This was our #1 Ranked recruiting class. I've gone back and looked at the list of recruits. Who's playing now. Who's no longer on the roster, and how incredible this class has been so far. Keep in mind, these guys came on campus in 2009. 5 Star Craig Loston, DB: Splitting time at Safety, ST 5 Star Rueben Randle, WR: Starter, solid WR 5 Star Russell Shepard, QB: Starter at WR and RB 5 Star Chris Davenport, DT: Hasn't played much 4 Star Michael Ford, RB: Playing, coming on as of late 4 Star Chris Faulk, OT: Back-up OL, played in 9 games 4 Star Drayton Calhoun, ATH: Not much playing time, ST 4 Star Josh Downs, DT: Playing, Back-up DT 4 Star Barkevious Mingo, DE: Playing, Pass Rush specialist, DE and ST 4 Star Sam Montgomery, DE: Starter at DE until injury 4 Star Carneal Ainsworth, OL: No longer on the roster 4 Star Michael Brockers, DL: Back-up DT 4 Star Akiem Hicks, JUCO DT: No longer on the roster 4 Star Stavion Lowe, OL: No longer on the roster 4 Star Kevin Minter, LB: Back-up LB, ST, played in 8 games 3 Star Dominique Allen, FB: No longer on the roster 3 Star Lamin Barrow, LB: Back-up LB, ST, played earlier while Baker was out 3 Star Maurice Claiborne, CB: Starter 3 Star Chris Garrett, QB: No longer on the roster 3 Star Tahj Jones, LB: ST in every game 3 Star Bennie Logan, DL: Not playing much 3 Star Derek Helton, JUCO P: Played in every game 3 Star Josh Johns, DB: ST, Not playing much 3 Star Josh Williford, OL: Played in every game this season Those in Bold are currently starting. Those underlined are back-ups, ST, or getting plenty of playing time. From the looks of it, there are 14 or 15 good solid players in this class and they're already starting and playing. Miles and staff did a great job getting this class together.
I would say that class is living up to it's billing. Very little attrition and several players who either start or are getting significant playing time. Next season they will have a full season of experience under their belts and should be even better than this. It should be a fun season to watch.
A year from now, I'd like to revisit this for the 2010 class. As highly regarded as the 2009 class was (more so than the 2010 class), the 2010 class may be just as good or better. We have already played 12 true freshmen from that class this year. WR Wright WR Boone CB Mathieu S Reid RB Ware RB Blue CB Simon FB Neighbors S Vinson LB Muncie DE Maclin FB Copeland From Bhelm's thread: http://forums.tigerfan.com/tigers-den/101282-first-time-players-season.html Also, enrolled rankings are even more important than signing day rankings, and we have done very well in that regard the last 2 years. 2009 - Rivals.com Football Recruiting - Enrolled Rankings: Making an impact on campus 2010 - Rivals.com Football Recruiting - Enrolled Rankings: Making an impact on campus
