Mind was wondering after an earlier post on the top five guys in the 2010/2013/2018 classes and thought it might be interesting to look back at how tops of classes turned out. A (deliberately subjective) walk down memory lane:
2008
At the time: Andrew Luck, Chris Owusu, David DeCastro, Delano Howell, Chase Thomas
Retrospect: Luck, DeCastro, Martin, Thomas, fierce competition among Owusu, Delano Howell, Michael Thomas, Johnson Bademosi, and Griff Whalen depending on how you value college versus NFL
2009
At the time: Shayne Skov, Jamal-Rashad Patterson, Josh Nunes, Jemari Roberts, either Levine Toilolo or Zach Ertz
Retrospect: Trent Murphy, Skov, Ertz, Stepfan Taylor, and Ben Gardner (with apologies to Tyler Gaffney, Ryan Hewitt, Josh Mauro, Toilolo, and Terrence Brown....though again it depends on how much stock you place in the clarity provided by the NFL, which has demonstrated Mauro's greatness in particular)
2010
At the time: Blake Lueders, Anthony Wilkerson, Brett Nottingham, Devon Carrington, and somebody among Cole Underwood, Ricky Seale, and Dillon Bonnell
Retrospect: Henry Anderson, David Yankey, Cameron Fleming, Ed Reynolds, AJ Tarpley
2011
At the time: James Vaughters, Wayne Lyons, Kelsey Young, Brendon Austin, either Remound Wright or Ty Montgomery
Retrospect: Jordan Richards, Montgomery, Kevin Hogan, Vaughters, Kevin Anderson (apologies to Devon Cajuste, Ronnie Harris, and Wright)
2012
At the time: Kyle Murphy, Andrus Peat, Joshua Garnett, Noor Davis, Alex Carter
Retrospect: Peat, Blake Martinez, Murphy, Carter, Garnett (apologies to first team all-conference Aziz Shittu!)
2013
At the time: Peter Kalambayi, Ryan Burns, Francis Owusu, Kevin Palma, Austin Hooper
Almost in the rear view allowing a provisional take: Hooper, Kalambayi, Palma, Bright, either Burns or Owusu or Mike Tyler
2014
At the time: Solomon Thomas, Keller Chryst, Casey Tucker, Christian McCaffrey, Dalton Schultz
Interim take on book still being written: Thomas, McCaffrey, Schultz, Joey Alfieri, Harrison Phillips (with many in the hunt to contend such as Alijah Holder, Chryst, Tucker, Bobby Okereke, Jesse Burkett, Brandon Simmons, AT Hall, and Daniel Marx)
2015
At the time: Trent Irwin, Frank Buncom IV, Bryce Love, Cameron Scarlett, either Nick Wilson or Ben Edwards or Justin Reid or Quenton Meeks or Sean Barton
Who am I kidding this book has a long way to go: Meeks, Reid, Love seem ahead with all of the aforementioned plus JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Dylan Jackson, Casey Toohill, and Jake Bailey in the hunt but I'm saying a top five so I'm going to throw out a stab that JJAW and Barton have the most promising trajectories even though it hurts me to omit Jackson and Toohill
2016
At the time: Kaden Smith, KJ Costello, Curtis Robinson, Clark Yarbrough, Devery Hamilton
Unwritten
2017
At the time: Foster Sarell, Walker Little, Davis Mills, Colby Parkinson, Paulson Adebo
Unwritten
There is no point to this, just something that was in my head that I wanted to get out. I don't think we should draw lessons necessarily from any of this, just wanted to see what it would look like. If one were to try to find insights:
The whales landed in 2012 and 2014, and I think this is just a reflection of the hugely better success rate for whales compared to others in general. That might foreshadow for us what could happen in other classes with numerous whales, which applies to our current incoming class. One might expect stardom to more closely resemble place in the class for our current true freshman than for the in-progress 2018 class, which looks more like the 2010 class as CardGamer has said. Or not: the 2013 class that also looks like our in-progress class did hew closely to relative place in the class.
Anyway, what's your five? In the current golden age pretty much any of these years could be counted on for (at least) that many future NFL types, with 2013 looking like it could (predictably) be the disappointment.
2008
At the time: Andrew Luck, Chris Owusu, David DeCastro, Delano Howell, Chase Thomas
Retrospect: Luck, DeCastro, Martin, Thomas, fierce competition among Owusu, Delano Howell, Michael Thomas, Johnson Bademosi, and Griff Whalen depending on how you value college versus NFL
2009
At the time: Shayne Skov, Jamal-Rashad Patterson, Josh Nunes, Jemari Roberts, either Levine Toilolo or Zach Ertz
Retrospect: Trent Murphy, Skov, Ertz, Stepfan Taylor, and Ben Gardner (with apologies to Tyler Gaffney, Ryan Hewitt, Josh Mauro, Toilolo, and Terrence Brown....though again it depends on how much stock you place in the clarity provided by the NFL, which has demonstrated Mauro's greatness in particular)
2010
At the time: Blake Lueders, Anthony Wilkerson, Brett Nottingham, Devon Carrington, and somebody among Cole Underwood, Ricky Seale, and Dillon Bonnell
Retrospect: Henry Anderson, David Yankey, Cameron Fleming, Ed Reynolds, AJ Tarpley
2011
At the time: James Vaughters, Wayne Lyons, Kelsey Young, Brendon Austin, either Remound Wright or Ty Montgomery
Retrospect: Jordan Richards, Montgomery, Kevin Hogan, Vaughters, Kevin Anderson (apologies to Devon Cajuste, Ronnie Harris, and Wright)
2012
At the time: Kyle Murphy, Andrus Peat, Joshua Garnett, Noor Davis, Alex Carter
Retrospect: Peat, Blake Martinez, Murphy, Carter, Garnett (apologies to first team all-conference Aziz Shittu!)
2013
At the time: Peter Kalambayi, Ryan Burns, Francis Owusu, Kevin Palma, Austin Hooper
Almost in the rear view allowing a provisional take: Hooper, Kalambayi, Palma, Bright, either Burns or Owusu or Mike Tyler
2014
At the time: Solomon Thomas, Keller Chryst, Casey Tucker, Christian McCaffrey, Dalton Schultz
Interim take on book still being written: Thomas, McCaffrey, Schultz, Joey Alfieri, Harrison Phillips (with many in the hunt to contend such as Alijah Holder, Chryst, Tucker, Bobby Okereke, Jesse Burkett, Brandon Simmons, AT Hall, and Daniel Marx)
2015
At the time: Trent Irwin, Frank Buncom IV, Bryce Love, Cameron Scarlett, either Nick Wilson or Ben Edwards or Justin Reid or Quenton Meeks or Sean Barton
Who am I kidding this book has a long way to go: Meeks, Reid, Love seem ahead with all of the aforementioned plus JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Dylan Jackson, Casey Toohill, and Jake Bailey in the hunt but I'm saying a top five so I'm going to throw out a stab that JJAW and Barton have the most promising trajectories even though it hurts me to omit Jackson and Toohill
2016
At the time: Kaden Smith, KJ Costello, Curtis Robinson, Clark Yarbrough, Devery Hamilton
Unwritten
2017
At the time: Foster Sarell, Walker Little, Davis Mills, Colby Parkinson, Paulson Adebo
Unwritten
There is no point to this, just something that was in my head that I wanted to get out. I don't think we should draw lessons necessarily from any of this, just wanted to see what it would look like. If one were to try to find insights:
The whales landed in 2012 and 2014, and I think this is just a reflection of the hugely better success rate for whales compared to others in general. That might foreshadow for us what could happen in other classes with numerous whales, which applies to our current incoming class. One might expect stardom to more closely resemble place in the class for our current true freshman than for the in-progress 2018 class, which looks more like the 2010 class as CardGamer has said. Or not: the 2013 class that also looks like our in-progress class did hew closely to relative place in the class.
Anyway, what's your five? In the current golden age pretty much any of these years could be counted on for (at least) that many future NFL types, with 2013 looking like it could (predictably) be the disappointment.
