Two things to cover at the outset. First, in case you missed it, a reader at Black Heart Gold Pants absolutely nailed a post pertaining to star rankings and draft position. Before this, I had been considering writing a post comparing the two, especially after draft weekend discussions with other bloggers. However, the initial BHGP post and a later analysis by a BHGP staff member did more justice than I ever could. Please read them, especially if you are in the camp of people who feel that stars don't matter or that they are overblown. Long story short, stars do matter, but so does player development.Everyone from 11 Warriors to mGoBlog to EDSBS and everyone in between (including numerous message boards) has covered this article, and rightfully so.
Second, and more on the topic of recruiting - the quarterback position. As Sean Fitz of Lions247 alluded to in our interview last week, there is a decent chance that one (or more) current quarterbacks might not be with the program in 2011. Since there are question marks, the staff has been reluctant to get offers out. But as a quick primer for anyone interested, here are the likely candidates (now minus freshly-committed-to-Rutgers Blake Rankin): Brendan Nosovitch, Brian Blackburn, Ian Fisher, Skyler Mornhinweg, and Perry Hills, among others. We'll have a more in depth look over the summer, unless a commit comes along and ends the suspense. But since that won't happen until one of the current QBs makes a decision one way or another, we've got time.
Recruiting News - Offers, Visits, and Other Information
- Three new offers are out (and others likely pending) - TN RB Jovon Robinson, GA DB Kyle Fleetwood ($) and VA DB C.J. Prosise ($). Do you see a trend? The staff is throwing out secondary offers like hotcakes. There are two additional Georgia recruits who claim offers ($), and two MORE Georgia recruits who will be getting a visit ($) this week from the PSU staff.
- New mGo recruiting rankings are out, and as expected, Michigan jumped Penn State. PSU now sits in fourth place (third in actual conference members). Michigan had a huge week when OH LB Joe Bolden and MI LB James Ross committed to the Wolverines.
- MI LB James Ross has committed to Michigan. This stings a bit, as Penn State seemed to be in good shape for the four-star linebacker from the same high school as Rob Bolden and Allen Robinson. Michigan (with new front man Brady Hoke) is killing it on the trail, specifically with linebacker recruiting. TomVH also has a weekly update; not included in there is the slowly building belief that MI CB Terry Richardson is next for the Wolverines, another great defensive recruit that has a PSU offer.
- mGo's Wednesday Recruitin' covers the commitments of Joe Bolden and James Ross, in addition to having some other interesting tidbits.
- JC Shurburtt of 247Sports has a nice article on Penn State's "soft verbal" commit, NY DT Jarron Jones. As JC tells me, "as things stand right now, I feel [Jones] will stick [to his PSU commitment]."
- PA LB Deaysean Rippy was in Alabama for 7-on-7 tournament last weekend, but ended up staying to help with the aftermath of the tornado disaster relief. Penn State is recruiting Rippy, but all signs point to him heading south.
- Glenville HS in Ohio is a major producer of talent. Head Coach Ted Ginn, Sr. knows football and the school is known as a factory for college football stars, mostly for Ohio State but also for schools around the country. That being said, it is also home to many kids that should never step foot on the Penn State campus. Thanks to Scout.com's Bill Greene, we have some evidence of that ($). For those of you without Scout subscriptions, just be thankful we didn't land any Glenville kids last recruiting season.
- Galen covered this in yesterday's Linkbacker, but in case you missed it, Adam Rittenberg ranked the Big Ten, putting Penn State at No. 5. That sounds about right for a preseason preview.
- Boise State has self imposed sanctions that, in my opinion, far exceed their extremely minor transgressions. It should be noted that the university was hit with a "lack of institutional control" charge, but that's because of women's tennis (yes, really), in conjunction with other sports.
- Seeing as how Ohio State's problems lay mostly with football, and since the AD and President have gone to great lengths to distance themselves from Tressel and Co., a "lack of institutional control" isn't really befitting Ohio State, as 11 Warriors points out.
- Pre-Snap Read covers what is now known as a "blue shirt", a scholarship given to a walk-on player (e.g., Matt McGloin). While the practice might sound fair and honorable, Paul Myerberg shows that it can be a dangerous game if not closely monitored. With oversigning becoming a more prevalent issue in college football, the last thing the sport needs is another loophole to exploit.
- The Pittsburgh Post Gazette's Gene Collier takes a swipe (or four) at Penn State in his recent column outlining the uniform changes. Our very own Galen weighs in on this particular article:
- Finally, for dog-loving Americans, check out this story. I don't know how much stock to put into any news surrounding the killing of bin Laden, but a terrorist-hunting dog is the stuff dreams are made of.
Boy Gene Collier is a [bad] [man] (by design). Can he take any more antiquated, obvious potshots? Joe's old, the internet is filled with obsessive trolls. Wow, groundbreaking stuff. Not to mention this column reads like the manifest of a lunatic, it's somewhat coherent-ish, but goes all over the map. I want the last two minutes of my life back.
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