In looking at the Rivals.com team recruiting rankings for the 2018 class, Oregon State fans might be discouraged on first glance.
Their hated rivals, the Oregon Ducks, have 21 commitments and the No. 5 class in the country, while Oregon State has just five commitments and the No. 93 class in the country (as of Wednesday morning).
This article looks like why OSU fans should not be worried about Oregon State's low recruiting ranking.
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It's just way too early to panic
It's August, everyone. This time last year, Oregon State had about the same number of commitments, and the 2017 class ended up as a pretty good one for the Beavers. A number of true freshman, even the late finds, such as Calvin Tyler and Isaiah Dunn, are already stepping up in fall camp.
Sure, Oregon State hasn't landed a new commitment since Andy Koch pledged to the Beavs several weeks ago, but July is not a big visit month for OSU like it is other schools. Official visit season will be good to OSU this fall, just like it always is.
A lot of big time recruits are still in play
Isaah Crocker. Talanoa Hufanga. Christopher Brown Jr. Eli'jah Winston.
Those are just a few names of highly ranked recruits that Oregon State is in the mix for, and landing any of them would certainly boost the ranking. There are a number of solid three-star recruits out there that are highly considering Oregon State at key positions at well.
OSU won't be pulling in several four-star prospects anytime in the near future, but they're also not going to be having a class with a majority of two-star recruits. The three-star guys with something to prove will be the bread and butter for Oregon State.
A winning season could go a long way
In 2016, OSU won four games. Just four. Their class was ranked better than Washington State, West Virginia, Arizona State, Minnesota, Duke, and Texas Tech.
Oregon State has been selling the rebuild, but if they have a six or seven game winning season, then recruits will see fruits from the rebuild.
I have to temper Oregon State fans' expectations for this recruiting class if the Beavs do go bowling. A winning season does not equal landing five or six four-star recruits.
Rome wasn't built in one day. Relationships still are the most important facet in recruiting.
TMP to Corvallis?
Oregon State landed Isaiah Dunn, Aidan Willard, Isaiah Hodgins, and Trajon Cotton from northern California based 7-on-7 team in the 2017 cycle, and the Beavs are already off to a good start in the 2018 class with Deshon Wilson's commitment.
The Beavs are looking to keep the "TMP to Corvallis" pipeline strong, and Rivals250 wide receiver Isaah Crocker would be a huge land for the Beavs - think Isaiah Hodgins 2.0. He would certainly boost OSU's recruiting ranking and give the Beavs a great vertical threat opposite of Hodgins for years to come.
Three-star running back Kazmeir Allen recently landed an offer from OSU and decommitted from Boise State a couple of days later.
Landing more prospects from the talented 7-on-7 group will really help OSU and will impact the 2019 class as well - just like the 2017 signees are impacting the 2018 recruits.
Do the recruiting rankings really even matter?
Yes and no.
The interpretations and scouting of each individual recruit is not an exact science. So that part is not super important, but if you take a look back at the Rivals.com team recruiting ranking history, then you'll see that that is important.
Recruiting is the bloodline of college football, and you have to recruit well to win. Whether a recruit is a 5.6 or 5.7 three-star is not going to change the world, but consistently landing top tier talents is important - as well as landing under the radar two-star such as Xavier Crawford and Manase Hungalu, who are program changing talents.
