ESPN InSider puts Arkansas class at No. 18
The folks at ESPN’s Insider rank the University of Arkansas’ 2008 recruiting class at No. 18 nationally. Other schools within the SEC include Alabama (No. 3), Florida (No. 4), Georgia (No. 5), LSU (No. 11), and Auburn (No. 19).
Miami (FL) picked up the top spot in the recruiting ranking.
The writers with ESPN had this to say about Arkansas’ recruiting success:
Love him or hate him, Bobby Petrino is back in college football and from an offensive standpoint, particularly in the passing game, this is the best thing that could have happened for Arkansas fans — hence QB Ryan Mallett’s transfer Fayetteville from Michigan. Running back De’Anthony Curtis (Camden, Ark./Fairview) and QB Tyler Wilson (Greenwood, Ark.) headline this class along with Jerico Nelson (Destrehan, La.), the nation’s No. 21-rated athlete. Wide receiver depth is a need and Arkansas more than hit the mark in this area with Jarius Wright (Warren, Ark.), Greg Childs (Warren, Ark.) and Cruz Williams (Little Rock, Ark./Pulaski Academy). Top to bottom, the Hogs should consider Petrino’s first class a big success. No. 2-rated athlete Joe Adams’ (Little Rock, Ark./Central Arkansas Christian) commitment on signing day over USC was instrumental for the program and its in-state recruitment.
8 Responses to “ESPN InSider puts Arkansas class at No. 18”
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Time will tell if this is a good class or not. Rivals has us at 37 and Scout put us at 23. Recruiting is like the NFL draft. You always have busts and steals. Hopefully we got a bunch of overachievers and they all qualify academically. GO HOGS!!
BTBHogwild94- Good points on the subjectivity of the class rankings and the need to qualify. Auburn and Ole Miss are good example of a class that ranked highly last year, but what showed up in the fall was a much lower ranked group. Ole Miss could see the same happen again, as they had 32 LOI’s, so no way every one of those kids is on scholarship in the fall.
This class certainly ranks to the higher side of any we have gotten over the past 6 years, and next year will be a better example of what Petrino can do at an SEC school with great facilities and support, with a full year to recruit. Holding onto all the instate kids in a year where there was a coach change and lots of talent is an incredible accomplishment for a brand-new coach.
Assuming the MLB draft does not raid us, this is the strongest QB class ever for the Hogs, and getting impact players at RB (Curtis), WR (Wright and Adams), and safety (Nelson) and corner (Thomas) could make for more success in 2008 than most fans may be expecting. The O-line and D-lines return mostly in tact with a Sr. Qb, so if Curtis, Johnson, Adams, and/or Wright can contribute immediately (asking a lot) it could be a better offense than many expect. If the front seven (6 returning starters) on defense is strong and some DB’s step up, then the Hogs could really surprise some folks next year, as many seem to be writing next season off to rebuilding.
Ain’t it just GREAT!!
Go HOGS!!!!
mmachog, i have to agree with everything except the fact we could do better then most think. Just because we have a senior QB doesn’t mean he will get the nod, Casey had been decent for us, but with this new system i really don’t think he will cut it. i look for his little brother Nathan possibly edging him in the spring if mallet can’t get around the “sit year”. the secondary will have to adjust to D-1 football. that means the first 6 games will be a huge struggle for us depending on how our new Def-coordinator tries to draw it up. Please don’t get me wrong i LOVE the hogs, i Cheer for them no matter who the coach, or what has been going on in the off season, but it is better to view next year as a rebuilding year and let the young men who represent the Razorbacks surprise us first.
We all remember going into this season of the high hopes of possibly going 13-0 going to a title game after the 10-4 season the year before that. Hog fans are right to take a “lets cheer them on, but its ok however the season turns out” attitude.
Spring practices is in April! i am already looking forward to watching the spring game. Congratulations to all the athletes that chose to be a Hog, Good luck, ad
GO HOGS GO!!!!!!!
If these young men give 110% effort, hopefully the HOGS will reach that top tier of the SEC! It is refreshing though………to think of a “wide open” and exciting offense in the near future with coach Petrino at the helm! I do believe that coach Petrino and his staff did a better job of recruiting, especially keeping our in state talent from going elsewhere, than coach Nutt would have done! Let’s give the man a chance and see what he can do! I think he’s going to surprise a lot of folks! GO HOGS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The results of this recruiting class will be known in a couple of years. I want to focus on something that is taking place right now.
I think it is time for the people at ESPN to grow up and stop being the neighborhood bully. The opening statement about our recruiting class is “Love him or hate him, Bobby Petrino…”
Shut up and give it a rest!! Coach Petrino signed up for a job in Atlanta and it turned out to be something totally different. He had every right to leave and the Falcons knew he was leaving.
Leave your personal thoughts and grudges out of your commentary and focus on football. Even if you don’t think Coach Petrino deserves it, our players, our school, and our fans do.
Keeping the Arkansas kids at home was the key to this recruiting class. Rating this recruiting class can better be done in two to three years. you can then measure their college productivity versus other schools’ recruiting classes of this year. So it could turn out to be even better than # 18.
Overall ratings do not mean that much. Miami & ND always has a top rated class not always a good team. More importantly we got talented players that play positions that we needed help at. That makes this class more useful than any ratings can explain.