Dave - That makes more sense now. I could see something like that being changed to occur in the future, as long as EA implemented it correctly to not be abused. I don't want the CPU suddenly going all gung ho and all out on my hard commits to try and make them leave me after I've claimed them. If it could be implemented smartly, it would definitely add an interesting new levels to recruiting.
As for the ratings, I could agree on a middle ground like that. I absolutely loved NCAA Basketball. It was a must buy every year along with NCAA Football, but I always hated having the ratings revealed to you with scouting. It takes away the guessing game and unknown factor. Now maybe, if like you mention, there was a range in terms of potential, that could work. Granted I personally would want large ranges. Seeing a range as 80-89, you may as well stick with the grades. Now if the range was 65-85 or something, where there is a large range that the kid could fall anywhere in there, it'd give you the ability to see what you might be looking at in terms of skill, as well as keeping the unknown factor and the guessing game in there in terms of choosing between DE A or DE B.
And I look forward to that article on the assistants! Two things that I have wanted to see for years now in this game, assistant coaches and coaching carousel. So I can't wait to read that article about assistants!
And I agree completely with the physical growth. Granted at that age and that point, you really wouldn't see much, if anything, in terms of growth in height, but it would be nice to see the player's weight fluctuate, and potentially seeing ratings change because of that. if you had a halfback come in at 200 pounds and a high speed rating, if he ends up bulking up to say 245 (in an extreme case), then you should see his speed rating drop a good bit, as he has gone from being a speed halfback, to being a power halfback. To have certain, specific ratings change in relations to a changing weight, would be great to see.