National Signing Day has came and went. It was a big day for college football and college football fans. The sport we love is now a year-round sport and winning the off-season is huge to winning on the field. Recruiting won’t win games for you by itself but it certainly helps to get the right prospects in your program and it can also provide a spark that can lift your school. I’m not going to tell you the “winners” and “losers” of signing day. The true winners and losers won’t be known until these kids get onto the field and play for a year or two or four. Let’s take a look back at National Signing Day and re-visit our Top Uncomitted Recruits from the beginning of January:
Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, (Overall CFBZ #1)- DGB ended up spurning the advances of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas to stay in-state and play for Missouri. It was a huge pick-up for the Tigers as they enter SEC play for the first time this coming year.
Shaq Thompson, S, (Overall CFBZ #7)- A one time Cal recruit, Shaq followed coach Tosh Lupoi up to Washington. Lupoi was a fantastic hire by Sarkisian and it paid dividends in the recruiting game. Anybody who watched Washington’s defense against Baylor knows that Shaq will be able to contribute immediately for the Huskies.
Eddie Goldman, DT, (Overall CFBZ #9)- He was on Alabama’s wish list but he wanted to play in a 4-3 defense and FSU made a lot of sense. FSU was very strong on defense last year and landed some good recruits this year. Now if they could just score the football…
Kyle Murphy, OT, (Overall CFBZ #11)- Pretty impressive job by Stanford in out-recruiting USC and landing Murphy. Stanford is known for having a power running game and by stock-piling offensive linemen in this recruiting class I’m sure we can look for more of that as Barry Sanders Jr runs behind them.
Arik Armstead, OL/DL, (Overall CFBZ #12)- Armstead is an interesting case as he drew his high ranking because of his play as an offensive linemen but I’m hearing that he will be playing defense for the Oregon Ducks. He might not have the huge upside that he does on offensive but he should still provide some needed defensive firepower for Chip Kelly on the defensive side of the ball. In Oregon’s system he will be able to play early as they rotate a ton of guys due to their fast paced play.
Darius Hamilton, DE, (Overall CFBZ #18)- Despite Greg Schiano taking the Tampa Bay job, Hamilton was not deterred from choosing Rutgers. Big win for Rutgers by keeping the talented defensive player in state.
Nelson Agholor, ATH, (Overall CFBZ #26)- Agholor must have liked what he saw on the field last year as Matt Barkley made quite a connection with Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. Agholor is the type of guy that Urban Meyer would have kept in Florida but Muschamp let him get out. Score one for the Kiffin.
Andrus Peat (Overall CFBZ #30)- Remember when we talked about Stanford stock-piling Offensive Line talent? They also got Peat and he was also a USC target. Stanford had a big day.
Stefon Diggs (Overall CFBZ #6)- Has yet to commit and as of press time will hold off until February 10th. Ohio State, Florida and Auburn are the teams being thrown around with this speedster.
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