The Blue Board

Michigan:

Boubacar Cissoko, 4* CB - Was thrown into the fire his freshman year, was arrested and is in jail

Dann O'Neill, 4* OL - Transferred to Western Michigan

Darryl Stonum, 4* WR - Was good for the years he was here, had legal trouble though which lead him to being kicked off the team this offseason

J.B. Fitzgerald, 4* LB - Contributor on STs and mop up duty.

Kevin Koger, 4* TE - Very good TE, if he had 4 years in the pro style offense he would have been one of the top TEs in the nation, victim of Rich Rod's offense

Mike Shaw, 4* RB - Got some playing time, tried to do too much with the ball when he got carries. Had a ton of talent though, also a victim of Rich Rod.

Brandon Smith, 4* DB - Don't know what happened here.

Ricky Barnum, 4* OL - Solid Contributor on OL, is now the starting center.

Kenny Demens, 4* LB - Very good LB, just knows where the ball is on every play. Very good against the run, average in coverage though.

Taylor Hill, 4* LB - Don't know.

Mike Martin, 4* DT - Great player, easily the leader of the defense for the last 3 years.

Sam McGuffie, 4* RB - tons of talent, concussion issues forced him to transfer closer to home. Last I knew he was at Rice.

Elliot Mealer, 4* OL - Has a great/terrible story of his family. Solid player, will most likely be the starter at LG this season.

Brandon Moore, 4* TE - Disappointing career so far, just never "got it." Need him to step up this season.

Terrance Robinson, 4* RB - STs guy, switched to WR during his career. Graduated last year/wasn't brought back.

Roy Roundtree, 4* WR - Turned into a great WR during his RS sophomore year, struggled last year but is poised to break out this season.

Marcus Witherspoon, 4* LB - Don't know.

Mike Cox, 3* RB - Talented RB, was in the doghouse for most of his career.

Justin Feagin, 3* ATH - Don't know, believe he transferred

Rocko Khoury, 3* OL - Was supposed to be the center this year, was stuck behind Dave Molk his whole career and decided to move on from football this season.

Martavious Odoms, 3* WR - Was awesome in Rich Rod's offense, but got injured last season.

Kurt Wermers, 3* OL - Don't know.

J.T. Floyd, 3* CB - Average corner, is starting this season. Good in man to man, struggles in cover.

Patrick Omameh, 3* OL - Exceeded his expectations pretty well, solid OL. Starter again this year.

One thing I admire about Nick Saban is his ability to produce NFL players. USC under Pete produced alot as well, but alot of underachievers too. Lane Kiffin seems to be closer to Nick than he is to Pete in this regard.

NFL Results for the (2008 Class):

1st Round- Mark Barron
1st Round- Marcel Dareus
1st Round- Donta Hightower
1st Round- Mark Ingram (Heisman)
1st Round- Julio Jones
1st Round- Barrett Jones (Outland Trophy Winner, Projected as a Top 15 Pick)
2nd Round- Courtney Upshaw
2nd Round- Terrance Cody
2nd Round- Robert Lester (Projected in the Late 1st or 2nd Round)
3rd Round- Michael Williams (Projected in the 2nd-4th Round)
7th Round- Brad Smelley

Wash Out's (2008 Class):

LB Devonta Bolten- Went JUCO, never made it back
DL Glenn Harbin- Ended up playing college baseball instead
WR Destin Hood- Signed a MLB contract, never played
WR Chris Jackson- Transferred to GT
QB Star Jackson- Transferred to some small Georgia college. He is one of the bigger busts I have seen.
CB Alonzo Lawrence- Couldn't pick up the system, got an attitude with Saban, and transferred
RB Ivan Matchett- Injuries
DL Kerry Murphy- Great talent, never came back from his injury.
RB Jermaine Preyear- Injuries
WR Melvin Ray- Signed a MLB contract
WR/CB BJ Scott- Couldn't pick up the system, transferred
K Corey Smith- Awful, just, awful

Contributed (2008 Class):

DL Undra Billingsley
DL Damion Square- Should get drafted
OL John Michael Boswell
DB Robby Green- Was in line to start his last year but took some kind of drug or performance enhancing stuff that made him ineligible.
LB Chris Jordan
LB Jerrell Harris
DL Brandon Lewis

Kurt Wermers did go to Ball State but is not playing football anymore.

I think the 08 Miami class is the worst recruiting class in history, none of them did jack with the exception of Sean Spence...

Appalachian State beat Michigan 34-32 becoming the first Division I FCS (I-AA) football team to defeat a Division I FBS (I-A) team ranked in the AP poll

Not a particular team but take a look at the Rivals Top 10 RBs of 2008:

1. Darrell Scott
2. Jermie Calhoun
3. Ryan Williams
4. Jonas Gray
5. Cyrus Gray
6. De'Anthony Curtis
7. Michael Shaw
8. Dontavious Jackson
9. Darius Barksdale
10. Andre Dean

-0 RBs selected in 1st Round
-1 2nd Round Pick
-1 6th Round Pick

Bad results yet the same methodology is still used to rank RBs
1. On the hoof
2. SPARQ Combines
3. Size/Speed Ratio

When such attributes are still primarily used to rank RBs after years of evidence shows that it is fundamentally flawed tells me:
-These analysts are overworked and don't have time to properly assess RBs
-They simply don't know how to assess RBs.

I've got 4 highly RBs in the 2013 class that will be on a similar list in 4-5 years.

Mike Adams 5* - OT 2nd round Steelers

Mike Brewster 5* - C signed with Jaguars

Terrell Pryor 5* - QB 2nd year Raiders

DeVier Posey 5* - WR 3rd round Texans

J.B. Shugarts 4* - OT signed with Browns

Andrew Sweat 4* - LB turned down contract by Brown and will attend Law School

Jake Stoneburner 4* - TE senior all-American candidate. Leading receiver last year. Stud

Nathan Williams 4* - DE senior. Recovering from knee micro-fracture.

Etiene Sabino 4* - LB returning starter, likely NFL

Travis Howard 4* - CB returning starter, likely NFL

Garrett Goebel 4* - NT returning starter, likely NFL

Orhian Johnson 3* - backup SS

Zach Domicone 3* - backup FS

Ben Buchanan 3* - punter

Willie Mobley 4* - transferred to Arizona

Lamar Thomas 4* - transferred to New Mexico

Jermil Martin 3* - transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State

Keith Wells 3* - transferred to a community college. Now transferring to Kentucky

Nic DiLillo 3* - quit football

Shawntel Rowell 3* - Couldn't get in (academics) so signed with WVU