Palmetto Proving Grounds

Coach Elliot is the best thing to happen coaching wise since The HBC.

His star rating does not matter much when practice starts. If he shows he is the best lineman, he will play.

His star rating is not really the driving force of my post. I was trying to point out the fact that recruiting services have a bias towards certain positions. 5 star rankings are reserved for certain positions. Their #1 QB will always be a 5 star. Same for their RBs, WRs, OTs, etc. But their #1 kicker, 3 stars. Their #1 center, 3 stars. Their #1 guard, usually 4 stars. Their #2 guard, 3 stars. I'll gladly take the #1 rated player at any position. This might flow from the pros. The first round of the NFL draft will almost always be devoid of kickers, centers, guards, and very low on safeties. But these positions make Pro Bowls, the Hall of Fame, and very good pay checks. It is kind of odd to me though that kickers and centers don't get more cred. The center touches the ball on every offensive play, and we all have seen how poor snaps can throw off the entire flow of any play. And kickers, both place kickers and punters, often effect the outcome of a game more than any one player on the field. So you need the best ones you can find. Ask the Chiefs how happy they are that they used a draft choice to lockdown Ryan Succop. I'm just saying that Waldrop's star rating had more to do with his projection to be a center/guard than it did with his performance on the football field and that I am very, very happy he is a Gamecock.

Not every high school kid is noticed, even the good ones. A lot of 'em are underrated. Recruiting wars are fun, don't get me wrong, but if you look at all american and NFL rosters, they are not necessarily full of four and five stars. A couple of examples: Fred Bennet, I think was a two star. KO Simpson, two star and greyshirted. Eric Norwood, three star. The list goes on and on. I am not insulting the recruiting analysts, you just cannot quantify someone's work ethic, desire, and competitiveness. OK, I am insulting ESPN's recruit analysts. They rank theirs by looking at highlight film only. They had Germone Hopper, who is klimpson's receiver in this class, ranked ahead of Shaq Roland, Jody Fuller, and Kwinton Smith. In the shrine bowl, Hopper in all honesty did not belong on the field with those other guys. He really did not belong in the game, to be honest

There was another thread breaking down 5 and 4 stars by position. Here is a comment I made in that thread.

DL (DT and DE) 9 five stars and 63 four stars
4 spots on the field

OL (OT, OG ad C) 1 five star and 56 four stars.
5 spots on the field

Reasons? OL's are hard to evaluate. Usually not the best athletes on the field.
They do not stand out during a game.