News Article: Re-rating the Class of 2005

[JessN]

Re-rating the Class of 2005
Senior class captured the hardware, but many couldn’t stay in the toolbox
By Jess Nicholas
TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief
March 20, 2010

There is great debate amongst fans of recruiting rankings as to the reliability of rankings that are doled out prior to a player ever stepping onto campus. Many make the argument that a true test of recruiting rankings isn’t found in the year the player signed, but the year the player finished.

For the full story, click here: http://www.tidefans.com/forums/tidefans-com-articles/102993-re-rating-class-2005-a.html

 

[Trobinson97]

What a great read. It's always interesting looking back and seeing how these guys panned out relative to the expectations at the time. Thanks Jess.

 

[bamaguy32]

what is narcas?

 

[JessN]

what is narcas?

(N)orth (A)merican (R)ecruiting, (C)oaching and (A)thletics (S)urvey. Back in the mid-90s when this site was still called BamaNation, I enlisted several guys to help me watch recruiting, evaluate and write. This was in the beginning stages of both the Internet in general and especially football sites, and the plan was to take us in direct competition with the pay services (there were no Rivals and Scout back then, just a bunch of guys doing exactly what we were doing) and eventually expand into other sports. We also planned to keep a database on coaches and evaluate them as the recruiting sites do the players. I still write a "coaches to watch" article from time to time.

However, the pay sites amassed a lot more resources than we could in a short amount of time, and there's no way we could keep up with everything they do. We cut back substantially and now tend to follow a smaller group of players and limit ourselves mostly to the Southeast. My pool of help has also shrunk. But we keep the name because it's part of the rating system we developed. Our rating scale takes into account not only raw talent, but when we project these players as being ready to actually get on the field.

 

[GrandBayTider]

Excellent article, interesting to see how some players worked hard and maximized thier talent while others didn't never find a way to contribute. Thanks so much!

 

[drsmithofga]

Antonio Forbes FYI: After not qualifying, went to JUCO, then signed with UAB in 2007. He was on the Clark Atlanta University roster (listed as a Junior) in 2008, then disappeared.

 

[Crimson Surfer]

Nice look back. You can't say that was one of the best recruiting classes but eight or so of them did stick around as fifth year seniors and most of them were major contributers to the 13th Alabama National Championship.