I always like to go back at look at recruiting classes after all the players have used up their eligibility to see if the rankings held up. It took a while but now that Sky, Boom, Lenners & Barta are officially done its time to see how their careers matched up to the rankings.
The 2016 class was ranked 80th overall on Rivals (worst since 2009) & 72nd on 247
Highest rated player was
Skylar Thompson 5.8 4* Rivals 241st player in nation/ .8783 3* 24/7 416th player in the nation/ 80 4* ESPN
Up and down career, but set a lot of career records & was solid when he had good coaching and was healthy. I think he was
rated pretty fairly by Rivals.
Byron Pringle 5.6 3* 75th rated Juco player by Rivals/ .8576 3* 71st rated juco by 24/7 / 79 3* ESPN
Although he struggled with drops at K-State he was still a big time play maker and now has a solid role with the Chiefs. If anything I would say he was
slightly underrated as a recruit.
Breontae Matthews 5.6 3* 86th rated Juco player by Rivals/ .8507 3* 92nd rated Juco player by 24/7 / 73 3* ESPN
Redshirted and was a back up O-lineman for a year before transferring.
Did not live up to his rating.
Mike McCoy 5.6 3* 27th rated RB by Rivals/ .8456 3* 60th rated RB by 24/7 / 73 3* ESPN
He did have one of the most memorable runs in recent school history. we never got to see what he was really capable of, since he had to retire early from football.
Corey Sutton 5.5 3* by Rivals/.8529 3* 117th rated WR by 24/7 / 78 3* ESPN
Caught 4 passes for 54 yards as a true freshman, then went through a bitter transfer process with Bill Snyder. Eventually finding a home at App State where he has had 2200 receiving yards & 24 TDs. I think he was
slighting underrated at a recruit.
Bronson Massie 5.5 3* by Rivals / .8315 3* by 24/7 / 74 3* ESPN
Played in 53 games over 5 seasons, but never became a full time starter.
Rating was fair.
Blake Hickey 5.5 3* by Rivals / .8340 3* by 24/7 74 3* ESPN
Transferred almost immediately to TCU and would eventually become a starter on their O-Line the 2nd half of his junior year.
Rating was fair.
Nick Lenners 5.5 3* by Rivals / .8215 3* by 24/7 / 75 3* ESPN
Although his 163 yards in 2019 were much more than any K-State tight end since 2014, he never blossomed into a consistent pass catching threat. He did however become a highly valued blocker in Messinghams's offense.
Rating was fair.
Jimmy McKinney 5.5 3* by Rivals /.8130 3* by 24/7 / 78 3* ESPN
Did not last long at K-State. It was stated on this site that he did not have the athletic ability to keep up.
Did not live up to his rating.
D.J. Render 5.4 2* / .8376 3* by 24/7 / 75 3* ESPN
Went back and forth between DB & WR. Didn't make a an impact until his senior year, then used his super senior year to transfer Austin Peay.
Rated fairly on Rivals (too high on other sites)
Abdul Beecham 5.4 2* / .8271 3* 24/7 / 73 3* ESPN
Played in 33 career games with 29 starts at guard. Did get a free agent contract with Chiefs, but was cut before the season started.
Underrated as a recruit.
Isaiah Harris 5.4 2* / .8184 3* 24/7 / 74 3* ESPN
Played as a true freshman & pulled in 22 receptions for 253 yards and 1 TD from 2016-2018 before he left the team. I don't believe he was able to find another team to take him in. Although he had a lot of promise early, I think
he was rated fairly.
Jordon Robertson 5.4 2* / .8112 3* 24/7 / 72 3* ESPN
Never made an impact before he was either cut from the team or left on his own. Was a low
rating already, but still probably too high.
Mason Barta 5.4 2* / .8113 3* 24/7 / NR ESPN
Good Special teams contributor and did see a fair amount of offensive snaps over his career.
Fair rating.
Ray Price 5.4 2* /.8106 3* 24/7 / NR ESPN
played in 18 career games but only recorded 3 tackles & one sack.
Fair rating.
Ian Rudzik 5.4 2* / .7857 2* 24/7 / NR ESPN
Played on special teams as a redshirt freshman before leaving the team.
Fair rating.
AJ Parker 5.3 2* / .7817 2* 24/7 / NR ESPN
A 33 game starter at CB & NB for K-State. 114 tackles 6 interceptions 24 passes defended. Is now a starter in the NFL for the Lions.
Extremely underrated as a recruit.
Trace Kochevar NR rivals / .7531 24/7 / NR ESPN
I don't believe he ever played for K-State.
Fairly rated.
Jordan Noil NR Rivals / NR 24/7 / NR ESPN
Was he on scholarship? Not sure, but he is listed on the Rivals commitments page.
Fairly rated.
D.J. Reed NR Rivals / NR 24/7 / NR ESPN
One of the best CB in K-State recent history. Starter in the NFL for the Seahawks. I believe he reclassified very late in the process which is why he wasn't ranked, but I will still say
extremely underrated as a recruit.
Walk ons
Walter Neil Jr. - Was able to walk on due to parent in the military. 18 game starter.
Wykeen Gill - 336 yards 2 TDs. 4 game starter.
Blake Lynch - 2nd in school history FG %
Devin Anctil - Highest punt average in school history
Wesley Burris - 2 year starter as LS
Brock Monty - Special teams ace
Kaelin Key
Tom Killilea
Transfers
Nick Kaltmayer - 13 game starter
Cedric Dozier
Carlos Strickland
With hindsight - 11 players were rated fairly
5 underrated
3 overrated
1 had to medically retire
With 3 players already in the NFL and two more that have a chance, although one didn't play much for K-State (Skylar and Sutton) this actually wasn't that bad of a class. A success rate of 50% isn't far off of some of the better K-State recruiting classes. If McCoy is able to play, I think this class looks way better.
The Walk on class was especially good for special teams which bumps this class up in my opinion. Kaltmayer was an underrated transfer on the O-Line.