I want to illustrate early offer problems and the effect on rankings for you, and I do not want to pick on this kid, because he is a good player, but here are the facts...
Bradly Roussel is an Inside linebacker at Redemptorist HS. He is 5'11", 215 lbs, and runs a 4.76 40. He is a 3 star athlete on Scout and Rivals. He is ranked #27 in the country at his position by Scout. He had a reported early offer from Tennessee, then Washington, and neither panned out, and he is now committed to Tulane as of today, not because it was his first choice, but because it was all he had left.
Zach Kane on the other hand, is ranked roughly 30 places below Roussel by Scout. He is a 2 star, and is 6'2" 215 lbs, runs a 4.7, and is committed to Miami.
Zach Kane was pretty much a complete unknown to Scout until December, in fact, December 5th, 2007, was the first mention he had on Scout.com. Bradley Roussel has 10 articles/features, dating back to June of last year. Which player will be the better player in college, who knows? Two things are certain, Bradley Roussel had the best hype, and Zach Kane was a real sleeper.
UL needs to continue to find the Zach Kanes, they are out there.