Wednesday February 1st. Put that date in your calendar. If you didn’t already already know, that’s National Signing Day for college football. From now until that date there is going to be an all-out blitz by coaches and recruiters to sign the undeclared talents and to “flip” those who have already verbally committed to their institution of choice (there is a quiet period on Jan 29th and a dead period from the 30th through Feb 2nd). From today until the end of the week is closing time. It’s the time where assistant coaches make their bones and head coaches are challenged to close the deal with recruits. Earlier this month we took a look at the Top 10 Uncommitted Recruits and we also gave you our overall Top 100.
Here are a couple of guys to keep an eye on this week:
Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Springfield/MO
If you watched the U.S. Army All-American Game you saw the good and the bad from Green-Beckham. One thing is for certain and that is that he has top level talent and is ready to contribute on the field immediately. How good is Green-Beckham? Missouri’s Gary Pinkel scooped in to try and woo him with a helicopter! DGB has been rumored to be down to just Missouri and Arkansas but his father has said that Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama are still alive. The best fit from my perspective is Arkansas or Oklahoma but that’s just one bloggers opinion. Oklahoma is losing Ryan Broyles and Arkansas is losing a ton of talent at WR (Wright, Adams, Childs). Both of those teams are pass heavy although Arkansas only passed the ball 53% of the time last year they still had two receivers over 50+ catches and Tyler Wilson will be back to throw the ball around the yard. Oklahoma has Landry Jones coming back and while they do have Jaz Reynolds and Kenny Stills returning, DGB has to have taken note of the 130+ catches that Broyles had in 2010. I’m just a blogger, I don’t have “inside” sources but I would look for DGB to tie the knot with Arkansas.
Stefon Diggs, WR, Olney/MD
Diggs is the #6 ranked recruit in our Top 100. Diggs has a bunch of schools on his list and has recently visited Florida and Auburn and has Ohio State on tap. Maryland and USC are in the loop as well. Florida and Auburn have big questions at QB and Maryland was abysmal last year. USC already has two top flight Wide Receivers that will be on campus for at least two more years. Urban Meyer has been on quite a roll since getting to Columbus and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit for him to close on Diggs and pair him with Braxton Miller next year.
Shaq Thompson, S, Sacramento/CA
Shaq is #7 in our Top 100 and was easily the most impressive guy that I saw in the U.S. Army All-American Game. At that game he announced he was going to Cal. One interesting note is that Shaq was recruited by Tosh Lupoi. Lupoi was an assistant for Cal but since Shaq’s commitment Lupoi has been hired on at Washington. Thompson is an impact player and it will be interested to see which way he goes. Oregon was hoping to get in on Shaq but with Chip Kelly skipping Thompson’s scheduled in-home visit to flirt with Tampa Bay that relationship looks very iffy. It looks like it’s 50/50 between Cal and Washington and it could come down to the wire.
Josh Harvey-Clemons, LB, Valdosta/GA
JHC is the top Georgia player on our list as he places just in front of UGA commit Jordan Jenkins. Mark Richt did a very good job closing last year as Georgia landed Isaiah Crowell, Ray Drew, Jay Rome, Malcolm Mitchell and John Jenkins all very late in the process. Crowell, Mitchell and Jenkins made signficant contributions on the field, Drew had some moments and Rome red-shirted. Earlier this month, our buddy Socrates from the Leather Helmet Blog predicted JHC would go with Georgia on NSD. Some have said that JHC has been “recruiting” others to come to Georgia. Looks like it’s down to Florida/Georgia and a photo finish.
Cordarrelle Patterson- WR, Hutchinson JUCO
Scout has him as a 5-star recruit, 247sports has him as a 5-star and Rivals pegs him as a 4-star guy. Scout only has two other JUCO five-star players and both have already committed. The Tennessee Scout site says he’s down to Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia but from what I read LSU is also very much still in the mix and Ole Miss is showing him some love as well. He caught 61 passes and had over 1800 all-purpose yards this year at Hutchinson. He also averaged an eye-popping 51 yards per kick-off return on 12 kick-off returns (3 were returned for TDs). If I was this kid I would be picking between LSU and Georgia, but that’s just me. Wherever he lands, he should make an immediate impact.
With National Signing Day coming up in just over a week are there any recruits that you will be following more than others?
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