The purpose of this thread is to occasionally take a look at Herman's 2017 class in a lite manner as time passes. Full post mortems on each class after the 5th year from their signing would be worthy of its own thread for each year, in my mind, but we're years away from that.
So how are things progressing with Herman's recruiting and depth chart stacking (or lack thereof, if applicable)?
Taking a look at 2017:
Texas signed 17 guys that actually showed up to participate as part of the team. It's been two years since that day, as I type this.
Starters (Obvious forward projections included, past starters who have left early due to bad attrition or benched and beaten on the depth chart are not included)
Ehlinger, T Graham, Gary Johnson, Kerstetter, Cosmi
Contributors (productive guys yet to consistently start who don't project to start yet going forward)
Thompson, Bimage, Boyce, D Young, Brewer, Chisholm
Depth (guys on the roster who haven't seen much or any time on the field yet)
Estell, Leitao, Pouncey, Cummins
Attrition
T Carter, Josh Rowland
Summary:
Of the 17 enrollees in Herman’s transition class, 5 guys have either started many games or project comfortably to do so. Thompson could be argued as a guy that should be added to this list and the count should be 6, but I think Overshown will push him off the field, even if they’re not going to play the same role.
Of those 5 starters, one looks like a star in Ehlinger (I’ve been touting this young man as a genius for years, personally), one was a star in GaJo, and Kerstetter and Cosmi could project as early draft picks if they develop strength and continue to progress. Graham looks like a prohibitive favorite to start in 2019 and he’s looked good when healthy and in the DL rotation.
The contributors group isn’t particularly strong, but they’re somewhat productive and promising. They’re fine as competent support being developed within the program.
The depth guys might as well all be labeled “Future Attrition” for the 2017 class, but they haven’t left yet. Maybe Estell gets healthy enough to take a stab at living up to his recruiting ranking and billing.
As far as attrition goes, fuck Toneil Carter for being a whiny bitch and not taking advantage of the opportunities in front of him. Rowland started as a stop gap but was terrible and has justifiably left for other opportunities after doing nothing in 2018.
The 2017 class has performed better than most expected as the 25th ranked class nationally. The starters look great and the supporting guys have been critical to building the program back up. Attrition hasn’t been as gruesome as is often feared with these kinds of classes and there’s reason to be optimistic that almost half of these guys could wind up as starters during their time on campus.
Thoughts?