Lions in it for #1 RB Marcus Lattimore

[The Ancient Enemy]

Maybe he's a 4.5 star.

If Texas gets rated as the 2nd best overall class on Rivals, and they stay 1st on Scout, are you going to call them the 2nd best class or the 1st?

[deliverance]

Yes, I will. I don't go by who ranks their players higher. I go by Rivals because that's who I trust. I know you side with Scout because they rank PSU players higher and that's fine, but for my arguments I will always use Rivals.

As for the stupidity by apbk, it's proven by his Reggie Bush was recruited seven years ago argument. The book on most players isn't closed until 4-5 years later. I guess he wants me to question a site on players that were 5-stars last year that didn't even play a down.

[shocker]

Explain this rating system....how many times have these evaluators (from scout and rivals) watched these guys play actual games? Do they follow each and every game of their high school career to come up with these numbers or do they evaluate them at one or maybe two invitational camps? Or watch maybe a couple games?

Is it true that a former psu 4 or 5 star recruit was never heard of until he attended the nike camp and did very well? After the 1 day camp he was labeled as a 4 star, I believe. How can one be labeled with any stars without thoroughly evaluating them?

I really do not know how they evaluate them and how much time is spent actually watching these players play the game. Could someone explain?

[abpk2903]

Deliverence the basis of your argument against a site is how they rated 1 player nearly a decade ago. I am sorry if I got you all worked up but I do not see how it is a big deal that Reggie Bush was rated at a 4-star (now if they had him with like 1 or 2 stars maybe). Maybe they were right if you wanna use your gay "close the book" theory. Because in the NFL he has yet to impress me one bit. He is a four-star NFL player at best so in the long run Scout got it right. Once again deliverence you would have fit in well in middle school.

[deliverance]

Well, once again you show your lack of knowledge. The four or five years are the years that they player is on a college campus. These sites do not rate players for their future in the NFL. Tim Tebow is a 5-star recruit. He's probably at best a 4th round pick right now in the NFL. The book is open on these players while they attend college. It's as simple as that. Reggie Bush was a 5-star player at USC. I can make a list of hundreds of mistakes that both Rivals and Scout make on rating players. Colt McCoy was a 3-star on Rivals. I would imagine he was either a 3-star or not rated at all by Scout. He looked like a 3-star as a Sophomore and then a 5-star as a Junior. It's tough to call a kid's future when he is 16. Mistakes will be made. It goes with the territoy. I just don't think Scout is as reliable as Rivals because of how they go about their business rating players early on in the recruiting process. That doesn't make it a bad site.

[The Ancient Enemy]

It's not just Penn State's players, its all the northeast teams. Rivals honest to God does NOT have an evaluator in the northeast. That means that all those teams (well, fans) are getting non-existent or sketchy evaluations. Regarding Penn State specifically, Rivals has proven year after year that they feel Penn State doesn't know how to recruit, and in addition to that, gets players who are 2 stars. Give me a break. Take a look at the discrepancies of the NE recruiting rankings between Scout and Rivals. How could PSU possibly have a top 10 class on one site and a top 25 class on the other? Rivals started in the south and they are more inclined towards southern kids, and California. I like Scout because they cover the kids in my favorite team's area.

How is Adrian Coxson the #2 WR on one site and 33rd on the other?

As for their 35 5-stars, to be honest, there's not much difference between a 4 and a 5 star player. A kid with a 4-star ranking might have 2 or 3 good games in a row and these sites would elevate him to 5-stars. That's why I like to use Scout (closer to home rankings) and then I like to see the kid's offers.

And, in addition to that, I trust PSU's recruiting judgment, because I have seen them take 2 and 3 star players and make them AA's or all conference. The only program equal or better than PSU in finding "hidden gems" and having success is Wake Forest.

Shocker, they get film from coaches and players, like the colleges do. I'm sure they also get their own film, but you can imagine how much it would cost to send a guy to watch games all over the state. What they are looking at is technique, and in a lot of cases the level of competition as well. This is why I look at the offers lists and kinda compare that to the evaluation opinions. Kids also go to a lot of camps nowadays where it is easier to get a read on him, kinda like the NFL combines. The universities and sponsors (Nike, etc) will put on camps around the country, pretty much every weekend.

[deliverance]

It wasn't too long ago that Derrick Williams was the #1 ranked player in College Football by Rivals. In the same season, another PSU player was a top 10 or top 15 5-star player. If they aren't evaluating these guys, then how can one of them be rated #1 overall? They may not put a full-time guy in the Northeast, but the stars are seen by Rivals.

And, in addition to that, I trust PSU's recruiting judgment, because I have seen them take 2 and 3 star players and make them AA's or all conference. The only program equal or better than PSU in finding "hidden gems" and having success is Wake Forest.

If they're hidden gems, why would Rivals have them rated higher than a 2-star or 3-star? Some players become better once they are on a college campus. Some of these kids are far from maturing by the time they are rated on these sites. You have to make up your mind whether PSU is finding "hidden gems" or their players aren't rated high enough. It can't be both. Pick one and stick with it.