I think this thread title is fair and I completely agree that recruiting rankings are overrated. I don't view this as a discussion on Iowa's signing day recruitment ranking, but rather on Iowa's recruiting in general.
Real football games (on the field) are all that counts. For this reason, I think the most important aspect of recruiting is developing a complete class of recruits (and not focusing on individuals). This is especially true for the pro-style system. This means that the team's greatest talent weakness will likely be their worst area of production. In general, this is something that Iowa does pretty well. For anyone that's played football, especially in college, you know the importance of depth and breadth across the class, from each position group and position. A football class with really good skill players, but no O Lineman... might struggle. Or the class with huge talent on defense, but no offense... will struggle.
A logical follow up question is: why can't Iowa try to aggressively change their weak areas into strengths, like at WR or with a more mobile QB that can open up the offense? For many fans my age, I think the best Iowa team we've seen had Brad Banks at QB. Why was he the last mobile QB we've had? As committed fans who care, these are not unfair questions to ask.
Wisconsin has done some great things as a program, to which Iowa should aspire. The pinnacle of their program in recent years, was with Russell Wilson. They transformed their team (dominant power running game, strong team defense) with a huge talent at QB. The result was a dominant team that should have competed for a national title. Why can't Iowa do this? Imagine this year's Iowa team (with our defense, with our TEs, OL, and running game)... and receivers like Oliver Martin and a David Bell type guy ? It's exciting. Or, imagine this Iowa team with a Russell Wilson like QB? That might be a stretch, but it's interesting to think about.
I'm satisfied with Iowa's recruiting, because I know what the staff can do and I trust their process. I fully expect guys like Dane Belton, Sebastian Castro, Ezra Miller, to be playing in the NFL someday. Because that's simply what happens at Iowa. But my point is this - why can't Iowa leverage their nationally recognized strengths (#1 producer of TEs, elite team Defense, strong O Line and power running game) for the recruitment of high level QBs and WRs, every couple of years? The WR argument is a bit tougher... it's harder to overcome that hurdle that Iowa WRs won't get enough touches. But what's holding us back from getting an elite QB prospect? You're not going to get the star QB recruit that wants to go win the Heisman at Oklahoma... But there's plenty of talent out there. And I think it should be an easy sales pitch.
Also, very excited about Padilla. He looks like as talented of a thrower as I've seen Iowa get in a long time.