Alright recruiting forum. When we talk about our defensive backfield shortcomings, I see a lot of back and forth between coaching vs talent. Maybe it's both, but let's look at the numbers.
Our defensive backfield recruiting has been notably poor. Since 2018, outside of Alontae Taylor and Bryce Thompson who went to the NFL, we've had 2 (TWO, DOS) four-star players in the backfield. Key Lawrence transferred. The other? Jaylen McCollough (0.93 4* 2019). No 5*.
Taking a look at our current roster, Jaylen McCollough is the ONLY defensive back that was rated higher than 3* when he came here (I'm using transfer ranking rather than original high school ranking for guys like Turnage).
Of the 14 guys I count that are still on the roster since the 2018 class, 13/14 are 3* recruits. Two of them (T. McDonald and C. Charles) did not come here as defensive backs but OLB and ATH, respectively. The average rating is 0.869 (hehe 69).
Our three lowest rated players are Brandon Turnage (0.83 as a transfer), Christian Harrison (0.85), and Trevon Flowers (0.85).
No, recruiting ranks don't mean everything and they aren't a forecast for performance... but they also aren't useless. In some respects you can look at it as how much time or training will be needed to get the athlete into SEC level.
So, I am leaning more towards this being a talent issue. Our defensive line and linebacker corps have higher ratings and more >3* players. The defensive line has more than the linebackers and linebackers more than defensive backs. What a coincidence... that generally follows the trend of performance.
So how do you fix this ~potential~ talent/performance gap? Coaching and recruiting. Yes, maybe the coaching isn't where it needs to be. I can't say for sure from the outside looking in.
What are we doing on the recruiting front?
As of today - with months to go before this is finalized and no way to predict the transfer portal (for or against) - we have 6 defensive backs committed to the 2023 class. 3 (THREE, TRES) 4* defensive backs (Matthews, Smith, Gibson). Average rating of the class is 0.896. That's a significant influx of talent next year... and there's no way they're done.
Not only that, our lowest rated defensive back (Jack Luttrell S 0.87 3*) has a higher or equal rating than 10/14 of our current defensive backs.
So the talent and potential is on the way. And these guys are coming to play for Banks and Martinez. We have to be patient. This program is "ahead of schedule" in every category. If I were to give exceptions to position groups, I'd say the linebackers and defensive backs are at least "on schedule" and we need to be patient. LB is probably a year ahead of the DBs. Lots of young talent coming but still missing the obvious future director of the defense in the middle unless Herring or Perry shows out.
