College Football Recruiting (2014 Class) Discussion

[DeToxRox]

Jabrill Peppers is announcing on ESPNU on May 26th. He is visiting Penn State this weekend and potentially making a surprise visit next Thursday. Most people are speculating it'll be Rutgers. Everyone on 247 is picking Michigan here but I won't believe it until I see it.

Peppers is very likely the best player in this class. Would obviously be a massive get for whichever team he picks.

[Eaglesfan27]

Wouldn't be surprised to see Peppers at Ohio State.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Wouldn't be surprised to see Peppers at Ohio State.

I have learned to never say never in recruiting but OSU's recruiting guys are saying Peppers didn't enjoy his trip to OSU and they would be stunned if he didn't end up at Michigan.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Wouldn't be surprised to see Peppers at Ohio State.

I'm sure he could potentially start as a freshman at OSU, but his odds go up much more at Michigan.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Jabrill Peppers is announcing on ESPNU on May 26th. He is visiting Penn State this weekend and potentially making a surprise visit next Thursday. Most people are speculating it'll be Rutgers. Everyone on 247 is picking Michigan here but I won't believe it until I see it.

Peppers is very likely the best player in this class. Would obviously be a massive get for whichever team he picks.

I doubt he'd be making a surprise visit to Rutgers - he's seen the campus plenty of times already, being so close.

Tough to have such an amazing player in your backyard and not have a shot. I was perfectly fine with it when he appeared to be heading to Stanford, but to see him go to a B1G school and have to face him a bunch of times would really suck.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Did you ever see Josh Nesbitt during his HS days?

Just trying to think of the best HS QB I ever saw, not counting just TV. I saw Eric Zeier a couple of times, saw Mettenberger (not much, despite him being a local product). I think Nesbitt was the best of the bunch in HS though.

(for those who weren't familiar, what he became at GT bore little resemblance to the strong armed QB he was in HS ... one of the worst cases of coaching a player down I can think of, probably THE worse).

No I didn't. But I STILL hear stories from coaches and you nailed it he was ruined at Tech...or something.


On a side note, one of the interesting things Ive learned about myself over the last year of playing "reporter" is how much I pull for good kids. Even to the point of attachment or emotional investment. I interviewed Mark Richt for our site a few weeks back and off tape we talked about the profession as a whole, he mentioned the aspect of making a difference, of living a ministry, of actually "saving kids"...Id never thought of it quite like that. But he is definitely right.

So I think when I see a kid like Watson who is
1) A GREAT football talent. Really special.
1A) A good human being who has done it the right way

I will pull for him and follow him where ever he ends up. Same with Rob Nkemdiche last year. Good kid, has had some piss poor influences in his life and hasnt used it as an excuse, has used it as fuel to overcome. I will pull for both of them wherever they play ball, and if I were back in business Id hire either one to do a job they knew nothing about because work ethic, attitude and spirit will ultimately make you win. These are 2 high profile examples I will use because everyone knows their name, but there are a lot of others as well.

And then again there are some others on the opposite side of the coin...

[DeToxRox]

Paramus Catholic @PCFB_LIVE
@JabrillPeppers will attend Michigan

[Matthean]

RecruitingNation: Jabrill Peppers picks Michigan - ESPN Video - ESPN

[M GO BLUE!!!]

[Honolulu_Blue]

Peppers!

[DeToxRox]

Kyle Allen has committed to A&M

[MrBug708]

Dang

[Chief Rum]

Meh... ESPN only had him at #136 or something.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Meh... ESPN only had him at #136 or something.

Not for long...haha. TAMU is in SEC territory now!

[HomerSimpson98]

Being that he is from AZ, I dont know much about Allen. CU Tiger or anyone familiar with his exploits, is this kid as good as the hype?

A&M pulled in this year's Mr Football in Texas (Kenny Hill) from Southlake Carroll, and he is a guy I really like. I know there is a possibility that Hill goes the hardball route, but I am a little surprised Allen ended up here.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by HomerSimpson98

Being that he is from AZ, I dont know much about Allen. CU Tiger or anyone familiar with his exploits, is this kid as good as the hype?

A&M pulled in this year's Mr Football in Texas (Kenny Hill) from Southlake Carroll, and he is a guy I really like. I know there is a possibility that Hill goes the hardball route, but I am a little surprised Allen ended up here.

You're not the only one. Even scouts who directly interviewed Allen over the past few weeks were taken back by this. The consensus had been that Allen was practically a silent verbal to UCLA or at worst a heavy lean to UCLA with only hometown ASU close. Then Notre Dame and Ohio State got involved, and some thought Notre Dame was the choice (which was supposedly the reason why Notre Dame did not take the attempted commitment of QB Brandon Dawkins last week). Then Allen releases his Top 5 last week, and doesn't even include ASU. A&M was always on his list, but it never seemed to get special mention.

So then he comes out yesterday and announces he's going to A&M. Just weird. I'm not saying anything funny happened; A&M is a good school in the best conference, with a Heisman winning QB who will probably go pro after this year, and a coach who has proven he can coach QBs. But this was just out of left field for even people in the know.

Allen, by all accounts on Scout (the service I follow), is a terrific talent and isn't likely to be scared off by anyone. But not only did he pick a school with a sophomore QB (who could stay past this year, admittedly unlikely), but that school also has the #6 QB from the 2012 class or somesuch (Matt Davis?) and Hill and one other highly rated QB as well from this past class. And all of those QBs are Manzell-like dual threat QBs, while Allen is purely a dropback.

So, yeah, really weird how this one went down.

[Chief Rum]

Huge news, although from last year's class.

Top defensive talent DT Eddie Vanderdoes is officially going to UCLA now, and not Notre Dame.

It's unclear at this point if he will be able to play in 2013, as Notre Dame has yet to release him from his National LOI. If they don't, he will have to sit out 2013, and will have four years to play three seasons, starting in2014.

I'm hoping once Notre Dame sees that Vanderdoes is enrolled at UCLA, they will release him from his LOI, as there is then no chance he attends a school on Notre Dame's schedule.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by HomerSimpson98

Being that he is from AZ, I dont know much about Allen. CU Tiger or anyone familiar with his exploits, is this kid as good as the hype?

A&M pulled in this year's Mr Football in Texas (Kenny Hill) from Southlake Carroll, and he is a guy I really like. I know there is a possibility that Hill goes the hardball route, but I am a little surprised Allen ended up here.

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Allen, by all accounts on Scout (the service I follow), is a terrific talent and isn't likely to be scared off by anyone. But not only did he pick a school with a sophomore QB (who could stay past this year, admittedly unlikely), but that school also has the #6 QB from the 2012 class or somesuch (Matt Davis?) and Hill and one other highly rated QB as well from this past class. And all of those QBs are Manzell-like dual threat QBs, while Allen is purely a dropback.

Allen is legit, but not a fit for A&M's current offense as CR mentioned. I have watched film on him and he does have a big time arm and makes good decisions. Has also benefited from playing 4 years with Arizona's #2 rated prospect at WR, 6'6 Mark Andrews, which allowed him some margin for error.

He is not overly athletic, running a 4.9 40 and not very elusive, but he can pick a defense apart if he has time and can make all the throws.

It was an interesting choice for sure and I really wonder if he will even stay at A&M all 4 years.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Huge news, although from last year's class.

Top defensive talent DT Eddie Vanderdoes is officially going to UCLA now, and not Notre Dame.

It's unclear at this point if he will be able to play in 2013, as Notre Dame has yet to release him from his National LOI. If they don't, he will have to sit out 2013, and will have four years to play three seasons, starting in2014.

I'm hoping once Notre Dame sees that Vanderdoes is enrolled at UCLA, they will release him from his LOI, as there is then no chance he attends a school on Notre Dame's schedule.

Sounds like ND (and FSU regarding Matthew Thomas) have been asked by numerous other big-time programs not to release the LoI, as they worry it will set a precedent that forces them to continuing recruiting LoI signers during the spring semester. Personally, I disagree with the entire concept of an LoI, but if the kids sign them I have no problem holding them to their word absent a coaching change or a legitimate family illness/girlfriend pregnancy. (I have no idea in Vanderdoes case what his reasons are.)

Oh, and one of those A&M 2013 QB's, Kohl Stewart, now seems very likely to be a top 7 MLB pick and play baseball.

[MrBug708]

UCLA landed the top JC OL in Dominick Jackson. He had offers from Bama, among pretty much everyone else.

As for the Vanderdoes situation, the scout guy described it as a grave family situation that has surfaced post LOI day

[MrBug708]

UCLA adds another JC OL in Jermaine Eluemunor. He had offers from tOSU, USC, Alabama, Florida, FSU, among others. Probably still going to take visits.

[Eaglesfan27]

Matthew Thomas is going to USC. FSU will not release him from his LOI and he will have to sit out a year and lose a year of eligibility. His mother pushed the FSU decision on him and he convinced her his heart would never be in it at FSU.

[MacroGuru]

BYU picked up two new OL commits. Austin Chambers from Kansas and Chandon Herring from Arizona.

Not big names so to speak other than Chambers was being recruited by Kansas, Missouri and a few of the other BCS schools. Whether or not he receives an offer from the others I won't know and I don't think it matters. Both are LDS and are serving their missions right out of high school due to the new missionary rules..so effectively, they won't hit the field until 2016, potentially 2017-2018

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

BYU picked up two new OL commits. Austin Chambers from Kansas and Chandon Herring from Arizona.

Not big names so to speak other than Chambers was being recruited by Kansas, Missouri and a few of the other BCS schools. Whether or not he receives an offer from the others I won't know and I don't think it matters. Both are LDS and are serving their missions right out of high school due to the new missionary rules..so effectively, they won't hit the field until 2016.

Herring is a project for sure, good frame but I went and looked at some film on him and he needs some polishing. Chambers is very solid.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Matthew Thomas is going to USC. FSU will not release him from his LOI and he will have to sit out a year and lose a year of eligibility. His mother pushed the FSU decision on him and he convinced her his heart would never be in it at FSU.

Or not. Now he says he is staying.

Source -- Matthew Thomas will honor commitment to Florida State Seminoles - ESPN

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by cartman

Or not. Now he says he is staying.

Source -- Matthew Thomas will honor commitment to Florida State Seminoles - ESPN

Just saw that a bit ago. Kid isn't going where he wants to go which is a shame.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Not earthshaking news, but kinda cool for me/locally.

The K at my son's school got his first official offer earlier this month, from VaTech. No decision yet but for any player in the state's smallest classification, getting an offer from D1 is a big deal.

[MrBug708]

Why even sign the NLI in the first place if he never wanted to go to FSU?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Why even sign the NLI in the first place if he never wanted to go to FSU?

His mother talked him into it after saying she would not sign for USC because it was so far away.

[MrBug708]

She doesnt have to sign it, which is the confusing part

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

She doesnt have to sign it, which is the confusing part

Yes, she does cause he is 17 and she is his legal guardian.

[MrBug708]

No. He doesn't need her to sign an NLI to go to USC. He just enrolls in class or signs a grant in aid and shows up. You don't need to sign an NLI to attend a school.

[Julio Riddols]

That Watson kid looks like he is 30-40 years old. If you just gave me a pic of just his face, I would guess he was middle-upper management at some department store.

[DeToxRox]

#1 player Da'Shawn Hand dropped Virginia Tech from his list today. They were the presumed favorite from the very beginning, but after visiting Michigan he decided he wants to major in Sports Management over Engineering and he pointed to that reason as the main one he is dropping VT.

Alabama is now neck and neck with UM. Florida is in third and he says he wants to visit USC and LSU.

As of now I'd say it's a coin flip between UM/Alabama.

[tarcone]

4* QB recruit Rafe Peavey is looking at Iowa, Mizzou and tOSU after decommiting from Arkansas. He is a dual threat QB. He visited Mizzou yesterday and will be at OSU Friday. He will make his decision after that.
This would be big fro Iowa. Maybe KF will broaden his offense a little.

[HomerSimpson98]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

No. He doesn't need her to sign an NLI to go to USC. He just enrolls in class or signs a grant in aid and shows up. You don't need to sign an NLI to attend a school.

FSU made it clear that they were not going to release him from his NLI. Therefore, in order to go to USC, he would have had to sit out a year. In the end, I think this is what he was trying to avoid, which ironically, if he wants to transfer after a year or two or whatever, he will have to do anyway.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

No. He doesn't need her to sign an NLI to go to USC. He just enrolls in class or signs a grant in aid and shows up. You don't need to sign an NLI to attend a school.

Can't go through the NCAA clearinghouse without a parents sig, nor can you accept a scholarship without a parents sig. Sure he could enroll,but he couldn't step foot on the football field.

Actually he couldn't enroll unless he had the cash today the down payment to start classes, he also can no longer get a stafford loan or other student loan and still be eligible.

[dawgfan]

Nice day for Washington; with their Rising Stars camp in session, they got a commit from local kid Drew Lewis and a 2015 commit out of Long Beach Poly, Joseph Wicker (likely a DE). And then 4-star DB Jonathan Lockett - who was intending to announce at the Opening next week between UW, UCLA, Oregon & Notre Dame - put an end to the suspense early and committed to the Huskies.

The momentum could continue at the Opening as both John Plattenburg and Erik Brown have said they'll make their announcements, and the Huskies are in very good position for both.

[General Mike]

Rutgers got a couple good ones the other day. WR Adonis Jennings and S Kiy Hester

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Nice day for Washington; with their Rising Stars camp in session, they got a commit from local kid Drew Lewis and a 2015 commit out of Long Beach Poly, Joseph Wicker (likely a DE). And then 4-star DB Jonathan Lockett - who was intending to announce at the Opening next week between UW, UCLA, Oregon & Notre Dame - put an end to the suspense early and committed to the Huskies.

The momentum could continue at the Opening as both John Plattenburg and Erik Brown have said they'll make their announcements, and the Huskies are in very good position for both.

Very impressive. I think this year is the last year Sark will have being able to recruit so well without any results however. He really needs to break out of his 7 wins or so seasons and get a 10 win season, otherwise he's just a personable Karl Dorrell at this point.

(You knew I'd be a wet blanket haha)

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Very impressive. I think this year is the last year Sark will have being able to recruit so well without any results however. He really needs to break out of his 7 wins or so seasons and get a 10 win season, otherwise he's just a personable Karl Dorrell at this point.

(You knew I'd be a wet blanket haha)

Actually, I fully agree. He's been able to sell the future, but the future is now - if he can't break through this year, it's going to get a lot harder to sell the program as rising. And really, there's many reasons to expect that he should. The only reason working against him is that it appears the entire conference is on the rise. The talent level at Washington is as high as it's been since at least the early Neuheisel era (if not better), and while the team is still fairly young, it's also fairly experienced.

Looks like the UW also got commitments from DB Lavon Washington last night a local 2015 OL prospect in Trey Adams today, and I'm expecting WR Erik Brown to commit to the Huskies at the Opening, with a decent chance John Plattenburg also picks Washington.

[MrBug708]

Looking further into the Lockett verbal, apparently Biggins thinks that he wanted to go to Oregon, but Oregon is expected to land Springs and McGraw and is full.

Either way, UCLA has been doing that for years, getting who USC didnt want. Thanks for Anthony Barr guys!

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Looking further into the Lockett verbal, apparently Biggins thinks that he wanted to go to Oregon, but Oregon is expected to land Springs and McGraw and is full.

Either way, UCLA has been doing that for years, getting who USC didnt want. Thanks for Anthony Barr guys!

Biggins gives you guys better info than us - all he said on our forums is that, as of last week when he talked to Lockett, he was planning on committing to Oregon. Here's his actual post:

He told me a few days ago he was going to commit to Oregon at The Opening but the visit to UW blew him away. His exact words was 'after the visit to UW, it was a wrap, I knew that was the place for me. Said it just felt like home to him and he couldn't see himself anywhere else. Big pickup , he's a very good cover corner and could play early at UW.

[MrBug708]

Erik Brown makes it official to UW

Springs to Oregon over UT

Walood to Cal most likely

Hale to Arizona (Nate Dogg's kid)

[dawgfan]

Nice pickup for Washington - Brown is a 4-star WR, and Biggins is of the opinion that with Brown & Johnson, the Huskies have the 2 best WR's out of California.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Nice pickup for Washington - Brown is a 4-star WR, and Biggins is of the opinion that with Brown & Johnson, the Huskies have the 2 best WR's out of California.

That's crazy and not right.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

That's crazy and not right.

I'll trade you a 4-star WR for a 4-star OT...

[MrBug708]

Haha...

Miciah Quick didnt move right?

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Haha...

Miciah Quick didnt move right?

Nope. Just passing along what Biggins wrote on our boards.

[Eaglesfan27]

4 star linebacker DJ Calhoun committed to USC tonight. 4 star CB Adarius Pickett is expected to follow his lead.