Do stars matter? Indiana football destroys 'talent metric' with championship
Do stars matter? Here's a look at how Indiana's roster stacks up on paper compared to other recent CFP national champions:
www.usatoday.com
"
The Hoosiers ranked 72nd in college football in talent metric this season, which isn't even in the top half of the sport"
looks like Oregon was ranked #5 in that same talent metric.
apples to oranges. Indiana has had the advantage of pruning out the unproductive and overrated players coming out of high school. The average age of their roster was over 23 years old and the average number of seasons of their starters was 4.1
Oregon had a lot of 18 and 19 year old 4-star recruits than didn't see the field this season, but they are counted in that dipshit survey and skewing the comparison
imagine if Oregon had been playing with a bunch of their 3-star, or less, recruits this season when they had been in their 4th or 5th year of experience:
some of the 3-star recruits Oregon has had like:
Deforest Buckner DL
Alex Balducci DL
Dwayne Stanford WR
Marcus Mariota QB
Cameron Hunt OL
Elijah George OL
Johnny Mundt TE
Joe Walker LB
Jake Pisarcik OL (2-star)
Charles Nelson Ath
Jalen Jelks Edge
Shane Lemeiux OL
Calvin Thockmorton OL
Ugo Amadi DB
Fotu Leato
Jacob Breeland TE/WR
Jake Hanson OL
Gus Cumberlander Edge
Tyrell Crosby OL
Brady Breeze DB
Justin Herbert QB
Troy Dye LB
CJ Verdell RB
Popo Aumavae OL
Alex Forsythe OL
Jordon Scott DT
Verone McKinley III DB
Travis Dye RB
Keyon Ware-Hudson DT
Jamal Hill S
Brandon Dorlus DL
Trikweze Bridges DB
Juwan Johnson TE/WR
Bradyn Swinson Edge
Jonathon Denis OL
Bennett Williams S
TJ Bass OL
Marcus Harper OL
Casey Rogers DL transfer
Jerry Mixon LB
Nikko Reed DB transfer
Nishad Strother OL transfer
Tysheem Johnson DB transfer
Evan Williams DB transfer
Tez Johnson WR transfer
Khyree Jackson DB transfer
Peyton Woodyard DB transfer
Kobe Savage DB transfer
that isn't a conclusive list....more just a quick one and I count 28 of those 3 star players who have made it to the NFL
but again, Indiana has had the advantage of selecting and signing established players and pruning the unproductive ones
something else too: the narrative that Indiana has "
destroyed the talent metric" is horseshit. It is the one exception over the last 30 years of national champions. And there are lots of reasons to see what Indiana did as a perfect storm of unrepeatable circumstances
