After taking time to evaluate things, I've come to this...
It is December 21. The staff doesn't fully invest time into recruiting or visits until after the season. Boise, WSU, etc do most of that before or during the season. We currently have:
16 signees, 16 P5 offers
6/16 chose us over P5 offers
7/16 had Ivy League/Academy offers
Byrd has best RB offers/profile of ANY RB commit we've had that I can remember. Very underrated.
Justice is that elite local product we've been trying to land.
No character issue guys.
Definitely made progress with local HS coaches/players/community
2016
This time last year, the only guys we had with P5 offers were Brown, Bell and Irwin. IIRC, Luke, Aleki, Martinez, Williams, Hall, and Venable all committed after visiting in January/Feb.
23 total players, 19 total P5 offers (15/19 came by guys who signed in January)
3 locals with 6 total FBS offers
The best of that bunch were an underrated local who had 1 offer from 1-11 Fresno State and an undersized center.
So, by comparison, we are ahead of last year's class, at this time. I'm very high on the 2017 class, by the way. The staff usually finishes strong, when they actually have guys in for visits. It's disappointing if we miss out on Fuimoano and Lole, but the staff must be confident there is enough talent still out there. I'll wait and see how this class finishes, but we definitely need to put the full court press on whoever is still out there.
Boise KILLED it yesterday, and they should be the G5 model on how to recruit the early signing day. The staff should evaluate the policy on early visits, because I'm sure we could have used that time to get in on some good guys, instead of waiting until the last 3 weekends. The signing period moved up about 6 weeks, so should our visit schedule.
The staff always talks about recruit "profile" they're after. I believe it entails being a good student, having a chip on your shoulder, not necessarily a "camp" guy or flashy guy, etc. This 2018 class fits the mold.
Cc.
@Dirtballs
