Looking back over those classes and how things have played out, there were a bunch of signees that didn't pan out. Either highly ranked recruits who played but didn't meet expectations or guys that transferred out. But these 2 classes right now should should be your veteran group of juniors and seniors.

2021:

This was O's last class and it was actually pretty highly rated. 247 had them ranked 4th overall. There were a lot of defensive recruits rated 4 stars with a 90+ rating plus two 5 stars. But most of them didn't pan out.

5 star DL Maason Smith- we know the story, got some development time as a freshman, injured for the year in game 1 as a sophomore, didn't really make a huge impact in his return from injury as a junior, left early for the draft

5 star DB Sage Ryan- huge recruitment win over Alabama. Sage has been a multi year starter but you got a 5 star top 5 safety in the class and he hasn't panned out as that type of player.

4 star DB Damarius McGhee - top 10 CB in the class. Transferred after 2 seasons

4 star DB Derrick Davis Jr- another highly rated 4 star, top 5 safety in the class. Briefly moved to RB before he transferred after 2 seasons.

4 star DE Landon Jackson- a one time 5 star top 100 ranked player, dropped after a knee injury. Transferred to Arkansas after 1 season and has had a solid career for them

4 Star DE Savion Jones-- Savion has been a multi year starter for us. Probably a satisfactory outcome here

4 star DL Bryce Langston- transferred after appearing in 4 games over 3 seasons

4 star Matthew Langlois- played 9 games as a true freshman, out for the year after 2 games as a sophomore and missed the entire 2023 season before a medical retirement

4 star LB Zavier Carter-- transferred after 2 seasons

4 star LB Greg Penn- multi year starter at LB

[b]2022

This was Kelly's "first class". He didn't do most of the work on this class as O was fired in October and he was hired in December. It was a lighter class on defensive players and Kelly ended up going hard in the portal for starters that ended up helping us. Converse, Wingo, Brooks, Weeks, Foucha, Garner

5 Star LB Harold Perkins- It's hard to say Perkins didn't work out but he basically spent his entire career trying to find his best role and then got injured and is probably moving on

4 Star DE Quency Wiggins- high 4 star, top 50 player in the class. Registered 5 tackles in 2 seasons before transferring

4 star DB LaTerrence Welch- played in 22 games, never started, transferred after 2 seasons

4 star LB Demario Tolan- transferred after 1 season

3 Star DB Jordan Allen- Looks like a depth piece. Played in parts of 3 seasons including 2 starts this year

3 Star DB Jaelyn Davis-Robinson- transferred after 1 season

3 star DT- Tygee Hill- transferred after 9 games in 2 seasons

This class hurts us too. You basically only got Harold Perkins out of it. Ideally you have some NFL ready juniors plus some solid role players playing this year. We don't have that. I've been pretty tough on Kelly. The thin classes of 21 and 22 have actively harmed us. I think he should have addressed it harder in the portal but whatever. It's too early to judge his classes, 23 and 24 with 25 as his best class yet. But hopefully this classes have a higher hit rate on success.