We're firmly on the right trajectory.  Others are groping.

Anyone who's followed us for a few years can see the depth...which is a reflection of recruiting solid student-athletes.

Observation #2 and just a bit of "devils advocate":  NIU and Toledo have been successful and are doing it the "other" way with more offers than Ohio.  Doesn't mean that much, I guess, since there really is more than one way to skin a cat.  I continue to maintain I'd take those 7-8 three star guys Toledo has, improve them the way Ohio does and end up even better than we have had.

Funny thing is I was looking at the Mock NFL Drafts and there was an O-lineman from CMU projected in the first round.  He was a two star guy.  So, obviously there are those that mature/develop late out there.  I must tell you though, most of the first rounders were 3-4-5 star guys!

I would also agree that those near the top on average have been more successful than those near the bottom. Temple, NIU, CMU, WMU, and Toledo have all been pretty successful, whereas (excluding Ohio) Buffalo, Kent, EMU, and Miami have been notably less successful, though Kent did have a good year this year. Thus there may be some benefit to churning players - over recruiting, and then losing the ones that don't work out. Ohio's success proves that you don't have to do it that way, though, and I'm proud that Ohio has been able to do it without the churn.

As far as the star ratingss on the best players in the MAC, I think you'll find that most of them have been 2-star players, simply because most MAC players are 2-star players. Historically most of the 3-star players that found their way into the MAC were probably over-rated, and ergo under-recruited by BCS schools, whereas there are always players that get under-rated, or not noticed by the BCS schools, guys like Brazill, or Dri Archer, both of whom were rated 2 stars, 4.9 by Rivals. 

I see that changing, however. You see more and more 3-star players choosing specifically playing in the MAC, and opting for the MAC even though they have BCS offers. That's true not only at Ohio, but at other MAC schools, too, and I think it's a direct result of all the exposure on ESPN. Current Bobcats that also had BCS offers include Lechner, Hughes, Sam Johnson, Russell, Landon Smith, Crutcher, Welter, McQueen, Haser, Gibbons, Sebastian Smith, Schany, Windham, Tanner, and William Johnson. I think you'd agree that most of those are pretty good players. Among recruits this year that have them you have Carson, Wyatt, and Quallen. To me the number and quality of schools that offer is probably a better indicator that we have a good player as the number of stars.

By the way, Casper - here's a rating you'll like (not that any of them matter all that much). Here's the 247Sports ranking of the MAC, using their own ratings. When you start, Ohio is in 8th due to the low number of recruits they show, but sort the teams by the average rating per player, and now, with Carson added, Ohio is #1 in the MAC. Their average of 78.91 would also put them at the top of SBC, or the middle of CUSA or MWC.

Very interesting. With Carson committing to Ohio, 247Sports lowers his rating from 87 to 83. That's something you all used to claim was common, but which has never happened before since I've been here. 247Sports just went down a big notch in my eyes.

I agree with your last post, Casper - it is a coaches league. Using those 247 ratings, the differences between the top and bottom team are more like 10 points in most leagues, only 4 in the MAC.  Recruiting is still important, but much more difficult to measure, since the traditional measures don't measure it. One way you win is to uncover hidden gems, unrated by the services, who actually do have talent. Equally important is avoiding ending up with a bunch of 2-star players who never contribute. This is something Ohio has done very well over the last 5 years. There have been some players that they recruited that never contributed, but many of those have been due to injury, not lack of ability. One of the downfalls of Knorr was that while he recruited some very good players, he also recruited a substantial number that never ended up contributing, with the result that there was a lack of depth. Most of the Solich recruits have had sufficient talent that even if they didn't start, or star, they still were able to contribute to depth.

That's possible. I wasn't aware he was injured. I tied to look into it, and found this article, showing he had a concussion, and a leg bruise, and this one, that says he was out for the remainder of the season. I couldn't find anything about a surgery, though. I hope it was minor, and that he makes a complete recovery.

I doubt it....since sport247 gives all OUr recruits a 5.4 and I doubt if they've watched one frame of video.

This kind of stuff sorta ticks me off.....but unless a rating is a 4 or 5 star it's almost meaningless....and even then we'll have 2 star players that should be 3 and 3 star players that should be 4.