The Bodda Getta

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Bryan Matthews said...

247Sports will release its final Top247 for the Class of 2013 in the coming days and we wanted to take the time to point out some specifics in our philosophy for the final rankings.

1- We will have 32 five star prospects. There are 32 first round picks in the NFL Draft and because we project to the highest upside, that number makes sense to us.

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Bryan Matthews said...

247Sports will release its final Top247 for the Class of 2013 in the coming days and we wanted to take the time to point out some specifics in our philosophy for the final rankings.

1- We will have 32 five star prospects. There are 32 first round picks in the NFL Draft and because we project to the highest upside, that number makes sense to us.

2- The position representation within those 32 will fit with NFL Draft data during the past 3-5 years. For example, there will likely be more defensive ends, offensive tackles, defensive tackles, quarterbacks and cornerbacks than safeties, centers, guards, inside linebackers and other spots. I will say that some outside linebackers that are elite pass rusher types and great athletes will be valued like defensive ends. This is due to the 3-4 defenses, etc.

3- We are not concerned with where we had a prospect ranked previously. After the final Top247 is released, there is no turning back. Our goal is to get it right in the end. If a prospect has to go from three stars to No. 2 in the country, hey we missed it up until this point.

4- We are not concerned with where any other recruiting media outlet has a prospect ranked, what they reported from an event, what their stance is on a player, who they like, etc. In football evaluation, you are going to have differences of opinion. Talk to 10 different pro scouts and 10 different college coaches and they are going to say different things. We respect where other networks have prospects ranked, which is why we have the 247Composite. Keep in mind that 247Composite rankings and ratings are what we use exclusively to calculate our team rankings formula.

5- We understand that fans are fans and you all want your commits to be ranked high. We also understand you have opinions about players and want you to express it. That being said, we would not be doing our jobs if we pandered to you if you whine, post things like “what a joke”, act like we are being bullies to a high school kid, etc. It’s our job to do this and you wouldn’t have very much fun here if we didn’t have rankings. That being said, we appreciate that what we do stirs so much passion.

Thanks! One of our guys has the flu, so we are trying to nail down the day of the release.

"Wishful thinking is not the same thing as objective evidence." - jdhinsc