Signing Day. Soon to be a national holiday. And the true reason fax machines exist in the 21st century.
General thoughts about the 2016 class:
An abundance of linemen. Both kinds, though heavy (no pun intended) to the offensive side. Of the seven o-linemen signed four are north of 300 pounds. Zachary Thomas is the light weight at a mere 270 pounds.
The two wide receivers signed are 6’5″ and 6’4″ respectively. Assuming Christian Chapman remains the starting quarterback, in a year or two all Christian needs to do is aim high.
Speaking of height, the four defensive backs measure 6’0″, 6’1″, 6’2″ and 6’2″. Historically, Aztec defensive backs are of the 5’11” and less variety.
Of the 22 high school seniors signing letters of intent, 13 are Californians.
As for Rocky’s concentration on the states of California, Nevada and Arizona, 18 of the 22 seniors hail from those three states.
The surprise signing is the behemoth Yasir Durant (6’7″, 345) from Philadelphia (how this young man escaped the clutches of Temple and Rutgers is perplexing. Perhaps better coaching awaits?)
The Union-Tribune mentioned a juco quarterback by the name of Jimmy Walker as part of the 2016 class, but he did not appear on the final list issued by San Diego State. If Maxwell Smith returns or not, the quarterback position is at least four deep, but a recruiting class without one quarterback is imperfect.
Other shortcomings include the lack of a kicker and/or punter signed. One player who does both would have sufficed. Yet, nobody.
Recruiting competition reflected Rocky’s regional focus. Of the twenty-six recruits, eight received offers from PAC-12 schools while all but five were recruited by other MW schools.
An overall grade of B+ is awarded this recruiting class. If a quarterback of substance had been part of the newcomers, an A- would be appropriate, alas, ’tis not the case. Now for the challenge: Who quits, transfers, survives and prospers? Otherwise known as the influence of coaching and no longer being “the guy”. Good luck to all.
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