It's recruiting season again. Actually, it's recruiting season all year long, but we here at Dawgsports, in an effort to acknowledge that reality in the least creepy way possible, try to cover recruiting with just a touch of sanity. To that end, over the next month or so you'll see:
- "Too Much Information" profiles of Bulldog recruits
- Our totally uneducated guesses on who makes an immediate impact, and why, and
- The occasional look at how the neighbors are doing on the recruiting trail.
But before we get there, a cautionary tale and a warning. Recruiting is more art than science. Sure the recruiting gurus now have time and money to chase 16 year old kids around and figure out which ones will be the next Peyton Manning. But there are still an awful lot of things that can go wrong between signing day and your own Double Stuff Racing League commercial.
Example A? Tray "Little Ball of Hate" Blackmon. The former LaGrange standout and Auburn linebacker has announced he'll be leaving the Loveliest Little Village for . . . Canada. The CFL, to be exact. You'll recall that Blackmon was considered by some the top player in the state of Georgia as a senior, and the top linebacker in the country He was a scant few slots ahead of Peach County linebacker Darius Dewberry and Burke County standout Marcus Washington. He was well out in front of North Gwinnett wide receiver Jared Cook, who jus completed a very successful season in Columbia, and Duke Robinson, who just completed an All-American caliber season at Oklahoma. Tray Blackmon was a big, big deal this time 4 years ago.
Some college football players never live up to potenial because of injuries. Others succumb to academic issues. Sill others put up better stats in the Fulmer Cup than on the field. Blackmon was that rare player who dealt with a little bit of everything.
What can you take away from the star-crossed career of Tray Blackmon? This: between now and National Signing Day you may be tempted to go nuts over the 5 star prospects going elsewhere. Don't bother. Some of them will end up in the Canadian Football League. Others will end up working at Burger King. A few more will end up in prison. If you want to follow recruiting, we can help you out with that. If you want to obsess over it, you're really wasting your time. I'm out of town this weekend, so you're in Kyle's capable hands. Until then . . .
Go 'Dawgs!!!