Noah.Dreams
01-15-2008, 10:51 AM
I've heard an unsubstantiated rumor that a few of you folks are so obsessed with tracking high school recruits that you are starting to see stars. Well, the article below gives you a break down of how Scout evaluates talent and how they are awarded 3 or 4 stars.
By Scott Kennedy
Director of Scouting - Scout.com
Posted Jan 13, 2008
Almost 90% of Division 1 Signees this year will be rated three stars or less by Scout.com. Of the players I saw personally this year, this is how I'd build a national championship team out of three stars.
One of the phrases uttered by fans that always makes me shake my head is "only a three star". As in, "how can this guy only be a three star?"
I had a radio show host ask me on Friday what separated the guys that are three and four star prospects. I stopped and had to think about it for a second, because my initial reaction was "not much".
In actuality, that is the correct answer. What's the difference between Harrison Jeffers, the #41 ranked running back in the country, and Tauren Poole, the #42 ranked running back? The former a four star rated prospect, while the latter is a four star?
Anyone looking at the positional rankings can see that there is only one spot that separates them, so the answer is "not much". Fans can be a bit star crazy and not realize that the difference between the two really is as little as one position.
It's one reason why Scout has a hard definition of four and five star rated prospects. The Top 300 prospects are four star, the Top 50 of those getting five stars. Why? Because it's easy to go down a list of players and justify why each one is just as good as the next, and before you know it, you have 1000 four star players.
So rather than having an arbitrary definition like "immediate impact", Scout lets you know exactly what it means to be a four and five star prospect.
When I'm watching players, I have a mental definition of how I start slotting the players in order, indirectly assigning a player where he'll be rated by stars. Typically, there are three types of players.
*Players that are lights out on the field, but don't have a exceptional size/speed ratio.
*Players that aren't great football players, but have exceptional size/speed ratio.
*Players that combine both
Obviously the more of the combination, the higher the rating.
With roughly 2500 Division 1 signees (sorry I can't keep track of which bowl subdivision is what these days), only about 12% of all D1 signees in the country get rated four stars or better by Scout.
That leaves 88% of all D1 signees left to choose from that are rated three stars or lower. Do you think there are some future stars in this group of over 2000?
I'd bet your team's success on it.
Who are they going to be? Well, that's the fun part of Scouting, and I thought this year, I'd give you a list of my three star all-americans. These are based on players I've either seen live or play a full game, meaning there are hundreds of others out there that I didn't get to see personally.
So, the next time you think, how is this guy "only a three star", remember, roughly 90% of the players that get signed to scholarships are threes and below. Hundreds of them will be big time contributors.
http://recruiting.scout.com/2/719435.html (http://recruiting.scout.com/2/719435.html)
By Scott Kennedy
Director of Scouting - Scout.com
Posted Jan 13, 2008
Almost 90% of Division 1 Signees this year will be rated three stars or less by Scout.com. Of the players I saw personally this year, this is how I'd build a national championship team out of three stars.
One of the phrases uttered by fans that always makes me shake my head is "only a three star". As in, "how can this guy only be a three star?"
I had a radio show host ask me on Friday what separated the guys that are three and four star prospects. I stopped and had to think about it for a second, because my initial reaction was "not much".
In actuality, that is the correct answer. What's the difference between Harrison Jeffers, the #41 ranked running back in the country, and Tauren Poole, the #42 ranked running back? The former a four star rated prospect, while the latter is a four star?
Anyone looking at the positional rankings can see that there is only one spot that separates them, so the answer is "not much". Fans can be a bit star crazy and not realize that the difference between the two really is as little as one position.
It's one reason why Scout has a hard definition of four and five star rated prospects. The Top 300 prospects are four star, the Top 50 of those getting five stars. Why? Because it's easy to go down a list of players and justify why each one is just as good as the next, and before you know it, you have 1000 four star players.
So rather than having an arbitrary definition like "immediate impact", Scout lets you know exactly what it means to be a four and five star prospect.
When I'm watching players, I have a mental definition of how I start slotting the players in order, indirectly assigning a player where he'll be rated by stars. Typically, there are three types of players.
*Players that are lights out on the field, but don't have a exceptional size/speed ratio.
*Players that aren't great football players, but have exceptional size/speed ratio.
*Players that combine both
Obviously the more of the combination, the higher the rating.
With roughly 2500 Division 1 signees (sorry I can't keep track of which bowl subdivision is what these days), only about 12% of all D1 signees in the country get rated four stars or better by Scout.
That leaves 88% of all D1 signees left to choose from that are rated three stars or lower. Do you think there are some future stars in this group of over 2000?
I'd bet your team's success on it.
Who are they going to be? Well, that's the fun part of Scouting, and I thought this year, I'd give you a list of my three star all-americans. These are based on players I've either seen live or play a full game, meaning there are hundreds of others out there that I didn't get to see personally.
So, the next time you think, how is this guy "only a three star", remember, roughly 90% of the players that get signed to scholarships are threes and below. Hundreds of them will be big time contributors.
http://recruiting.scout.com/2/719435.html (http://recruiting.scout.com/2/719435.html)