Jump to content

Check-in On Recruiting Class of 2017: The Hermansition Class


closetojumping

Recommended Posts

One thing about this class that gets lost is that Strong avoided early recruiting like the plague so he didn't do Herman any favors. The new staff had a bit of an advantage recruiting out of Houston so they were familiar with the local landscape, but outside of Ehlinger, Graham, Estell and Boyce.... those guys were all Herman's IIRC. In hindsight, this group even in its early stages has way outperformed their ranking.

On signing day that year, Herman made a big deal about how much research they had done on transition classes and how chasing stars late in the cycle seemed to come back and bite programs in the ass via attrition and disciplinary problems. He seems to be correct. Really, the only star fucking they did that year was Carter, who fell into their laps after Georgia filled up and damn if he didn't end up crapping out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, closetojumping said:

One other thing I was discussing with someone this morning regarding the 2017 class. Both Cosmi and Cummins would probably be recruited as PWO in the newer cycles. Cosmi could well turn out to be a legendary score if he continues to develop physically.

Cummins yes, Cosmi no

People in UH recruiting circles were thrilled about this guy and extremely pissed when "Lyin Tom" took him to Texas.

Those same people are shocked that he's developed so quickly though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/6/2019 at 5:12 PM, ClubWhatever said:

My hope for a guy like Cummins is that he turns out to be valuable as a guy like Luke Poehlman was his Sr year.  He kind of hung around the roster eating a scholarship as an underweight OT for three years until Harsin ( I believe) found a way to maximize his value by making him a third OT in short yardage situations.  He was a devastating blocker for half the season until he fucking got hurt and his absence cost us.  

Absent in body, but present in spirit.  Animal spirit.  Crazy ass towel waving, mullet shaving animal spirit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

the purple wizard did it a half dozen times a year.  don't be hard on yourself.

good luck, we're counting on you.

Really illustrates how far off the ratings can be.  Kerstetter wasn't a can't miss prospect but he and Cosmi have both been quality linemen.  Shack was the lowest rated OL from his class and the biggest contributor.  #1050 player nationally, #131 in Texas and #52 OG.

https://247sports.com/player/zach-shackelford-35184/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...
On 2/6/2019 at 4:02 PM, closetojumping said:

The purpose of this thread is to occasionally take a look at Herman's 2017 class in a lite manner as time passes. Full post mortems on each class after the 5th year from their signing would be worthy of its own thread for each year, in my mind, but we're years away from that. 

So how are things progressing with Herman's recruiting and depth chart stacking (or lack thereof, if applicable)?

Taking a look at 2017:

Texas signed 17 guys that actually showed up to participate as part of the team. It's been two years since that day, as I type this. 

Starters (Obvious forward projections included, past starters who have left early due to bad attrition or benched and beaten on the depth chart are not included)

Ehlinger, T Graham, Gary Johnson, Kerstetter, Cosmi, Thompson, Bimage, Brewer

Contributors (productive guys yet to consistently start who don't project to start yet going forward)

Thompson, Bimage, Boyce, D Young, Brewer, Chisholm, Estell, Leitao

Depth (guys on the roster who haven't seen much or any time on the field yet)

Estell, Leitao, Pouncey, Cummins

Attrition

T Carter, Josh Rowland, Pouncey

Summary:

Of the 17 enrollees in Herman’s transition class, 5 8 guys have either started many games or project comfortably to do so. Thompson could be argued as a guy that should be added to this list and the count should be 6, but I think Overshown will push him off the field, even if they’re not going to play the same role.- Turns out that Thompson and Overshown both played plenty and contributed well when healthy.

Of those 5 8 starters, one looks like a star 2 are stars in Ehlinger (I’ve been touting this young man as a genius for years, personally) and Cosmi, one was a star in GaJo, and Kerstetter and Cosmi could project as early draft picks if they develop strength and continue to progress. Graham looks like a prohibitive favorite to start in 2019 and he’s looked good when healthy and in the DL rotation. - it was a mixed season for Graham but he showed enough flashes that I see no reason to not feel like he'll be able to contribute to a competent defensive scheme as an upperclassman starter.

The contributors group isn’t particularly strong, but they’re somewhat productive and promising. They’re fine as competent support being developed within the program. - Estell and Boyce, shockingly, seem like they have a prayer of winding up decent players at Texas with competent defensive coaching. Boyce started off terribly but looked better later, and Estell was up and down with boneheaded plays mixed in with some decent work at times.Young is a depth guy. I begrudgingly moved Leitao into this group because he played a lot, but he's a terrible warm body on the field. This thread is littered with Leitao hope and it will go unrequited. Brewer comes back and Wiley looks really good early.

The depth guys might as well all be labeled “Future Attrition” for the 2017 class, but they haven’t left yet. Maybe Estell gets healthy enough to take a stab at living up to his recruiting ranking and billing. -Estell developed while healthy. Pouncey was run off by a terrible piece of shit of a WR coach in fuckhead Mehringer and took his little brother with him to Florida, or vice versa. I'll be honest, I have no idea whether Cummins is on the team still or not. He's been a worthless element to the class either way.

As far as attrition goes, fuck Toneil Carter for being a whiny bitch and not taking advantage of the opportunities in front of him. Rowland started as a stop gap but was terrible and has justifiably left for other opportunities after doing nothing in 2018.

The 2017 class has performed better than most expected as the 25th ranked class nationally. The starters look great and the supporting guys have been critical to building the program back up. Attrition hasn’t been as gruesome as is often feared with these kinds of classes and there’s reason to be optimistic that almost half of these guys could wind up as starters during their time on campus.

Thoughts?

So, now that the regular season is over, I've been looking at different class performances and went back through this one. I've updated the original post with adds/changes in italics to account for another season for this group.

All in all, the class remains an outperformer to ranking, but overall middling in talent compared to what was needed for leadership on the field in 2019 and 2020.

Thoughts are welcome. Beyond that, I'll check back in this time next year if I remember to do so.

Edited by closetojumping
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

Yes he did and so did TQ, but man TQ frustrated me soo much this season..playing patty cake with an OT from LaTech or ou.. Jag like performances

 

TQ didn’t have a good game against Tech. He got a sack when he wasn’t blocked and had one other tackle.
 

He’s just a JAG. Idk why people have high expectations for him. He gets talked up every offseason and every season he sucks. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Burt Macklin said:

TQ didn’t have a good game against Tech. He got a sack when he wasn’t blocked and had one other tackle.
 

He’s just a JAG. Idk why people have high expectations for him. He gets talked up every offseason and every season he sucks. 

Podcast shows seem to always give him a pass while Roach got a shining light placed on him.  Same way on twitter

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...