The issue I see -- not just relating to this discussion but sports talk in general -- is recency bias. I see it in what the media writes as well. Sometimes people lack perspective.
For example, in the NFL the QB's of today aren't necessarily better than the QB's of 25+ years ago simply because they are putting up greater statistics. That's where the perspective comes in. The game has changed. Drastically. A big reason for the change is due to numerous rule changes the past 15 years. The passing game is so much easier than it's ever been. So today's coaches and players are taking advantage of it. If you need proof, go look at the numbers of some of the successful QB's whose careers started several years before many of the pro-offensive rules went into place. Check out the numbers Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees were putting up pre-2003/04 and what they did consistently after. Same goes for all the WR's.
Now apply the same to high school football. The game has changed drastically the past 10+ years with high schools quickly emulating college offenses. But just because these kids are piling up more statistics doesn't mean they are better. But fans often get fooled into believing so because they are seeing stats and records they've never seen before.
As I touched upon in my reply above. It's about perspective. And stats don't tell the story.
Do you know what Brandin Cooks stats looked like in HS when he played at Lincoln? Nothing too eye popping. And he's a top WR in the NFL right now and one of the best to ever come out of the SJS. If Cooks or Stallworth played in an pass happy offense/system like Folsom's, they'd have produced more than they did at their respective schools. It's really not hard to connect those dots.
People have been talking about Folsom's QB's for nearly 10 years now and how it seems more system than player. While I don't totally agree, there is some merit to it. Because every QB that has played in that system has produced gaudy numbers -- some with better college success than others.
Same is true of their WR's. Cole Thompson, Tyler Trosin, Josiah Deguara, J'Juan Muldrow, Will McClure, Andrew Benavides. Joe Ngata.
All of those kids put up 20+ TD's and a mass of receiving yards. Thompson had the most with 34 TD's. None of them are as good as Ngata. But none of them sans Ngata are as good as Donte Stallworth either. Or Shaq Thompson. Or Rae Carruth. Or Matt Barnes. Or Austin Collie. Or Brandin Cooks.
And therein lies the point. Don't use numbers to judge these things. It's apples to oranges. Different eras. Different teams. Different everything.
Having said all that, I'm right with you regarding Joe Ngata being one of the best players to come out of the SJS. He belongs in the SJS's Heisman House -- if they had one.
But is he better than Kevin Wilhite (#1 recruit in the Nation over Bo Jackson and Marcus Dupree) or Lance Briggs or Onterrio Smith or Tedy Bruschi or Austin Collie or Brandin Cooks or any other great player you can name? I can't say that. All I can say is he belongs in the discussion and that stats don't make or break the case.
