With recruiting services, and their rankings, there’s a hype surrounding recruits before they ever set foot on campus.
Whether they’re a five-star, a two-star or unrated, though, nobody really knows what they’re getting until a player sets foot on campus and suits up for their first game. Really, even then, it’s still an unknown.
Some recruits take time to grow into their bodies, to adjust to college football, to learn a new position or grasp the schematics of college offenses and defenses.
“With each recruiting class,” UA coach Rich Rodriguez said this summer, “whatever it’s ranked, you won’t know for two-three years what it is.”
Factoring in a redshirt year, as most players redshirt their true freshman year, three years is probably the first time it makes sense to accurately evaluate a recruiting class.
Considering that, Arizona’s 2014 recruiting class is entering its third season, and for the most part, there’s still quite a bit to prove.
Of that 25-person class, only 15 remain. Here’s a breakdown of that 2014 class, for those still around, as it enters week two of, well, year three.
The players are listed in order of their recruiting ranking, according to Scout.com.
- Cam Denson, WR (Salpointe Catholic/Tucson): A four-star , Denson began his career at corner before moving back to receiver in the spring. He tallied five interceptions in two years at corner and had zero touches at receiver in Arizona’s first game, against BYU.
- Jamardre Cobb, LB (Bishop Mora Salesian/Los Angeles): A highly-touted four-star linebacker out of high school, Cobb hasn’t lived up to the hype. He’s changed positions three times (from linebacker to fullback, back to linebacker, and now back to fullback) and has barely sniffed the field regardless.
- Marquis Ware, LB (Bishop Mora Salesian/Los Angeles): Ware and Cobb were a package deal in 2014, a highly touted one at that, but Ware has seen the field even less than Cobb and has yet to even appear on Arizona’s two-deep on the depth chart.
- Marcus Griffin, DT (Bellevue/Bellevue, Washington): Griffin, also rated four-stars, was a late addition to the recruiting class, but hasn’t panned out just yet. Griffin hasn’t been on Arizona’s two-deep yet this season despite its need for size on the defensive line, and he didn’t see the field against BYU.
- Nick Wilson, RB (Central High/Fresno, California): Wilson has become far-and-away Arizona’s MVP of its 2014 class. As a true freshman, he rushed for 1,375 yards and 16 touchdowns. He fell back last season due to injuries, but showed some flash against BYU, scoring both of Arizona’s touchdowns.
- Trevor Wood, TE (Chaparral/Scottsdale): Wood looks the part at 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds. He played some defensive end and blocked at tight end as a freshman, but missed the 2015 season with injury.
- Darrell Cloy, TE (La Habra HS/La Habra, California): Caught one pass in 2015, then moved to defensive end in the spring. Didn’t dress against BYU.
- Brandon Dawkins, QB (Oaks Christian/Westlake Village, California): Lost the starting quarterback battle to Anu Solomon this season, but showed flashes against ASU last year and still will, even if Solomon keeps the job, see some playing time in a relief role this season.
- Devon Brewer, DB (Central High/Fresno): Technically, Brewer came in as part of the 2015 class, but was signed in 2014 before grayshirting. Had two tackles on special teams last year, but didn’t dress against BYU.
- Layth Friekh, OL (Centennial/Peoria, Arizona): Friekh became the starter at left tackle last season when Freddie Tagaloa was injured and hasn’t looked back since.
- Kwesi Mashack, CB (Vista Murrieta/Murrieta, California): Mashack moved to safety in the spring. He started one game at corner in 2015.
- Tony Ellison, WR (Granite Bay/Granite Bay, California): He was expected to play a key role at receiver this season, but is presently out with a knee injury.
- Jace Whittaker, WR (Oceanside/Oceanside, California): Whittaker moved to cornerback at Arizona and started three games as a true freshman. He’s expected to play a lot this season.
- Josh Pollack, K (Highland Park/Highland Park, Illinois): Pollack didn’t play much with Casey Skowron around at kicker, but he won both Arizona’s place-kicking and punting jobs for 2016.
- Levi Walton, OL (North Fort Myers/Fort Myers, Florida): Battled Nathan Eldridge to start at center this season, but lost.
Extra points
- Former UA signee Josh Allen will play the upcoming season at Long Beach City College after initially planning to play at Eastern Arizona College. Allen was expected to be a key part of Arizona’s 2016 class, but was deemed academically ineligible. He spent the last two years at LBCC.
- UA commit Braxton Burmeister had a standout performance over the weekend for La Jolla Country Day. In a 56-21 win against Orange Glen, the four-star 2017 quarterback passed for 310 yards and four touchdowns, and added another 68 yards rushing and three scores.
- Edgar Burrola and Joey Ramos were amongst the recruits in attendance for Arizona’s 18-16 loss against BYU. Offensive lineman, Burrola — from Las Vegas — is already committed to Arizona for 2017, while Ramos is a 2018 target from Deer Valley in Glendale.
