NCAAF teams
Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Everything you need to know about spring recruiting

College Football

The past few months have been busy for college coaches recruiting the 2019 class. With the addition of spring official visits, camps and an evaluation period, there has been plenty keep track of.

If you haven't been paying close attention, or you just need a recap of where things stand, here's a look at what has happened since April.

ESPN 300 commitments

From April 1 to June 4, 74 ESPN 300 prospects announced their commitments, an average of more than one commitment every day since April began. That number includes 12 of the top 50 recruits in the ranking and six in the top 25.

The highest-ranked prospects who committed in that span are: No. 4 Kenyon Green, an offensive tackle who chose Texas A&M; No. 8 Owen Pappoe, a linebacker who picked Auburn; offensive tackle Wanya Morris, the No. 9 prospect, who chose Tennessee; No. 13 Garrett Wilson, a wide receiver who committed to Ohio State; offensive lineman Tyler Johnson, the nation's No. 16 recruit, who announced for Texas; and No. 25 Zacch Pickens, a defensive end who chose South Carolina.

Among the 74 prospects who announced their commitments are 14 offensive linemen, 11 linebackers, 10 quarterbacks, 9 defensive ends, 8 wide receivers, 8 defensive backs, 6 listed as athletes, 4 defensive tackles, 3 running backs and 1 tight end.

Who has had the most success?

From April 1 to June 4, Alabama had tremendous success with ESPN 300 prospects, landing nine. It's no surprise that Alabama sits at No. 1 in the class rankings because of that surge, with 14 total commitments, 12 of whom are ranked in the ESPN 300.

On April 20 of last year, Alabama had only three total commitments, and many people were talking about what was happening with Crimson Tide recruiting. That obviously turned around for Nick Saban and his staff, as the 2019 class is off to a much better start.

After Alabama's impressive number of commitments, Ohio State, Clemson, Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Florida State, Mississippi State and Notre Dame each landed four ESPN 300 prospects within this time span.

All of those teams, except Notre Dame and Mississippi State, landed at least one prospect in the top 100 from April 1 to June 4, which is even more impressive. So it's no surprise that all but Mississippi State are among the top 15 in the class rankings.

What's left?

That surge in commitments in just over two months leaves 163 ESPN 300 prospects uncommitted, including 24 of the top 50 and 11 of the top 25.

Some big names still on the board include No. 1 Kayvon Thibodeaux and No. 3 Zach Harrison, who both are defensive ends.

Thibodeaux has been considering Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. The feeling is, however, that Florida State, LSU, Oregon and USC probably have the inside track.

With Harrison, an Ohio native, it seems that Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State have the best shot at landing him. Both prospects could make late-summer decisions, which would be a huge boost to whichever team they choose.

The top two offensive tackles, Kenyon Green and Pierce Quick (No. 5 overall on the ESPN 300 list), are committed to Texas A&M and Alabama, respectively. But the next two tackles in the rankings remain on the board: Darnell Wright (No. 6 overall) out of West Virginia and Devontae Dobbs (No. 7 overall) from Michigan.

Dobbs recently released his list of top options: Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Ohio State and USC.

Also still deciding is the highest-ranked defensive tackle, Ishmael Sopsher, at No. 10 overall. The 6-foot-4, 330-pound tackle from Louisiana has visited Florida State and Texas A&M recently and is very interested in LSU and Alabama. The Tigers and Tide might be headed for a battle over Sopsher.

Quarterbacks

With 10 quarterbacks committing over the past two months, only nine of the 28 ESPN 300 quarterbacks have yet to decide. The top two dual-threat quarterbacks, Spencer Rattler and Roschon Johnson, are committed to Oklahoma and Texas, respectively.

The Nos. 3 and 4 dual-threat signal-callers, however, have not made their selections. Jayden Daniels, from San Bernardino, California, has a list that includes Cal, Georgia, Nebraska, Penn State, Texas A&M, UCLA and USC. Peter Parrish out of Alabama is making visits in the next few weeks, which could help him figure out which schools stand out.

For the pocket-passers, the No. 1-ranked prospect is Ryan Hilinski, who committed to South Carolina in April. Sitting at No. 2 is Wisconsin commit Graham Mertz followed by Auburn commit Bo Nix at No. 3.

The highest-ranked uncommitted pocket-passer is Joey Yellen out of California, who is the No. 7 recruit at his position. He's joined by Grant Gunnell at No. 10 and David Baldwin at 13.

Gunnell has high interest in Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Texas A&M, LSU and Arizona among others. Baldwin has a ton of offers, but Florida State, Indiana, LSU, USC and Washington State are likely among his top options.

^ Back to Top ^