I posted this article in the Twitter thread a couple days ago, but thought it was interesting and could use its own thread.
What this article basically states is that every national champion since 2005 has had something in common: at least 50% of their past 4 recruiting classes consisted of "blue-chip" (4 and 5 star) recruits. There are 13 teams that meet that standard this year. Nebraska's blue-chip ratio sits at 19%, good for 28th overall and 5th in the BIG.
So....what does Nebraska need to do reach, or at least approach this threshold? Starting with the 2016 class (Riley and staff's first fully recruited class), 4 out of the 21 kids we signed last year (19%) were 4-stars. Using the scholarship distribution chart and doing some blind guessing on attrition, our next 3 classes should be about 25, 18, and 22 kids. That would put us at a total of 86 signees, 43 of whom would need to be 4 or 5 stars to reach the threshold, meaning 39 of 65 kids (60%) in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 classes would have to be "blue-chip" kids.
The biggest question of course is, can Riley and staff make this happen? The first ingredient is obviously winning. I've been very impressed by how this staff has been able to recruit off a 6-7 season, so if they are able to win more and show progress I am very excited for the future of our recruiting.
That being said, signing 60% blue-chip kids is a tall order and not something I'm sure even this staff could accomplish. The thing is, I'm not sure we have to because of the division we play in. Even at 19%, we are almost double the next highest team in the BIG West (Wisconsin at 10%). If we can continue our trajectory and even reach a blue-chip ratio of 30-40%, we should be in a position to consistently win our division and give us a chance at the conference championship, which really is the first step in Nebraska reemerging as a program.
What do you all think, can Nebraska achieve this coveted "blue-chip ratio"? And, if so, what are going to be the best strategies to go about doing it?
What this article basically states is that every national champion since 2005 has had something in common: at least 50% of their past 4 recruiting classes consisted of "blue-chip" (4 and 5 star) recruits. There are 13 teams that meet that standard this year. Nebraska's blue-chip ratio sits at 19%, good for 28th overall and 5th in the BIG.
So....what does Nebraska need to do reach, or at least approach this threshold? Starting with the 2016 class (Riley and staff's first fully recruited class), 4 out of the 21 kids we signed last year (19%) were 4-stars. Using the scholarship distribution chart and doing some blind guessing on attrition, our next 3 classes should be about 25, 18, and 22 kids. That would put us at a total of 86 signees, 43 of whom would need to be 4 or 5 stars to reach the threshold, meaning 39 of 65 kids (60%) in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 classes would have to be "blue-chip" kids.
The biggest question of course is, can Riley and staff make this happen? The first ingredient is obviously winning. I've been very impressed by how this staff has been able to recruit off a 6-7 season, so if they are able to win more and show progress I am very excited for the future of our recruiting.
That being said, signing 60% blue-chip kids is a tall order and not something I'm sure even this staff could accomplish. The thing is, I'm not sure we have to because of the division we play in. Even at 19%, we are almost double the next highest team in the BIG West (Wisconsin at 10%). If we can continue our trajectory and even reach a blue-chip ratio of 30-40%, we should be in a position to consistently win our division and give us a chance at the conference championship, which really is the first step in Nebraska reemerging as a program.
What do you all think, can Nebraska achieve this coveted "blue-chip ratio"? And, if so, what are going to be the best strategies to go about doing it?
