I wrote off Sharma as soon as the old staff left. Figured he just took a courtesy visit. Folsom actually isn't that far from Eugene so not a huge surprise there.
Not in the love with being back to the there's no room philosophy. With how quickly guys leave programs now it seems like the move is to load up and figure it out later.
Pretty much seems like the formula now is for guys to go through recruitment then set a commitment date then use that to leverage the biggest bag drop and then just go there.
Doesn't seem like UW is going to win a bag drop against almost anyone so any recruit that commits there either isn't recruited at all by bigger programs and maybe you can outbid a school that doesn't give a shit like UCLA or Cal and maybe there's an occasional guy like ZRS who is local who we are willing to spend extra on or who takes lower money because they want to stay close.
Folsom is in Sacramento, CA. It’s not even in the same state. That’s like saying Eugene and Seattle are close. That’s a weaker argument that the ‘we are full’ bullshit. But nice try.
This year for Fisch is the most acceptable "Year 0" for a program we've seen in awhile. I just can't get too upset about recruiting misses right now. Fisch is saying the right things and the staff appears to be putting in the effort. Win and results will come
So that's 3 WR commits now (with Raiden Vines-Bright and Dezmen Roebuck). Seems we might take 5 this class, which would put us at 12 WR going into 2025
Ratings/stars aren’t everything but they are an indicator of possible success.
Champ is rated a 90 and Flores an 87. UW’s best lineman in the last decade and their ratings:
Brailsford 87, Harris 85, Eldrenkamp 87 prove you can be good without a high rating but it’s fewer and farther in between.
Mauro 94, Prentice 94 and Mele 91 are great reasons why you stack bodies. Sometimes the guys just never live up to the hype.
As for how many linemen to take it needs to be 4. Four recruits per year gives you 20 over a five year period. With retirements, injuries, transfers and subsequent portal additions you can probably maintain 18 on the roster at all times. That’s just over 3 deep if you take 4 a year. It’s better to manage too many numbers than to scramble like UW has found itself a few times the last 25 years.
This class reminds me of Coach Pete’s first class (which turned out to be awesome). Fisch pillaged his previous school’s incoming class and loaded up on high ceiling 3 and 4 stars.
That’s always the hope. Pete’s first haul was a master class in scouting, projection and development.
Drew Sample, Greg Gaines, Jaylon Johnson, Shane Bowman, Sydney Jones, Will Dissley, Dante Pettis, JoJo McIntosh. All mid to low 3* kids. Budda and McGary were the high and mid 4* jewels of the class but to have so many kids play major roles in a national semifinal is amazing. It doesn’t appear Fish will land anyone rated as high as Baker 97 rating and McGary, a 94 rating. ZRS at 92 and the receiver from a Florida at 93 seem to be the best players that are still considering our Dawgs.
I am all about taking a ton of OL. Especially considering as we should really know now, good ones are really hard to get in the portal. I also like taking 2-3 in-state ones every year. The batting average on those guys seems really high for at worst being solid starters and there frequently seems to be guys we don't take who end up at Oregon, Oregon State, WSU, and Boise type schools who end up being really good.
Like Petersen's first class, I like that they're leaning on local guys and appear to be recruiting them more again. I feel like Sark towards the end and Deboer had reputations for ignoring local guys unless they were the best of the best of the best.
Bilbo Biggins thinkin' his highest upside may be on D. Also appears to be another high ceiling 3* type, purple glasses on. He probably starts as/plays WR but we shall see. I think Fish is just stackin' athletes. Figure the rest out later.
Ajose is an intriguing player with the ability to play multiple
positions at the next level. He was very productive at receiver,
explosive in the return game but his upside is probably highest on the
defensive said of the ball. He played linebacker in a part time roll but
really flashed, showing a burst off the edge and some physicality in
his game. Safety could be his ultimate meal ticket and we really like
his size, athleticism and toughness. He runs well and has the track
background we love in a skill player. Clocked a 10.9-100m as a freshman
but dealt with a hip injury that hindered his sophomore track season. As
a receiver, he can continue to improve as a pass catcher, being mare
natural with his hands but the burst and ability to run after the catch
are plus tools for him. He can stretch the field and is a playmaker with
the ball in his hands. Frame wise and from a positional versatility
standpoint, he reminds us a little of former O’Dowd two-way standout
Jevon Holland. He’s definitely a trend up guy in our eyes and someone to
watch closely this off-season.
I agree with 4 OL per year in average. It doesn't have to be 4 every year and it will never consistently work out that way since defections, injuries and flame outs don't follow a schedule. I think if you're doing a good job the need most years should be 3-5 though.
It felt like during the Petersen years there was a healthy chunk of highly rated recruits out west that were hard to get away from Stanford. Are those guys kind of just gone? Did Stanford extra stop caring about football so they're not offering better guys anymore?
Sure in theory you take 4 high school kids every year and sometimes 5.
In reality the roster is completely lopsided right now and still will be next year. They need to add upperclassmen more than they need freshmen.
So sign 3 and then pick up 2-3 in the portal.
The strange part of your post was how you framed it to try to make it as if UW was striking out on everyone at OL even though they already have two of their top targets (using “wined and dined” instead of “brought in for official visit” is kind of a tell as to the lack of objectivity.)
The only time in the 20+ years I’ve been following UW recruiting that UW won more than one or two contested battles in a year against schools like USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, Stanford (when they were good), Oregon, or Oklahoma was the tail end of the Petersen regime (2018/2019.)
Not sure that’s a realistic expectation in year 0 when both recruits and the bag droppers aren’t sure about Fisch yet.
If Vaikona passes that’s 1/6 on players you paid to come up here and check out your program. The seventh visit was a player already committed. They’d have taken 4-5 of those kids if they had chosen to come and figured out the numbers. If they get Vaikona then I guess I’ll call the visits a push? If he doesn’t jump in the boat I’d classify the last month of visits as a failure by Carrol. Im not trying to objective. I’m not happy with offensive line recruiting ATM.
Comments
I wrote off Sharma as soon as the old staff left. Figured he just took a courtesy visit. Folsom actually isn't that far from Eugene so not a huge surprise there.
Not in the love with being back to the there's no room philosophy. With how quickly guys leave programs now it seems like the move is to load up and figure it out later.
Pretty much seems like the formula now is for guys to go through recruitment then set a commitment date then use that to leverage the biggest bag drop and then just go there.
Doesn't seem like UW is going to win a bag drop against almost anyone so any recruit that commits there either isn't recruited at all by bigger programs and maybe you can outbid a school that doesn't give a shit like UCLA or Cal and maybe there's an occasional guy like ZRS who is local who we are willing to spend extra on or who takes lower money because they want to stay close.
Folsom is in Sacramento, CA. It’s not even in the same state. That’s like saying Eugene and Seattle are close. That’s a weaker argument that the ‘we are full’ bullshit. But nice try.
This year for Fisch is the most acceptable "Year 0" for a program we've seen in awhile. I just can't get too upset about recruiting misses right now. Fisch is saying the right things and the staff appears to be putting in the effort. Win and results will come
If we end up getting ZRS, Zamorano, Dillard-Allen, Lawson, and Olugbode, then they're exceeding my expectations.
I still want them to do better, but that would be a solid class for a coach who's only been here 5 months
Deji Ajose committed and was recruited as a WR
So that's 3 WR commits now (with Raiden Vines-Bright and Dezmen Roebuck). Seems we might take 5 this class, which would put us at 12 WR going into 2025
Cummings is proving to be our best recruiter
Ratings/stars aren’t everything but they are an indicator of possible success.
Champ is rated a 90 and Flores an 87. UW’s best lineman in the last decade and their ratings:
Adams 91, McGary 94, Fautano 92, Beulow 90, Kalepo 90, Rosengarten 95
Brailsford 87, Harris 85, Eldrenkamp 87 prove you can be good without a high rating but it’s fewer and farther in between.
Mauro 94, Prentice 94 and Mele 91 are great reasons why you stack bodies. Sometimes the guys just never live up to the hype.
As for how many linemen to take it needs to be 4. Four recruits per year gives you 20 over a five year period. With retirements, injuries, transfers and subsequent portal additions you can probably maintain 18 on the roster at all times. That’s just over 3 deep if you take 4 a year. It’s better to manage too many numbers than to scramble like UW has found itself a few times the last 25 years.
I don’t think it’s strange at all.
This class reminds me of Coach Pete’s first class (which turned out to be awesome). Fisch pillaged his previous school’s incoming class and loaded up on high ceiling 3 and 4 stars.
Give me ol Gainesy and Sample all day👌
That’s always the hope. Pete’s first haul was a master class in scouting, projection and development.
Drew Sample, Greg Gaines, Jaylon Johnson, Shane Bowman, Sydney Jones, Will Dissley, Dante Pettis, JoJo McIntosh. All mid to low 3* kids. Budda and McGary were the high and mid 4* jewels of the class but to have so many kids play major roles in a national semifinal is amazing. It doesn’t appear Fish will land anyone rated as high as Baker 97 rating and McGary, a 94 rating. ZRS at 92 and the receiver from a Florida at 93 seem to be the best players that are still considering our Dawgs.
I am all about taking a ton of OL. Especially considering as we should really know now, good ones are really hard to get in the portal. I also like taking 2-3 in-state ones every year. The batting average on those guys seems really high for at worst being solid starters and there frequently seems to be guys we don't take who end up at Oregon, Oregon State, WSU, and Boise type schools who end up being really good.
Like Petersen's first class, I like that they're leaning on local guys and appear to be recruiting them more again. I feel like Sark towards the end and Deboer had reputations for ignoring local guys unless they were the best of the best of the best.
Didn't Jedd post an additional ☔ after the wr committed? How Hot is our Flock going to be this weekend?
Bilbo Biggins thinkin' his highest upside may be on D. Also appears to be another high ceiling 3* type, purple glasses on. He probably starts as/plays WR but we shall see. I think Fish is just stackin' athletes. Figure the rest out later.
Ajose is an intriguing player with the ability to play multiple
positions at the next level. He was very productive at receiver,
explosive in the return game but his upside is probably highest on the
defensive said of the ball. He played linebacker in a part time roll but
really flashed, showing a burst off the edge and some physicality in
his game. Safety could be his ultimate meal ticket and we really like
his size, athleticism and toughness. He runs well and has the track
background we love in a skill player. Clocked a 10.9-100m as a freshman
but dealt with a hip injury that hindered his sophomore track season. As
a receiver, he can continue to improve as a pass catcher, being mare
natural with his hands but the burst and ability to run after the catch
are plus tools for him. He can stretch the field and is a playmaker with
the ball in his hands. Frame wise and from a positional versatility
standpoint, he reminds us a little of former O’Dowd two-way standout
Jevon Holland. He’s definitely a trend up guy in our eyes and someone to
watch closely this off-season.
https://247sports.com/Player/deji-ajose-46118592/
I agree with 4 OL per year in average. It doesn't have to be 4 every year and it will never consistently work out that way since defections, injuries and flame outs don't follow a schedule. I think if you're doing a good job the need most years should be 3-5 though.
It felt like during the Petersen years there was a healthy chunk of highly rated recruits out west that were hard to get away from Stanford. Are those guys kind of just gone? Did Stanford extra stop caring about football so they're not offering better guys anymore?
I saw in one ranking before today that we were #26 and Stanford is #21 and got some really highly coveted player.
https://247sports.com/college/stanford/season/2025-football/offers/
https://247sports.com/college/stanford/season/2025-football/commits/
Sure in theory you take 4 high school kids every year and sometimes 5.
In reality the roster is completely lopsided right now and still will be next year. They need to add upperclassmen more than they need freshmen.
So sign 3 and then pick up 2-3 in the portal.
The strange part of your post was how you framed it to try to make it as if UW was striking out on everyone at OL even though they already have two of their top targets (using “wined and dined” instead of “brought in for official visit” is kind of a tell as to the lack of objectivity.)
Sure but he also got really lucky with that class.
The only time in the 20+ years I’ve been following UW recruiting that UW won more than one or two contested battles in a year against schools like USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, Stanford (when they were good), Oregon, or Oklahoma was the tail end of the Petersen regime (2018/2019.)
Not sure that’s a realistic expectation in year 0 when both recruits and the bag droppers aren’t sure about Fisch yet.
If Vaikona passes that’s 1/6 on players you paid to come up here and check out your program. The seventh visit was a player already committed. They’d have taken 4-5 of those kids if they had chosen to come and figured out the numbers. If they get Vaikona then I guess I’ll call the visits a push? If he doesn’t jump in the boat I’d classify the last month of visits as a failure by Carrol. Im not trying to objective. I’m not happy with offensive line recruiting ATM.
He was bringing a pretty damn class to BSU by their standards, and brought all the ones he wanted with him.