Three-point stance: Grimes, social media, legal fatigue

Today’s edition includes discussion of Trevon Grimes' impressive company, recruits as emojis and legal document fatigue.

After our most recent 2017 rankings update and seeing players like WR Trevon Grimes, OC Cesar Ruiz, who are both at the top of their position ranks, and many others near the top this past weekend at the Rivals Camp Series Presented By Under Armour in Orlando and Miami, I started to wonder which class was better – 2016 or 2017.

At first I thought it was an easy answer as I felt the 2016 class was a bit of a down year but then I began thinking of the guys at the top of their position groups like Rashan Gary, Shea Patterson, Gregory Little, Ben Davis, Rahshaun Smith and Jacob Eason, and I began to re-think that a bit.

While I don’t have the space here to break down each position group, I will do that later in the week, and I think you’ll find the analysis interesting. What I saw this weekend was a group from Florida that is better than last year’s group at the very least, IMG out-of-staters not included (Patterson, Smith and Nauta are a tough 1-2-3 punch). And in Grimes, we could be watching the best wide receiver since Julio Jones and A.J. Green duked it out for the top spot back in 2008.

Sure, there have been some great receivers ranked at the top like Rueben Randle in 2009, Dorial Green-Beckham in 2012, Laquon Treadwell in 2013 and most recently Calvin Ridley in 2015, but when it comes to having that coveted size/speed combination along with the polish of a great route runner, Grimes has a chance to be better than any of them. He most likely won’t be better than Jones or Green, although he still has almost a year of development left, but he could end up being in that ballpark.

After watching James Robinson on Saturday, a very talented receiver and a five-star player, and then Grimes the next day, the difference is pretty distinct, at least in these experienced eyes. Robinson was a bit banged up on Saturday, but this is the second straight dual evaluation I’ve been able to do on the two (The Future 50 in Orlando in January was the first) and the gap keeps widening.

Will Grimes become our first No. 1 overall receiver since Green-Beckham in 2012? He could be -- he’s that good. There are many top players in the 2017 class at coveted positions, but Grimes is probably the first wide receiver since Green-Beckham to be mentioned as a potential No. 1 by our analyst team this early. And this weekend only helped his cause.

In case you missed it, amidst everything going on in college football, the NCAA has finally determined that tweeting about recruits using emoji’s is no longer allowed. My man Rob Cassidy summed it up best:

That’s right. Top 2016 wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers was referred to on Twitter as a palm tree by UNC and Auburn as they battled for his talents down the stretch. That’s right, a freaking palm tree.

Nicknames have been used, but for the NCAA to take away our emoji’s is downright disgraceful. Luckily the coaching world is very inventive so something else will crop up, but this will be missed.

And one quick note for all you palm trees out there, notice Craig-Myers committed to a coach who bolted for LSU after Signing Day. So even if they flatter you with emoji comparisons to swaying tropical trees, be careful out there.

I am so freaking tired of reading pages and pages of legal documents. Maybe it’s because my limited brain gets tired reading through all the legal mumbo jumbo or maybe I’m tired of trying to figure out who the good and bad guys are.

A little while back I asked the question about whether we should care about Peyton Manning’s 20 year-old sexual assault case and the only thing I can now try to figure out is who is promoting what agenda on that front.

Now, between the accusations and denials at Tennessee in regards to more recent issues, Charlie Strong’s messy involvement in divorce proceedings from his time at Louisville (luckily for him a settlement was reached) and whatever else comes down the line, I know I’ll be happy when spring football starts and we can at least distract ourselves with that.

With more media coverage of EVERYTHING in the history of sports, expect more and more of these scandals to crop up.