Crystal Ball

[redleg]

I took this directly from the 247Sports website for the Hogs.....according to 247, the following recruits are favoring Arkansas, or are at least 50% for the Hogs (some are committed elsewhere, or do not yet have an offer from Arkansas):
4* DE McTelvin Agim 6'3" 270 lbs. 4.65 Hope - 83%
3* LB Deontre Hardwick 6'1" 235 lbs. 4.6 Ft. Smith Northside - 100%
3* DE John Tate 6'5" 260 lbs. 4.8 Pine Bluff - 100%
3* CB Tyrone Mahone 6'0" 180 lbs. 4.45 Bentonville - 100%
3* RB Damarea Crockett 6'0" 210 lbs. 4.45 LR Christian - 50%
3* RB Trey Ragas 5'11" 190 lbs. 4.4 Marrero, LA. - 100%
3* CB Kiondre Thomas 6'0" 175 lbs. 4.4 Ft. Smith Northside - 100%
3* ATH Aubrey White 5'11" 180 lbs. 4.4 Wylie, TX. - 50%
3* S Manuel Bunch 6'2" 190 lbs. 4.45 Roland, OK. - 100%

Here are a few other key recruits that, according to the 247Sports Crystal Ball, are not currently favoring Arkansas:
4* WR Isaiah Graham 6'1" 185 lbs. 4.4 Bastrop, LA. - 33%
3* LB Jordan Carmouche 6'2" 225 lbs. 4.55 Manvel, TX. - 20%
4* RB Devwah Whaley 6'0" 205 lbs. 4.4 Beaumont, TX. - 0%
4* RB Elijah Holyfield 5'11" 205 lbs. 4.5 Atlanta, GA. - 0%
3* RB D'Vaughn Pennamon 5'11" 200 lbs. 4.5 Manvel, TX. - 0%
4* ATH Devin White 6'0" 235 lbs. 4.4 Springhill, LA. - 0%

It's not looking good for the Hogs when it comes to recruiting the highest end of the spectrum.   

[Pork Twain]

Has it ever looked good for the Hogs on that end of the spectrum?  I still think we will get a couple of solid gets towards the end and look good going forward.

[whosiskid]

I take the CB with a grain of salt. Few members of our offensive line had the CB showing them favoring Arkansas. In 99% of the cases involving players in Texas, few predict a player leaving the state, and those who do are either Otis Kirk or national reporters.

Very occasionally you'll see an instate voter who casts a prediction that means something. Kellen Diesch was regarded as an Arkansas lean when he went to Texas A&M for a visit. He had very nice things to say about A&M and the visit, and on the A&M boards they were ecstatic that they had flipped him. They expected him to announce that he was committing to A&M. Diesch was, remember, rated as a tight end, but given the size of his frame and his athleticism, all the colleges wanted him to play tackle. In the midst of all the A&M ecstasy, however, the main Aggie recruiting guru refused to change his prediction from Arkansas to A&M. His reading of things was that Diesch loved his visit, but that he loved Arkansas and Pittman more, and he did not think A&M had or would flip him.

Few had either Ragnow or Brian Walls coming to Arkansas.

So the fact is that with the elite players, the crystal ball is unreliable. It showed KJ Hill coming to the Hill. That didn't happen.

One other thing to keep in mind is that some journalists are such homers that they pick a player to go to their school. They tell their readers what they think they want to hear. I'm happy to say that Otis Kirk is not one of them. He has been very open that he has a contact very close to Devin White who believes White will end up at Arkansas. But Otis, despite this, recently flipped his CB vote to LSU. He just doesn't think we'll get White. But you get some voters who stick by their early vote even when a player pretty much states that he is going to go to a particular school.

So take the CB with a large block of salt.

Oh, a few players you list are not going to be coming to Arkansas at all. Hardwick is not going to get an offer. The staff feels that he peaked as a sophomore and has not picked up much in speed. He does not run a 4.6, but more like a 4.9. John Tate also will not get an offer. Kiondre Thomas might, mainly because he is faster than 4.4. At camps he has really impressed everyone with his speed and quickness and athleticism.                                                                                 

But just remember, the CB is never going to favor Arkansas with the better known players. It is the nature of the beast.

[greenie]

^^^^ Nice post.

I always feel more comfortable with the OL and (somewhat) the DL recruiting.  We seem to struggle more with the skill positions, but I don't worry too much.  A good OL and DL can elevate the performance of everyone else on the field.

Interesting comments about Hardwick, Tate, and Thomas. 

[sickboy]

I took this directly from the 247Sports website for the Hogs.....according to 247, the following recruits are favoring Arkansas, or are at least 50% for the Hogs (some are committed elsewhere, or do not yet have an offer from Arkansas):
4* DE McTelvin Agim 6'3" 270 lbs. 4.65 Hope - 83%
3* LB Deontre Hardwick 6'1" 235 lbs. 4.6 Ft. Smith Northside - 100%
3* DE John Tate 6'5" 260 lbs. 4.8 Pine Bluff - 100%
3* CB Tyrone Mahone 6'0" 180 lbs. 4.45 Bentonville - 100%
3* RB Damarea Crockett 6'0" 210 lbs. 4.45 LR Christian - 50%
3* RB Trey Ragas 5'11" 190 lbs. 4.4 Marrero, LA. - 100%
3* CB Kiondre Thomas 6'0" 175 lbs. 4.4 Ft. Smith Northside - 100%
3* ATH Aubrey White 5'11" 180 lbs. 4.4 Wylie, TX. - 50%
3* S Manuel Bunch 6'2" 190 lbs. 4.45 Roland, OK. - 100%

Here are a few other key recruits that, according to the 247Sports Crystal Ball, are not currently favoring Arkansas:
4* WR Isaiah Graham 6'1" 185 lbs. 4.4 Bastrop, LA. - 33%
3* LB Jordan Carmouche 6'2" 225 lbs. 4.55 Manvel, TX. - 20%
4* RB Devwah Whaley 6'0" 205 lbs. 4.4 Beaumont, TX. - 0%
4* RB Elijah Holyfield 5'11" 205 lbs. 4.5 Atlanta, GA. - 0%
3* RB D'Vaughn Pennamon 5'11" 200 lbs. 4.5 Manvel, TX. - 0%
4* ATH Devin White 6'0" 235 lbs. 4.4 Springhill, LA. - 0%

It's not looking good for the Hogs when it comes to recruiting the highest end of the spectrum.   

Half the players who are committed to us didn't have crystal ball selections that were favorable to us. It's just writers guessing.

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

The only time you should really put a lot of stock in the CB is when a kid sets an announcement date and like 10 writers change there picks the day before. That usually happens as the kid has already told the recruit guys ahead of time who they are picking.

Just like what happened with Jake last week or the same thing happened with Josh Frazier. There have been several others those are just 2 examples of the to of my head

[Kevin]

Fun to watch but don't get really excited till signing day. Even then nobody is a lock to be great.

[Hoggish1]

It's not looking good for the Hogs when it comes to recruiting the highest end of the spectrum.   
[/quote]

It' over when it's over... wooPig!

[Music City Hog]

This will be one of lowest ranked classes in a while.  It will feel some needs with some solid players, but if stars and high rankings are what you want then this class ain't gonna be for you. 

[Huds_HawgTide]

it could still end up better then you think music city hog...fingers crossed

agim shoots the numbers up quite a bit by himself!!!

[Music City Hog]

it could still end up better then you think music city hog...fingers crossed

agim shoots the numbers up quite a bit by himself!!!

I didn't say it would be a bad class or one that can't have some players.  It just isn't going to be ranked very highly.

[MS_HogFan]

I didn't say it would be a bad class or one that can't have some players.  It just isn't going to be ranked very highly.

Do you think we get Agim?

[Huds_HawgTide]

i think we do! i think if he waits on committing he could end up a 5 star on more sites then just espn...he is ranked 15th on espn right now

[trashcan maN]

We are never favored during this point in the year for top end out of state recruits.

Like someone else said, when these guys narrow it down to 3 or 4 and set a date, we'll know where we stand. Until then you just want to have your name in the hat. No one is going to stick their neck out and pick us for Whaley in July.

[Huds_HawgTide]

We are never favored during this point in the year for top end out of state recruits.

Like someone else said, when these guys narrow it down to 3 or 4 and set a date, we'll know where we stand. Until then you just want to have your name in the hat. No one is going to stick their neck out and pick us for Whaley in July.

truth

[redeye]

^^^^ Nice post.

I always feel more comfortable with the OL and (somewhat) the DL recruiting.  We seem to struggle more with the skill positions, but I don't worry too much.  A good OL and DL can elevate the performance of everyone else on the field.

Interesting comments about Hardwick, Tate, and Thomas.

The funny thing is that the line positions used to be where we struggled the most.  We'd have some good ones, but never enough depth there.  As they say, the game is won in the trenches, so I prefer it this way.  Plus, skill position players can play immediately, so the investment isn't as much.

This class will be fine, so no worries here.

[Music City Hog]

Do you think we get Agim?

I do.

[whosiskid]

I already thought we were going to get Agim, but when we offered the 2017 4 star DE from Texarkana Lagaryonn Carson, who has been a 100% CB pick to go to Texas A&M, he immediately said that he had been wanting to play college ball with his best friend McTelvin Agim, and since he thought Agim was going to Arkansas, that meant going to Arkansas.

Now, a lot of players talk about playing together - yes, I'm looking at YOU K.J. Hill, who abandoned your supposed roomie Will Gragg to go elsewhere -  though I find it interesting that Carson apparently is stating significant interest in Arkansas, but the bit I want to highlight is a major high school prospect who describes himself as Agim's best friend saying that he is just taking it for granted that Agim is going to Arkansas.

[Pig in the Pokey]

I already thought we were going to get Agim, but when we offered the 2017 4 star DE from Texarkana Lagaryonn Carson, who has been a 100% CB pick to go to Texas A&M, he immediately said that he had been wanting to play college ball with his best friend McTelvin Agim, and since he thought Agim was going to Arkansas, that meant going to Arkansas.

Now, a lot of players talk about playing together - yes, I'm looking at YOU K.J. Hill, who abandoned your supposed roomie Will Gragg to go elsewhere -  though I find it interesting that Carson apparently is stating significant interest in Arkansas, but the bit I want to highlight is a major high school prospect who describes himself as Agim's best friend saying that he is just taking it for granted that Agim is going to Arkansas.

music to my ears.

[Huds_HawgTide]

Sign em both up

[Hawgzinbowlz]

A large season to play before NSD.

" WOO PIG "

[Oklahawg]

This will be one of lowest ranked classes in a while.  It will feel some needs with some solid players, but if stars and high rankings are what you want then this class ain't gonna be for you. 

Good god, get over yourself. Any Hog fan knows how CBB recruits and has to be excited with our progress right now.

Now, we can argue about whether it is a spot higher or lower but that would be stupid in July. This will not be much different than any other CBB class.

[redeye]

This will be one of lowest ranked classes in a while.  It will feel some needs with some solid players, but if stars and high rankings are what you want then this class ain't gonna be for you.

You could be right, but I wouldn't be surprised if this one fills out very nicely.  Still a lot of big names that haven't received much attention.

[Music City Hog]

Good god, get over yourself. Any Hog fan knows how CBB recruits and has to be excited with our progress right now.

Now, we can argue about whether it is a spot higher or lower but that would be stupid in July. This will not be much different than any other CBB class.

Hmm, again, I didn't say it would be a bad class.  I said it wouldn't be highly ranked.  I like the class so far.  Of course, I'd trade with plenty of other schools but for us and our needs, I'm not disappointed at all.  That's if we sign several more OL and RB.

Don't get mad at me that is won't be ranked highly.  I don't assign rankings. 

[The real Hogules]

The thing that I think that will hurt us the most as far as recruiting rankings go is our allegedly only going to sign around 22 kids this season.
Also we are going hard after OL'men, some of which haven't been scouted yet.
I still feel great about the quality of the athletes that we have committed to us thus far.

[Mick]

I guess we'll see how the class turns out but just playing with the class calculator for several different recruit combinations (that we seem to be "in it" with) and assuming we only take 20ish that puts us around 220-235pts on 247. That should make our class ranking around 23-19 area. I guess opinions may vary on if that is "highly" ranked or not but certainly it would be pretty solid.

[Science Fiction Greg]

This blows my mind.  It's bad enough that some of you use predictions of how kids will perform to get yourself down in the dumps.  Now you are using predictions about the predictions.

Seriously, what on earth

[Music City Hog]

I guess we'll see how the class turns out but just playing with the class calculator for several different recruit combinations (that we seem to be "in it" with) and assuming we only take 20ish that puts us around 220-235pts on 247. That should make our class ranking around 23-19 area. I guess opinions may vary on if that is "highly" ranked or not but certainly it would be pretty solid.

That's only if no other school adds another recruit, which isn't going to happen. 19-23 would be great.

[Mick]

That's only if no other school adds another recruit, which isn't going to happen. 19-23 would be great.

No I actually got the 23-19 ranking by going back and checking where that points total would have put us in 2012-2015

[trashcan maN]

We struggle to crack the Top 25 most years. We're not getting in there by signing 20% fewer recruits than everyone else. I expect to finish in the low 30s, which will be just fine.

When Stanford was rolling with Harbaugh I think they signed like 13 recruits one year and finished in the 50s. That's what happens when you don't have much attrition.

[greenie]

If we only take 20, who cares what the ranking is...of course its going to be lower than most with 25-30 commits. 

Don't fall for those who enjoy the negative spin

[razorbacker3]

I am 100% confident that this coaching staff will get the players they want for the most part. They have a habit of uncovering diamonds in the rough and turning them into players.

[Music City Hog]

If we only take 20, who cares what the ranking is...of course its going to be lower than most with 25-30 commits. 

Don't fall for those who enjoy the negative spin

Only the top 20 in a class count toward the rankings.  We would get dinged, however, if the class ends up under 20. 

Hopefully we can get Agim, a few more OL, and an impact RB or two.  That's how I will judge this years class more than the ranking.

[greenie]

Only the top 20 in a class count toward the rankings.  We would get dinged, however, if the class ends up under 20. 

Hopefully we can get Agim, a few more OL, and an impact RB or two.  That's how I will judge this years class more than the ranking.

Yes, but they take the best 20 of their class.  It does make a difference.

[Music City Hog]

Yes, but they take the best 20 of their class.  It does make a difference.

I guess you're right in the sense that you have more to choose from in that top 20, but it will be a minimal difference.   Like I said, this year is a little uNiue in that it's a small number and we have some huge needs. I like the two OL we have and hope we sign 2-3 more.  It's RB where we absolutely have to hit.  The ranking will be low, but we can have a successful finish if we fill these needs.

[Music City Hog]

I guess you're right in the sense that you have more to choose from in that top 20, but it will be a minimal difference.   Like I said, this year is a little uNiue in that it's a small number and we have some huge needs. I like the two OL we have and hope we sign 2-3 more.  It's RB where we absolutely have to hit.  The ranking will be low, but we can have a successful finish if we fill these needs.

Right after I post this about RB, I see this.  Kody coming back will be a huge boost to RB depth.  Thank goodness.

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/one-more-year/

[MS_HogFan]

Right after I post this about RB, I see this.  Kody coming back will be a huge boost to RB depth.  Thank goodness.

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/one-more-year/

WOW. That is huge. I really like Walker.

[hammer66]

This blows my mind.  It's bad enough that some of you use predictions of how kids will perform to get yourself down in the dumps.  Now you are using predictions about the predictions.

Seriously, what on earth

LOL. Misery loves company. This is one of the most accurate statements ever made. Some people love to create misery for themselves for whatever reason and most of these individuals love others to feel the misery they live in!

[duckman]

This blows my mind.  It's bad enough that some of you use predictions of how kids will perform to get yourself down in the dumps.  Now you are using predictions about the predictions.

Seriously, what on earth

Bingo, I noticed most here blew right by this statement.  I basically ignore the recruiting rankings.  I look at two things, video and offers.  Opinions from recruiting writers are like a-holes, they all have them.  For every good recruiting writer, like Richard, there are 10 mindless homers whose opinion is useless and PAID FOR by subscriptions.

[ricepig]

Bingo, I noticed most here blew right by this statement.  I basically ignore the recruiting rankings.  I look at two things, video and offers.  Opinions from recruiting writers are like a-holes, they all have them.  For every good recruiting writer, like Richard, there are 10 mindless homers whose opinion is useless and PAID FOR by subscriptions.

And even offers are subjective, we really only hear the recruits side, we don't have a published list of the schools. As far as video, they are highlights.

[duckman]

And even offers are subjective, we really only hear the recruits side, we don't have a published list of the schools. As far as video, they are highlights.

Yes they are highlights, but you can still derive more from them than anything else you have to go on. 

[redeye]

Imagine if we put as much trust in crystal ball projections, as we do in star ratings.

[Bubba's Bruisers]

Bingo, I noticed most here blew right by this statement.  I basically ignore the recruiting rankings.  I look at two things, video and offers.  Opinions from recruiting writers are like a-holes, they all have them.  For every good recruiting writer, like Richard, there are 10 mindless homers whose opinion is useless and PAID FOR by subscriptions.

I'm the only one here who acknowledges not being qualified to evaluate a recruit on video...unless he's obviously exceptional.  And as for off sheets, I agree, and follow the same rule.  Ironically, though, ratings, by and large, coincide with offer sheets.  It's just easier to talk in terms of stars than spouting off someone's offers.  Usually a 4 star has the offer sheet we covet.

Anywho, if we end up getting 21 or 22, then I think we'll stay in the top 30 like any other year.  The difference is that we now seem to be getting talent across all positions...especially a on the line of scrimmage.  As someone else said, we need to wrap up Agim and a couple SEC caliber RB's and OL, and we should be solid.

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

Right after I post this about RB, I see this.  Kody coming back will be a huge boost to RB depth.  Thank goodness.

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/one-more-year/

That takes alittle pressure off if we miss on some kids

[Huds_HawgTide]

That takes alittle pressure off if we miss on some kids

this is very nice...he is very deserving of that 6th yr...very few get it but to have two seasons in a row to start out his career be ended after a cpl games each time is disheartening...so glad he is tuff and has grinded thru