Welcome to a fun off-season series that Michael, Hunter (both of FKWG), Zach, and Mike (both of MWCConnection) are rolling out for your viewing enjoyment (hopefully). Back in February, excitement was at an all-time high for fans and coaches alike as the 2024 class was officially signed. Like every year, fans often tout a class as potentially one of the best on paper. However, once players get on campus and actually on the field, the true story begins to reveal itself. It can often take years for a class to truly be judged as the impact of many players won’t be seen for a few seasons. That being said, this series will aim to revisit and evaluate Boise State’s 2019 class. There has now been enough time that many members of the class have either left or are entering their final seasons, which means players are able to be looked at for their production (or lack thereof) rather than projection and hype.
Anyway, each week, the four of us will look at a different position group or two from the class. While we will contribute two posts each week over the next month, the location of the posts will change. The start of the week will feature a post on FKWG while the end of the week will see a post up on MWCConnection, that way readers of both sites can follow along. This year, we are changing up the format a bit on how we discuss each player. The old way of assessing a recruit by categorizing them (exceeded, met, or failed to meet expectations) grew stale, as players basically were a bust, pleasant surprise, or lived up to the hype. Instead, our analysis will be more straightforward. The four of us will each share our thoughts when the player signed, and then share our thoughts over the past four years. The hope is that allows for more freedom in our descriptions rather than trying to fit everything into a pre-designed box. Hopefully, it will still be a worthwhile trip down memory lane, even if it is not always enjoyable.
This year features the 2020 class, which was the last full class with Bryan Harsin as the coach. It had to follow up the Broncos’ greatest recruiting class ever, but managed to hold its own by bringing in a number of talented players. There seemed to be an emphasis on the defensive line and secondary this time around. Also, Boise State began to lean more into the transfer portal during this cycle. Relive it all while we dive into this series.
Part 8: Final Thoughts
We have arrived at the end of another recruiting class review. The trip down memory lane has allowed us to recall how some future contributors were viewed at the time of their signing. Also, some previously forgotten names were brought back up and it was discussed reasons why they were not able to fulfill their potential. Today, to wrap up the series, the four of us will talk about our overall thoughts of the class and their contributions to the program.
Michael: These articles are a fun exercise but they highlight the reality that nothing means anything on paper. All that matters is what people actually do once they get to the FBS level. There’s a lot of four star talents that never amounted to anything on the field and a number of low-star try-hards that just ride their shoulder chips all the way to all-conference seasons and, some of them, all the way to the NFL. This class was more the former than the latter, but there are some roses amidst the thorns (Dalmas, Gums, Caples). There was also a few diamonds in the rough that could be something with a little polishing (Bolt, Kaniho). Among those that actually played/are playing, there was a plethora of solid players (Irwin, Obichere, Robinson). On the whole, though, the class was just medium-to-low impressive. But that could change if some of its members balled out this year!
Hunter: These articles are great at reminding me to be cautious when evaluating recruits. Some of these guys were “sure things” and still ended up struggling to make an impact on the field (at least one that I could see). It’s also probably to be expected with the coaching shift happening pretty soon after signing day that this would be a bit of a weird class. The most successful position this recruiting round was probably the D-line(Obichere, Gums, Irwin), although you would’ve probably predicted it would be the DBs at the time with all the talent they brought in. O-line was also a spot that people were pretty concerned about, and it seemed like most of the additions didn’t do much to ease those concerns. Overall a disappointing class, although again, starting off with a coach that didn’t recruit you is probably not the easiest to work though.
Zach: On paper, the strengths of this class were the defensive backs and the offensive line. It turns out that highly touted recruits don’t always pan out. This class seemed to have a lot of “sure things,” that were anything but. Like most recruiting classes, the majority of the players did not end up having large roles. It looks like this could end up being a nice class at wide receiver with Latrell Caples and Austin Bolt expected to be key contributors this fall. Almost every class has a guy that can be classified as a star, this one doesn’t have one…yet. I think Caples, Bolt, and Gums still have a chance to leave this program with great careers. Even if that happens, this class will still be regarded as a massive disappointment.
Mike: The focus of the class while building it was definitely defensive line and defensive back. The Broncos basically hit on three of the their four DL signees, although two were JUCO players so they weren’t around very long. With the DBs, all six have been disappointing for one reason or another, with only three providing any sort of production. Looking back, wide receiver might end up as the most productive position in this class, along with special teams, and Dalmas was a walk-on. Offensive Line was also an area where no players really panned out. While this class had to be in the shadow of the 2019 one that preceded it, it had a difficult time making its own mark in the years that followed.
