Didn't know where to post this and hadn't seen it until today, so here it goes. 247 posted their updated talent composite rankings heading into the season. Link is below.
Highlights:
-walk-ons like Endries and Taaffe do not contribute to the scores due to the rankings being based on high school recruiting.
-STs guys who did get scholarships are counted, so guys like Lance St. Louis and Will Stone do count.
-Those are two flaws with the system and that could create an imbalance for any school that doesn't develop, or portal, walk-ons and does not offer ST players.
-Development of talent is pretty key, obviously. This ranking does a decent job of inadvertently highlighting who does and does not develop the talent on their campus. I know I'm biased, but ATM and OU both stand out as programs on this list who are performing below their ranking on an annual basis now. Auburn, Florida, and Miami are also pretty hideous developers if you just go off rankings versus output. ATM and Auburn are by far the worst.
-The falloff from Texas at 4 to Oregon at 5 is rather large. Georgia is way out in front, but a big portion of that is that they've got so many more signees on their roster.
-You can argue that there are at least 3 tiers on this list. The first 4 teams should be considered CFP favorites. 5-16 should be considered CFP regulars and 17-down is everybody else. Now, is that infallible? No. ATM and Auburn immediately debunk that premise. But as shorthand, for me at least, the premise makes sense in terms of generally matching my expectations.
https://247sports.com/college/texas/team/texas-longhorns-football-43/roster/