Why I Do Not Concern Myself With Recruiting Rankings

National Letter Of Intent Day has come and gone for 2009, and already Ohio State has lined up three verbal commitments for its 2010 class. While I follow recruiting, I truthfully do not concern myself with arbitrary concepts as to whether or not Ohio State has signed a player who is a three-star, four-star, or five-star recruit. I also do not concern myself as to how Ohio State compares with other teams around the country.

If Jim Tressel and the coaching staff have determined that a player is worthy of a scholarship to Ohio State, I believe Coach Tressel and his staff know more about this process than any recruiting analyst from Rivals.com, Scout.com, or ESPN.com. While a recruiting analyst can suggest that a player is going to come in and contribute immediately as a freshman, or will be a difference maker (gotta love those cliches you hear around this time of year), the truth of the matter is it is the coach and the coaching staff that will win or lose with the players they have on the field. It therefore behooves the coaching staff to do as much research as possible on the recruits as they can, and develop them as much as they can.

Speaking of recruits and rankings, do yourself a favor and go back to look at the rankings of Ohio State's 2005 class. The so-called five-star recruits that year were OT Alex Boone, DL Doug Worthington, and DB Jamario O'Neal. Worthington was redshirted in 2005, and will be back next year for his senior season. The lowest-ranked player in that class? WR Brian Robiskie.

And my point is? It really does not matter what any recruiting analyst thinks, or how highly a player is rated. It only matters what a player does on the football field, and how much they develop while they are in college. Considering the results Ohio State has had with Coach Tressel at the helm, I believe Ohio State fans should trust that he and his staff know what they are doing when it comes to player evaluation and development.