tsweezy

Yeah I think there’s always a fine line between making things “realistic” (good schools get good players) and “fair” (everyone can be on the same field. I think the current RES system was almost worked backwards from wanting a +/- 20% band and I think you’d almost have to do the same and set the biggest discrepancy you’re ok with and go from there. Also what’s the rationale for pulling affinities into RES system instead of leaving them separate as now?

Wants to join a championship team eh? We can find a spot 👀

oh right, no mention of his pass catching. You're right, pass. NEXT!

too bad, the in-state schools already spent all last year fighting over Koch. Guess Antonelli has to come to Knoxville now

Writing down some concepts of what I should do for transfers now, might as well let other people read it. Going position by position because that's what mostly matters instead of team-wide. We have 105 rostered players and 15 Sr/(Sr)s so would like to churn out 10 transfers to get 25 spaces. Center: Morrow - B+ (Jr) balanced, 4* Ventura - C (Fr) Pass Blocker, 3* Worthington - D+ Jr Line Captain, 1* No transfer intentions, probably going to move an OG here anyways. If need a cut, Worthington was a former walk-on and an easy boot. Total cut options: 1 Cornerback: Gsellman - A- (Jr) Zone, 4* Travis - B+ (Jr) Zone, 4* Peckham - B+ (So) Zone, 4* Gallagher - B (Fr) Zone, 4* Carranza - B (Fr) Zone, 3* Crosby - B Fr Ball Hawk, 4* White - B (Sr) Zone, 2* Ku - C Fr Zone, 3* Carmignani - C Fr Zone, 3* No transfer intentions, good enough core that don't need to take any incoming transfers unless there are A overall options. No cuts needed. Total cut options: 1 Defensive End: Dimmadome - A (Jr) Balanced, 4* London - A (So) Speed Rusher, 5* Carnahan - B (So) Balanced, 4* Garcia - B (Jr) Speed Rusher, 3* Medina - B (Fr) Speed Rusher, 4* Hills - C+ Fr Balanced, 4* Barron - C+ Jr Run Stopper, 3* Wood - C So Balanced, 3* Santos - C Jr Run Stopper, 2* The bottom 3 on the depth chart want to transfer out. I don't think Barron and Santos will ever be on the depth chart at all, let them leave. Wood might be a potential senior depth option, make a really low priority promise just to see if he stays. Total departures: 2-3, extra cut options: 1 Defensive Tackle: Sowell - A (Jr) Nose Tackle, 4* Moran - A (So) Pass Rusher, 5* Johnson - B+ Sr Balanced, 3* Castle - B Fr Balanced, 5* Key - B- (So) Pass Rusher, 3* Alegria - C So Balanced, 3* Laycock - C So Balanced, 3* Again, bottom 3 want to leave. However, Castle is being redshirted so I actually want a 4th to fill out the depth chart. Age-wise, all of them still have chances to be starters in senior year if I don't sign more high 4/5*s next year so it's not exactly wise to let them leave. Key also has A+ potential so he could blow up and start if Moran leaves early. Make Key a real promise, make Alegria and Laycock a throwaway thing to see if they stay, but not huge losses. Total Departures: 2-6, extra cuts: 1 Free Safety: Nothing controversial, no transfers out, no point in taking an incoming transfer, no cut options Inside Linebacker: Adames - A- Sr Coverage, 4* Lawson - B+ (Jr) Field General, 4* Dozier - B Sr Speed, 3* Billups - B (So) Speed, 4* Blanding - B (Sr) Field General, 2* Cochran - C So Coverage, 3* Bock - C Jr Coverage, 2* So Dozier and Blanding probably should have transferred but whatever, guess they like it here. We only start 1 ILB so it's pretty fine. If there's a really good young player I might look for a transfer, or even just a freshman depth piece. There is no possibility Bock ever plays so he's gone. Nobody else is a good cut option. Total Departures: 3-7, extra cuts: 1 Kicker: I'm fine here Offensive Guard: Le - B+ (Fr) Pass Block, 5* Crosby - B+ (So) Pass Block, 4* Henry - B+ (Jr) Run Block, 4* Hilton - B+ (So) Pass Block, 4* Taylor - C So Balanced, 3* Klosterman - C Fr Balanced, 3* Henry is actually a very good player and would be highly sought after I think. Just isn't a scheme fit and won't start here. Sad to see him leave. Other than that, a bit thin room, might look at taking another depth player, but no cuts. Total Departures: 4-8, extra cuts: 1 Outside Linebacker: Falu - A- (Sr) Speed, 3* Sweezy - A- (Fr) Coverage, 5* Andriese - B+ (Jr) Coverage, 4* Bradberry - B Sr Speed, 3* Major - C+ Fr Speed, 4* Perez - C+ (So) Coverage, 3* Nestle - C So Pass Rush, 3* Folks - C So Run Stopper, 3* Roper - D+ Jr Pass Rusher, 1* Roper should have never signed here, he's gone. Nestle and Folks are probably already done for, I don't think they catch Sweezy/Major/Perez at any point. However, Nestle might be a potential 2nd string as a senior so I'll make him a small promise I'm ok with him not taking. Total Departures: 6-11, extra cuts: 1 Offensive Tackle: Hernandez - A (Jr) Pass Block, 4* Perry - A (Sr) Pass Block, 3* Lazard - A- Sr Pass Block, 4* France - A (Fr) Pass Block, 5* Drummond - B+ (Jr) Balanced, 4* Cole - B+ Fr Pass Block, 5* Bush - B (So) Run Block, 4* Grimes - B Fr Pass Block, 4* Perez - B Fr Run Block, 4* Eilerman - C So Run Block, 0* I think OT is the deepest position group we have, and actually probably shifting one to OG and move Le to a center. I'm not totally sure how to handle OL yet. Anyways, Eilerman get out. Drummond and Bush almost certainly will never play but they are good players. I think I'm letting Bush go and making Drummond a moderate promise to see if he can win the OT3 slot in his last season next year. Total Departures: 8-14, Extra Cuts: 1 Punter: It's fine Quarterback: Savage - A Sr Pocket, 5* Ratley - A- (Sr) Scrambler, 3* JOC - B+ (Fr) Pocket, 5* Koch - B+ Jr Balanced, 4* Harlow - B Fr Pocket, 4* Raines - C- Jr Field General, 1* Wood - D So Field General, 0* This is the biggest conundrum I have. Raines should be gone, Wood has a literal F in everything so he's getting cut. Unfortunately if Harlow gets the redshirt he needs I don't actually have a 3rd QB for blowouts which is not ideal. Honestly kinda put myself in a corner because Koch actually would be the smart option to keep as that QB3 for his last 2 years. But he's already locked out of facilities. Which means I either bribe Ratley to come back and close games out for his last year or let him be a star elsewhere. I want him to lead a program, but then I'd definitely have to target the portal and sign a QB, or not let Harlow redshirt? I guess I'd do it for the roleplay aspect but this kinda hurts the stat padding. Total Departures: 11-17, Extra Cuts: 2, Portal Needs: QB, OLB?, young ILB depth Runningback: Williams - A (Jr) Receiving, 4* Bandy - B+ (Jr) Receiving, 4* Meyers - B (So) Receiving, 4* Forsberg - B (Fr) Receiving, 4* Gentry - B Fr Receiving, 4* I mean what can you say, this is like the perfect set up for a room where everyone is very good and gets 1 year to shine. Love it, just wanted to flex Strong Safety: It's great, nothing more to say Tight End: Mateo - A (Sr) Blocking, 4* Cox - B (So) Receiving, 4* Foster - C+ (So) Receiving, 3* Lee - C Fr Receiving, 4* Spalding - C So Vertical Threat, 3* I mean, Spalding has 2 guys his age above him on the DC and one younger guy. It's best if he leaves I guess. Total Departures: 12-18, Extra Cuts: 2, Portal Needs: QB, OLB?, young ILB, TE? Wide Receiver: ASS - A- (Jr) Possession, 4* Flash - A- So Speed, 5* Stanton - A- (Jr) Route Runner, 4* Kleen - B+ (Fr) Red Zone, 5* Simpson - B+ (So) Possession, 4* Hemphill - B Fr Speed, 4* Hernandez - B Fr Route Runner, 4* Jones - C+ Speed Jr, 3* Steward - C+ RZT Jr, 3* Sampayo - C Possession Fr, 3* Cook - D Possession Fr, 0* Ok so Kleen was a casualty of the changing rules, he was redshirted which means he shouldn't be allowed to transfer but with progressions going first that rule got nuked unexpectedly. He's getting a major promise / bag and staying with the team. I'm also redshirting Hemphill/Hernandez this season so technically Jones is in line to be WR5/6 and could see some garbage time. I'll make him a promise to stay, let Steward leave, and Cook is a cut option. Total Departures: 13-21, Extra Cuts: 3, Portal Needs: QB, young ILB, OLB?, TE?, WR? Major Promises: WR Kleen, DT Key Minor Promises: WR Jones, OT Drummond, OLB Nestle, DT Alegria, DT Laycock, DE Wood. Expected Roster Size: 95 with 14 departing Seniors/(Sr)s.

A question about how this relates to recruiting: this past season, the number of recruiting scholarships available was just how many projected departures from the program their would be. So if you had 103 rostered players and 24 seniors, you got 24 scholarships. does this mean letting seniors transfer will lower your scholarship allotment? scenario: school has 102 rostered and 19 seniors. 3 seniors transfer out and 10 sophomores do. They go into the new season with 89 rostered and 16 seniors. Will they only get 16 scholarships for the recruiting cycle? Or some other number?

It's everyone's favorite time of year!! Recruiting class grades are BACK. Prepare for me to scrutinize your roster and recruiting class and tell you how good or bad it was. Without further ado: Stanford University Atlantic Coast Conference(???) 2024: 10-3 (7-1) Recruiting Class Basics: STAN signed 2 5-stars, 9 4-stars, and 10 3-stars. They signed 6 players with B or better potentials and 6 B overalls. Rankings below: ESPN: 36th Rivals: 4th 247: 9th Composite: 4th Signees below: School Name Stars Ovr Pot Pos Archetype City State STAN Darrell Wilcox 4 B C ATH Lineman Forest MS STAN Armando Barrios 4 C B- ATH Bandit Concord CA STAN Douglas Williams 4 C C+ ATH Field General Hampton GA STAN Aaron Frost 4 C D ATH Return Specialist Crawfordville FL STAN Jorge Alviso 3 C C ATH Soccer Player Winter Garden FL STAN Gilbert Lee 3 C C+ ATH Strongside Mesquite TX STAN Charles Shamir 3 C B ATH Triple-Threat Washington DC STAN David Ayala 3 C B C Balanced Clearwater FL STAN Craig Ahles 4 C B CB Zone Coverage Birmingham AL STAN Vincent Gibbs 3 C C CB Zone Coverage Madison Heights MI STAN Mitchell Meehan 4 C C+ DT Pass Rusher Olympia WA STAN Daniel Keenan 3 C B FB Balanced West Monroe LA STAN Stephen Ball 4 B C FS Zone Coverage Wedowee AL STAN Ryan Yancey 5 B B- ILB Coverage Palo Alto CA STAN Frank Fennell 3 C B- OLB Coverage Roswell GA STAN William Tomlinson 4 B B OT Run Blocking Akron OH STAN David Bleth 4 B C OT Run Blocking Olivet MI STAN Matthew Ard 3 C C+ RB Speed Kinston NC STAN Michael Miller 5 B A+ TE Receiving Palo Alto CA STAN Frederick Coker 3 C C+ WR Speed Dallas TX STAN Lucas Thompson 3 C C- WR Possession Winder GA Below is a breakdown position-by-position of (from L-R) their current roster, what they did on the trail, and the grade I gave them in recruiting that position. Position Current position grade Current status Number signed Recruiting status C B They're in a good spot here. Tuitt has had some good progressions as a B overall (So) with A- potential and can be a multiple year starter going forward. Clark is also a good backup 1 David Ayala fits the same mold, a solid 3 star with B potential. I don't think he's going to be a starter over the guys from the last couple classes but a good depth pickup C/C+ CB C+ They're *almost* into a consistent scheme here. However their best two players (Osmele and Petit) next season are man coverage while everyone else on the roster are zone cover corners. Tough to reconcile. kind of short on depth behind them with a bunch of C overall 3-stars who haven't blossomed yet. 2 Craig Ahles is the better pickup here as a blue chip B potential corner along with Gibbs, an average 3. I think this is a net upgrade with Craig being the only blue chip in the CB room. This could end up even better if Barrios ends up here. Although I think Bandit goes to safety. C+/B- DE C+ Plenty of DEs on the roster. Weber is the only really good player though. A B overall currently he's a 4 star from the initial class. Thon Leaf is probably the other starter as a current B- (also dope name). In the pipeline they have a bunch of 3 stars along with Eugene Knight, a 4-star from last cycle 0 They do have a lot of solid DEs so not horrible to skip it this season I guess. - DT B Another solid room. John Grant is a current B+ coming back for one more year as a pass rusher. So is Ricky Williams, a B- Junior. In addition they signed a beefy Nose Tackle (Behrends) last cycle who's a mid-B 4-star freshman. Not sure how they'll sort out the pass rusher / nose tackle divide for DTs but they certainly have talent 1 Meehan is another solid blue chip DT for the Stanford squad. A pass rusher though as they keep going back and forth on the archetype. I suppose the optimistic view is that means all scheme options are open B- FB B- Tomlinson is pretty good I guess. They've got 2 more high potential freshmen 3 stars. nice 1 Come on, how many FBs does one team need? Nice pickup I guess C+ FS C- This is a very not good room though. They have 3 guys rostered and the best option is 2 star C+ (So) Josh Cassel? I mean he could have a big progression with his A+ potential but it's a bit concerning the lack of skilled players 1 Big pickup here this cycle at a position of need. Stephen Ball comes in as a B overall which might well make him an instant true freshman starter and 4 year player. B+/A- ILB A-/A Mikal Cingrani is a 5-star coverage ILB from the initial recruiting class. It is a little disappointing he's only a B+ as a (So) but he should be due for a big progression pop off soon. A bit of a ding for having almost nothing at all behind him except a bunch of C overalls. 1 Cingrani won't be here forever and they nabbed his replacement (or partner in a 3-4?). Ryan Yancey is another 5 star BB- coverage guy which is just crazy to have 2 of those players side by side. Is there another team with a pair of 5-star ILBs? Amazingly loaded and the only complaint is that multiple ILBs means the pass rushing DTs might be a little less effective A K C Tyler Hill is pretty good for next season. Behind him Salassi is actually pretty bad so maybe they get a better kicker. 0 Didn't sign any. Not sold on Salassi tbh - OG C+ They lose some good players. Gerson Cunningham is one assumed starter as a B overall (So). The other options are... not great. A bunch of C/C+ 3-star underclassmen. They should be solid eventually though. 0 I'm going to project the lineman athlete Darrell Wilcox as an OG because he fits in SO well here. A B overall already he again could very well be an instant 4-year starter and significantly boost this position group. B/B+ OLB C Kind of FBS average here. 3 3-star Juniors, all C+ overalls. I don't think any of them are gonna be great, but like.. they're serviceable I guess. In the future Chad Smith is probably the answer as a 4 star from last years cycle. They definitely need another guy at that caliber at some point though 1 Frank Fennel is a good player. 3CB is not sneer worthy but he doesn't really raise the profile of the room. Looks like they are leaning into the heavy pass rush defense though. C OT B+ Curtis Tracy is a VERY good player. an A overall he's still got one more year as an elite LT. On the opposite side of the line is probably another 4-star pass blocker. (Fr) Ronald Peterson looks like he's heading for a few years of starting, although the backup situation is, again, a bunch of freshman 3-stars. Overall, not too bad, but I don't see a replacement for Tracy on the roster anywhere. 2 Ok this is a pretty dang good class. TWO B overall 4-stars with Tomlinson and Bleth, the overall talent in this room is significantly increased which is really impressive. They are both run blockers too so a small schematic shift to the outside run in the future I suppose A- P C+ Matthews will be a good senior punter, Wolfson is a freshman 3-star to eventually take over. 0 Didn't sign any - QB C+/B- Kyle Ham is pretty much the only guy in this room. Good news is he's a pretty good prospect as a former elite 11 invitee field general. Very smart, but not the best arm quite yet. Nobody else in the pipeline 0 I assume the hope is that 4 star field general Douglas Williams is an actual QB instead of an ILB but it remains to be seen how well those types of athletes do. He didn't make top-20 for elite 11 which is worrying, but if he's bad they do still have another year to recruit a future starter at QB C+ RB B- Well, it had to happen eventually. Vontae Knebel is graduating. What will this do to the Stanford offense? Who knows. However, the future is bright with B overall Edgar Guo from last years class looking like he could step in and do his best imitation. Watkins is also a good change up player. 1 Ard is a pretty average 3-star but they didn't need a homerun after getting Edgar last year. Not much to say, Ard hopefully won't be a big player ever C SS B- Logan Jordan is a pretty solid looking B overall (So) who can be a multi year starter. Grant is also a fine 3-star backup. They have a consistent zone coverage safety squad too. 0 Didn't sign any but I can assume Barrios, the blue chip bandit athlete, is intended to play here. He is a good player for sure and slides in as they don't have any amazing young players coming up so this fits. Again, I'm really unclear on how well athletes replace positional players and Stanford took a lot of athletes in this class C+/B- TE B+ Franco is an A- receiving archetype blue chip with one more year left. Bit of a steep drop off behind him with a couple C+ juniors and C freshmen. That's kind of expected for the youth though and they're a fairly promising group 1 WHEW, one of the best players in this entire year. Miller is a receiving weapon, 5-stars, with A+ potential which is really rare to pair with the 5 star overall pedigree. I think this guy could be the answer when teams key in on the run game in the future. A+ WR B- Vigil and Bennett take over as (Fr) who are the blue chips in the room (along with last years Walter Gordon). To be honest, this is a really young starting group but that means very high hopes for future progressions and very strong upperclassmen in a few years time. 2 Meh, Coker and Thompson are extremely average WRs. Not a huge deal due to the players and youth they already have. Although maybe Frost (4CD return specialist) ends up in this room. Makes it a little better, but again I kinda like the seeds that are already here C+ The more I looked at this roster the more I went "meh" about the immediate future. But I also went "hmm nice" about the prospects for the future. They have a LOT of quality depth options who aren't really set up to do things in the next year (maybe 2) but will turn into extremely good players and a very well balanced roster down the line. I think those classes also enabled this cycle to aim a bit higher and they got some really exciting pieces for the future with a cohesive identity. Bullish on the Cardinal Class Grade: B+/A- West Virginia University Big 12 Conference 2024: 11-3 (7-2) Recruiting Class Basics: WVU signed 1 5-star, 7 4-stars, 9 3-stars, and 7 2-stars. They signed 10 players with B or better potentials and 5 B overalls. Rankings below: ESPN: 15th Rivals: 9th 247: 8th Composite: 6th Signees below: School Name Stars Ovr Pot Pos Archetype City State WVU Jack Goldstein 3 C B+ ATH Slotback Arlington TX WVU Tod Augustine 2 C B ATH Lineman Franklinton MS WVU George Trevino 2 C B- ATH Wingback Blairsville GA WVU Kurt Merckx 2 C C ATH Weakside Dinuba CA WVU Joshua Baldwin 2 D C ATH Soccer Player Vivian LA WVU Jason Gordon 3 C C C Pass Blocking Medina OH WVU Eric Phillips 4 C C+ CB Zone Coverage Crowley LA WVU Benjamin Wert 3 C B- CB Zone Coverage Liberty Center OH WVU Luis Alvarez 3 C C+ DT Nose Tackle Charlotte NC WVU Paul Burkes 4 B C+ FS Zone Coverage Boonton NJ WVU Scott Nathanson 4 C C+ ILB Run Stopper Granite City IL WVU Brian Frangione 3 C B+ OLB Pass Rush Van Wert OH WVU Walter Zamarripa 3 C C+ OLB Run Stopper Baker LA WVU Donald Thompson 4 B B OT Pass Blocking Port St. Lucie FL WVU Scott Velocci 3 C B P Accuracy Albany GA WVU Wilson Winston 4 C C QB Pocket Greenville MS WVU Gregory Moore 4 B B RB Receiving Minnetonka MN WVU Roderick Cruz 2 D B+ RB Balanced Peoria AZ WVU Harold Gilbert 2 D A- SS Ball Hawk Canton GA WVU Geordi LaForge 5 B B+ WR Route Runner Morgantown WV WVU Graham Schow 4 B C WR Speed Roanoke VA WVU Russ Ward 3 C C- WR Speed Richwood WV WVU Jose Barrientos 3 C A WR Speed Williamston MI WVU Peter Foster 2 C C+ WR Speed Oakley CA Below is a breakdown position-by-position of (from L-R) their current roster, what they did on the trail, and the grade I gave them in recruiting that position. Position Current position grade Current status Number signed Recruiting status C C A pretty mid setup here. A B- rising (Sr) is the best guy in the room and I don't *love* the replacements. Last year they signed Feaster, a 3 star CC kind of guy. Very average group here for the FBS level. Esteves is the other 3 star who at least has B potential and is pass blocking 1 Same thing this cycle. Gordon is a 3 star but he does have a C potential and is pass blocking. I know good centers are hard to get but this just doesn't wow me especially with their other players here C CB B+ Andre Bell might have been the best player in the genned 2020 class and he's back as a high A overall for one more year. They also signed a really good pair of B overalls as (FR) who will be elite for a while. Good depth too. All around good room here with the only issue that Andre is probably going to have to play a zone scheme as that's what the defense seems to be trending towards 2 Yeah another pair of zone guys. Phillips is the better pickup as a 4CC guy, but they're both solid options. Room has enough depth that they shouldn't start for a while and now have the luxury of recruiting how they want here with no glaring pressure C+ DE B- They have a trio of B overalls from 3 successive classes including 2 4-stars so the starting talent should be plenty good to be competitive (if not elite). They did drop the ball a bit last cycle with only 2 D overalls so they probably need to bounce back with someone. 0 I'm surprised by this omission, seemed like an important position to go after this cycle. Now, you can make the argument that Kurt Merckz (misspelled Karl Marx brother) as a weakside athlete could be a DE, but he's a 2CC so he's not very impactful either. Might be a priority for them next cycle C- DT A- Now this is a very good room. Riley Jennings might be their best signed player from the 2021 class as an A- (So) already, here for another few years as well. Next to him they have Givens Williams (B+ (Jr)) and then malik Redmon to take his place later, plus another few B- guys. Probably best room on their roster? 1 Not sure about this guy. Luis Alvarez is a random 3CC+ but he's also a nose tackle. I guess I see the vision where they recruited nose tackles last cycle too, but I'm surprised because I don't think they have the ILBs to be transitioning to a 3-4. Guess we'll see C FB C They have a random 3 star rising junior, fine I guess 0 Didn't sign any - FS B Ryan Davis had the spot but he's graduating. They are DEEP at this position, and I suspect they'll move one of the FS to play SS next season. Anyway, it looks like it'll be a battle between 2021 4-star Kelvin Gurley (Run Stopper) and (Fr) 4-star Justin Hesse (zone coverage). Both are B overalls and should be capable. They have another pair of B- backups. Nice spot to be in overall 1 Wow, yet another entry into the ring. Paul Burkes is one of their B overall signees (zone coverage 4-star) so he's one of those 5 solid startable FS. But Again, Hesse is gonna be tough to unseat with a 2 year head start. I *think* Hesse will go be the starting SS and Burkes is the presumed guy after Gurley leaves? That would work out pretty well B ILB C+ Like I mentioned, they seem to want to become a 3-4 team. They have 3 potential startable players, but none of them are really stars. L.J. Condo is a B- junior, Cole Snell is a C+ (So) and their only blue chip is last years field general still a C+. So Arostegui will eventually be good, but for next year this room will not be a strength for the team 1 Nathanson is another blue chip ILB which is good! He's not really going to shake up the room but he makes it plausible for a 3-4 to happen. They might want a pair of players next year though to bolster quality numbers B- K C They had two B- senior kickers. Mike Moore got the surprise senior year redshirt and will start next season. Harry Hacker is the unfortunately named 3-star signee from last year who is going to be the future kicker. Perfectly fine room 0 Didn't sign any - OG B- They do have some good young talent in this room. Gosewisch is (unsurprisingly from Wisconsin) a big man pass blocker who was a B+ and has one season left in him. On the otherside they have a pair of B overall freshmen pass blockers to battle. They've got another B- depth option, so overall it's plenty good of a room for them 0 Didn't sign any. Surprising because I think you should always take at least 1 OG in every cycle for balanced numbers. I suppose you could argue that Tod Augustine is a lineman athlete who could fit here, but a 2 star doesn't seem that great for a team in ascension like WVU C- OLB C+/B- They have a lot of OLBs, but not a lot of them are super great right now. Mike Johnson and Kareem Sierra are B/B- (So)/Jr from 2021. Both pass rushers, they're going to be a nice tandem but not all-conference, just generally solid players. They have a couple other pass rushers on the roster, but everyone else is still a C overall and Timothy Wilson is last years blue chip future starter 2 They signed another pair of 3 stars here, Frangione looks better with the B+ potential and pass rushing ability. I think they could turn into something good but at the moment are in wait and see mode to see if they can beat any of the other recent signees C/C+ OT C They lose their two B+ starters which is a pretty significant loss. They do have 4 B- options at replacement though. Oscar Ray was a true freshman 4-star who is their brightest star, and then they have a pair of 3 star (So) and Nick Collins, the (Jr) who tentatively has the highest overall. Should be interesting to see who wins this and it'll be one of the top spring battles to watch 1 They've had some big recent classes so numbers weren't a concern here. Donald Thompson is a QUALITY pickup though. 4BB pass blocker is definitely someone to be excited about and I'm very curious how he'll slot into this upcoming position battle. Could be someone who starts earlier than expected? Or waits for a few years, we'll see B/B+ P C They have a single punter, Greathouse is a So 3-star A potential C overall guy. I guess he's fine. Sign one next cycle for his future replacement I guess 1 This year works too. Velocci is another 3 star punter who is injury insurance and should be fine when it's his turn C QB B+ Dzanan Reid exploded this season and is going to be one of the top quarterbacks in the conference (maybe the country) next season. I'm very high on him and he's only going to be a (Jr). With that said, if he has another year like this he might leave after that season so it's worth looking at the rest of the room. As of now I don't see the next guy in line behind Reid on the roster, just a pack of random 3-star C overalls. This year, at latest next year, they need to find someone to start grooming 1 Wilson Winston is a 4CC Pocket guy. That's definitely better than everybody else in the room besides Reid. However he did not make the top-20 for the Elite 11 competition this year so there's a lot of room to recruit over him. Fine backup / emergency guy though C+ RB B+ Dolis and converted QB Guzman were REALLY good players and it stings to lose them. However, I'm actually really high on Michael March-Lillard (not MLM thankfully). I think he's a top-5 back from the 2021 class and is going to be capable of putting up some big numbers. Marimon will be a good complement next to him, although beyond those 2 nobody moves the needle for me 2 Gregory Moore is REALLY good. I don't think he's MML level but he's a 4BB receiving option who's going to pretty seamlessly take over in 2027 as a high end starter. They also took Roderick Cruz and George Trevino / Jack Goldstein who are all kinda mediocre 2-stars and won't really play here B+ SS A- Dante Smith is going to be a 5th year senior and since he was already an A- this year he'll be one of the best players on the entire defense coming up as a run stopper. They are a little thin behind him with only a pair of freshmen 3-stars. Important to get some higher end players soon I think 1 Harold Gilbert ain't that. A- potential sure, but D overall? He ain't starting. Drop off incoming when Dante leaves I think D+ TE B I feel like I fought for Juan Corral at some point? He's going to be good, a blue chip B potential guy. Ahead of him is B- (Jr) Anthony Jackson, and those 2 are as good a pair as you can expect at tight end. Behind them is last years signee, a 4 star vertical threat with B+ potential (from in state!) who's taking a redshirt this season 0 Didn't sign any - WR C+ They had some elite WR play to help Reid this year, particularly Purcell. But their top 3 WRs are all graduating leaving them with Murray (B- (So)) and last years blue chip B overall Bundick as the only good players rostered. Need some quality depth 5 DAMN, 5 signees including the first ever 5-star for the Mountaineers.LaForge is a really nice pickup growing up in Morgantown and is likely an instant starter and future offensive focal point. Don't let that overshadow the others though, as they are all track stars. Barrientos has a nice 3 star A potential, and the other big fish is Graham Schow, a B overall who also could see some early playing time A WVU also signed some athletes, I mostly mentioned them but they could have slightly different plans. None of them are that good though so I didn't worry about it too much. To be honest, this is a bit of a harsh grading, I know they've made some big turnarounds on the field and getting to the playoff quarterfinals means more scrutiny, and lots of this roster aren't really at that level. Their recruits are definitely getting better, I think they got some big fish here, but when you look across the board this really isn't a top-10 roster and probably won't be imminently which puts a lot of onus on cohesion and coaching (which tbf have been very very good so far). Still, take this as an indication of how quickly the level of play and expectations are rising in Morgantown Class Grade: B A little something new. Cheat sheet to see the last 3 cycle class grades School 2022 Grade 2023 Grade 2024 Grade Western Michigan B- B+ B+ Georgia B B- B/B+ Stanford - B B+/A- West Virginia C+ C+/B- B

Now we jump to the other side and look at the fearsome Baylor offense against the Tennessee defense. This is a much more complex matchup than the reverse was, and is way more up in the air about what could happen. Baylor Offense QB Well, let’s start with the big fish. (Sr) QB Travis Knebel is worthy of every superlative label you can give him. A+ basically everywhere, I would bet money he comes out for the draft this year with the highest overall of any prospect ever and goes 1st overall to the Cards. He won the Heisman this year despite barely playing half of the season with how many blowouts there were. Due to that he doesn’t have quite as gaudy stats, but still went over 70% completion with 3000 yards, 27 TDs, 6 INTs, and only 4 sacks. He also adds a ton of value on the ground with over 2000 rushing yards and 22 TDs. His ability to operate the option game is unparalleled and he’s too slippery to catch in the pocket. How do you gameplan against somebody who can hurt you so many ways? Grade: 5/5 RB The Baylor RB room is actually kind of crazy. They have an A- (Sr) receiving AND A- balanced RBs who could be high end D1 starters and have over 5 YPC, but are overshadowed by Speed back (Jr) Hinojosa who has unparalleled breakaway ability. Knebel and Hino have almost the same number of carries (250) and the RB averages 7.6 YPC with 27 rushing TDs. This is a loaded room that’s amazing at pretty much everything. I assume Hinojosa will be the number 1 option on the entire team next season too. Grade: 4.75/5 WR We’ve talked about the running game as the center, but the WRs are pretty damn good themselves. At the top of the list are the 2 A overalls: Mozgov and Prochnow. Both have about 100 catches, but Prochnow’s speed let him turn that into 1900 yards / 19 TD vs. Mozgov’s 1000/10. Behind that they have a few B+/A- level pass catchers, but nobody else gets more than 20 yards per game, it’s very much a 2-player type of room. Those two are damn good though Grade: 4.5/5 TE Jonathan Burke is pretty good, a B+ receiving threat, but Knebel doesn’t seem to target him much and he only has 13 catches on the year. A pretty minor player in their offense. Grade: 3/5 OL This is a kind of lopsided room. Their tackles are an A- pass blocker and A- balanced player, and neither are particularly great at run blocking. The RG, John Raymond (the only offensive starter with Prochnow to not be from the 2019/2020 genned classes) is an A pass blocker with D run blocking, which is a bit odd considering what the offense is geared around. However, the LG and C combo is very good. Armstead has B+ run blocking at guard and Watkins is a true A center with A+ strength and A+ run blocking. It’s clear that running interior left has the most beef, and Baylor knows it considering the overwhelming majority of their runs are behind that pair. Additionally, those 2 have 22 combined pancakes compared to 10 by the rest of the OL combined. Overall the OL is less good than I expected, but the skill players are so good that it’s been ok. Grade: 3/5 Tennessee defense DL This is probably the strength of Tennessee’s defense. They convinced a pair of good DEs to return for a (Sr) year, Cano is an A overall speed rusher with A’s across the board and is probably the best defensive player on the team. On the other side we’ve seen a pretty even split between (Sr) Mike Anderson, a balanced B+ player, and (Fr) 5-star Roger London. London is the better pass rusher and gets the star against air raid teams, but Anderson has better run defense and is playing against Baylor. At DT there is a set of 3 players rotating. DE Doug Dimmadome Jr. actually rotates in and plays here, as he is just flat out more skilled than everyone else, even with the out of position penalty. The other spot rotates a bit between (Fr) 5-star Ernesto Moran and (So) nose tackle Jonathan Sowell. All of them have been phenomenally productive with the 5 “starters” racking up a cumulative 89 TFL and 57 sacks which would be a top-20 team production by themselves despite only 1 of them being better than a B+ Grade: 4.25/5 LB And immediately behind them is the weakness of the defense. Two Bs and a B+ at LB, 2x coverage and 1x speed. The ratings are fairly middling, and the production is as well. Adames in the middle has 17 TFLs and 2 safeties which is fun, but overall this unit is just average, and a bit prone to being attacked (compared to the rest of the defense). Most worrisome is that they are all pass defense focused and are really bog standard players against the run, giving up a LOT of yardage on the year. Concerning when playing Baylor. Grade: 2.75/5 CB The corner room is very young. At the top you have B+ Senior Ben Jordan who can’t quite handle most teams WR1s, and then behind him are a slew of underclassmen Bs who have good coverage grades but are not stellar athletes. Jordan and Gsellman have combined for 10 INTs and 18 Pass Deflections so they aren’t terrible, but they can definitely get burned by a good passing attack. Grade: 3/5 Safeties The safety room in contrast is much better, and is a huge part of why the Tennessee defense isn’t picked apart through the air. Matt Richardson is an A overall ball hawk and should see his name called pretty early in next years draft. He doesn’t show up much in the stat sheet but does most of the dirty work in providing double coverages and support roles. On the other side is underappreciated Jawun Burfict. An A- player, he has A+ man coverage skills and A speed, the two most important attributes and is absolutely the guy who stops receivers from getting over the top of the defense. This combination results in a good bend don’t break defense where opposing teams get a fair bit of yardage but have a hard time landing explosive plays that result in points. Grade: 4/5 Overall Philosophies: Baylor offense: It’s actually much harder for me to pin down exactly what Baylor’s offensive identity is. Obviously it all revolves around Travis, but they don’t have many true bread and butter plays besides the inside run (which they call a lot). They seem happy to throw the kitchen sink with a wide array of option plays, RPOs, the inside runs, and then a smattering of play action and long ball shots. With that kind of variety it’s really hard to decide what to defend against and they seem happy to hammer you on whatever you’re giving up. A nightmare to gameplan for and a big part of why they’re 15-0 right now going for a national championship. I actually don’t know what to predict them doing (probably a little bit of everything). Tennessee Defense: Tennessee has been the epitome of bend don’t break. The 19th best defense in PPG allowed while being 77th in yardage allowed really speaks to that. In the bottom 25 for passing yards allowed, and middle of the road against the run leaves you wondering what they *are* good at. But that is havoc plays and drive enders. They seem content to let you get a first down and then pull a big sack or TFL and then 1 incompletion and boom, empty yardage with no points. In fact they’re the 3rd best team at causing both of those, with 5 sacks and 5 non-sack TFLs per game. They will definitely need those havoc plays against Baylor to stand a chance. A lot of teams seem to have tried to shut down Baylor’s passing attack, and some have been successful but it didn’t stop that offense. We went the opposite direction, against every formation we are playing 100% run defense and blitzing aggressively with the goal of creating those havoc plays and forcing Knebel to get out of his comfort zone and play a more aerial game. Will it be successful? Probably not, but we just have to stop a few drives and hope the offense can live up to our expectations to win a shoot out. Final Tally BAYL BAYL score TENN TENN Score OL 3 DL 4.25 RB 4.75 LB 2.75 TE 3 WR 4.5 CB 3 QB 5 S 4 Total 20.25/25 (4.05/5) Total 14/20 (3.5/5) Prediction: Baylor does almost anything they want… most of the time. They take a few disrupted drives and settle for a few FGs more than they like and end up scoring 44 points. Not a great defensive performance, but perfectly possible for the offense to top. Sadly defensive gameplans are now unavailable for viewing so can’t share that.

Do you remember your formations used or blitz percentages?

Drop your predictions for points / yardage Tennessee will get! Bonus for sacks and turnovers guessed. closest answer jumps the line for class grades

Here we go, the meat and potatoes posts coming in. A little birdy told me the game has run and result is finalized. Scroll to the end to see the actual gameplan used. Tennessee Offense vs. Baylor defense Alright, time to take a look at the most explosive matchups first. A little run down of the position groupings, strategies, gameplans, and how the teams matchup when the Volunteers have the ball. Tennessee Offense QB It all starts with the QB. Brandon Savage won the Heisman last year and finished 2nd this year. He’s a monster who’s thrown 69 TD and only 3 INTs this season to go with his ~7500 yards in 15 games on 70% completion percentage. If those numbers don’t scare the opposing defense I don’t know what will. Landrum and Knebel are the only guys in college football in the same stratosphere of ability right now. Score: 5/5 RB This is a much less heralded group. The only guy who really gets starter duty is Joe Williams, another class of 2021 recruit who’s currently the highest overall RB from that class. While he may not hear his name often, he has pretty solid production when he does get carries. 15 TDs, 800 yards on 137 carries for a 5.86 rushing average projects to about a 15 carry, 65 yard game if he plays the whole game (he often doesn’t). His real strength though is his receiving skills. He has a 73% catch rate for 943 yards AND an additional 13 TDs. He’s phenomenal at picking up first downs and has a nose for the endzone. Score: 4/5 WR The divas and ballers of the team. Hayes Edwards is projected by some as a first round pick in this draft, and has an 80% catch rate for > 2000 yards and 23 TDs. He’s popped off big time in a number of big situations and is one of very, VERY few WRs to have back to back 2k yard seasons. At the WR2 slot is possession 2021 recruit Alex Smith-Schuster (ASS). Not very ass though, with 1284 yards on 100 targets (although not so many TDs). The big name is at WR3. True freshman BJ Flash might just be the fastest player in the entire recruiting class of 2023. He exploded onto the scene this year hitting 2500 yards and too many bombs to count. He does need Savage’s ball placement though, as he is truly abysmal when Koch is throwing to him. He mostly sticks at the WR3 spot so he doesn’t need the finer points of route running, just to run fast and dust the safeties that usually get put on him. Eric Barnhart is the big body short yardage senior threat to round out the usual starters. Score: 4.5/5 TE Tennessee usually only runs a TE out on the field about 30% of plays. That WR is usually Kendrick Mateo, who’s not very active in pass catching, but has A+ pass and run blocking which is a key for this game. TE2 has Audry Black, a senior FB. Again, he may be playing out of position but he has great blocking abilities and really just serves as a jumbo OL when in the game. Score: 3/5 OL The biggest weak spot. There aren’t any *terrible* players, but not really great ones either. At tackles you have Lazard and Hernandez, who are B+ pass blocker attribute guys, and have B/B+ in pass blocking with average grades on the rest of their attributes. OG is a little weaker. JJ Bolt is a balanced B+ senior with B-/C+ pass/run blocking grades which is pretty meh but startable. On the other side we have Crosby, a red shirt freshman who is horrible at everything *except* pass blocking, which he has a B in. All he can do is serviceable pass pro and is definitely the weak spot, but there are no better options. C has been a back and forth battle between Sophomore Morrow and senior OG Dare Bazata. Despite playing out of position and Morrow getting the starts against WVU/ND, Bazata was picked to start this game as he offers slightly higher upside in pass pro (B) even with the out of position penalty. So L-R in terms of overall: B+, B+, B+, B-, B+ and in terms of pass pro: B, B-, B, B, B+. Very average all around for a team in the natty and definitely the achilles heel of this offense. Surprisingly when they’re healthy they’ve kept Savage upright pretty well. In 13 games with all starters playing, Savage took 20 sacks on 550 attempts (about 1 per 27 dropbacks). Quite a good ratio! Of course in the two games where Hernandez was injured Savage was sacked 35 times on 120 dropbacks which is… very not good (those were also the only 2 games this season Tennessee did not win by 21 or more). Fingers crossed the guys stay healthy Score: 2.75/5 Baylor Defense Ok now it’s time to talk about the Baylor defensive personnel front to back DL On paper this is an ELITE defensive line, on par with the best in the country. Baylor is playing run stopper Darrell Sadler at one DE position (A overall, A+ run defense) and Balanced Zach Lundblade at the other (A overall, A in pretty much everything). These guys absolutely shut down the outside run game for almost everyone they play (allowing 3.8 ypc on the season), 29.5 TFL. The only thing they might be slightly weak at is pass rushing. They still have 17 sacks between them, but the pass rush grades are B and B+. Up the middle at DT, it’s the same story. Pass rusher Mike Gallman gets the start (A overall, A’s all over) with 11 TFL and only 3 sacks on the season. Seems to be a bit of a blocker clogger hm. At the other DT spot (I assume this is a recent development and not all season) is… DE Darrell Sadler again! Baylor figured out a way to get their best A overall DL on the field twice and he shows all A and A+s at DT which is a scary proposition. So there we have it, 4 A overall DL, slightly skewed towards stopping the run. Terrifying. Silver lining is that the run defense is almost immaterial against Tennessee Score: 4.75/5 LB Linebacker is another very strong position group. They’ve got Coverage – Coverage – Pass rush archetypes with Carter, Cole, Connor from L-R. Carter is a B+ and just good at everything (but great at coverage). Cole is a 5-star junior who is even better at everything (A+ coverage, B+/A- everywhere else). Connor is the “weak” link here as a B+ who is really only great at agility and pass rushing and average elsewhere (and does not get the scheme fit bonus the other two do). Overall this is actually a group well positioned to stop Tennessee and they’ve cleaned up this season Score: 4/5 CB Now we finally get to the first actually soft position group on this team. Bonifacio is an A overall CB1, but he’s more of an athlete as he only has B+ coverage skills. Behind him are some guys who just aren’t quite ready for superstar limelight. Eckmann and Villasenor are both redshirt freshmen who sport Cs and Ds across the board for attributes. This is the bright red Death Star exhaust port for the team and they have had games of giving up a TON of yardage. The whole defense centers around preventing these two from being exposed too badly honestly. Score: 2/5 S Safeties are a little bit better, but not by much, and can’t make up for the CB skill. Jabari Williams is the ball hawk FS A- overall who looks good on paper, but all year has 0 pass deflections and only 1 INT despite his A+ catching abilities. A bit of a letdown. At SS is Brusules, another (Fr) B overall who is not very good at anything but does have a B man coverage grade. These are not great mistake erasers, and Baylor better hope Brusules isn’t getting sent to match up with Flash 1 on 1. Score: 2.25/5 Overall Philosophies: Tennessee offense: It’s no secret, this is an air raid team that wants to leverage Savage’s arm and the WRs as much as possible. Joe Will is good, but the OL can’t run block. Most of the year has seen Joe get just enough carries to try and stop defenses from totally keying in on the pass, but the engine for this team is the long ball. In this particular game, there’s no need to set anything up for the future. The run percentages have been dropped to near 0 and basically every play is going to be a long pass, or a screen / quick pass to beat the expected heavy blitzing. With how good the linebackers are and how weak the secondary is, the short pass and TE/RB focus have been cut and there's no point to play action when we don't expect Baylor to play any run defense. The only wrinkle is Tennessee did try and add a lot more TE formations to get those A+ blockers on the field and buy Savage just a hair more time to find an open receiver. Baylor Defense: On the flip side, I think Baylor knows exactly what their path to slowing down the offense will be (there’s no way for them to stop it entirely with that secondary). They HAVE to get to the QB FAST. Last week against Tulsa they blitzed as much as possible and picked up 17(!) sacks to hold them to 28 points despite allowing 701 offensive yards. That’s pretty much going to be assumed to be their gameplan here as well. Blitz as much as possible, as heavy as possible, and try to get lucky enough to stop a few drives that way, or at least only allow FGs. They gave perfunctory service to playing run defense, but I’d be surprised if they even do that much in this game. Baylor really only wins this if they get 10+ sacks in my opinion so the OL/DL battle is worth everything, but they have shown they are capable of rising to that level. Final matchup tally TENN TENN Score BAYL BAYL Score OL 2.75 DL 4.75 RB 4 LB 4 TE 3 WR 4.5 CB 2 QB 5 S 2.25 Total 19.25/25 (3.85/5) Total 13/20 (3.25/5) Prediction: Tennessee throws for 600+ yards, only scores 37 points. Also here’s my gameplan that I set on offense (@vivid you can drop your defensive one in the comments, I expect to see total pass focus + amped up aggressive blitzing along with a long pass defensive focus). Not much I could do to counter that though except bump up the percentage of TE play (Probably could have done that even more tbh)

"The Outside Looking In: Fans, Experts, and Former Players Weigh In on the National Championship" Introduction: The Hype That Launched a Thousand Tweets As the national championship game between Baylor and Tennessee approaches, the entire college football world is holding its breath. This isn’t just a battle for the title—it’s a cultural event, a social media circus, and, depending on who you ask, the most important day of the year (including Christmas). Fans are already planning their Monday excuses, analysts are working overtime to find new angles, and former players are getting nostalgic about their own glory days. In short, this game is bigger than big, and everyone has an opinion—whether you asked for it or not. Section 1: Fan Frenzy—Where Passion Meets Hyperbole Tailgate Traditions: Where BBQ Meets Theology In Waco, Baylor fans are treating the national championship like a religious experience—quite literally in some cases. The tailgates are sprawling affairs, with grills working overtime and the scent of smoked meat wafting through the air like an offering to the football gods. One group of fans has set up a “Knebel Shrine,” complete with candles, photos of past victories, and what might be the world’s first brisket sculpture of a quarterback mid-scramble. “We’re just asking for divine protection from Tennessee’s pass rush,” one fan says with a straight face as he lights another candle. Not to be outdone, Tennessee fans in Knoxville have turned their tailgates into something akin to a carnival—if that carnival were entirely dedicated to the art of the deep ball. “The Vol Walk” is more packed than ever, with fans lining the streets to cheer on their team. Some are holding signs that read, “In Savage We Trust,” while others are handing out miniature footballs with Savage’s stats printed on them, as if the numbers themselves might ward off any defensive misfortune. The BBQ is, of course, omnipresent, and if you can’t find a conversation about how Savage is going to torch Baylor’s secondary, you’re probably in the wrong place. Social Media Buzz: The Great Hashtag Armageddon Twitter is, unsurprisingly, a war zone. On one side, you have the Baylor faithful, rallying under the banner of #KnebelKrusade. One particularly viral tweet features a slow-motion clip of Travis Knebel breaking a tackle, accompanied by the caption, “When life tries to bring you down, but you’ve got Knebel legs.” The GIF is already approaching meme status, with fans using it for everything from dodging work to avoiding in-laws. Tennessee fans, not to be outdone, have embraced #SavageMode with a fervor that borders on obsessive. One fan posted a video of themselves throwing a football through a tire, with the caption, “If I can hit this, imagine what Savage will do to Baylor’s secondary.” The comment section quickly devolved into a debate over whether Savage could throw a ball through a car window from 50 yards, with the consensus being, “Of course he can, but why risk it when he can just throw it over the car?” Fan Predictions: The Oracle of Overconfidence If you venture into the online fan forums, be prepared for a level of confidence that only comes from a season of unchallenged success—or willful ignorance. On Baylor’s forums, one fan, SicEmBear91, predicts, “Knebel’s going to break his own rushing record in the first quarter. By halftime, Tennessee’s linebackers will be petitioning to switch to offense just to get away from him.” Another fan, BearWithMe, confidently asserts, “Savage might throw for 400 yards, but it’ll be from behind because Baylor’s going to be up by 30 by the time he gets going.” Over in Tennessee’s corner of the internet, the predictions are just as bold, if not more so. VolFanatic declares, “Savage is going to throw so many touchdown passes, they’ll have to change the scoreboard to keep up. Baylor’s defense? More like Baylor’s ‘just stand there and watch’ crew.” Another fan, RockyTopHero, writes, “Knebel’s going to wish he stayed in Waco when he meets our D-line. By the second half, Baylor’s playbook is just going to be ‘try not to cry, cry a lot.’” Section 2: Expert Opinions—The Art of Overanalysis Coaches’ Perspectives: The Strategic Chess Match Former coaches are having a field day breaking down this game, each trying to outdo the other with metaphors that might make a poet cringe. Mark Reynolds, who spent years in the trenches (both figuratively and literally), sees the game as a battle of wills. “Baylor’s going to come out swinging with Knebel’s legs as their biggest weapon. He’s not just a quarterback—he’s their whole ground game, and Tennessee’s defense is going to feel like they’re chasing a rabbit in a cornfield,” Reynolds explains, clearly enjoying his own analogy. “But don’t sleep on Tennessee. Savage is the kind of quarterback who makes defensive backs reconsider their career choices. If Baylor can’t lock down his receivers, it’s going to be a very long night.” Analysts’ Predictions: The Numbers Game Analysts are digging deep into their data troves, but the consensus is clear: this game is a statistical anomaly waiting to happen. Todd McShay, the resident guru of all things predictive, points to the importance of the trenches. “Tennessee’s offensive line has to keep Savage upright. If Baylor’s front seven gets any pressure, we could see a lot of Savage’s passes ending up in the hands of the guy in row five,” McShay quips, referencing Tennessee’s sometimes shaky protection. “On the flip side, Baylor’s secondary is going to be tested like never before. If they can’t keep up, we’re looking at a track meet where the finish line is the end zone.” Kirk Herbstreit, always the voice of reason, takes a broader view. “This isn’t just about who scores more—it’s about who controls the tempo. Baylor’s going to want to slow things down, chew up the clock, and keep Savage on the sidelines. Tennessee, meanwhile, will try to speed things up, turn this into a game of quick strikes and big plays. The first team to impose their will is probably going to come out on top, but it’s anyone’s guess who that’ll be.” Former Players’ Insights: The Ghosts of Championships Past Former players, who’ve been through the grind of championship week, are more than happy to share their wisdom. Jake Walker, a former Alabama quarterback who knows a thing or two about pressure, offers a bit of a reality check. “Look, both of these quarterbacks are studs. Knebel’s got legs that won’t quit, and Savage has an arm like a howitzer. But the real test is mental. When the crowd’s roaring, the clock’s ticking down, and everything’s on the line, who’s going to keep their cool? My money’s on the guy who’s been through the fire before, and both of these guys have.” Then there’s DeMarco Jones, a former linebacker with a reputation for telling it like it is. “Tennessee’s defense better have had a cardio day every day this week, because Knebel’s going to make them chase him all over the field. If they’re not careful, they’ll be gasping for air by the third quarter,” Jones says with a wry smile. “And Baylor? They’d better pray that Savage doesn’t find his rhythm early, or they’ll be playing catch-up the whole game. This one’s going to be a slugfest—just the way we like it.” Conclusion: The Calm Before the Storm As the national championship game approaches, the anticipation, anxiety, and borderline hysteria surrounding Baylor vs. Tennessee only grow more intense. The fans are ready, the experts have spoken, and the former players have dished out their advice. But as anyone who’s ever watched a football game knows, all the predictions, analysis, and Twitter wars in the world won’t mean a thing once the ball is kicked off. Both Baylor and Tennessee have had seasons that would make any team envious, and now it all comes down to one final game. Will Baylor’s ground assault, led by the human joystick that is Travis Knebel, run Tennessee ragged? Or will Brandon Savage’s air raid leave Baylor scrambling to keep up? The only thing that’s certain is that this game will be remembered for years—whether it’s for the right reasons depends on who you ask. In the end, the national championship isn’t just about the title—it’s about the stories, the players, and the fans who make college football the spectacle that it is. So as we count down the minutes to kickoff, just remember: the real victory is surviving the emotional rollercoaster that is college football fandom. And if your team doesn’t win? Well, there’s always next year—or at least some really good memes. Who will emerge victorious? That’s the billion-dollar question. But one thing’s for sure: this game is going to be one for the ages, whether it ends in a blowout, a last-second Hail Mary, or something in between. Forums: Where Logic Goes to Die (and Come Back a Hero) BearDown247: "Here’s the thing—Savage is overrated. Baylor’s defense is going to eat him alive, and Knebel’s going to make him look like a chump. We’re talking 300 yards on the ground EASY. Tennessee’s toast. 🥖" VolsRule93: "Baylor’s been coasting all season. Their ‘defense’ is about to meet the best QB in college football, and it’s going to be a massacre. Savage is throwing for 6 TDs minimum. Hold my beer. 🍺" GridironGuru: "People keep sleeping on Tennessee’s defense. They’re not world-beaters, but they’re good enough to keep Knebel in check. Baylor’s offense is going to be shocked when they hit that orange wall. 🍊" SicEmOrElse: "Savage is a product of a weak schedule. Baylor’s going to bring him back to reality. Knebel is the REAL Heisman—just watch. We’re winning this by double digits. 📈" Pundit Pulpits: Where Opinions Are Loud and Certainty Is Optional Todd McShay: "Tennessee is favored, but if you ask me, Baylor’s going to surprise a lot of people. Knebel’s mobility is a game-changer, and Tennessee’s defense hasn’t seen anything like him all season. 🏃‍♂️💨" Paul Finebaum: "Baylor’s secondary has holes you could drive a truck through. Savage is going to have a field day. Mark my words—this game won’t be close. Tennessee by 14. 🗣️" Kirk Herbstreit: "Everyone’s talking about Savage vs. Knebel, but the real story is the line of scrimmage. Whoever wins in the trenches is taking home the trophy. This one’s going to be closer than people think. 💥" Desmond Howard: "Hot take: Tennessee’s offense is overrated. Baylor’s going to dominate time of possession and grind them down. Don’t be surprised if this ends in a Baylor win. 📊"

You didn’t lose enough games to be excited at that prospect

I thought it'd be fun to do a little sequence of articles showcasing the two Natty teams and what kind of thoughts go into planning for a game of this magnitude against this good of an opponent. @Vivid will do his own series or I'll beat him up. Anyways the real meaty bits won't get published until Thurs/Fri after the game has actually been locked in but this could be a fun article to set the stage and give some background about the teams. HISTORY LESSONS (yay just like school) So let's do a quick throwback and find out where these teams came from. 2021 Inaugural season, it was tough to judge how good teams were going to be, what kind of gameplanning to use, and every player was generated, not recruited. Dev Diary 1 details how team rosters were seeded. Basically the top bucket teams got extra dibs for good players and the "seed" is used more so to differentiate within the bucket. Baylor was generated as a bucket 1 team, and should be around ~23rd in roster talent. Tennessee was generated as a bucket 2 team and should be around ~29th. Interestingly I did have Travis Knebel ranked as the #5 overall QB in the sim as a true sophomore that season (he would end up redshirting). I also had a very rudimentary team talent ranking at the time which is fun to look back at. Anyways, the inaugural season was exciting for both teams. Baylor went 9-3, then beat Texas in the Big 12 CG to earn a berth in the playoff as the #9 seed. They would lose in the first round to North Texas, 32-28 finishing the year 10-4 and a top-10 team in the nation. They had a great offense, #12/13 in points and yards, and a mid defense (although they led the country in sacks with 26 on the year). QB Evan Cooper passed for 5000 yards but nobody on the team really stood out for awards. Jehu Ginn was also 2nd in the nation in tackles and would go on to be a top-5 NFL draft selection to CHI (how's he doing now?) For Tennessee, the season was a little less successful. They also finished 9-3 but the wins were much narrower and they did not make the conference championship. They were ranked #18 and instead went to the Texas bowl where they pasted Kansas State by 30 to finish 10-3 on the season. Stats-wise not much special. They were 5th in passing yards allowed on the year which was really solid. QB Cedric Marsh threw for a good amount of yards and TDs but was also 4th in the country with 20 INTs. WR Ray-Ray Thompson also put up some good numbers and would be a first round NFL draft selection. In terms of recruiting, Tennessee had the #1 recruiting class in the country with 18 4-stars (10 B overalls), and 1 5-star (Brandon Savage) while Baylor had the #10 class with 3 4-stars and 2 5-stars (Prochnow and Cole) 2022 As 2022 started, the teams profiles had risen a bit, but the roster talent wasn't much changed. I had Baylor as the 18th best roster, headlined by Knebel getting his first start and Tennessee with the 45th roster (we kinda botched our redshirt decisions in 2021). The only players from that first recruiting class who started were LB Cole for Baylor (didn't do much) and QB Savage for Tennessee (was pretty key). Anyways, this was our first look at (So) QB Travis Knebel. Baylor had a bit of a letdown year (for them anyways, amazing year for almost any other school). They went only 8-4 in the regular season but had the tiebreaker over Kansas State and got into the CCG anyways where they defeated TCU a week after losing to them and won their 2nd consecutive Big 12 title (in a fun twist game where Knebel played RB and Gronkowski had a good QB game as the starter). At 9-4 they made the playoffs as the 10 seed where they once again fell in the first round, this time to eventual champion Alabama 10-37. They didn't have a ton of big name stars yet, and only had 1 draft selection, RB Dietrich Smith in the 3rd round. Tennessee meanwhile was the first sim team to start a true freshman QB, rolling with Savage from the jump. They were however more of a run first team behind eventual top-10 draft pick C Noah Prater and Heisman finalist RB Aldrick Ynoa. They went 10-2 in the regular season, winning the SEC East before losing the rematch to Alabama in the championship game. They still made the playoffs at 10-3 as the 8th seed and beat #9 Michigan State 40-34 in the first round, then #1 seed Texas State 24-16. They would lose in the semifinals to Western Michigan 26-34. As mentioned, Prater and Ynoa were the stars of the year along with WR Alex Henderson who also was drafted in the first round. In recruiting, Tennessee signed the #1 class with 2 5-stars and 11 4-stars while Baylor had the #3 class with 2 5-stars and 10 4-stars. 2023 Last season, the teams saw a marked rise in their roster talent. Baylor was up to #8 and Tennessee #13 in team talent ranks. Baylor's season was about the same as their standard. They went 9-3 and for the first season missed out on a conference title game berth. They still made the playoffs as the 8 seed and won their first playoff game 31-21 against Colorado. In the quarterfinals they had a rematch against TCU who they'd beaten in the regular season. This time however TCU would beat them 24-37 en route to a National Title appearance. They had a top-15 offense and one of the best defenses in the country by ypg. Their superstar was SS Garrett Smith who went first overall in the draft. Tennessee meanwhile had a breakthrough year. They went 12-0 in the regular season winning the East before dropping the conference championship to Auburn. They maintained a #4 seed and first round bye in the playoffs. In the quarterfinals they beat Marshall 34-24 before losing in the semifinals for the second year in a row, this time to TCU as well: 30-42. The season was marked by an astounding offensive attack led by Savage and almost no run support, finishing second in ppg in sim history to USC by .17 and second in ypg. Brandon Savage also made history as the first non-senior to win the Heisman Trophy (as a true sophomore!) In recruiting, Tennessee signed the #1 class with 6 5-stars and 6 4-stars. Baylor had the #26 class with 11 4-stars. 2024 This season started with the highest expectations yet for both teams. They were preseason 1-2 in the polls, and all the way up to 3 and 7 in talent rankings. As you can see, quite good at everything but with some bigger holes than other top teams, notably the line play for Tennessee and Baylor's secondary. The two teams absolutely mauled their schedules. Baylor went 12-0 behind Heisman Trophy winning QB Travis Knebel (who barely played any second halfs) winning by more than 30 ppg with the #3 offense in the country. Tennessee also cleared 30 points in average MOV with the number 1 offense heading into the natty and the Heisman runner-up in Savage. They went 11-1 in the regular season with a surprising double digit loss to UGA in Athens when their starting LT went down early. Both teams won their conferences and rather easily moved through the quarter and semifinals and will now be playing in each of their first national title appearances. This will be Travis's last game for the Bears as he is the HEAVY favorite per Vegas to go 1.1 in this upcoming draft, following Garrett Smith. Who will win? Both teams have claims to be the face of college football: Baylor as the only program to go to the playoff all 4 years and soon to be back to back first overall picks. Or Tennessee with the best program W-L record and their third straight top-4 finish? Find out this Saturday evening at NRG stadium in Houston Texas!

It's everyone's favorite time of year!! Recruiting class grades are BACK. Prepare for me to scrutinize your roster and recruiting class and tell you how good or bad it was. We're getting an early start this season because @Jieret included me in media and @Sarge called first dibs (and both finished their classes early). Let this be a lesson to include Tennessee in media and you get benefits. Without further ado: Western Michigan University Mid American Conference 2024: 8-5 (6-2) Recruiting Class Basics: WMU signed 1 5-star, 11 4-stars, and 5 3-stars. They signed 9 players with B or better potentials and 3 B overalls. Rankings below: ESPN: 116th Rivals: 36th 247: 24th Composite: 34th Signees below: School Name Stars Ovr Pot Pos Archetype City State WMU Steven Tharp 3 C B- ATH Strongside Terre Haute IN WMU Eugene Haywood 3 C B ATH Slotback Childress TX WMU Joshua Bouchard 4 C C C Balanced Keyser WV WMU Ed Agosta 4 B B- CB Zone Coverage Lansing MI WMU Craig Wingate 3 C A- CB Zone Coverage Lebanon OH WMU Tucker Adakwa 4 C B DE Run Stopper Battle Creek MI WMU Kevin Perkins 4 C C+ DE Run Stopper Laurel MS WMU Mikel Smith 4 C B DT Nose Tackle Washington DC WMU Warren Mohsin 4 C B+ FS Man Coverage St. Leon IN WMU Aldo Alvarado 4 C B- OG Pass Blocking Milledgeville GA WMU Kevin Lowe 4 C B- OT Pass Blocking Opelousas LA WMU Solomon Walker 4 B B QB Balanced St. Johns FL WMU Thomas Giumarra 4 C C+ RB Balanced Leavittsburg OH WMU Steven Elder 3 C B TE Vertical Threat Independence LA WMU Ismael Leon 5 B C WR Red Zone Threat Los Angeles CA WMU William Macie 4 C A- WR Possession Lawrenceville GA WMU Zion Dowden 3 C B+ WR Possession Monroe MI Below is a breakdown position-by-position of (from L-R) their current roster, what they did on the trail, and the grade I gave them in recruiting that position. Position Current position grade Current status Number signed Recruiting status Croot Grade C C+ This is currently a really weak spot and while it gets better next year, not by much. I assume they're planning on playing a guard here instead. Tsuyoshi Jackson is they're best option here as a rising (Sr) but he's still only a C+ this season. A couple other Cs dot the room. The good news is their signee last year, Powley is a blue chip with A potential so he should take off pretty soon and eventually be a plus starter 1 They signed Powley last cycle so this wasn't a truly pressing need. Still, you always are happy to pick up another blue chip at a tough position like C to recruit at. Not sure the path to the field for bouchard, but he's at minimum a great 2-deep option B CB B You love to see a consistent room, very zone scheme-pilled here. Also nice is only 1 CB is graduating and he wasn't a starter. Omari Stanley is going to be the headliner and draft pick after next year. Gonzalez is a nice 2 and they've got some solid depth. Last year they got Topping and he's still the only young blue chip on the roster so there's room to elevate here for sure 2 I said they didn't have many high-end young players, but this is a good class. Ed Agosta is an elite pickup who should play pretty soon. Wingate is also a high potenial option and considering he's going to need to wait a bit, that isn't a bad strategy B+ DE B-/B Next year they get Gosselin back (good) and have a fun rotation decision between their 4-star Sophomore run stoppers for the other spot. Minor ding here for having to mix a pass rusher and run stopper and eating that archetype penalty on somebody. They probably do need another blue chip this class though 2 Ok well it looks like they're firmly committed to moving to the run stopper archetypes. A pair of run stoppers makes this a pretty deep room actually, and if Tharp winds up being a DE, even better. Not many notes here, nice work B DT B-/B 3 B overalls coming back next season with blue chip true soph Wesley Reed at the top of the pile. Again, he's a speed rusher and the other 2 are nose tackles so not an ideal combination unfortunately. I think they're locked into a 4-3 as well with how their ILB room stacks up 1 I think they're going to need to be a 4-3 based team for quite a while, so the nose tackle acquisitions seem slightly odd. Are they doing a 3-3-5 base instead? I'm not going to look it up, but if so Mikel is a good fit. Again, another blue chip with solid potential I like the signing. Probably wanted 2 if they had enough scholarships available, but maybe Tharp turns into a DT in the end B- FB D D for "don't care" and it looks like WMU doesn't either. A single rostered guy, a 2-star from last cycle 0 Didn't sign any - FS B They lose a pair of B+ seniors which is ordinarily a bummer but they have a blue chip (FR) in Eckermann who should step in and maintain the same level of play. They also have a solid backup option for him, so nice room overall 1 Mohsin would be a great signing if Eckermann wasn't here. Unfortunately he is so Mohsin will wait quite a while for playing time. Still, good backup option and down the line will be a nice plug-and-play starter. No problems with that B ILB C+/B- Moore was amazing, but he's gone. Ingram is their only viable starter next year as a current B (Jr). They are also pinning the future hopes on Ronald Fennell-seeds, last years blue chip pickup with good potential. Nobody else really moves the needle for me 0 Didn't sign any - K B+ Duke Lotuleilei is going to be a great option and they got his future replacement last year with blue chip Rivera (he's no Bruce Knight though, :dab:). Good kicker room 0 Didn't sign any - OG B+ Well they have hardly any players left, it's a youth movement… but the youth is damn good. Steven's is a solid B soph 4-star and the big jewel is 5-star Radosta from last cycle. These guys will get a couple years of starting experience and should be monsters as seniors 1 I like Alvarado, he's probably OG #3 in this room which is a necessary signing. I still think this room is a little sparse, unfortunate to clearly see the limits in play so I guess this is fine. Probably want 2-3 next cycle here B-/B OLB B/B+ Garate is the OG on this team, a 5-star from that very first class and he's a monster. They just don't have much help around him. Chatwood is fine I guess. Hartshorn and Reevey are young blue chips who can't contribute yet, but should be a seamless handoff 0 Didn't sign any - OT B+ OL kinda popping actually. Davis is another 5-star freshman phenom for the future. Pour one out for Alex Sweezy graduating, and the rest of the room is pretty meh except for Rodger's who will start on the other side 1 Getting a good guy here would replace Demotte in the future, and Kevin Lowe might just do that. Not an immediatelly ready guy, he has good potential and probably most fun for Jieret is getting payback for losing Knight by snagging him from Tennessee. Anyway, fine job here, doesn't particularly move my needle as it is a bit expected B- P C+ Punters are whatever, Golson is fine and Phan is the future 0 Didn't sign any - QB B+ Ponce de Leon is a RB and OG is graduating (and disappointed his named). That makes Willie Robinson the official new, long-term Bronco ball thrower. Willie is a *very* good prospect and I think he's going to tear it up. This year might have a little bit of growing pains, but I foresee this kid being almost Theo Scribner-esque in the future. The backups are all mediocre. 1 We all know Willie is the guy, so it's surprising they got Solomon to sign on anyways considering how good he is. To be seen how they juggle the two, but at worst he's a great backup for a couple years before transferring B+ RB B+ Like I said, Ponce is the starting RB and he's going to have some monster attributes. I'm not entirely sure if he'll get the RB designation by next season but if so he's likely going to get drafted after the season ends. High on him. Behind is probably Wrobel, or their only blue chip Liu, a RS FR. These guys should be good in the future but they won't be ready to do anything much beyond blowout duty this upcoming season 1 Liu into Giumarra is a good future pairing and I think they've established a nice cascade of future starters. I think without touches he might not become a star, but they don't need him to, so good pickup B-/B SS A Timothy Khan is amazing. Does anything more need to be said? 2-3 more years of him, this position is about as good as it can be. Backups are mid I guess 0 Didn't sign any - TE B-/B Jackson is ok, about what you'd expect them to have as a rising (SR). For the future, Whitcomb is the blue chip and should develop into a nice piece. Overall a good-ish room 1 Elder has pretty good potential, and archetype synergy so I'll give them a plus for the signing but he's not a program elevating player. C+ WR B- Considering their legacy, a bit thinner here than I expected. Portis and Madison will be the starters and are both good, not excellent kind of players. Morris is the other blue chip as a RZT from last cycle, but I think this room does not have the horses to run effective 5-wide sets. Luckily with Ponce they probably won't be looking to do that anyways, but this room could use some focus 3 Dang. I said they might need to pick it up and they sure did. Leon deserves a ton of hype as their 5-star of this cycle (I don't think they've had a 5-star WR before?). Big frame and jump ball target, he comes in with a pair of possession receivers which seem to be WMUs favorite archetype. Macie is the blue chipper with A- potential so I'm quite high on his ability to be an early contributor. Zion is a good player too, but he is just overshadowed in this group A Honestly the roster isn't quite ready for primetime next season. However they have a LOT of 5-stars and a really, really bright future down the line. In terms of this class, it's a bit hard to judge the grades with a dramatically smaller class. I like the approach, they had a ton of high impact 5-stars last cycle so they didn't need instant starters, instead they needed (and got) a bunch of 4-stars everywhere that make the future look very bright if they have the luxury of waiting a year or two before starting. The limits hurt the position spread I'd be looking for, but I think this was a very good class for those conditions and did what it was supposed to. Class Grade: B/B+ University of Georgia SEC Conference 2024: 8-4 (6-2) Recruiting Class Basics: UGA signed 2 5-stars, 10 4-stars, and 7 3-stars. They signed 4 players with B or better potentials and 4 B overalls. Rankings below: ESPN: 44th Rivals: 11th 247: 16th Composite: 15th Signees below: School Name Stars Ovr Pot Pos Archetype City State UGA Russell Halstead 4 C D+ ATH Field General Jackson Township NJ UGA Keith Behnke 3 C C+ C Balanced Wayzata MN UGA Michael Richardson 3 C C C Pass Blocking Forsyth GA UGA Patrick Barry 4 B C- CB Man Coverage Redlands CA UGA Federico Downing 4 B B CB Man Coverage Thomasville GA UGA David Mchenry 4 C D- DE Balanced Jackson Township NJ UGA James Mccaulla 4 C C DE Speed Rusher Columbia SC UGA Kevin Krezel 4 C C FS Man Coverage Hogansville GA UGA Dennis Oconnell 3 C B- ILB Speed Nokesville VA UGA Victor Reddick 3 C C OG Balanced Moraga CA UGA John Groh 4 C A- OLB Pass Rush Cordele GA UGA John Bucher 3 C B- OLB Pass Rush Montgomery AL UGA John Edington 4 C B- OT Pass Blocking Sunrise FL UGA Loyd Barbier 4 C C QB Pocket Columbus GA UGA Scott Koch 5 B C+ RB Speed Lawrenceville GA UGA Lawrence Mcguire 5 B A SS Man Coverage Brooklet GA UGA Gary Olson 3 C B TE Receiving Macon GA UGA Larry Logan 4 C C+ WR Speed West Palm Beach FL UGA Rafael Miranda 3 C B- WR Speed Lufkin TX Below is a breakdown position-by-position of (from L-R) their current roster, what they did on the trail, and the grade I gave them in recruiting that position. Position Current position grade Current status Number signed Recruiting status C C- Man this is rough to see. I don't even know if they have enough good OGs to kick one over. Two 3-star freshman, both C overalls. It's going to be a couple years before the middle of the line isn't soft based on this 2 Well they got two more of those 3-star guys, so at least they finally addressed the position with plenty of bodies in the room. One of them will certainly pop off down the line C CB B Well, this is better. 9 CBs rostered with a great spread of years. Definitely a zone coverage team, Houser is the top dog and will likely be an A overall next season at CB1. They've got a trio of B overall 3/4 stars as well, and I think one of them should make it to A-. So they should have a solid top-4 and the secondary will be much better than it was this season. Hansford is a true sophomore and the only blue chip in the room, so they are relying on development a fair bit 2 Just what they needed, a pair of blue chips here, both B overalls! That's a huge influx of talent, but we should mention the downside... they're both man coverage guys. Hansford is a ball hawk so at least he can play with them, but hopefully this doesn't bifurcate the position group possibilities too badly B/B+ DE B+ Dante Riley is gone and he was a stud. Cam Atchison comes back though and will almost assuredly be All-SEC if not an all-american. They've got a B+/B/B- to try and fill in the gaps, and I'd wager Becton wins it due to his speed rushing designation. Having TWELVE DEs on the roster next season feels like overkill, but they've got plenty of blue chips here. Great talent and a coach who knows how to use them 2 They already had 10 guys rostered and picked up another pair of blue chips. My nitpick here is that these scholarships could maybe have gone to players at positions of weakness instead of strength, but this is Sarge's baby. Mchenry and Mccaulla don't have great potential which might hurt since they'll be waiting years to even be backups, but can't knock a pair of blue chips B DT B With Mayfield and Green leaving they'll see more of a dropoff than at DE. Green and Mack are 4 star B overall freshman who could be ready to pop off and Andrews is a B junior for the experience if they go that way. Solid 3-way at the top, and the other guys in the room are just guys. 0 Didn't sign any - FB C Whatever, they've got a pair of random C overalls 0 Didn't sign any - FS B/B+ 2 B overalls and 3 B- guys damn. They are freaking loaded here. Unfortunately only one plays and that guy is Dennis Germany, a coup for the team and I hear the coaches love him. I think he'll have a big progression and lead a much improved secondary this year. Darin haney from last year is probably the future star here as well 1 Doesn't hurt to get more talent. Krezel is a normal in-state blue chip, a guy most schools would be happy to sign but he's not going to unseat Haney so we likely won't see him for a while. Good depth and pipeline addition though B- ILB C+/B- Very thin here, but they really only need 1, and that guy is blue chip field general Derek Bradley. A B overall, this progression is going to be one of the most important for the defenses success. Taylor Allen is a C+ blue chip from last year so he should become a capable backup and then a solid starter down the line. 1 Oconnel is fine. Not much to say, he's probably my minimum expected signing for a program like UGA. Ok potential, ride the bench and see if he turns into a good senior C K C- Josh Howard is the only option. A C+ rising (Sr), he's fine I guess. Not special not a disaster. Definitely want to sign another guy this year or 2026 will be starting a true freshman at K 0 Needed one, lots of pressure to get a good pickup next cycle D OG C+/B- In conjunction with the C room, the interior OL is not fantastic. The best player is McGrath, a B overall 4-star from last cycle who should become quite good and will start this year. Minaya is another B overall rising senior who should be a fine starter. They really don't have a notable third good player, and after Minaya leaves I'm not sure who the second starter will be. Hopefully they get him here 1 Reddick isn't horrible. That's about all the praise I can give him. A 3CC he keeps the room treading water but you'd have liked to see a swing here since the OG2 spot is going to be open soon C OLB C+/B- Another position with one good player and meh everywhere else. Morrison is a great blue chip sophomore and has one side locked down. Not sure who gets the other start. Betancourt is fine I guess, and then after he leaves next year I don't see the next starter on the roster 2 Two high potential pickups, including a blue chip with A- potential! I think this is the answer and keeps OLB from turning into a question mark and has bright prospects to continue improving B/B+ OT B Great junior class, 3 B+ and a B-. One of them probably gets to start at OG as well this season. This is a rock solid exterior this year followed by a big drop off once they graduate. Pete Pool is a C overall 4-star from last cycle who I guess is their future and nobody else really impresses 1 Edington is a solid snag. B- potential, C overall, blue chip pedigree. I don't think he'll be a great starter by 2026 when they need him, but after that he'll turn into a good one B- P B Craig Hunter is a sophomore B overall, looks really good and they've got 2 other guys. Fine for now 0 Didn't sign any - QB A- Outman leaves after being one of the most underrated SEC players. He was a monster and wants to make NFL noise. We already know the next 4 years are going to Sargeant Slaughter and he looks GOOD. Hopefully he's ready for day 1, but his trajectory only goes up. The backups are phenomenal as well between Gilleslee, Gardner, and Patmon. 1 Loyd Barbier better like watching film cause that's all he's doing for the next few years. A normal blue chip pickup from in-state he's fine enough but they're already set at QB C+/B- RB B+/A- On paper they're loaded. Roy Mejia is going to be great, as is Corey Brown. Both are going to be seniors and either could start. Bellamy is a B- freshman blue chip as well who looks good to take over from them afterwards. Even Stallman hit B- as a true soph 3-star. Love to see it, only thing that could derail is the rumors that Roy might hit the portal. Keep tabs on that and see if UGA lets him leave 1 BOOM. Scott Koch is a massive get. This guy is an absolute stud at RB and while he was always staying in his home state, GT really made the Dawgs sweat in this one. Pairing him with Slaughter is going to be a terrifying combination in the future as he has game breaking speed. With Roy and Corey maybe they have the luxury of a redshirt or just toss him out now to get experience since he's not going to stay 5 years A SS C+ Carpenter was good, but he's gone. Sicilian is their only real option. He was a blue chip last cycle but is only a C overall and makes you nervous to start. They probably roll over a FS here for now 1 There's only really one way to get an A+ from me. Sign the arguable best recruit in the class at a position that only starts one. UGA did that. Mcguire is a STUD. 5 star, A potential? Wow that's going to be a monster. It's timely too as he will be the day 1 starter at SS and I am very confident will be an eventual first round draft pick. Perfect get in ever yway A+ TE B-/B There are some solid pieces at TE, and Jankowski could be better than people expect. I like em, and it's a good complement to a relatively sparse WR room. Not much young talent though 1 Olson is the same sort of player. Pretty good 3 star with B potential, likely underrated, but definitely a development prospect C WR C+ Garcia and Smith were absolute burners and made hay with Outman. They both graduate though and I don't see that kind of talent in their replacements. Jackson and Phoung Ham are the next men up, B overall 3-stars. I think they're fine, Ham has a great name, but they aren't guys you have to gameplan for. Everyone else is just pretty average 2 UGA wanted to replace the burners I guess. Larry Logan is a blue chip from West Palm Beach and he's fast (albeit wit sus hands). Miranda could be ok, we'll see. Still, WR is a relatively weak room for the offense C+ This year was probably UGA's high point for a year or two. They lose a lot of talent, and the replacement guys are not quite ready yet. Still, Slaughter plus Koch is going to be an amazing offense in the future, and the defense keeps improving. I think OL and WR are a little weak to be title contenders yet, but they've built a sustainable roster with a peak coming up in the future. Class Grade: B/B+