I've gotten this message on almost every recruit that I signed. 

 

"Overall, I think he's got what it takes to be a DIII All-American before all is said and done. He could succeed at DII with some work, maybe a redshirt season."

Does that hold any merit? 

nope....just window dressing. The only things to pick up off a scout are the potentials in the 4 categories your scout rattles off...sometimes the offense and defense and the kid's starting ability in it and occasionally with pulldowns you will get clues to whether or not you're getting close to getting the kid or if you have a lot of work to do (there will be comments regarding other coaches at the game being in your league/way out of your league, or the kid might flash you a thumb's up or his family might say something to you as a clue). I might be forgetting something, but those are the things I discern from scouting reports....the potentials are by far the most important as scouting is the only way to discover high vs. high-high potential.