The 2016 Patsy Ratings: No. 4 - Lafayette

"Come over here," one Committee member said.

She ran to the door, and saw a basket with two spotted creatures.  She couldn't help but stifle an "Aw!" as, for a moment, her heart, hardened by hours or work on the Patsy ratings, melted.

"Oh great," another Committee member said.  "More strays.  Should we print out more flyers to see who might adopt them?"

"More worryingly," another Member said, "is this an attempt to try to impugn the sanctity of the Patsy Ratings?  Could this be an attempt to bribe the Committee by offering them some cute Leopard cubs?"

The Committee  member looked back at the Member quizzically.  "Since when did the Patsy Ratings have sanctitiy?" they asked seriously.

"Look, they're playing!" she said.

Leopard Jumbo Points Galore

THE GOOD:  One of the things that makes the Patsy Points different than, well, any other recruiting class rating system is an attempt to quantify the overall quality of linemen, offensive and defensive.  While a crude measure, when recruits tip the scales over a certain weight limit, it is assumed that it means something - that bigger linemen, in a general sense, are better, even if they are not necessarily reviewed by a recruiting site.  Of all the Patriot League recruiting classes, no class generated more "Jumbo Points" that the Spotted Cats.  In the eyes of the Patsies, this emphasis on the lines will pay off in spades during the next four years.

THE BAD:  Having quarterback as a need area is a double-edged sword.  As important as linemen are, no position is more important than quarterback, a fact codified into the Patsy Ratings system.  When the recruited quarterbacks are starred players - and one of the identified need areas is quarterback - a three-starred QB can be the source of more than two dozen points (5 needs points, 9 quality points, speed points, trigger points).

Had one of the Eastonians' quarterbacks been listed as a ** or *** player, the Leopards might have easily captured the Patsy Point title this season.  But the truth is, they did not.  As a result, their Patsy Point total, rather than achieving one that could rival the heights of 2014, merely finished at No. 2 in a year where the overall totals are shockingly lower than the prior two years.

Indeed

PATSY POINT CALCULATION
CLASS SIZE: 5.  Head coach Frank Tavani needed a lot of numbers to bring up the roster, and got them.  A hefty-sized class of 25 gave the Leopards 5 class size points.

QUALITY: 21.  Once again, while the Spotted Maroons did fairly well overall in this category this season, their overall quality numbers follow the same worrying trend as all the other Patsy Point classes this season.

Less than half of the incoming Leopards (11/25) generated any Patsy points, and two heavily-starred recruits were the source of most of Lafayette's Patsy Points.  (Again, the Committee thought about simply cut-and-pasting the last three quality point analyses here.)

DISTRIBUTION: 7.   All positions, except for kicker and TE, were covered.  As per accordance of the official Patsy rules, the recruit listed as RB/TE was counted as a RB, or the first-listed position.

TRIGGER: 1.   Not that this means anything in regards to actual performance of any future Leopard quarterback, but as per the rules, of Lafayette's two recruited quarterbacks, only one was recognized by the recruiting services with no stars.  That means only one trigger point is awarded.

SPEED: 3.  Four Easton recruits had published speed information, and three recruits generated speed points.  One of the published speeds were "estimated", which resulted in one extra point, but as mentioned before, "estimated" still equals "published" on other sites, so it still counts.

JUMBO: 7.  It cannot be emphasized enough how well the Leopards met this requirement, hitting the numbers with all five offensive linemen and two out of three defensive linemen.  In fact in the eyes of the Committee, the jumbo points is what vaulted Lafayette to second place over three tightly-bunched members in 3rd through 5th.

NEEDS:

1. OL: 4 (out of 5).   Overall, the Committee thought that Lafayette did a great job delivering the depth and quality they needed, with the five Jumbo lineman and a starred recruit.  The only thing keeping this from being perfect was the presence of one more recruit that is recognized by the services.  But the Committee thought they did very well with this need.

Pretty Sure This Explains The Pepsi

2.  QB: 0 (out of 4).   The debate on this number in the room was quite fierce.

"QB is the most important job on the field," one irascible Committee member said.  "If this is a NEED area, the Leopards NEEDED to at least get a starred player in this spot.  One unstarred guy isn't enough to meet this need."

"Nonetheless," another tall, thin Committee member said, "the Leopards DID recruit two QBs, which should be enough for a point, or maybe even two.  Doesn't zero points seem overly harsh to you?"

After a contentious 4-4 deadlock, one Committee member was bribed with a bottle of Pepsi, putting her in the "zero point" camp.  The final result was potential cavities and zero points in this need area.

3. DL: 2 (out of 3).  Defensive line, also a big need area, was also fairly well met by the incoming class, with a heavily-starred player providing quality.  Another rated player probably would have been enough to get the full amount of points.

Four Quatloos on no adjustment!  HSSSSSSS

ADJUSTMENT:  0.  Like in other Patsy classes, there was an argument to try to adjust the score due to the quality-heavy presence of one or two recruits.  Instead, though, the Committee members decided instead to head to happy hour and instead let the computer decide how many, if any, Patsy Points should be deducted.

Ultimately, the computer melted down due to being unable to solve the Committee's logic, so no adjustments were made.  (Perhaps it was due to bad computer design, set design, or possibly both.)

The Ratings (With 1 To Go):

COLGATE - 57
BUCKNELL - 53
LAFAYETTE - 50
HOLY CROSS - 49
GEORGETOWN - 37
FORDHAM - 34