Signing Day: Thoughts on Depth

There isn't a lack of signing day coverage out there, starting with UW's official page, then JSO's pretty cool interactive recruiting map, word on the surprise "win" for WR Kraig Appleton (over Illinois), the Capital Times's signing day blog, and note on QB recruit Jon Budmayr (ps Mulhern, it's "Weis" not "Weiss").

Update: here is Potrykus's rundown of the new class.

And finally, Dave Heller's last minute reminder about recruiting hoopla:
"And just so you don't get too caught up in rankings, consider that in 2005, Colt McCoy was ranked the No. 15 pro-style quarterback. No. 14? Dustin Sherer."
I'm pretty cool to all the recruiting hype. I think there are only a handful of kids coming out of high school who are ready to make an immediate impact and who's stock is strictly bullish. I know the AD shares that view. On the other hand, recruiting provides depth which is the future of the program. (The balance might be different at places like Ohio State, Michigan, etc., but for programs like ours, you build the team through coaching, not recruiting.)

So, how did our 2009 recruiting class (highlight video here) shape up? A month or so ago I worried about offensive guard depth, outside linebackers, and the long term depth of our wide receiving corps. Landing Appleton in addition to Duckworth was a solid addition to help shore up the need for underclassmen wide receivers. Three scholarship linebackers and two more "preferred walkons." Not bad. Not awe inspiring.

We have a great haul of defensive lineman, which is nice. It's an area we've been too short in for the last couple of years, but as it happens, I think our depth was already ok there. I like the Budmayr pick-up at quarterback. Say what you will about Charlie Weis, he does have a track record with quarterbacks (and recruiting quarterbacks). I'm not saying he's going to be a star, but he has solid potential.

The biggest problem I see is at guard. We literally don't have a two-deep at guard right now. Nagy should be a solid starter and Zeitler was on the two-deep for the Champs Sports Bowl. After them? No one obvious. We might switch someone from tackle, but we're not all that deep at tackle, either. It seems strange, but I'm concerned about our lack of depth at guard. Only time will tell, but this recruiting class (with two potential guards) doesn't appear to do enough to address that problem.