National Signing Day and Glen Mason is in Hibernation

National Letter of Intent day is the equivalent of asking girls to prom. It is low on substance and high on rumors and double-crossings. For some reason it matters where prospective football players say they want to go. Every college team is praised or panned based on their recruiting class. Of course these unscientific rankings are based on the potential of 18-year-olds. Football players particularly develop or plateau in college. If you think the NFL draft is a crapshoot, meet college recruiting. For every Vince Young slam dunk, there is a Trent Edwards, Matt Moore or Reggie McNeal.

-On a loosely related note, the Oregon Ducks got a commitment from DE Dexter Manley Jr. That’s right the son of the former Redskin defensive end Dexter Manley. Manley Sr was Washington’s ferocious answer to Lawrence Taylor in every way: A monster on the field who was ruled by drug monsters off it (46.5 sacks in a three year span). Manley is now reportedly clean and working for a rehab organization. While that is a good story, it's more fun to remember Manley as a terrorizing villain. Here's hoping the junior Manley can learn from his dad's mistakes, and still be a force.

-Meanwhile Glen Mason was busy hibernating. According to Scouts.com, the Gophers did not sign anyone greater than a three star rating. To put it another way no one in the top 30 at any given position. That's what happens when the head coach takes the entire season to sign a new contract and leaves every recruit in limbo. Or the perfect amount of talent for a Music City Bowl berth.