Recruit rankings don't mean crap

While reading Dr. Saturday earlier today, Mr. Hinton had a small note about the injury-plagued career of UCLA quarterback Ben Olson, who was considered a can't-miss prospect in 2002.

So I thought I'd look at the Top QBs of 2002 according to Rivals.com. Impressive group, heh?

1. Ben Olson (five stars), UCLA
2. Trent Edwards (five stars), Stanford
3. Justin Zwick (four stars), Ohio State
4. Anthony Martinez (four stars), Virginia
5. Matt Gutierrez (four stars), Michigan
6. Drew Stanton (four stars), Michigan State
7. Marc Guillon (four stars), Miami-Fla.
8. Drew Olson (four stars), UCLA
9. Brandon Cox (four stars), Auburn
10. Joe Tereshinski (four stars), Georgia

Not a star in the group. The closest being Edwards. Here's a look at the class.

Ben Olson is with UCLA, but has been out all season with an injury. May still get a shot at the NFL.

Trent Edwards, current quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, is clearly the cream of this class, so the No. 2 ranking is right on. So how about the rest?

Zwick plays for the Columbus Destroyers of the Arena Football League. Martinez left the UVA program after his sophomore season and I'm not sure what happened to him after that.

Gutierrez transferred to Idaho State and now is the third string QB for the New England Patriots, thanks to Tom Brady's injury. Stanton is the second string QB for the Detroit Lions.

Guillon never matured at the collegiate level. He left Miami soon after Larry Coker limited his playing time and he ended up at Alabama, where the results were poor at best. Drew Olson played briefly in the NFL with the Ravens, Panthers and 49ers, while Cox had a nice college career but never made it in the pros. Tereshinski had a mediocre career with the Bulldogs.

This is just a simple lesson in not getting too excited about where your team ranks in recruiting each year. As a WVU fan, I've watched the Mountaineers' classes never rank in the Top 20. When they would get a top recruit (e.g., Jason Gwaltney) it never worked out. But still the Mountaineers have managed to be a consistent winner now for the past decade. Clearly these rankings are way too subjective.