Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

Top Storylines as Early Signing Period Ends

Julio Gonzales reviews some of the top storylines from the early signing period, including names like Cormani McClain, David Hicks, Jurrion Dickey, and more!

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The Early Signing Period will end today, and some names still need to sign despite committing. However, some teams could rise in the rankings once said player signs on the dotted line. So let’s look at those players and some other storylines happening now.

Names in the News

Cormani McClain

Five-star Lakeland (FL.) cornerback Cormani McClain committed to the Miami Hurricanes on October 27, choosing them over the Florida Gators. However, he did not sign this national letter of intent on Wednesday, which surprised many. Nevertheless, McClain is the top cornerback in the 2023 class, and the Hurricanes still believe he will sign them, despite Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes making a last-minute push to get him to Boulder. Miami has the fourth overall recruiting class with McClain, and losing him would drop them in those rankings. Of course, he could wait until National Signing Day to sign; if he does, the Hurricanes should be worried, as the Gators were the favorites to land him when he chose The U. But Colorado is the team to watch here as Coach Prime has already got some players to Boulder.

Top Remaining Uncommitted Recruits

Five-star Washington (D.C.) athlete Nyckoles Harbor, five-star Arizona tight end Duce Robinson, and four-star California cornerback Rodrick Pleasant are the only top-100 recruits still undecided. All three will play in the Under Armour All-American Game on January 3. Pleasant has already said he will decide on February 6, and the California Golden Bears, Oregon Ducks, UCLA Bruins, and USC Trojans are still in the running to land him.

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However, Harbor and Robinson have yet to announce a date. Harbor’s top four teams are the Maryland Terrapins, Michigan Wolverines, Georgia Bulldogs, and South Carolina Gamecocks, with the Terps as the favorites. USC and the Georgia Bulldogs are the top two teams for Robinson, but the Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas Longhorns are also in the mix. Alabama because they have been on a roll collecting five-star recruits, and Texas because of his relationship with Longhorns quarterback recruit Arch Manning. These three names will be ones to keep an eye on until they make their decisions.

Top Surprises During Early Signing Period

The top three teams in the recruiting rankings are the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, and Texas Longhorns. That should not be surprising, as all three teams were in the top five last season. Plus, you can usually find the Tide and Bulldogs in the top five years in and year out. Of course, NIL can have something to do with that, but that is a story for another day. Here are a couple of my surprises.

Miami Hurricanes

Mario Cristobal currently has the fourth-ranked class, which could drop if Cormani McClain chooses to decommit, but either way, this is an impressive class for the Hurricanes, as they finished 5-7. In addition, they landed the number one and three ranked offensive tackles in Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola and still have the number one cornerback in McClain. This class helps ease the disappointment of a down season.

Oregon Ducks

The Ducks are No. 11 in the rankings, which is a good class, but it could have been a whole lot better and higher if they could have held onto quarterback Dante Moore and safety Peyton Bowen. Instead, they were able to get over the sting of those losses when they flipped four-star Texas quarterback Austin Novosad from Baylor and land edge five-star California edge Matayo Uiagalelei. Plus they have the number two overall wide receiver in Jurrion Dickey as well. So as much as it was disappointing to lose Moore and Bowen, head coach Dan Lanning has to be ecstatic with his class.

Texas A&M Aggies

Last season, Jimbo Fisher had the best recruiting class ever assembled, so of course, there were huge expectations this season in College Station. But, of course, that did not happen, as the Aggies finished 5-7. They also had a few recruits decommit and players enter the transfer portal. However, they have the No. 13 class, which includes the number one defensive lineman, David Hicks, and the number two running back, Rueben Owens. This class is a good one, considering everything that went on during the season. 

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