TUA TAGOVAILOA
Superstar
Ohio State posting up in Texas
Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes have posted up in the Lone Star State, signing three of the top six players in the state per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite: The nation’s No. 1 cornerback Jeffrey Okudah, the top linebacker Baron Browning and the No. 2 all-purpose back, J.K. Dobbins. Each of them enrolled early and are already preparing for the 2017 season in Columbus.
These three are a few of the jewels in a Buckeyes class that checks in at No. 2 nationally while on track to finish with the highest average-rating per commit in 247Sports history.
Meyer and his staff were able to take advantage of a down year for the Longhorns and Aggies and swipe Browning and Dobbins while beating Oklahoma for Okudah.
In addition to those three names, Ohio State also secured a verbal from the No. 1 JUCO cornerback in the country in Kendall Sheffield, is another Texas native that chose OSU over Texas A&M.
One more big fish remains in play as the Buckeyes likely sit in the top three for five-star defensive tackle Marvin Wilson alongside LSU and Florida State.
Meyer’s protégé Tom Herman will look to protect his backyard in 2018.
Alabama raiding the Bayou State
LSU is typically tough to beat in-state for top targets they want, but Nick Saban and Alabama have shown they can beat the Tigers occasionally for a native blue-chipper or two.
This year could be their best year yet.
The Crimson Tide’s class ranks No. 1 nationally with one of the headliners being five-star linebacker Dylan Moses, a Baton Rouge native and former LSU commit that’s already signed and in Tuscaloosa. Moses however doesn’t count on the Louisiana state rankings because of his transfer to Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy.
But when we go inside the state rankings, the No. 5 player in the state, Top247 linebacker Christopher Allen, is already an Alabama verbal, and Saban and company don’t appear to be done yet as they could secure four of the top five per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. The No. 2 recruit in receiver Devonta Smith is considered an Alabama lean and the Crimson Tide are in a close battle with LSU for No. 3 and No. 4 in safety Todd Harris and defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis who both took their official visit over the weekend.
Alabama already has a few Louisiana offers out in 2018 including Terrace Marshall, Devonta Jason and Dare Rosenthal.
Taggart's Ducks will be at home in Florida
We already know California is going to be very important to Willie Taggart’s success in Oregon and he’s doing a fine job in the Golden State down the stretch, but Florida is going to be an interesting pipeline to follow with the relationships both he and offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal have in the Sunshine State.
The Ducks have counted on a few guys from Florida for their close in 2017 and have landed running back Darrian Felix, defensive tackle Jordon Scott and athlete Darrian McNeal since Taggart has come to Eugene. They are still pushing for guys like South Florida commit Bruce Judson. No question moving forward, Taggart, Cristobal and company will be back in the state of Florida pushing for the state’s biggest names in the next recruiting cycle.
Other pipelines of note include …
- Ohio State wasn’t the only program to recruit Texas well as LSU went down there and landed Top247 recruits in offensive tackle Austin Deculus, receiver Mannie Netherly, cornerback Kary Vincent and offensive guard Edward Ingram. The big fish on the board remains five-star defensive tackle Marvin Wilson as they battle Florida State, Oklahoma and Ohio State for the ballyhooed recruit.
- As Louisville pushes for a Top25 recruiting class, the state of Georgia was good to Bobby Petrino and company this cycle as nearly a third of the class hails from the Peach State including their top interior offensive line target in Caleb Chandler and a group of high-upside receivers in Justin Marshall, Corey Reed and Josh Johnson.
- Many of Kentucky’s best players hail from Ohio and led by Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow, a couple Youngstown natives, the Wildcats continue to hit the Buckeye State hard in taking prospects away from Big Ten programs. Six from Ohio are in the fold of what is the No. 23 recruiting class in the country led by the most explosive player in the Midwest, Top247 athlete Lynn Bowden and Top247 receiver JaVonte Richardson.
- Oklahoma continues to recruit California well, landing a pair of Top247 recruits in defensive end Addison Gumbsand receiver/tight end Grant Calcaterra.
At least we tried.
trying to come up going after 5 stars. Then when the 5 stars turned us down we came running back and they were like
Yeah, LSU my dream school....sometimes you have to stay in your lane. It's all good though. We going to bounce back next year this is one of the few things that Coach O is good at.
How the hell all the top recruits gonna narrow it down to two teams... The team they want to go to and LSU. Dude's be trolling! Ths will be my first and last year following recruiting.Believe Dat.
