Reiteration of Domination: Tale of the (Blue) Chips, Part Deux

by FSUjab on Feb 2, 2012 10:29 PM EST

Following National Signing Day last year, the St. Petersburg Times had a nifty visual aid that I found eye-opening. I thought it was fanpost worthy and created one that you can read here. Well, this year the name of the newspaper is different (the St. Petersburg Times is now the "Tampa Bay Times"), but the content remains relatively the same (they're big into recycling). So, without further ado, here is the 2012 visual of FSU's recruiting versus in-state rivals:

First off, to be clear, this is a different approach to evaluating recruits. The Times values a recruit, not by any technical evaluation, but by simply how many services include the recruit in its top 100. A bit crude, but for some reason I like it.

Second, apparently neither USF nor UCF pulled a player ranked in the top 100 by at least one service? Wow. There will never be a "Big 5" until those two schools start recruiting big.

Finally, by comparing last year's haul with this year's class, you can quickly see that this year wasn't quite as dominant in terms of overall numbers for FSU. Still, this year Florida State took as many recruits ranked in the top 100 of all four recruiting services as all other Florida schools combined. Think about that for a minute. UF took 18 high school recruits this year (not including kickers). Miami took a whopping 31. FSU took just 15, 3 fewer than UF and 16 fewer than Miami. Yet, the Noles still had more top recruits than any other Florida school. Impressive.

Again, enough cannot be said about the recruiting job that FSU's staff has done over the last two years. Of course, now expectations will only be higher than ever. We'll see if Jimbo & Co. can collect a few more wins this year to appease the rabid Nole fan base.

A bonus poll for you after the jump.

Poll

How did FSU's 2012 recruiting class fair compared to in-state schools?

A) Jimbo and the Gang completely dominated the Crocs and Sebastian

119 votes

2) FSU's class was sufficient, but not dominant

50 votes

d) FSU's class was too small and, thus, could not have been dominant

5 votes

ix) I think FSU's class sucks and my superior logic is undeniable.

1 votes

175 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Least talked about "Intangibles"

…are what i call the "Moment intangibles "..

These are the moments in a game that big time players, by virtue of a highlight play(s)-( i.e Tyrone Mathau, Warrick Dunn, Deion Sanders, etc) determine the outcome of the game..

FSU recruiting classes in the last 3 years have really built , at every position on the field except O-line & TE, the “moment player” to succeed at the level of a NC/BCS program, not just a team

by Marshall H Sanders on Feb 3, 2012 2:07 AM EST reply actions

The other point is...

The QUALITY of the recruits we did get was unmatched. There were few “projects” or filler recruits. Every kid will have the opportunity to contribute and contribute quickly.

by burkenole on Feb 3, 2012 7:22 AM EST reply actions

Oops

I accidentally channelled HartNole when I voted…

by PBD on Feb 3, 2012 9:18 AM EST reply actions

67 votes but only 3 comments?

Raise your hand if you’re a Lurker.

by FSUjab on Feb 3, 2012 10:31 AM EST reply actions

I am the 2%

This class seems awesome, but one thing has been nagging at me. Think back a few years… Because of the talent already on hand FSU had one class of only 12, but very top heavy with top recruits. If I remember it was the Nick Maddox class (?) Maybe even USA Today’s offensive and defensive players of the year. The rating services did not think much of FSU’s class because they signed fewer than 15. Fans were upset with the rating services, but it turned out to be a very bad move by the coaching staff.

Attrition due to academics, character, injuries, and non-development caused it to be a defacto self-imposed severe scholarship limit. Was Jared Jones (?) in that class?

I trust this class and this staff, and it is significantly larger than 12. Just saying, it nags me. So I voted “too small”.

Trust those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it. -Andre Gide

by Tastanagi Tutka Thlako on Feb 3, 2012 7:55 PM EST reply actions

Because of the APR ratings

posted about many times on this site we couldn’t “get rid of” dead weight players and bring in a full class of 25. Also think about the scholarship limits we had to deal with for the cheating scandal. Also think about the youth on the football team. we only had a few seniors so with all those factors you get a small class.

by Dizzim on Feb 5, 2012 8:22 PM EST up reply actions

BTW, Love the picture.

Trust those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it. -Andre Gide

by Tastanagi Tutka Thlako on Feb 3, 2012 7:57 PM EST reply actions

Jab, I voted sufficient but not dominating because while we were good on a national level, so were the Turds.

The Canes did what they had to do and I will give Golden some credit for that, but while the class was respectable, it was a notch below ours and UF’s. Thanks for putting this together and contributing.

>------::----::------->Spearing 'em and Scalping 'em like it's 1999
I'm not so sure this Jimbo fella is the right man for the job.

by FrankDNole on Feb 6, 2012 2:14 PM EST reply actions

Thanks Frank!

I agree that we didn’t dominate the state like we did last year. But, again, part of that was just sheer numbers. I think Golden and Muschamp did what they needed to do.

It’s fun to contribute to TN. I just wish I had more time and better ideas. :)

by FSUjab on Feb 7, 2012 9:32 AM EST up reply actions