This is a breakdown of what I see as positives from this class and the players. This is about potential. These young men are in our family and have yet to show/prove what they will become in 4-5 years. In the beginning, everyone starts out with potential and that is what I will discuss here. Statistics (research done by a group of former players, nothing "official") show that if a staff hit on about 45% of the class, they will have had a successful class. 45% rate does not equal wins but what it is saying that you have done a great job recruiting if you can get 45% of your class to be quality contributing players. Caliber of player is a different argument and debate. So no matter what anyone feels the potential is or is not of these young men, the statistics say that you can expect less than 45% of them to be real impact players in your program. It is really eye opening to read that but think about your 85 man roster at any given time, how many true impact players do you really have at a given time? Roughly 20-25% of your class needs to be stars, another 20-25% need to be key contributors. Increase those impact players and regardless of the caliber you should see an increase in positive results.
Some of these guys I have more information on than others and that will dictate some of my opinion obviously so please keep that in mind.
I will simply state what I think their ultimate place will be based on one of three categories on the college football level:
Stars (7): potential to end up as the best player in the conference at their position, national recognition potential.
Impact (8): all conference type player, multiple years as a starter.
Contributor (9): starter for a year or two potential but more likely to be someone that for about 2-3 years gets significant reps as a rotation slash starter type player. Most teams are made up of contributors not stars or impact players so it is not meant to be a knock on a kid to be labeled a contributor.
Offense:
QB: Tanner Lee (Star) is great prospect. The staff liked him early on, liked him after he camped at Tulane this summer & then fell in love with him during his senior year. Then they saw him play in the All-star game and it really hit the staff that they got a steal. Lee split time as a JR so this was his first full season as the QB and in all honesty has a ton of learning, growing to do. I feel this kid has tremendous upside. I know sometimes kids look at the "red shirt" word and think about it as a negative but in this case I think it would be a huge positive if Lee could RS. There was a rumor that Lee did receive an offer from a top 15 program during his senior year but that has not been confirmed by Lee. Personally, I think he has the potential to be a really good 2-3 year starting QB.
RB: Sherman Badie (Impact). No need to say much about this one. Pretty much said by anyone that knows anything that this guy could be one of the steals of this class. Recruiting services and local sports media tend to agree that Badie was overlooked and under-recruited. At 5'10 200-205lbs he ran a 4.38 this summer. A football player with elite sprinter speed on the track and it shows on film. Has the speed and physical build to be a game changing play maker. We know he is fast and he showed solid hands at the camp this summer, the only question is does he have the wiggles to go along with the speed? I think he has the potential to be an elite player for us.
OL: This class of Brandon Godfrey (Impact), Jason Stewart (Impact), Chris Taylor (Star) and Kenneth Santa Marina (Contributor) without question have the chance to be the best OL class in Tulane history and in CUSA/Big East. We have not had a class this dominant at their position in HS in a long time. KSM is the most known of this group by name but Taylor and Stewart might be the two guys ready to make a more immediate impact on the interior line. Taylor appears to me to be the most physically ready, his HS film is the most impressive I have seen in a long time for a Tulane OL. Godfrey is the lean machine of the group and I tend to lean towards a red shirt for him only because he is smaller than the other guys. Where he lacks the size he makes up with technique, quickness and one of those guys that just "gets it" when it comes to blocking. I think he could potentially be a 4 year starter at center after a red shirt year to gain some size and strength. By rule here all of these guys will not become great players but I feel Godfrey is the first true center we have had here in awhile and Taylor is just a monster and plays very very physically. KSM is really a toss up for me. He is either going to be a star or a contributor. He is still learning the game more than the other three in my opinion. Physically KSM is the biggest but I also think physically he has the most room to grow, improve and get nasty. He dominated because of his size but does he have the nasty stuff inside to become the most dominant player in the conference at his position? Stewart is closer to Taylor in terms of ready for play. Those two guys have the big bodies, strength and nasty funk to contribute at the guard spots early on.
Defense:
DL: After seeing DE Eldrick Washington (Contributor) in person the summer prior to his senior year he looked physically ready to play then but I just don't know enough about him to have a great feel about what to expect. Same goes Luke Jackson (Contributor) that is projected to be a DE or a LB. The one thing I do know is he has the ability to do a variety of things for this team. The main praise I can give on Jackson is that this summer when Tulane landed like 4-6 recruits rapid fire, Luke was the kid that one coach would not stop talking about. Quinlan Carroll (Impact) is also someone that is projected as either DE or LB. Carroll is a tough, physical player that wants to get up close and personal. Eric Bell (Star) is projected as a DT along with Tanzel Smart (Contributor) and both were huge gets for the Wave. Bell totally dominated his competition this year and the coaches rave about him. Smart was essential to this class. The one true DT signed Smart should expect to contribute early and often. He was the #1 DT on the board for a very long time and we finally got him. I have not seen enough film on Smart to rank him higher but if he gets stronger he can easily jump up in this class. It is also harder for DTs to become stars because they live on a constant rotation in most systems. You have a shorter amount of time to make your presence felt. Rumors are that Georgia Tech attempted to come in late and steal Smart. Ade Aruna (Star) closes out this group and I can't say enough about him. I saw him in person at the Tulane camp and right then & there everyone (coaches and players) knew he was something special. He wowed to staff and fellow HS campers with his athletic ability. Having only played football for 2 years now after coming to the states from Nigeria, he is the poster boy for rawness. At 6-6, 230+ he moves with ease and his long arms give him even more range. Aruna went to 5 camps this summer and earned offers at all 5 camps. He also starts at PF for one of the top basketball schools in Indiana and recently shut-down one of the best players in the country. This staff says Ade Aruna is the next NY Giants Jason Pierre Paul and we are going to love this young man. We held off everyone that came in late to steal him.
LB: We start off here with Nico Marley (Contributor) and Eric Thomas (Impact). Undersized guys that I would say are safe bets to be near impact players for our program. These guys love to fly around and hit people. Period. In my opinion Tulane Football has lacked a toughness, a mean streak, a passion for hitting the _____ out of people & with a class I feel begins to address that issue, these two are at the top of the hill for me when it comes to that. Don't be surprised if Eric Thomas comes in and makes a name for himself early on. He was on a team with two other LBs that had more "prototype" size but when being evaluated man for man - Thomas was likely the best pure old school nasty LB on that team. If opposing teams don't get a body on him, expect running backs bounce it outside after he gets done with them. I will say the same for WR's coming across the middle with Marley at the Nickle. Marley is only in the contributor section because I see him as more of a pure nickle guy rather than a true LB which means by nature his reps will be limited. If Marley somehow gets to the size and strength of Thomas while maintaining speed then the world better watch out. A late pickup for us was Sergio Medina (Contributor) . I know he didn't have the offers people want to see either but when you watch the film the kid can flat out play the game. He is much more put together (bigger) in person than I thought he would be and a guy with RB speed and LB instincts has potential. I think you will see his impact covering sideline to sideline.
DB: I will start here with William Townsend (Contributor) and Tristan Cooper (Contributor) because honestly these are two that I have the least amount of info on. Townsend looks like someone with range on film and Cooper is intriguing because as a WR he has solid ball skills which we have lacked at the safety position. Jarrod Franklin (Contributor) is another guy that is raw. He is really just figuring out his football skill-set and the staff loves this guy. He flies around, makes plays and likes the physical part of the game. Might be someone that bulks up to play LB by his third year. Leonard Davis (Impact) is my sleeper at safety. I feel that the kid is a winner, a competitor and a someone that loves football. If he is not afraid of the physical nature at safety I think he has huge upside as an athlete back there. Now we get to my man crushes - Parry Nickerson (Star) and Richard Allen (Star) are my absolute can't miss guys in this class. Both have elite speed and both love the being on the island at corner. Allen will always get overlooked because of his height and it will continue here. I think Nickerson has the potential to be the best CB we have see around here in a very long time. He has the special combination of speed to play man, toughness to play safety, leaping ability to attack the ball and that something "special" once the ball is in his hands. I have not even touched on Nickerson as a returner where his skills are just as nasty. Nickerson will be a Star at corner and a Star on special teams. I could say all the same things about Richard Allen but inevitably it comes down to size. Allen has the strength and smarts to be one the best pure CBs we have seen here but will his size be his downfall?. He will likely be compared to one of the most electric players in recent memory at Tulane, former Carver standout Lynaris Elpheage who was roughly the same height and weight. I played with 'Page and I have seen Allen in camp and in person several times. Allen already has more physical build and strength than 'Page had by his junior and final season with the Wave. Allen has more pure speed than "page. Allen has been electric with returns in HS. The only two things in question right now are 1) does Allen have the same agility to make people miss, change direction and 2) does he just have "it". I think he does but time will tell. I think Richard Allen will be a Star on special teams and be an Impact player at corner. I have said it several times and I will say it again to make it official - if Richard Allen plays as a true FR he will score 2-3 TDs this year.I am also taking the over 10.5 for TDs in his career as a CB and return man.
Special Teams: Michael Lizanich (Impact) is regarded as one of the best snappers in the country out of HS. He is already on campus which is maybe one of the most important additions to the team. Groza Award winner Cairo Santos is breaking in a new snapper and a new holder this season so this Spring is really important for that group if Santos expects to come close to what he showed in 2012.
Transfers & Other: Going into this off season there were a few areas Tulane fans could almost all agree upon that we needed immediate help at.
Experienced QB - Check. Nick Montana (Impact). The guy has a solid arm and appears to be accurate. He is way more athletic and agile than people think, more than Griffin or Powell. It is still way too early to know what we see from him while he learns the offense but he was highly recruited out of HS and put up very good numbers at Mt. San Antonio JC.
Help along the front lines - Check. We did not get a transfer on the OL but we signed what I think could be the best OL class in our history. I cannot think of another class that comes close to potentially being this good. At DT we brought in Chris Davenport (Star) and added an assortment of players that have the frames to become standout DE/DTs. Coming out of HS in 2009 Davenport was regarded as one of the Top 50 players in the entire country at DT. In college he was moved to OL but now he is back and he is pissed. Those of you that have seen Julius Warmsley, Kenny Welcome or Corey Redwine in person think those guys are big, Davenport makes those guys look like his little brothers. If he comes in and simply plays at the level Warmsley does he would have an immediate impact but with his size it could become so much more. He is so big he would demand a double team which would free up others to get to the QB or make tackles. His positive impact could be game changing for the defense. I think people are underestimating the importance of having Jordan Sullen and Zach Morgan back. Those are two players that were starters before they left. Even if they come in and contribute but don't start it would gives us some quality depth and allow the program to hopefully red-shirt a couple players that could use the time to develop. Sullen looks like a man possessed out there right now and I have a really really good feeling about what he will bring to the table next season.
I will say this and you can get mad all you want about not getting all the details but here you go anyways - at the signing day party Curtis Johnson said "we are not done yet" and I would bet that come this Summer/Fall camp we see some immediately eligible additions to the roster that will further change the face of this team and program. You can have good starters all you want but really good teams have the depth to withstand injury, fatigue or losses for whatever reasons. Curtis Johnson is doing whatever he can to improve that depth so we can be a 4 quarters for 14-15 games type of program. I think we add at least a contributor and an Impact player here before August.
Recruiting Grade: B-
Overall Off-season Grade: A-
I give this staff a B- grade for recruiting this year because I feel we needed more quality help at DL, LB and another solid QB prospect. We did land solid players at DL and LB but I wanted to see more. I also think outside of QB that the OL was the biggest concern we had and although they are all true FR I think the staff landed an A group for the OL. This off season, come August, this staff will have earned an A- grade overall for the off season. When you look at a list of 3-5 things you wanted to see addressed this off season I think all fans will find come August when the new official roster comes out we will have addressed most, if not all of those needs. I am talking about things you can control by addition and subtraction when I talk about addressing issues. The one other thing you would like to see added is more experience for the QB and OL group but that is just something that only comes with time but they did about as good as they could which is pretty damn good in my eyes.
Each person may feel players fall into different categories but that is what is great about opinions, "to each, their own". I am a glass half full type of dude and these guys are just kids that all still have the potential to be key contributors to our program so I will only list them in these categories. I am not in the business of labeling these members of my Tulane Family as "bust" or not in terms of football. I can go down a list of guys that hardly ever contributed on the field as a player but having them as a member of our family helped make everyone else around them better because of who they were as a person that set an example for others.
Only time will tell what they path they choose to take and what they will ultimately become as football players and as men. The best thing about all this is that what I think really means nothing at all - each of them will make their own choices on what they will become and I hope they all become great!
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