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When evaluating recruiting classes, it’s impossible to assess a proper evaluation until after the class has completed its collegiate career. Not only are the top classes determined by what they looked like on paper, but on-field contributions also play a big part.
SDS takes a look at the each SEC team’s best recruiting class of the last decade based off of the recruiting rankings as well as how effective the class was on the field.
NOTE: Recruiting rankings taken from 247sports
Missouri Tigers
During Missouri’s time in the Big 12, and even in the program’s first few years in the SEC, the Tigers don’t get much love when it comes to recruiting rankings.
Constantly overlooked, the Tigers are often nowhere near their SEC counterparts in the recruiting ranks and are consistently flooding their classes with three-star recruits, while other SEC schools garner the five-stars’ attention. This doesn’t mean Gary Pinkel and his staff don’t occasionally get top recruits (see Dorial Green-Beckham), but the recruiting game often puts Missouri in a position of having to do more with less.
Given the program’s recent success in the SEC, this also speaks to the player development and coaching talent at Missouri as the Tigers have posted a 23-5 overall record since 2013.
But the Tigers’ best and most underrated recruiting class came in 2010 when Missouri was still a member of the Big 12.
2010 recruiting class
Record: 46-23
Big 12/SEC Championships: appeared in 2013, 2014
Class ranking: 22nd overall; 4th in Big 12
Cream of the crop: Defensive end Kony Ealy and quarterback James Franklin were two of the four four-star recruits from Missouri’s 2010 class and they didn’t disappoint. Ealy developed into one of the best pass rushers in the SEC before his career was over. He got his best opportunity with the Tigers in 2013.
Both he and Michael Sam combined to form one of college football’s most-feared pass rushing duos as the Tigers shocked everyone with a trip to the SEC Championship. Ealy finished the season with 8.0 sacks, 14.0 tackles for loss, seven QB hurries and three forced fumbles.
Franklin, on the other hand, was a mainstay on the Missouri offense once Blaine Gabbertt left for the NFL. Franklin started for three seasons and was an effective dual-threat quarterback for the Tigers. His best year was his sophomore season when he combined for 3,853 yards of total offense and 36 total touchdowns.
Injuries throughout Franklin’s career hurt some of his potential, but both he and Ealy played a big role in Missouri’s SEC emergence during the 2013 season.
Bust of the class: Offensive lineman Nick Demien was considered the top overall prospect in the state of Missouri in 2010 and was the jewel of the Tigers’ 2010 recruiting class. Demein chose the Tigers over prestigious programs like Oklahoma, Florida State and Oregon. However, the four-star recruit failed to do much of anything during his career with Missouri. After switching from offensive tackle to guard, the 6-foot-6, 295-pound lineman never established himself in the rotation and left the program in the spring of 2014.
Biggest surprise: There’s a ton to chose from for this category from the 2010 recruiting class. Littered with three-star recruits, many of the 2010 recruits played an important role for the Tigers over several years.
- DT Lucas Vincent
- WR Jimmie Hunt
- OT Mitch Morse
- WR Bud Sasser
- RB Marcus Murphy
- DT Matt Hoch
- CB EJ Gaines
- RB Henry Josey
- S Braylon Webb
If forced to pick just one, I’ll go with Henry Josey. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back wasn’t thought much of upon arriving to Missouri, but he quickly became an important piece to the Tigers’ success. In his two full years as a starter — 2011 and 2013 — Josey amassed more than 1,100 rushing yards in each season and accumulated a total of 26 total touchdowns.
Josey’s junior season — 1,166 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns — is even more impressive when you consider the knee injury he came back from. Towards the end of the 2011 season against Texas, the nation’s fifth-leading rusher suffered a gruesome knee injury in which Josey tore his ACL, MCL and left patellar tendon.
The injury forced him to miss all of 2012, but Josey came back with a vengeance in 2013. He declared for the NFL Draft after his junior season and went undrafted, but currently holds a roster spot on the Minnesota Vikings.
Drew Laing will be providing analysis and insight on Florida, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina.
