Three-Point Stance: Big recent commits; 3-team battles; national recruiting
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with some thoughts on recent commitments, the best three team recruiting battles in the country and some odds and ends.
1. The biggest recent commitments? Glad you asked
It’s that time of year, commitment time as spring football winds down and coaches hit the road and begin the hard sell. Here are some big recent commitments and my thoughts on each…
CB Fred Davis, Clemson - The Tigers do it again, going into Florida and grabbing a five-star that every program wanted. This is a big pickup for Clemson.
RB Reggie Love, Illinois – This is a huge pickup for Illinois as it continues to attract a higher level of talent in recruiting. This is an important year on the field for Lovie Smith and his future, but off the field things are going much better in recruiting and landing a back like Love, who is strong, shifty and explosive, sends a powerful message.
CB Avery Helm, Florida – Helm is a tall, rangy cornerback with good instincts who has a great frame to fill out and could end up as a corner or free safety. It’s also a big pickup because Florida rarely goes into Texas and wins big battles.
ATH Jadan Navarette, LSU – Navarette is a jumbo athlete who will likely end up on offense in college but could play defense as well. He’s very physical and is a great pickup from California, an area LSU is becoming more and more of a factor in.
WR Jordan Johnson, Notre Dame – Johnson is the top player in the state of Missouri and an elite talent at wide receiver with size and speed. He has good hands, he sets up defenders well and is strong off the line of scrimmage. He’s going to put up major numbers at Notre Dame.
WR Mason Mangum, Arkansas – He might not be as highly ranked as some of the others on this list, but watch out for Mangum in the Arkansas offense. He’s sneaky fast, very efficient as a route runner and he’s reliable. He’s also very athletic and is excellent in the red zone.
RB Ebony Jackson, Tennessee – Jackson has good size and elite skill and could be one of those backs who is just starting to hit his stride. He instantly makes the Tennessee offense faster upon his arrival with his 10.57 100-meter speed and I expect his offer list will blow up by the summer as schools see him in person.
DB RJ Mickens, Clemson – Mickens is the top safety in the country and a huge get from Texas as Clemson flexes their muscle nationally to pull him out of state. He’s a natural free safety but could play strong as well because he’s a willing and aggressive tackler. It’s almost unfair how well Clemson is recruiting lately.
QB Anthony Richardson, Florida – With his second commitment to the Gators, Richardson should be done with the process. Richardson is a huge quarterback who is a powerful runner and has a live arm but he needs to be more accurate and get his mechanics straight. That makes him a bit of a project but he has great upside.
DB Jalen Huff, Georgia Tech – The former Oklahoma commitment is a good get for the Jackets because he has length, excellent ball skills and he’s a very hard worker. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he outplayed his ranking down the line.
WR Zavier Betts, Nebraska – Home grown talent like Betts doesn’t come around that often in Nebraska, so his commitment is a big deal and sends quite a message. He’s big, powerful and has speed and he should be a matchup nightmare in the Big Ten as he develops. He’s a touchdown-maker at the high school level and that should continue in college.
WR Jadon Thompson, Illinois - Another four-star for Lovie Smith, a dynamic in-state receiver with good size and a great frame. The Illini are hot.
2. Three-horse races
They may not all be in the same conference, but these teams are standing out to me as the best three-team battles we are seeing in 2020 so far:
Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M – This, to me, is the most intriguing trio of all as all three programs are recruiting at a very high level. Do you want to continue dominance at Oklahoma? Do you want to help Texas over the hump? Or do you head off to the SEC and challenge the best in Nick Saban? This will be fun to watch with three great recruiting head coaches.
Clemson, Georgia, Florida – Usually it’s Florida, Florida State and Miami as the trio, at least when the Gators are included but Florida is out-recruiting their in-state companions at least when it comes to buzz and excitement, so I’m putting them in with recruiting giants Clemson and Georgia. All three programs are involved with many of the same players and it will be very interesting to see who wins out. My guess? Clemson, then Georgia, then Florida, with all three pushing for top five classes.
Alabama, Auburn, LSU – Alabama is in a class by themselves except for perhaps Clemson, Georgia and a few others, but Auburn has some recruiting momentum in state and LSU is killing it nationally. These three always seem to go head-to-head for at least a few big name guys and I expect things to be the same this year.
Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State – This is the Big Ten in a nutshell with Ohio State on top and Michigan and Penn State battling for second place (when all have the same numbers). Jim Harbaugh and James Franklin are known as great recruiters so the question is – can Ryan Day live up to the hype and reach their level? My answer is yes.
USC, Washington, Oregon – Okay where’s UCLA? That’s what Bruins fans want to know as well but right now the class of the Pac-12 is Oregon, USC and Washington in that order. USC should always be on top and they could be in 2020 depending on how things go on the field, but Oregon has been recruiting very well and Washington quietly gets quality players each year.
3. Tapping into the thoughts of the college football mind
A few odds and ends and random thoughts bouncing around my mind:
I feel very bad for Texas freshman linebacker De’Gabriel Floyd, who is expected to miss the 2019 season with spinal stenosis. The former USC commitment and four star chose Texas to fight for immediate playing time and was expected to push for a possible starting role. At the very least he was going to be a big part of the defense. He will be re-evaluated in January of next year but this could be a career-threatening injury. I was expecting Floyd to be an All Big 12 player down the line.
The same can be said for Sooners linebacker Caleb Kelly, although his injury isn’t career-threatening, but he is expected to miss months. This is a huge year for Kelly, a former five-star, who made some huge plays for the Sooners last year.
Saban says players lose by entering the NFL Draft early, but obviously that’s painting with a broad brush. Many of the top players coming out will be first- or second-rounders and make a ton of NFL money while some others will be late round picks or bypassed. The NFL has a good system in place to advise players on their NFL standing, so they can make an educated decision. For Saban, who has more talent on his roster than anyone in football, to whine about it is a bit funny to me. Yes a third-rounder one year can become a first-rounder the next year, but he can also get hurt so there’s risk on both sides.
Is it me or are there more out-of-state commitments than ever before this early in the process? When I see kids heading from Texas to Clemson and Florida and kids from California headed to LSU you know that national recruiting has become a major deal for every school. What will be very interesting is to see if all of these commitments stick. I think the Rivals100 could be riddled with out of state commitments by the time all is said and done.