I've been to Mt. Pleasant and it's a good two-hour drive north of Detroit.  Ummm, what is there in Michigan that is north of Mt. Pleasant? 

http://ohio.scout.com/2/1264758.html

Here's a recap of how every team in the MAC did from Scout.  They seem to like our linemen as some of you have also praised.

On a side note, how was BG able to get 8 guys from Florida and we were only able to land 1?  You have to think they are going to be one of the fastest teams in the conference in a few years.  I hope we step up our recruiting there next year.

That's one problem I have with rankings.

Do you honestly think that someone from scout or rivals watched video of  all the MAC team recruits and then "graded" them accordingly?

I know for a fact that they don't and giving teams grades without looking at the vids is like a prof giving a grade without reading the essay.

If guys on here want to give grades then fine.....but how about looking at all the videos and compare them to other team videos....yes I know all highlight reels are good that's why they call them highlights.  If you watch enough however you can get a pretty good idea of how the athlete may do....Daz and Noah Keller being 2 examples...their vids just jump off the table.

Bill Kurelic and I exchanged e-mails and at one time he was considering doing a MAC recruiting paper.  Until something like that happens you can't depend on rivals or scout.

Actually even Detroit is north of the 38th parallel - which I crossed several times while a soldier on runs to Panmunjom in the DMZ. 

I think this class has solidified a couple of spots on the roster that needed more talent and depth.

Offense

RB - With Boykin and Beau leaving after this year, it is nice to see that we were able to sign Brown.  It would have been nice to add Carson as well, but we will still have 5 scholarship players at the position this year (hopefully Brown redshirts).  With what some have said, Brown could be a real steal to at to Daz in 2014.  We will hopefully bring in another RB or two in next year's class to keep the depth.

WR - A lot of complaints this year about the depth at WR.  Part of that was due to 3 of last years recruits not suiting up at all this past season for various reasons.  I like the 3 guys that we have added this year.  All three of them are big (6'1'' or taller) and seem like very good athletes. Add them to Smith, Reid, and Rodriguez, and we have the makings of a very good receiving corps.

TE - I know we have Hill for 1 more year and Roback for 2, but after that we don't have anyone that has seem much action.  Adding the BIG TEs in this class should give the staff plenty of options when those other guys have moved on.

OL - Wood and Leavitt are both over 300 pounds and are athletic for their size.  Add in Murdock, who I think could play inside or out, and we have added even more depth to one of the deepest areas of the team.

QB - As for this spot, I am not overly worried about not bringing in a QB this year.  We have TT for another year, and then we will have Vick hopefully stepping in for 2 years, followed by Windham and the walkon.  If we get another QB next year, we will be fine.


Defense

DT - As many have said, even without the 3 freshmen, we could be 6-7 deep at this sport thanks to the JCs we are bringing in.  With Crutcher in one spot, I am confident that we will find another starter in the group, as well as good rotational players behind them.  One thing I love is the size of the guys that we are adding.  Aloese (290lbs), McLeod (285lbs), Porter (280lbs), and Tautuika (290lbs) give us guys that can beef up the middle of the DL this year and for years to come when talking about the freshmen.  Add in Crutcher for another 2 years and the other guys we have at DT, and this is def the deepest that I remember this spot being.

DE - Sayles is obviously the gem of this group, but I think some other guys could make an impact in the pass rush.  Some of the comments made by coaches lead me to these conclusions.  Basham ("great motor"), Graves ("big-time talent"), Smart ("great pass rusher", "knows what it takes to win").  Add in Sayles ("size and speed are everything we are looking for at the position") and I think we may have finally found some answers to our pass rush.  Another thing I like is that all of them have pretty good size already, before getting into a college weight-training program

LB - Poling seems like a great get.  Love seeing that he had over 500 tackles during his HS career.  Hopefully that tackling ability will translate to the college game.

S - Quallen and Alexander both have great size for the S position, which is where I hope they stay.  It would be great to have 2 big guys in the defensive backfield as enforcers.  Love the quote about Quallen being the best tackler that the coaching staff saw on film during the recruiting process.

CB - I think it is safe to say that Brown is likely to play here, and he has nice size for the position and appears to be a superb athlete.  Stewart is a little more undersized, so he might be best served to play inside at the Nickle spot, but I love reading that he is a physical player. 

Overall I am happy with the class.  I think next year we target more secondary and get another QB and some LBs, to go along with the normal replenishing of the other spots.

I like the analysis. I'll throw in my 2 cents.

DE - There are 9 returning DE's if you look at my recruiting grid. Now, they're bringing in 3 more. Seems like something has to give here. But go ahead and mark me down as thinking Laseak will be a starter next year.

CB - Given that Brown and Stewart are enrolled and will be involved in Spring Practice and that there are just 5 returning CBs, I don't see how both these guys don't play in 2013.

I was thinking that Haser, Purdum, and Davis have been moved inside, so that would be 9 total DE's,  and 10 total DT's.

That's one of the reasons this class is growing on me. As I looked through the past 8 years of rosters, most of the time the people playing DT/NG were converted defensive ends. I'm not knocking the jobs done by Sykes, Hodge, Goff, Reese, Carl Jones and Huynh, but it may be nice to have some guys that were real defensive tackles to begin with. By contrast, on offense Rogers is the only one that moved from TE to OL and bulked up.

LC,

The Spring roster and Spring Game will be interesting as it probably will give us some clues as to what the coaches are thinking in terms of positions for these players next year. As you look back at 2012, probably the most impactful injuries came on the D-line. So it makes sense to fill that need.