I don't have a problem with Iowa getting lower rated recruits I have a problem with how many we take. Kirk and staff do a solid job developing kids. The problem is other teams we play against do just as good of a job. What separates them from us is we take more lower rated kids and they get more 5.6 or 5.7 and higher rated guys.
Like I said I think Kirk and staff do a solid job of developing low rated guys but he is not a miracle worker he does what is realistic. When 90% of your recruiting classes are rated lower then 5.7 you need to develop 70% or better of those low rated guys to compete with the top half of the BIG. That is unrealistic. Iowa does solid by developing around 50% of those low rated guys. But when that equates to only half of a recruiting class that has a huge affect on depth and quality of starters on your football team.
While many fans thump their chests when the staff develops somebody like Kirksey they forget about all the guys from that class that didn't pan out. This is what frustrates me about Kirk and staff and has led to a downward trend in Iowa football. We need to get a few more guys rated 5.7 and higher. Instead of gaining some today we lost 1 of the only two we had.
I don't expect Iowa to blow up the recruiting world but if we can get 4 or 5 5.7 or higher rated guys a year with around 8-10 5.6 guys and fill the rest of the class out with only around 8 5.5 and lower rated guys it would go a long ways towards getting us back in the top half of the BIG.
Like I said I think Kirk and staff do a solid job of developing low rated guys but he is not a miracle worker he does what is realistic. When 90% of your recruiting classes are rated lower then 5.7 you need to develop 70% or better of those low rated guys to compete with the top half of the BIG. That is unrealistic. Iowa does solid by developing around 50% of those low rated guys. But when that equates to only half of a recruiting class that has a huge affect on depth and quality of starters on your football team.
While many fans thump their chests when the staff develops somebody like Kirksey they forget about all the guys from that class that didn't pan out. This is what frustrates me about Kirk and staff and has led to a downward trend in Iowa football. We need to get a few more guys rated 5.7 and higher. Instead of gaining some today we lost 1 of the only two we had.
I don't expect Iowa to blow up the recruiting world but if we can get 4 or 5 5.7 or higher rated guys a year with around 8-10 5.6 guys and fill the rest of the class out with only around 8 5.5 and lower rated guys it would go a long ways towards getting us back in the top half of the BIG.
