Signing day is almost here!

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm looking forward to seeing how the actual classes shape up with all of the last minute manuevering. I was surprised to not see any threads with signing day being right around the corner. So far, the biggest and most pleasant surprise has been Ronald Johnson overlooking Michigan to sign with USC. He is a 5 star player who will likely be a major contributor at CB for the Trojans. Even with a few possible defections to Florida and the loss of Szakacsy to ASU (no big loss in my opinion), I think this has a good chance to still be one of the great classes for USC in the last decade.

A few other players that have me very excited:

- DE Everson Griffen who has run an electronically timed 4.46, has good size (6'4" 266) and has been nicknamed the "Super Freak" is supposedly almost impossible to block 1 on 1.

- Kristofer O'Dowd, another 5 star player, is a G with great size and is supposedly a guy who never quits trying to dominate his man.


- Chris Galippo, #1 LB in the country who is supposed to be excellent in coverage and run defense. Another guy with great speed and good size.


Quite a few other 5 star guys who could sign with the Trojans as well as a dozen or more 4 star guys who should be excellent players. I can't wait for them all to make it official.

[miami_fan]

I think the Hurricanes actually got a QB to sign with them this year. Progress!

[Dr. Sak]

Eaglesfan do you think Brodrick Green (4 star RB from Ark) will pick USC on Wednesday when he announces? I am hearing that he might choose Penn State and go back on his verbal commitment to USC.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

A few other players that have me very excited:

- DE Everson Griffen who has run an electronically timed 4.46, has good size (6'4" 266) and has been nicknamed the "Super Freak" is supposedly almost impossible to block 1 on 1.

- Kristofer O'Dowd, another 5 star player, is a G with great size and is supposedly a guy who never quits trying to dominate his man.

Your welcome for both of those...we only produce a few players that good and you take them all out of our state(both from AZ).

Ive seen both play, and some of my friends play with O'Dowd. Their both good guys, and great players. Both should be stars at USC someday(griffen sooner rather then later)

[Tigercat]

Joe Mcknight is clearly the best player in the nation in my eyes. The only reason he had to share many player of the year honors with Clausen is because Clausen had the pre-senior season hype.

The number of ways Mcknight could hurt a team as good as Hoover is insane. Hopefully your trojans won't steal him away from LSU.

Judging by his comments on starting to feel the distance from Cali to back home, I think he signs with LSU, although I wouldn't be surprised either way.

[Doug5984]

I hope Joe McKnight decides to go to LSU. I think he will, but you never know. He is supposed to be a great player but coming from a small 2A school it worries me some...The die hard LSU fans down here are claiming him to be the next Reggie Bush.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by Doug5984

I hope Joe McKnight decides to go to LSU. I think he will, but you never know. He is supposed to be a great player but coming from a small 2A school it worries me some...The die hard LSU fans down here are claiming him to be the next Reggie Bush.

I think noel divine is the next reggie bush

[Blade6119]

if you have to pick one in this class.

Last year i said it would be CJ Spiller, and he had a great year

[Ksyrup]

Apparently a high profile guy reneged on his commitment to USC to sign with Michigan, and then that Johnson guy left Michigan to commit to USC.

LSU and UF are vying for the top recruiting classes, so says SI.com.

FSU is trying to stem the bleeding that the past 5 years' performance has created. We'll see how the coaching staff additions pay off, although I still tend to think recruits will wait to see whether it translates on the field. And unfortunately for FSU, they have a tough schedule this coming year. The OL should be interesting - Trickett withdrew a scholarship offer to a top 50 OL commitment because he was too big/slow for the new system.

[Tigercat]

I think he will be closer to Percy Harvin than Bush. I think he will be better than Harvin though, he will be able to break more tackles while being a touch slower.

[Eaglesfan27]

I think we still have a good chance of getting McKnight to go out to USC. I think he is playing his cards very close to his vest, moreso than any other big name player I can remember.

As far as Green goes, I think he'll go to Penn State. Marc Tyler looks like a lock for USC and he is the more highly regarded back and USC has so many very good to great returning backs that I think it will scare Green away a bit.

[Doug5984]

My local UL-Lafayette is doing alright considering who they are. Hopefully they can get a couple years of decent classes like this so they can atleast win the Sun Belt and make a bowl game (for the first time ever).

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I think the Hurricanes actually got a QB to sign with them this year. Progress!

Only after they had one renege earlier. That's 3 QB de-commitments in 3 years.

[Dr. Sak]

That is what I was hoping for with Green. I was hoping he'd look at the depth charts of both schools and realize USC has a bunch of blue chippers while Penn State's top RBs will both be seniors this upcoming season.

[cschex]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

I think noel divine is the next reggie bush

If he qualifies. Apparently, he not only has grade issues but beaucoup character issues as well.

McKnight will most likely sign with the Tigers, but even if he doesn't, LSU's roped in a monster class this year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Apparently a high profile guy reneged on his commitment to USC to sign with Michigan, and then that Johnson guy left Michigan to commit to USC.

LSU and UF are vying for the top recruiting classes, so says SI.com.

FSU is trying to stem the bleeding that the past 5 years' performance has created. We'll see how the coaching staff additions pay off, although I still tend to think recruits will wait to see whether it translates on the field. And unfortunately for FSU, they have a tough schedule this coming year. The OL should be interesting - Trickett withdrew a scholarship offer to a top 50 OL commitment because he was too big/slow for the new system.

Unless, USC has a few more nasty surprises, I'd put their class ahead of LSU and Florida. Although, all 3 schools are going to have great classes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

SI and other sites would rank them higher based on the number of recruits. But, if you look at the average positional ranking and average star rating, USC beats them by a significant margin on almost all websites.

[MrBug708]

Last I heard SC fans were scared to death that Ev Grif was going to join Florida

[dawgfan]

Hey Bug, does UCLA not have a lot of scholarships available this year? The Bruins commits are almost all highly regarded, but there's only 11 of them so far - are they expecting to bring in more than that on signing day?

[cmp]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Apparently a high profile guy reneged on his commitment to USC to sign with Michigan, and then that Johnson guy left Michigan to commit to USC.

Donovan Warren, a 5 star CB, was the guy who ended up picking Michigan over USC. I'd rather have Warren than Johnson at Michigan. I've seen Johnson play a few times and was never that impressed by him.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Last I heard SC fans were scared to death that Ev Grif was going to join Florida

All the chatter on the USC board makes me think that is HIGHLY unlikely to happen at this point. He is very solid in his committment to USC.

[PSUColonel]

So far I am impressed with Penn State's class. They are ranked 18th nationally, but they are going for more core position players over skill positions. Usually you'll take a hit in the rankings for doing this. Here are the verbal commits and LOI signees to this point.

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=157&p=9&c=8&yr=2007

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Only after they had one renege earlier. That's 3 QB de-commitments in 3 years.

Yeah, but the guy they got was higher ranked than the guy that decomitted. Plus, Randy has done an excellent job since he came aboard. A class that was ranked down in the low 30's most of the year is now 19th. Plus, he's getting recruits at huge need positions (OL and WR). They also stole the #7 DE from Florida.

[Dunleavy]

the team under the rader recruiting of the year award has to go to Ron Zook and Illinois, he put together a WOW class

Top 20 overall, Top 3 in the Big 10

lost a 4 star RB Hughes late to ND (that bum Darius Walker going pro (*cough* undrafted) didnt help. plus a 3.5 star QB Brewster will likely decommit after his dad got minny Head Coaching job but still...

for a 2-10 team to get a 5 star out of state commit is insane, add a 5 star instate and 2 in state 4 star plus 3!!! out of state 4 stars it's quite a class for zook

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

So far I am impressed with Penn State's class. They are ranked 18th nationally, but they are going for more core position players over skill positions. Usually you'll take a hit in the rankings for doing this. Here are the verbal commits and LOI signees to this point.

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=157&p=9&c=8&yr=2007

Finally! Something we agree about.

I'm with you on how happy I am with the recruiting class. Last year's class was very skill-position heavy (Devlin, Carter, etc) and I was happy when PSU decided to focus on beefing up both lines and maintaining their status as "Linebacker U"

Hopefully, they'll get that RB that everyone is talking about decommitting from USC. Should they get him, they'll have a top-15 class for the third consecutive year and are setting up for a nice run (and hopefully a repeat of 2005) til 2010.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Hey Bug, does UCLA not have a lot of scholarships available this year? The Bruins commits are almost all highly regarded, but there's only 11 of them so far - are they expecting to bring in more than that on signing day?

Ya. This senior class came in when Toledo was fired/Dorrell was hired. Toledo was rather bad at evaluation talent

[digamma]

Ga Tech is done. 20 commitments and all look solid to GT. Consensus top 15 class.

The only recruit that there is even a slight bit of concern over is Josh Nesbitt--the Dawgies are holding out hope for a signing day surprise, however the GT staff feels very good about getting his LOI.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

I think noel divine is the next reggie bush

Devine just visited WVU this weekend and it sounds like we lead slightly over FSU. Alabama also has an outside chance. From what I am hearing, his eligibility is still up in the air and he is probably going to wait until after LOI day to commit. He would make nice successor to Steve Slaton.

[Logan]

I was under the impression that Reggie Bush has a better chance to play in college next season than Devine.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Ya. This senior class came in when Toledo was fired/Dorrell was hired. Toledo was rather bad at evaluation talent

How many more guys are possible UCLA commits? Right now they've got a great per recruit star average (3.73), but with only 11 recruits the class isn't considered one of the tops in the country. Scout.com has them at #31 right now, but if you go by average stars, they jump to #7.

Conversely, the UW's per player star average is mediocre (2.78), but they have 27 guys committed which puts them at #27 overall currently.

[bhlloy]

At this point, I would be very surprised if Joe McKnight ended up at LSU. In fact, there have been rumours that he has USC #1 and Ole Miss #2. Very reliable sources say he will end up at USC.

Everson Griffen is not at all a risk to go to Florida as I understand it. He took the official visit as a free holiday. That would be a devastating blow if he does end up switching, because he's Jevon Kearse #2. He's 265lbs and the best running back in the state of Arizona.

USC is also in pole position to sign Deonte Thompson, and just picked up two 3 star DT's (Tupuo and Henderson - 16 year old Canadian kid who is already 6'5 and close to 270 pounds with plenty of room for growth)

Florida clearly has the #1 class though this year... a sick, sick class. They picked up a top 5 guy at every position. Either USC, Tennessee or Texas will end up #2, largely based on what McKnight decides I expect.

Oh and Notre Dame had better hope Clausen is a great QB from day 1, otherwise this is not a great class for Charlie. The loss of Trattou close to the end has really hurt them.

[Tigercat]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

At this point, I would be very surprised if Joe McKnight ended up at LSU. In fact, there have been rumours that he has USC #1 and Ole Miss #2. Very reliable sources say he will end up at USC.

You must not be listening to sources close to Joe McKnight or John Curtis High School.

Furthermore, Ole Miss isn't even in the picture. He really likes Frank Wilson, who used to coach in the New Orleans area, but he doesn't like coach O at all. Its one of the few things he has said to friends around here about the recruiting process while keeping most things close to the vest. (Can't say I blame him on that one, either.) He likes Saban more than coach O, only the Curtis respect for Wilson got McKnight to trip to Ole Miss instead of Alabama.

He has said both to recruiting sites and to JT Curtis and others over the last few days that he is worried about the distance from USC to Louisiana. I see no reason to think that LSU doesn't have a slim lead over USC right now. Although, again, signing with either team shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

[fjvieane]

Hehe, I love this time of year. I am also a big USC Trojan homer, so I sit all day in the chat room waiting for info, lol (being a stay at home dad has its advantages )

Here is my honest opinions on some USC issues:

Donovan Warren going to Michigan was a huge shocker to most of the fans on the boards, lol, it was pandamonium. But once ROJO was targeted everyone settled down.

I think getting the O/D Lineman were big needs at this point but McKnight would be awesome as well. He is a play maker.....

Now as for Broderick Green, I am very concerned that he may go back on his verbal and go to PSU. It would be nice to have a big back but the back field is crowded at SC, but as a big back, you never know.

USC is still targeting Deonte Thompson, Omar Bolden, MArvin Austin, and a few others.

I think Austin is going to UNC, but FSU could sway him at the last minute as well.

There is also a rumor on the SC boards that a QB is looking to transfer to USC and so much credence was put into this that a 2nd QB SC was recruiting decided to go to ASU instead, is the rumor true, I have no clue.

[bhlloy]

Different recruiting sites, different strokes I guess. We will see on Wednesday morning.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by fjvieane

Hehe, I love this time of year. I am also a big USC Trojan homer, so I sit all day in the chat room waiting for info, lol (being a stay at home dad has its advantages )

Here is my honest opinions on some USC issues:

Donovan Warren going to Michigan was a huge shocker to most of the fans on the boards, lol, it was pandamonium. But once ROJO was targeted everyone settled down.

I think getting the O/D Lineman were big needs at this point but McKnight would be awesome as well. He is a play maker.....

Now as for Broderick Green, I am very concerned that he may go back on his verbal and go to PSU. It would be nice to have a big back but the back field is crowded at SC, but as a big back, you never know.

USC is still targeting Deonte Thompson, Omar Bolden, MArvin Austin, and a few others.

I think Austin is going to UNC, but FSU could sway him at the last minute as well.

There is also a rumor on the SC boards that a QB is looking to transfer to USC and so much credence was put into this that a 2nd QB SC was recruiting decided to go to ASU instead, is the rumor true, I have no clue.

The rumour could well be true. It is way more likely that Samson was "encouraged" to look at the depth chart to free up a scholarship for Bolden to be honest though.

Austin to USC is pretty much a 0.1% chance right now. It looks very likely UNC will be the destination, although I wouldn't rule FSU out completely.

Latest news on Broderick Green is that he may be waiting for McKnight to announce before making a decision. If he doesn't want to sit for 2 years he might be better off going to Penn State either way. God knows we need a short yardage back whatever McKnight does.

[cartman]

Texas has another Top 5 recruiting class lined up. Losing Brantley to Florida doesn't look as bad as when it was announced. Since then, Brantley has been downgraded from 5 stars to 4, and Texas picked up a committment from G.J. Kinne, another 4 star QB who had planned on going to Baylor. Texas is also going to honor their scholarship offer to OL Matt Nader, who had to quit football this past fall when he almost died on the sideline of a game due to a heart problem.

[PSUColonel]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Finally! Something we agree about.

I'm with you on how happy I am with the recruiting class. Last year's class was very skill-position heavy (Devlin, Carter, etc) and I was happy when PSU decided to focus on beefing up both lines and maintaining their status as "Linebacker U"

Hopefully, they'll get that RB that everyone is talking about decommitting from USC. Should they get him, they'll have a top-15 class for the third consecutive year and are setting up for a nice run (and hopefully a repeat of 2005) til 2010.

Green is definately going to USC from what I'm gathering. He just won't make the announcement until Wed. I'ts a real shame...we also lost Vidal Hazelton to them last year, even despite his parents attempt to keep him from going there.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Logan

I was under the impression that Reggie Bush has a better chance to play in college next season than Devine.

It is not as much of a longshot as it appeared a few months ago. He has the grades now (supposedly around a 2.20, w/ a chance to improve this last semester) and his last test score was close. He took the SATs again two weekends ago.

I feel dirty for knowing so much about this kid.

[Swaggs]

I think McKnight ends up at LSU, FWIW.

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

Green is definately going to USC from what I'm gathering. He just won't make the announcement until Wed. I'ts a real shame...we also lost Vidal Hazelton to them last year, even despite his parents attempt to keep him from going there.

Well, I'm not too concerned about RB. Scott has always had the talent, it's his head that hasn't been straight. I get the feeling he could have a "Larry Johnson" type of year (where Scott comes out of being a dissapointment for four years and actually becomes the back they expected him to be out of Parkland). Also, I've heard pretty good things about Carter. The fact that the majority of the offensive line is coming back bodes well for our running game.

And, it all doesn't even matter if Morelli was the kind of suck he was before the bowl win (where even then he still made some pretty poor decisions).

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

How many more guys are possible UCLA commits? Right now they've got a great per recruit star average (3.73), but with only 11 recruits the class isn't considered one of the tops in the country. Scout.com has them at #31 right now, but if you go by average stars, they jump to #7.

Conversely, the UW's per player star average is mediocre (2.78), but they have 27 guys committed which puts them at #27 overall currently.

I really don't think anyone is still a UCLA commit. I think they are one over their limit, but Kahlil Bell is going to be dismissed from the team.

UCLA basically was able to target a few commits and got most of them. The only real miss was Everson Griffin , but they got the second best DE in the West and the best DT in the West so it wasn't so bad. The one three star (I think there is only one now) is Mike Harris and he was supposed to be a greyshirt til Arizona decided they were interested so UCLA had to bump it to a scholarship offer

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by digamma

Ga Tech is done. 20 commitments and all look solid to GT. Consensus top 15 class.

The only recruit that there is even a slight bit of concern over is Josh Nesbitt--the Dawgies are holding out hope for a signing day surprise, however the GT staff feels very good about getting his LOI.

What happened with Cedric Everson? He had his scholarship pulled?

[PSUColonel]

Scott should be a good back if he can ever learn to block. He really has been less than enthusiastic when it comes to blocking. I feel A.J. Wallace could also be someone to play RB at some point. He reminds me a lot of Michael Robinson.

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

What happened with Cedric Everson? He had his scholarship pulled?

Basically. Lots of rumors back and forth - most seem to focus on there being some sort of class requirement that he had to take in order to qualify, and he didn't take it. Someone on the staff said something along the lines of that the offer was pulled back, and it was up to him to do something in particular to get it back, which he didn't do.

All very vague. But he's not going to Tech, either way.

[Logan]

Well, Rutgers' class might not be loaded with 5 stars like some other schools...but once again, Schiano pulls in the best class of his tenure. After going heavy on skill players last year, we loaded up on the big uglies. Anthony Davis, Keith Newell, Wayne Thomas, Richard Muldrow, etc should keep us strong on both sides of the line. Manny Abreu looks like the stud sideline to sideline LB we've needed, and we pulled in 2 kids from Maryland in Jourdan Brooks and Joe Lefeged who could be impact players.

The big test tomorrow is getting Joe Nicolas' signed LOI, keeping Miami off him, and hopefully getting the commit from RB Antwain Easterling.

The crazy thing is that a couple years ago, guys with the talent level equivalent to the commits I haven't mentioned would be the ones I'd be pumping up.

[waltwal]

3 things that strike me on recruiting.

1. the disparity in ratings of players between Scout.com and Rivals.com. Nothing wrong with it it just tends to indicate that Coaches and recruiting services may see players a little differently since the top 2 recruiting services do.

2. The fact that the default team standings are based on a total point system rather than an average of the players signed. Conceivably depending on the number of scholarships a school has available a team that has predominantly 3 star recruits could be rated higher than a team that tends to have more 4 star players. The average number of scholarships per year could be around 20 but some schools have larger numbers available but it seems to me that the average of your recruits should be the most important number and the number that determines the best recruiting class.

3. Ucla is having a pretty good year but with the predominance of USC in the LA area i would think that recruits would be turned off by being relegated to 2nd place in the same town. A lot of schools fall short of SC but being so close would seem to be detrimental to UCLA's recruiting efforts but at least this year it doesn't seem to be the case.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

What happened with Cedric Everson? He had his scholarship pulled?

Celevel hit on the highlights. It came down to a class requirement. Tech gave him an opportunity to fulfill the course requirement and he did not, so they mutually parted ways.

He committed to Michigan State over the weekend. Tech got a Boston College commitment (Michael Peterson) to take his spot.

[MrBug708]

It's wierd though. Living in LA and seeing USC's success, a lot of kids are just turned off by the arrogance that comes off of SC. A lot of kids don't care because let's face it though, Pete Carroll and Co are winners and have an incredible record over the past 5 years. Brian Price, the top DT in the West straight out of Crenshaw was pursued even after he committed to UCLA. Something about the program just turned him off. I think the win over SC last year helped ease a lot of kids minds and the playing time exists at UCLA at UCLA for some positions. It just baffles me why a LB, WR, or RB would commit to USC? Each year I hear that their recruits are better then the years before though.

UCLA returns 20 starters so this is a make or break year for Dorrell with 10 wins needing to save his job IMO.

[waltwal]

I have had the same feeling about players shying away from schools that have a lot of top players at their position. I am sure the SC answers that by saying you will be able to find out quickly if you have what it takes for the NFL.

I think Dorral only has to win 8 including a Bowl which is 8-5 (maybe 9-4). I think he was a bad hire who has learned on the job thus a great turnover in his coaching staff. I do feel that he could possibly be fired in the next 2-3 years but he might turn out to be a good head coach at his next school. But I don"t think UCLA should hire guys that lack qualifications and learn on the job.

[GoldenEagle]

Arkansas will be signing Nathan Dick this year, who is Casey Dick's younger brother. Arkansas will be getting probably five more years of Dick. This Dick is bigger, so the Hogs may enjoy it more.