It seems like every year the topic emerges. It's understandable and probably unavoidable. Expectations tend to do that.

How should we view Kentucky's 2014 recruiting class?

Writers and commentators chimed in with their takes last year. And as time goes on, there's more data to fuel whatever case someone wants to make.

We're four years removed from Kentucky's '14 class and no class since has generated nearly the amount of reflection, scrutiny and analysis that it did, does and probably will.

There are reasons for that. It was Mark Stoops' highest-ranked class. It was his first full recruiting cycle. There were ten four-star players in that signing group. And for a time, even up until the start of the fall, that class topped Rivals.com's list of the nation's best recruiting classes.

The rankings for the players in that class, and the class as a whole, don't matter anymore. Except inasmuch as they shape perceptions of the group.

Has that class been a success? A bust? Disappointing? Or is it still too early to say?

With so many of those players no longer in the program, either through exhausting eligibility, early departure or other attrition, and the remaining '14 signees as seasoned veterans on Kentucky's 2017 preseason roster, we can use more hindsight than ever to measure how the group has performed overall, and how it's performed relative to expectations. And those are two very different things.

It might be helpful to break down each of the players from the '14 haul into different categories based on how their Kentucky careers played out or have progressed to date. There are the stars, the contributors, and those whose impact was negligible or certainly less than was expected.

What makes a college football player a star? That's tough to say and there won't be any kind of consensus on the general blanket label. There are different criteria that can be used to separate contributors from stars, but some things seem clear. All-SEC or All-American performers would certainly qualify as stars. And it seems reasonable that even if a player is snubbed on a ballot, if their production was strong enough or their impact on the team or program was very significant, it would be splitting hairs to deny their place here.

Stars are essential. Maybe only half (or a little more) of players in most recruiting classes across the country turn into bona fide consistent contributors in college. That's a lot of attrition. And you generally take contributors when you can get them without complaining too much. But if you just had a team full of contributors then you're awfully close to being able to say you've got a team full of replacement level players. And that might make for competitiveness in some scenarios, but it doesn't make for great football.

When a team has enough contributors, role players and spot-duty pieces to provide quality depth at most positions, stars, or the lack of them, make the difference between average and good. Or between good and great. Difference-makers.

Without further ado, the 2014 recruits who have turned out to be true stars at Kentucky.

Stanley "Boom" Williams. There shouldn't be much controversy here. One can say Boom should have stayed another year, though leaving was his prerogative and it certainly wasn't a shock to anyone paying attention. Boom rushed for nearly 1,200 yards as a junior, after producing at a substantial level as both a freshman and sophomore running behind lines that weren't as good as the 2016 unit. His touchdowns went up every year and last year he was an essential part of a ground game that made Kentucky a seven-win team. And during those years when the line wasn't as strong, at times Boom's own resourcefulness and explosive running was Kentucky's only effective good offense. He's one of the most dynamic backs in modern UK football history.

Mike Edwards. This shouldn't draw too much backlash either. Edwards is a preseason third team All-SEC pick and one could easily argue he should have been at least second team. He's one of the SEC's top defensive backs and that makes him one of the nation's top defensive backs. Mark Stoops has long considered Edwards the team's best player or something close to that. The NFL may well be in his future. Star, easily.

Denzil Ware. When most Kentucky media or perhaps also fans talk about Kentucky's best players you're likely to hear Jordan Jones, Edwards and Benny Snell come up before Ware, so it might be a little surprising that Ware is Kentucky's only second team preseason All-SEC selection. But he had strong numbers last year and that was as a still-young sophomore playing behind a defensive line that didn't make his work any easier. Is Ware really a star in the SEC right now? That might be more of a borderline call than the previous two cases, but considering he's got two years left and his numbers last year, it's still fair. He's been a difference-maker and the general consensus even at the SEC level is he's going to be a big-time producer.

What makes a 'contributor'? Admittedly, this label is very broad and will have to encompass a wide range on the production and impact spectrum. There are some contributors who are better than run of the mill contributors or middling talents, but there are some contributors who could basically be replaced by a run of the mill Power Five or Group of Five player, because they're playing for no better alternative.

Still, in general if a program's recruiting class has a strong majority of its signees turn out to be contributors, that gives that program a good baseline for success.

So who were the contributors from the 2014 class?

Drew Barker. Say what you will, Barker has already been a contributor. He's been a starting quarterback in the SEC and the job wasn't lost last year. He was injured. He had three quarterback battles with Patrick Towles over the span of roughly a year, finally won the job at the end of 2015, and didn't relinquish starting duties until injury forced him out of action. His future is difficult to forecast but he's currently one of the two major reasons (along with Gunnar Hoak) that Kentucky seems to have enviable depth behind center. Given that Stephen Johnson has one year of eligibility and Barker has two, and given how often programs have to go to their second quarterback, it's very fair to say Barker's probably not done making his impact at UK.

Matt Elam. Again, say what you will (and everyone has something to say), but Elam has been a contributor on some level. That says nothing of whether he's matched expectations (though expectations weren't universally accepted). But he has played extensively over his first three seasons at Kentucky and regardless of whether he finally takes his game to the next level, as so many have hoped he would, Elam has already cemented himself as a contributor.

Adrian Middleton. Here we start to see where our categories are imperfect. Middleton is also evidence that it's still far too early to pass a final judgment on the 2014 class, however long it's been now. Middleton made significant contributions last year but he has a chance to move to the upper echelon of the contributor category, or he might even become a star, over the next two years. He's got plenty of improvement he needs to make but Derrick LeBlanc immediately singled him out as someone he could work with, upon taking UK's defensive line position. Middleton didn't arrive with nearly the hype of Elam but he has already surpassed him in terms of play quality.

Mikel Horton. Just because someone contributed doesn't mean they lived up to expectations (feels like a dead horse, right?). Horton can't be filed in the non-contributor category because he did rush for more than 600 yards over two years, and he had his better moments, but he didn't realize the potential many saw in him as a recruit when he was rated four-stars and landed an early Florida State offer. Fortunately for Kentucky, the program has seen other running backs pan out well (Williams) or exceed expectations (Benny Snell), so Horton's less-than-expected contributions haven't really hurt, yet at least.

Ryan Flannigan. Over his two years in the program following his transfer from junior college Flannigan registered more than 100 tackles and was among UK's leading tacklers both seasons. He was never a star and he might be fairly considered, to use baseball terminology again, a replacement level player. But he did play extensively, which means he was better than any of Kentucky's alternatives. No question, he was a contributor and you'd take those numbers from a three-star JUCO with limited eligibility all day.

A.J. Stamps. Like Flannigan, Stamps made an impact in his first year after transferring from his junior college. That doesn't always happen so don't underestimate the significance of him doing that. The difficulty for some Kentucky fans is that Stamps didn't have the kind of senior season a lot of people expected him to have after that very promising junior year. Nonetheless, he was certainly a significant contributor compared to many of the other players in the class and in the secondary since then.

Darius West. The final chapter hasn't been written yet and, as is true with Middleton, it's just too early to tell where he will finally fall. For now, West has contributed when he's been healthy and it's very safe to say that, but for injuries, he would have been a much more consistent contributor by now. He's already penciled in as Kentucky's starting free safety, even after several injury issues, and if he can stay healthy then over the next two years he could be an X-Factor in helping to assess the 2014 class two years from now.

C.J. Johnson. You could make the case that Johnson was almost close to the "star" category but that might be stretching the label a little too broadly. He had 19 tackles in a single game and, over his last season at UK, racked up more tackles than you almost ever see from a defensive tackle. He has been one of Mark Stoops' top defensive linemen over the past several years and even with limited eligibility he made a big impact while he was around, justifying that four-star ranking.

Dorian Baker. Consistency has been lacking but that's been true for every Kentucky receiver in recent years. It's tough to blame Baker for last year because he was hampered by lingering injuries for so many weeks, but when he was fully healthy at the end of the year he made some really big plays against Louisville and Georgia Tech, with impressive touchdown catches against both teams. Even if he's never had the breakout many have expected because of his four-star ranking and freakish size and potential, as most have seen it, he's definitely been a contributor with his ups and downs.

Garrett Johnson. One might just as well transfer what was written about Baker to this spot, as Johnson has had some great moments (notably, against Florida early in his freshman season). But he's also been plagued by inconsistency, disappearing for what seems like weeks at a time. Nonetheless, he continues to start, week after week and year after year, because there are no better alternatives. So don't pass too harsh a judgment on the once-heralded receivers from the '14 class. They're still starting for a reason.

Blake Bone. Whatever we might say about Johnson and Baker's inconsistency and inability, we can say it even more strongly when it comes to Bone. His highs haven't been as high as have Baker's and Johnson's, and he has struggled just as much when it comes to bringing his best week in, week out. Still, the amount of playing time he's gotten renders him a contributor, even if one who certainly hasn't lived up to his four-star billing.

Kendall Randolph. There was a time during Randolph's freshman season when it seemed like he was on track to move into the potential star category down the road. He's still been a useful contributor since then but this is the category for him. He's the only nickelback on UK's preseason depth chart going into the 2017 season.

Then there are these, the players who, for whatever reason (and there are reasons in every case) haven't made significant contributions during their time at UK, or didn't while they were with the program. We're not going to get into the details of most of these players' departures (of those who have left UK) because we'd be wading into the waters of rumor in several cases.

Lloyd Tubman. Not much needs to be said about this situation if you've followed Kentucky closely. It was a dark moment for the football program, but at the end of the day Tubman got another chance with Austin Peay. How things turned out definitely impacted the overall productivity of this class, even though Tubman wasn't a four-star recruit.

Josh Krok. The high three-star offensive tackle from Ohio was a player many had high hopes for, but it never translated to success on the field and his time at Kentucky was very short lived.

T.V. Williams. Of the players who didn't contribute at Kentucky, Williams' case is probably the easiest to understand. When he committed it was widely acknowledged that he was very small for an SEC receiver. However fast he is, that's a tough hill to climb.

Nico Firios. Unable to gain substantial playing time with Courtney Love starting in the middle and Kash Daniel passing him over the past year, Firios ended his time with the program earlier this year; one of four linebackers who made that decision.

Jared Tucker. Hopes were quite high for Tucker because he had a very impressive offer list at the time of his commitment to Kentucky. But he never climbed the depth chart.

Kobie Walker. This was unfortunate for Kentucky as well as for Walker, because he appeared poised to make a serious contribution in 2017. He racked up a lot of tackles in an early season game not long after D.J. Eliot and Kentucky's coaches had praised him in the preseason, saying he could be a very good player for the Cats last year.

Tymere Dubose. He's dealt with injury issues but Dubose has struggled to make a lasting impact on the field. He was raw as a prospect, with a sense that he had a nice upside if he were to put it all together.

Darryl Long. This is the case of a player being recruited over or simply falling behind some other guys on the depth chart. When Greg Hart transferred in and Justin Rigg started playing well during camp, it led Long to leave. He was a promising prospect but Kentucky's in good shape at tight end.

Thaddeus Snodgrass. It might seem like ages ago but Snodgrass was, at one time, one of the most heralded receivers in the Midwest. His ranking dipped over the course of the recruiting process so he didn't head into college with the right trajectory that you normally like to see, and he didn't make an impact on the field.

Dorian Hendrix. Here's simply another case of a player being recruited over. No knock on him, no devastating blow for the Cats.

Nick Richardson. Along with Krok, Dubose and Tubman (plus Elam not reaching 'star' level), Richardson's inability to find his way on the field and stay in the program is one reason some believe this class didn't pan out as well as was hoped.

Jarrett LaRubbio. See: Krok, Richardson.

It might not be the sexy take but it's still a little too early to render a final judgment on the 2014 class. Drew Barker could have a future starting as Kentucky's quarterback again. Adrian Middleton could make a much bigger impact over the next couple of seasons, as could Bunchy Stallings. One of the senior receivers might have their best campaign yet. Darius West in particular is an interesting unsettled question.

All in all it's probably fair to say that the 2014 class hasn't been by far the best Stoops class in terms of production, as its lofty ranking might have suggested. However, one could still make a plausible case that it has been the most impactful class, especially with several key players from that group stepping into leadership roles and starring positions for the next year or two.