said he is creative and got a lot of blocked kicks from it, but his overall coaching is coming up short.

Why wouldn't you play starters on special teams? They're starters because they are the best at what they do. I don't like UM from a person aspect but his coaching pedigree and results are unquestionable.

Not to mention that field position is everything in college football; or even the NFL for that matter.

Also if his coaching was that horrible how'd all of those players find their way to the NFL during his regime?

[zoltanuf]

Meyer takes over a 2-9 Bowling Green team. Two years later, they're 9-3.
Takes over a 5-6 Utah team. 2 years later, they're 12-0
Takes over a 7-5 Florida team. 2 years later, they're national champions
Takes over a 6-7 OSU team. 1 year later, they're 12-0.

Yeah, poor guy. Not much of a coach.

[GatorEst1992]

I can't stand y'all backing the liar up god that makes me so mad its just plain selfish, " o he got us 2 national titles" big freakin deal he screwed us and took off with the douche next door idc about the NC id rather have a guy that cares about the kids and the team rather than be a selfish prick who's all about himself and at any sign of competition bails because he can't handle losing what douche and y'all are no better by backin him up you don't run from competition and especially lie about it and fake a medical condition god he makes me so mad why don't you just move to ohio and become suckeye fans if you like him so much

[GatorEst1992]

Originally Posted by Tebowism0823

Why wouldn't you play starters on special teams? They're starters because they are the best at what they do. I don't like UM from a person aspect but his coaching pedigree and results are unquestionable.

Not to mention that field position is everything in college football; or even the NFL for that matter.

Also if his coaching was that horrible how'd all of those players find their way to the NFL during his regime?

Why weren't we prepared to play bama in 09 and so bad the year after that if his coaching was so good the way y'all talk about him sounds like he just any team he's on just automatically becomes a NC contender he left us because he knew saban was better and didn't want to have to deal with him and now we have a coach who embraces competition and welcomes it and in a couple years saban will be a past memory muschamp is 10x the coach and person that the coach up north will ever be

[GatorStang]

Originally Posted by GatorEst1992

I can't stand y'all backing the liar up god that makes me so mad its just plain selfish, " o he got us 2 national titles" big freakin deal he screwed us and took off with the douche next door idc about the NC id rather have a guy that cares about the kids and the team rather than be a selfish prick who's all about himself and at any sign of competition bails because he can't handle losing what douche and y'all are no better by backin him up you don't run from competition and especially lie about it and fake a medical condition god he makes me so mad why don't you just move to ohio and become suckeye fans if you like him so much

Buddy, I agree with you, but punctuation goes a long way when you are arguing your case.

[AFCyberGator]

Without bringing Urban Meyer and Ron Zook further into the discussion, I would say that the NFL Draft and Rivals rankings measure two different things. They both assess talent and potential to succeed in totally different sports with comparisons against totally different sample groups. NFL football and NCAA football look like the same sport, but they are not the same sport. This is not to say they are totally different from one another, but they are different enough where rankings of talent and potential will yield different scores.

[HudsonGator]

Originally Posted by GatorEst1992

I can't stand y'all backing the liar up god that makes me so mad its just plain selfish, " o he got us 2 national titles" big freakin deal he screwed us and took off with the douche next door idc about the NC id rather have a guy that cares about the kids and the team rather than be a selfish prick who's all about himself and at any sign of competition bails because he can't handle losing what douche and y'all are no better by backin him up you don't run from competition and especially lie about it and fake a medical condition god he makes me so mad why don't you just move to ohio and become suckeye fans if you like him so much

[GatorEst1992]

That's what happens when I go on a venting rant sorry. Plus, when I'm on my phone I usually never use punctuation, that's for english class and writing essays. Nobody got time fo that! Takes to long write if I have to punctuate i

[Nicho]

Originally Posted by NoahBeanBizzel

It's because recruiting doesn't matter. Ron Zook brought in the number one class in the country, and he never one more than eight games. Like Muschamp said: the stars don't matter. If they did, Zook would still have a headset on his skull.

It's not about the x's and o's; it's about the jessies and joes. In other words, you have to coach these kids up. Nobody was better than Meyer when it came to this.

As already mentioned, you mixed up what you were trying to say about Jessies and Joes. But that aside, your post couldn't be further from the truth. Muschamp will be the first to tell you that recruiting matters. When he says stars don't matter, he is simply pointing out that he recruits based on his own set of criteria/standards rather than that of a website. But he does have a set of criteria/standards that must be met, a minimum talent level that must be filled in order to consider himself successful. So while stars don't matter, recruiting absolutely matters. You have taken his quote completely out of context.

Zook couldn't win consistently, but Meyer came in and won with Zook's talented roster. At that point, we had the talent AND the coaching. Then he built his own talented roster and won again. And in both cases, the recruiting sites generally recognized the talent within the program for what it was: elite.

Jessies and Joes matter, but so do Xs and Os. Who ever said it has to be one or the other? The most competitive programs right now kill it on the recruiting trail AND coach the hell out of their blue chippers. See a certain head coach in Tuscaloosa for another example.