Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Texas Longhorns aren’t quite finished with their 2021 class, but they’ve signed 19 recruits up to this point.
There are only two months left in the 2021 recruiting cycle. Continue reading “Where Texas sits in the 2021 ESPN recruiting rankings”
Notre Dame football wins again during their bye week, this time flipping an Auburn football commitment to the Irish. Hello, Caleb Johnson!
One of the questions asked by some after Notre Dame upset Clemson less than two weeks ago wasn’t about what it meant for the Fighting Irish program on the field in 2020, but what it meant down the road, specifically in recruiting.
Just 13 days since the 47-40, two overtime classic that saw Notre Dame knock off No. 1 for the first time in 27 years, the returns are already massive.
Notre Dame has started turning that win and the successes of 2020 on the field onto victories in the recruiting world as Philip Riley, Jr. switched his commitment from USC to the Irish earlier this week and then the likes of kicker Josh Bryan and outside linebacker Kahanu Kia announced commitments as well.
Then on Thursday night Notre Dame saw another big-time prospect flip from a football powerhouse and commit to the Irish instead as offensive tackle Caleb Johnson became commitment number 23 in the 2021 recruiting class.
Johnson had committed to Auburn back in May but had a change of heart that will see him be another massive piece on what is an absolute haul of a recruiting class on the offensive line.
@NDFootball @NDrecruiting01 @NotreDame247 @NotreDame @bigfish_54 @SWiltfong247 pic.twitter.com/mC1uuB0SGW
— Caleb Johnson (@CalebJohnson70) November 20, 2020
Johnson is listed at 6-7, 295 pounds, and comes from Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Florida. He has a three-star grade according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.
As well as Auburn, Johnson held offers from more than 35 programs including big-time programs like Alabama, LSU, Miami, Penn State and plenty of others.
Johnson joins an offensive line class that already includes five-star tackle Blake Fisher, four-star guard Rocco Splinder as well as Minneapolis tackle Joe Alt and Chicago guard Pat Coogan.
Looking at the SEC’s 2021 recruiting rankings. Where is Georgia?
Currently, Georgia possesses the SEC’s 4th ranked recruiting class for the 2021 cycle with nine commits.
Georgia has one five-star, seven four-stars and one three-star committed in this class so far, with an average player rating of 94.08, which is second highest in the SEC behind Alabama and fourth highest in the nation.
In 247Sports’ SEC recruiting rankings, Tennessee leads the league with the top ranked class.
Here are the full SEC rankings:
Georgia’s class ranks No. 17 nationally.
Commits in the 2021 Georgia football recruiting class saw a shift in 247Sports’ updated rankings.
This week, 247Sports updated its top-247 rankings for players in the class of 2021, putting an emphasis on offensive prospects.
Georgia has seven commits ranked inside the top-247. Here are their updated rankings:
QB Brock Vandagriff: No. 30 –> No. 29
OG Dylan Fairchild: No. 40 –> No. 39
OT Micah Morris: No. 93 –> No. 84
RB Lovasea Carroll: No. 106 –> No. 103
DB David Daniel: No. 126 –> No. 122
DL Jonathan Jefferson: No. 176 –> No. 173
DE Elijah Jeudy: No. 200 –> No. 199
Here are the top-10 high school football recruits out of Georgia for the class of 2022.
Earlier this week, Georgia got its first commitment in the class of 2022 from 4-star cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew (Snellville, Ga.).
The state of Georgia looks to be erupting with talent yet again for the 2022 recruiting class, and it’s only a matter of time before the Dawgs secure more commitments from some of these in-state prospects.
Related: A few of Georgia football’s top 2021 recruiting targets – with predictions
According to 247Sports, here are the top-10 high school football players in the Peach State for the 2022 recruiting class.
1. DT Tyre West (Tift County HS in Tift, Georgia)
At 6-foot-3, 260 pounds, West ranks as the nation’s No. 7 overall player and as the top player in Georgia.
2. CB Travis Hunter (Collins Hill HS in Suwanee, Georgia)
A Florida State commit, Hunter ranks as the nation’s No. 10 overall player and as the second player in Georgia.
3. ATH Deyon Bouie (Bainbridge HS in Bainbridge, Georgia)
At 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds, Bouie ranks as the nation’s No. 22 overall player and as the third player in Georgia.
4. QB Gunner Stockton (Rabun County HS in Tiger, Georgia)
Stockton is the top ranked dual-threat quarterback, No. 29 overall player and the No. 4 player in Georgia.
5. QB MJ Morris (Carrollton HS in Carrollton, Georgia)
Morris ranks as the nation’s No. 2 ranked dual-threat QB, right behind Stockton. He is the No. 41 overall player in the 2022 class and the fifth ranked player in Georgia.
6. OLB Daniel Martin (Marietta HS in Marietta, Georgia)
At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, Martin is the nation’s 48th ranked player and sixth ranked prospect in Georgia.
7. OT Addison Nichols (Greater Atlanta Christian School in Norcross, Georgia)
At 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, Nichols is the nation’s No. 61 overall prospect and No. 7 in Georgia.
8. CB Marquis Groves-Killebrew (Brookwood HS in Snellville, Georgia)
The nation’s 64th ranked player, Groves-Killebrew is Georgia’s first commit in the class of 2022.
9. Strong-side defensive end Mykel Williams (Hardaway HS in Columbus, Georgia)
The nation’s 77th ranked prospect, Williams stands at 6-foot-5, 258 pounds.
10. ATH CJ Washington (Cedartown HS in Cedartown, Georgia)
From a place that’s been kind to UGA, Washington is the nation’s No. 88 player and the 10th ranked guy in Georgia. He is 6-foot-2, 205 pounds.
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Gabe Ervin of Buford, Georgia released his top-five schools and included the UGA football program.
Running back Gabe Ervin has released his top-five schools.
Out of Buford, Georgia, Ervin released a top-five of Georgia, Duke, Arizona State, Nebraska and Michigan State.
Considered a 3-star back in the class of 2021 by 247Sports, Ervin ranks as the nation’s No. 734 overall player, No. 54 running back and as the No. 61 ranked player in Georgia. (247Sports Composite)
The 6-foot-0, 200 pound ball carrier was tasked with trimming a list of 16 reported scholarship offers down to five finalists.
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Schools like Tennessee, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, FSU and Virginia Tech all offered but did not make the cut.
Georgia running back coach Dell McGee extended a scholarship offer to Ervin back in January.
It’s been a hard road but it’s coming down to it!!! Stay tuned 🤫✌🏾@ChadSimmons_ @Mansell247 @Coach_Davis22 pic.twitter.com/tUwlJUcomD
— Gabe Ervin (@gabe_ervin) May 21, 2020
Looking at the 2021 recruiting class, Tennessee Vols fans should stop bragging and Georgia football fans need to stop panicking.
Georgia football’s 2021 recruiting class is as follows (all rankings via 247Sports)
5-star QB Brock Vandagriff: No. 2 QB, No. 12 overall
4-star OT Micah Morris: No. 9 OT, No. 61 overall
4-star ATH David Daniel: No. 4 ATH, No. 78 overall
4-star RB Lovasea Carroll: No. 7 RB, No. 117 overall
4-star SDE Jonathan Jefferson: No. 13 SDE, No. 145 overall
4-star WDE Elijah Jeudy: No. 10 WDE, No. 170 overall
3-star DT Marlin Dean: No. 28 DT, No. 447 overall
Right now, this is the nation’s 20th ranked class. Given the fact that Georgia has only seven commitments, being ranked No. 20 is just fine. It’s clear that Georgia is going for quality over quantity in this class, with its commits carrying an average rating of 94.52, which is third in the country.
For comparison purposes, Tennessee has the No. 2 class in the nation. But Jeremy Pruitt is certainly going for quantity in this class. With 23 verbals, Tennessee commits carry an average rating of 89.84. That’s the lowest in the top-five.
(Fun fact: Florida, which has the nation’s No. 7 ranked class, has an average rating of 87.41, which is the lowest in the top-10 and the second-lowest in the top-15).
Georgia commits, fans and coaches all know that Kirby Smart has plenty of time to work his magic and climb the rankings by the time the early signing period rolls around in December. Maybe enlisting a little help from current players and commits on Twitter is what it takes to expedite that process, which is something we’ve seen a lot of this month. 5-star quarterback commit Brock Vandagriff has led the surge, tweeting at a number of top players in the 2021 class recruiting them to Georgia.
It’s too early to start doing two things: Bragging and panicking.
Look at Alabama. Nick Saban currently has the nation’s No. 46 raked class for the 2021 cycle. Nobody thinks for a second that the Tide will finish outside of the top-five when all is said and done. There’s just too much time and too many elite players remaining.
And let’s stick with Tennessee for a moment. The No. 2 class is nice, but in the end I’d prefer a class of around 22 players filled with elite commits than a class consisting of 30+ players where a majority of them are three-stars.
Tennessee’s 23 commitments broken down by star rating:
Georgia has plenty of highly ranked uncommitted recruits still on its board, not to mention the ones that Kirby will try to flip to UGA.
A look at some of top 2021 Georgia football recruiting targets with predictions on whether or not they’ll sign with UGA.
Currently Georgia has the nation’s 20th ranked class for the 2021 recruiting cycle.
With big-time players like 5-star passer Brock Vandagriff and 4-star running back Lovasea Carroll, Georgia’s class is small but filled with elite players.
Look for Georgia to finish with yet another top-three class when all is said and done. It may take some time, but there are still plenty of highly rated recruits remaining on Georgia’s board.
Here are a few of Georgia’s top remaining targets — This is not a full list but just some of the top guys:
** Indicates we predict he’ll sign with Georgia
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Good morning and happy Wednesday. Miss recent college football headlines? Get caught up right here, right now!
Happy Wednesday and welcome to the midweek. I know it’s been a few days since I’ve gotten one of these episodes of the podcast out – sometimes a leaky roof and flooded garage will cause things like that, though.
Subscribe to Nick Shepkowski’s CFB Morning Announcements on Apple Podcasts
In this edition of the College Football Morning Announcements:
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Notre Dame set to re-open for students but school president non-committal to football in the fall
A top linebacker makes his college choice as the rich get richer
An SEC dynasty just fired all of their coaches
And which teams are under the most pressure to win in 2020?
Notre Dame’s top priority in the 2021 recruiting class has chosen a different school. Now what?
When it was announced on Monday afternoon that Will Shipley, the top all-purpose-back in the nation for 2021 would be announcing his commitment on Tuesday, all signs pointed to Clemson being his choice.
Now that fear for Notre Dame fans has become a reality as Shipley has announced his commitment with fantastically produced video.
I AM ANNOUNCING MY COMMITMENT TO….. #TYG🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/8yNzXqxJxW
— Will Shipley (@willshipley2021) May 5, 2020
Shipley was seen as the top priority for Notre Dame in this recruiting cycle and the Irish did one heckuva job getting as close as they did with him all things considered.
However, the rich get richer as Clemson lands Shipley’s talents.
What does Notre Dame do now in terms of finding a running back for their 2021 class? It’ll be tough to bring anyone at this point that will bring anywhere near the hype Shipley would have entered with.
It doesn’t hurt having Lance Taylor leading the way trying to make that impact in the 2021 class still, however.
