presenting the 2009 recruiting class

It's easy to see why diehard crazy football fans follow recruiting so much. It's like a season outside of the season. Every verbal commit is a little miniature win, especially when the process has lasted all year. I was sitting at work today, burning up my F5 key at 10 minutes to 1, and the feeling of anticipation was like a little facsimile of what it felt like to watch the game-tying drive against UNC. Specifically it was kind of like the extra point. You expect the kicker will put it through, but anything can go wrong, and if you recall, it almost did.....just like with that report that Morgan Moses wore a Tennessee shirt to school today.

But the class is in the books. I'll fix the recruiting board later - for now, here's the class, and What I Think. First, we go position-by-position.....

Quarterback

It's really hard to tell, actually. Ross Metheny was recruited to play in the old offense, which was pretty similar to a pro offense. This new offense will be a decidedly college spread, and nobody's too sure how Metheny (or Marc Verica for that matter) will quite fit. Metheny verballed quite early in the process and thus the scouts didn't really head out to Sherando to watch his senior season, so he started off graded low and stayed there. He's had his share of injuries, though, and it's clear Sherando was never the same team with him off the field.

Quintin Hunter will likely also start off taking reps with the quarterbacks. The saying that I just made up goes that you can't have too many quarterbacks, and anyway these guys weren't exactly stuck with a load of MAC offers plus UVA, so we've done what we set out to do here.

Running back

Biggest disappointment and thinnest area of the class. Two decommitments, one late, really hurt the depth. Dominique Wallace is the only one left after Alex Owah and Caleb Porzel decommitted. Wallace is a big guy and looks like a great pickup, but the depth at running back is less now than it probably ought to have been.

Wide receiver/Tight end

Very deep part of the class. The Watkins decommitment didn't hurt at all, as Bobby Smith came on board not too long after. He's tall. Like, tall tall. Tim Smith is one of the top players in the class, and I'm inexplicably excited about Kevin Royal as well. I liked his highlight film - liked the way he played. There's enough talent and enough open space on the depth chart that I expect at least one of these guys to burn a redshirt and play as a true freshman, and there may be a role as a kick returner for someone here as well. This class makes our receiving corps very deep, but very young.

Offensive line

This is where the class makes its money. Morgan Moses, obviously, is the blue-chip guy in the class. The one player we have who shows up on all the scouting services' Big Lists - the Rivals 250, Scout 300, and ESPN 150. He'll have a shot to jump right into the starting lineup without passing Go or collecting $200, and even if he doesn't start he'll almost certainly burn his redshirt. The rest of the class ain't half bad either. Oday Aboushi has the size to also go straight into the depth chart if he shows his stuff in fall camp; Sean Cascarano will probably redshirt but made all sorts of all-state and all-metro lists while playing in Chicagoland.

The 2005 recruiting class produced two NFL first round picks in Eugene Monroe and Branden Albert. This has a chance to equal that feat.

Defensive line

Plenty of players at this position, but not many stars. The real standout should be Jake Snyder, who turned down an offer from Ohio State to stay in-state and play here. Pretty much everyone here will have to bulk up some, so don't look for any of these players on the field in 2009. I also would not be surprised to see one of them converted to nose tackle sometime in the future, as the current roster is decidedly thin there.

Linebacker

Once upon a time, Al Groh would go after - and land - the best of the best. Remember Ahmad Brooks, Kai Parham, and Darryl Blackstock all showing up in the same recruiting class? This is no longer the case. We did offer Jelani Jenkins, but he never showed much interest, and this linebacker class, like ones before, appears underwhelming on paper. This hasn't mattered lately, because if there's one thing Groh does well it's develop linebackers. Clint Sintim was a three-star afterthought, as was Antonio Appleby.

It's kind of hard to tell how good this class is because Tucker Windle was evaluated by the services as a tight end, and Jeremiah Mathis as a DE. There's room in the depth chart for a true freshman if one of them steps up in fall camp, but this may be the most unknown quantity on the list.

Defensive back

Because of the number of players that could play DB, it seems deep here. However, the class completely lacks a true cornerback, which I think is an oversight. Some players who are listed as safeties may actually try their hand at wide receiver. The only pure defensive players are Corey Lillard and LoVante' Battle. Very tough to see what we'll get out of this class in the defensive backfield, and there's almost no room on the depth chart for them, especially if Vic Hall stays on defense, which seems up in the air still.

Kicker

Drew Jarrett is a preferred walk-on, but will surely have an equal chance at the kicking job after last year's long national nightmare.

Everyone loves lists, right? How about some lists I drew up? It's a good thing Morgan Moses actually committed, because I wrote these a few days ago.

Five most likely to burn their redshirt (play as true freshmen):

Morgan Moses
Jake Snyder
Tim Smith
Tucker Windle
Oday Aboushi

Based on talent and where I think there's room on the depth chart. Moses almost certainly will not redshirt, and there's room along the line for Aboushi to show what he can do as well. With three out of four starting linebackers gone, Tucker Windle ought to be able to jump right in to the competition. Gregg Brandon's offense should give a large role to our wide receivers, and there's nobody on the roster with even 20 career catches. A receiver in this class probably will play this coming year - Tim Smith seems the most likely choice right here. Jake Snyder is a highly-rated defensive end who could see some time spelling the starters for a rest.

The five I'm most excited about:

Morgan Moses
Dominique Wallace
Tim Smith
Kevin Royal
Ross Metheny/Quintin Hunter

Metheny and Hunter are on the list by default. I'm always excited to see the new quarterbacks. If Moses lives up to his rep as a mauling run-blocker, the running game will benefit tremendously no matter who's carrying the rock. Dominique Wallace is a big guy with a set of wheels and had an absolutely beastly senior season. I'm googly-eyed over the highlight films of Tim Smith and Kevin Royal: Smith because of his deadly first three steps that cast a Take Bad Angle spell on anyone attempting to tackle him in open space, and Royal because of his willingness to use his size to advantage and just go forward - he has a bright future as a crucial possession receiver, IMO.

Five sleepers:

Brent Urban
Perry Jones
Ross Metheny
Kevin Royal
Sean Cascarano

To get on this list you had to be ignored or given a very low rating by at least one of the scouting services. Perry Jones had an extremely productive senior year on a state championship team, but his size makes him a two-star to Rivals. Brent Urban is friggin' six foot seven and actually given quite a nice scouting report by ESPN, but he plays north of the border so he's overlooked by the other two. Ross Metheny has meh-to-poor ratings from everyone, but the way his team was such a different team without him says something to me. I've done my oooohing and aaaahing over Kevin Royal, though he doesn't make an impression on the services. ESPN didn't even bother scouting Sean Cascarano, which is odd because he's earned his share of high school accolades and seems very versatile.

Five top-rated players:

Morgan Moses
Oday Aboushi
Quintin Hunter
Jake Snyder
Dominique Wallace

The list comes from combining the ratings handed out by the three services, making this somewhat of the "consensus top five" players. Tucker Windle would have a spot, but he's rated by all the services as a TE instead of LB where he'll actually play.

Eat it, Tech:

Tucker Windle
Morgan Moses
Jake Snyder
Quintin Hunter

These players had offers from VT and chose UVA instead. Neener neener neener.

Eat it, Maryland:

Dominique Wallace
Tim Smith
Oday Aboushi
Jeremiah Mathis
Will Hill
Quintin Hunter

These players had offers from Murralin, and do not fear the turtle. Na na na na boo boo. Interestingly, the only player on both lists is Quintin Hunter, though I think Moses may also have gotten a Maryland offer that got quickly lost in the large pile that he accumulated.