2005 5-stars: Booms and Busts

[BB73]

CFN rates the relative success of the big names in the 2005 class.

cfn.Booms

*Historical rankings from 2005 are courtesy of Scout.com. The number next to each player was where Scout.com had the player ranked overall in 2005.

51. DT Roy Miller, Texas

49. DT Vince Oghobaase, Duke

48. OT Jared Gaither, Maryland

44. WR Malcolm Kelly, Oklahoma

43. RB Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois

42. DB Derek Pegues, Mississippi State

39. OT Michael Oher, Ole Miss

32. WR DeSean Jackson, Cal

28. LB Brian Cushing, USC

23. WR Derrick Williams, Penn State

22. RB Jonathan Stewart, Oregon

20. CB Justin King, Penn State

19. CB Reggie Smith, Oklahoma

18. LB Rey Maualuga, USC

15. OT Alex Boone, Ohio State - With his size, reach, and feet, Boone was supposed to be the next great left tackle in Columbus. While certainly talented, starting four years and earning All-Big Ten honors, he was exposed, at times, by pass rushers, who can get around the edge in a hurry. Hopes of playing beyond Ohio State might require a shift inside.

14. TE Martellus Bennett, Texas A&M

9. S Kenny Phillips, Miami

7. TE Travis Beckum, Wisconsin

5. OT Eugene Monroe, Virginia

1. QB Mark Sanchez, USC

cfn.Busts

50. RB Jason Gwaltney, West Virginia - The curious case of Jason Gwaltney might still have a final chapter that?s yet to be told. Hailed as the most heralded recruit in Mountaineer history, he played sparingly as a freshman before getting derailed by academic issues, off-field problems, and the emergence of Steve Slaton. Although much of the last two years have been spent at Nassau (NY) Community College, he?s back in Morgantown, attempting to earn his way back on the field as a walk-on with a year of eligibility left.
Worth the Hype? Nope

47. RB LaMarcus Coker, Tennessee

46. DT Melvin Alaeze, Maryland

45. OG Dan Doering, Iowa

41. LB Darius Dewberry, Georgia

40. DT Marques Slocum, Michigan

38. WR Selwyn Lymon, Purdue

37. RB Kevin Grady, Michigan

36. CB Avery Atkins, Florida

35. LB Luthur Brown, USC

34. DT Jerrell Powe, Ole Miss

33. OT Dace Richardson, Iowa

31. RB Toney Baker, NC State

30. DB Jamario O'Neal, Ohio State - O'Neal earned four letters in Columbus and was a valuable reserve, but ultimately fell victim to the depth in the secondary at Ohio State. The odd man out each season, he lacked the consistency and the confidence of the coaches to leapfrog one of the starters at either at safety or cornerback. He leaves the Buckeyes as a disappointment, falling way short of expectations.
Worth the Hype? Nope

29. S C.J. Byrd, Georgia -

27. DT Doug Worthington, Ohio State - Worthington has been a good player on the inside for the Buckeyes. The team is hoping that greatness bubbles to the surface in 2009. A starter in each of the last two seasons, he?s got end quickness in a tackle?s body. This past year, he had 34 tackles and five stops behind the line.
Worth the Hype? Not quite

26. DT Kade Weston, Georgia

25. OT Reggie Youngblood, Miami

24. TE DajLeon Farr, Miami

21. QB Jonathan Crompton, Tennessee

17. DT Averell Spicer, USC

16. DT Callahan Bright, Florida State

13. WR Fred Rouse, Florida State

12. RB Marlon Lucky, Nebraska

11. QB Ryan Perrilloux, LSU

10. DB Demetrice Morley, Tennessee

8. LB Tray Blackmon, Auburn

6. DT DeMarcus Granger, Oklahoma

4. TE Tony Moeaki, Iowa

3. WR Patrick Turner, USC

2. RB Antone Smith, Florida State

[MililaniBuckeye]

While I unfortunately have to agree with Jamario being a "bust", I don't consider Boone a "boom" nor do I consider Worthington a "bust". Boone played well for the most part and got a lot of recognition because of hype and his size, but still got abused by top-notch speed rushers. Worthington has been hurt and has had to shift between DE and DT, but still has played well...surely below initial expectations and hope, but definitely not a "bust".

[LordJeffBuck]

Alex Boone / Doug Worthington ... I guess that CFN has a very fine line between "boom" and "bust", as it seems to me like both players have had fairly similar careers so far.

Maybe they should have three categories: (1) met expectations, (2) didn't meet expectations, and (3) total bust. It's really unfair to put productive players (but not stars) like Doug Worthington, Patrick Turner, Antone Smith, and even Jamario O'Neal in the same category as complete flops (and bad guys) like Callahan Bright, Fred Rouse, Marques Slocum, Melvin Alaeze, Selwyn Lymon, Jason Gwaltney, and Avery Atkins.

When we do our "look backs" at the recruiting classes, we always use star ratings, to give a better idea of how a recruit turned out. Although we haven't done a 2005 look back yet, Boone and Worthington would probably be about 3-1/2*, and O'Neal about 2-1/2*.

[Bleed S & G]

Originally Posted by MililaniBuckeye

While I unfortunately have to agree with Jamario being a "bust", I don't consider Boone a "boom" nor do I consider Worthington a "bust". Boone played well for the most part and got a lot of recognition because of hype and his size, but still got abused by top-notch speed rushers. Worthington has been hurt and has had to shift between DE and DT, but still has played well...surely below initial expectations and hope, but definitely not a "bust".

I agree with this.. good breakdown.

[jwinslow]

LJB, your 3 tier system is probably simpler for ratings, but I would need 5-6 imo to properly rate OSU's 5-stars.

1) exceeded expectations (tough but possible) 2) lived up to billing 3) solid but underachieved ranking 4) played far below ranking, role player or bench warmer 5) complete bust 6) injured

1) Whitner, Ginn
2) Beanie
3) Boone, Worthington, Kudla, Grant
4) Smith, Jamario
5) Clarett*, Clifford
6) D'Andrea

* - rates at #2 going by frosh year, #5 going by career

#4 might be in the ballpark of bust, but I really hate listing the Jamario O'Neals with players like Clifford or Rouse (to steal your example).

Originally Posted by cfn

Ohio State ? Worthington has been a good player on the inside for the Buckeyes. The team is hoping that greatness bubbles to the surface in 2009. A starter in each of the last two seasons, he?s got end quickness in a tackle?s body. This past year, he had 34 tackles and five stops behind the line.

When did Doug get a tackle's body?

[BB73]

Originally Posted by jwinslow

1) exceeded expectations (tough but possible) 2) lived up to billing 3) solid but underachieved ranking 4) played far below ranking, role player or bench warmer 5) complete bust 6) injured

1) Whitner, Ginn
2) Beanie
3) Boone, Worthington, Kudla, Grant
4) Smith, Jamario
5) Clarett*, Clifford
6) D'Andrea

Troy Smith a role player or bench warmer? He won the Heisman Trophy!!!11!!1

[shetuck]

One thing that popped out at me is that most of the perennial powers seem to have as many booms and busts... which just underscores the notion that you need to take risk in order to achieve greatness.

It also shows that no single program/coach has a crystal ball when it comes to how/whether these 5-star guys will ultimately pan out. And I would guess that Iowa and FSU sort of make the case that some programs appear, instead, to be poster-children for perennial under-achievement and unmet expectations in terms of solidifying their stars' potential.

[X Buckeyes07 X]

Originally Posted by BB73

Maybe my sarcasm detector is just faulty today, but I'm sure he's talking about Conner Smith.

[BB73]

Originally Posted by X Buckeyes07 X

Maybe my sarcasm detector is just faulty today, but I'm sure he's talking about Conner Smith.

That squiggly text is actually called the sarcasm font. It's done like this:

[sarcasm] your comment [?sarcasm] but with a slash instead of the '?'.

Troy was a 4-star recruit in '02, while Connor was a 5-star in '06.

[OregonBuckeye]

he?s got end quickness in a tackle?s body

I think they've got it backwards. If he had end quickness in a tackle's body, he'd be a force.

[MaxBuck]

Originally Posted by BB73

That squiggly text is actually called the sarcasm font. It's done like this:

[sarcasm] your comment [?sarcasm] but with a slash instead of the '?'.

We knew that already.

(Actually, I didn't!)

[JohnnyCockfight]

1st team all Big Ten by both the coaches and the media his senior year. 2nd team all Big Ten by both the coaches and the media his junior year.

There is only one Ohio State offensive lineman in the Tressell era who can make that claim. Guess who it is?

[MililaniBuckeye]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCockfight

1st team all Big Ten by both the coaches and the media his senior year. 2nd team all Big Ten by both the coaches and the media his junior year.

There is only one Ohio State offensive lineman in the Tressell era who can make that claim. Guess who it is?

Don't care. Boone did not live up to his 5-star billing...

[3074326]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCockfight

1st team all Big Ten by both the coaches and the media his senior year. 2nd team all Big Ten by both the coaches and the media his junior year.

There is only one Ohio State offensive lineman in the Tressell era who can make that claim. Guess who it is?

There were some huge bad games, as well.

[ScriptOhio]

This just confirms the inaccuracy of Scout's rating system; by their own admission 61% of their 2005 5 star players were busts. Not a very good %; and they want people to pay (i.e. subscription fee) for their service.

They only look at what the guy did on the football field; they do not factor in character, "heart", academics, coach ability, and other intangibles.