The question is on every Lafayette fans' mind, of course: So, now, we have scholarships. That means those low Patsy ratings for our incoming class are also a thing of the past, right? Is this the year the big Patsy Points start to roll in?
What different types of kids will we get, they say? Which head-to-head recruiting battles will we win that, in other years, we weren't even in the running?
This class gives the first opportunity for the Leopards to see exactly what scholarships have wrought. It's been what all Patriot League fans have been waiting for. So, what's the result?
The answer, according to the Patsy ratings, is more along the lines of: Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
In the spirit of the original Patsy ratings, they are organized in the same way that carney did: the good the bad, and a breakdown of the ratings: including the final number.
THE GOOD
For those that like the trenches, they will love this class in the sense that 25% of the class consists of lineman of both the "O" and "D" variety. The Patsy ratings, which give bonus points for lineman and especially "jumbo" lineman, love this part of the Leopard class. Seeing, too, as it's been a problem in Leopardland over the last few years, this need seems to be on the right track.
THE BAD
If you're a Leopard fan, you have to be concerned that most of the same types of athletes you've gotten overall are, well, so similar to the types of athletes you got before. Did the Leopards get loads of starred recruits? No. Was there a lot of evidence that they went toe-to-toe with CAA or other scholarship league teams and came out the victors? With one notable exception, no. Did Tavani get a stable of skill guys to fill in for the suprising attrition at these positions? Maybe.
QUALITY = 11 Patsy Points: Of all of the findings of the Patsy ratings for the Leopards this season, I think this is the one that stunned me the most. 7 out of 20 (35%) got the basic "I exist" rating from the rating services, and only one was star-rated. One!
You can argue that the ratings don't amount to a hill of beans. Perhaps they don't. But even with this (admittedly) imperfect measure of the Patsy ratings, it makes one pause. Weren't scholarships supposed to mean.. more?
CLASS SIZE = 3: 20 Recruits is the equivalent of 4 Patsy Points. It is entirely expected with scholarships that class sizes will be smaller than in the past (in prior years, 30 was a decent-sized class), and by extension these numbers will decrease in terms of total Patsy point production.
DISTRIBUTION = 8. This is the maximum allowed by law.
SPEED = 6. Insert the regular disclaimer here that speed information is hard to come by. Interestingly, a big part of the speed rating came from one particularly speedy player.
TRIGGER = 2. Two QBs, both rated, but (most importantly, and the reason why there are points here) one has a critical 2-star rating.
JUMBO = 8. 4 OL and 5 DL comprise Lafayette's class. All 4 OL meet the Jumbo criteria with ease. 4 out of the 5 DL meet the Jumbo criteria as well. Overall, this is a strong number.
NEEDS = 9 (of 12):
QB = 5 (of 5): Two shots to get the QB of the future with the two names in the class, and with a 2-star recruit in the mix, you have to think the Leopards did well here.
The committee went back and forth about whether to issue 4 points here for the QB, or the full 5. Ultimately - and perhaps, due to poor judgement, the committee gave the extra point. A two-star recruit in a key need area, and a second recruit who did get a page with the ratings agencies gets the full number.
(Fun fact: One two-star recruit is a veritable treasure trove of Patsy points. 2 stars give 5 Patsy Points for quality. 2 stars at QB gives two more for "trigger points." One more for distribution. You can argue that the two stars of the primary need area, QB, gave at least three needs points alone. 10 points for one player - talk about exposing the Patsy Ratings.)
RB = 1 (of 4): Only two recruits, and neither were rated by any of the popular rating services. Is there an RB Erik Marsh in the mix here? Not if you believe the ratings agencies.
DL = 3 (of 3): 5 recruits, 4 Jumbo, 2 rated. It was seen as a need area, 20% of the recruiting capital was spent on it, and 4 of the 5 are jumbos. Mission accomplished.
COMMITTEE ADJUSTMENT: +2. The Committee reserves the right to give, or take away, points based on the overall body of work.
Bssed on this, the Committee gave a 2 point adjustment to the Leopards based on documented evidence that one of their players, despite the basic "fog-a-mirror" rating, was a somewhat sought-after recruit and Lafayette won a head-to-head recruiting battle with (importantly) multiple scholarship offers on the table.
The Committee felt that it better showcased the quality of the class than the rating services alone - so they get a couple of extra bonus points.
LAFAYETTE - 49
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