re: Class of 2015 Recruiting MEGATHREAD - Twilight Edition

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Officially, Ohio State won college football's national title in 2014. Unofficially, the real champion was speed.

When the Buckeyes ran past Alabama in the Sugar Bowl semifinal game, their team speed helped dispel the myth that quickness can only be found in the SEC. And when they raced by Oregon, one of the most notorious speed-fueled teams, it was as much because of swiftness as it was scheme and strength.

You can't teach speed, but you can coach it into a spot on a football team where it provides the most bang for the blaze.

Every college team has fast players, but the ones who are able to convert this speed into tangible results are truly the fastest ones. Many of the game's fastest are either current or former track stars, ones who have found a way to maximize this velocity.

It's not just about getting from one end of the field to the other in the least amount of time, but also being able to elude and break free of others or to have the ability to close the distance when chasing someone down.

Who are the fastest players in college football? Taking into account their charted sprint times and their on-field performances, we've ranked the 25 best.

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3. Tony Brown, CB, Alabama

Year: Sophomore

Height, weight: 6'0", 198 lbs



Tony Brown played in all but one game for Alabama this past season, serving as a reserve defensive back who registered only 10 tackles (one for loss) and broke up a single pass. With the Crimson Tide losing several members of their secondary group to graduation or early NFL entry, Brown figures to see a lot more playing time in 2015.

That means we'll get to see more of his blazing speed, which is getting honed in the offseason as part of Alabama's indoor track team.

According to the school's track website, on Saturday Brown ran the 60-meter hurdles in 7.89 seconds, which ranks as the seventh-best time in school history and No. 15 in the NCAA this season.

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Ohio State won college football's national title in 2014. Unofficially, the real champion was speed. When the Buckeyes ran past Alabama in the Sugar Bowl semifinal game, their team speed helped dispel the myth that quickness can only be found in the SEC

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With six five-stars at the running back position, the 2014 class was as talented a group as we’ve ever seen and it has already lived up to the recruiting hype. Unlike last year, the 2015 recruiting class may not have the same top-end talent but the depth is still tremendous and the Top100 is littered with elite backs committed to programs around the country.

We take a closer look below at this year’s running back class and some of the notable commits and classes.

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Trey DePriest/Arie Kouandjio syndrome

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Nothing major to report. Not much has significantly changed, but...
--As we've stressed, spots in the class are limited. But, as we've also stated several times, a few spots are expected to open.

--CB Montrell Custis of Hampton-Lovejoy, GA is expected to end up Kentucky ...or possibly Florida or Auburn. I'm told that Ole Miss didn't make a push on him during his official visit there last weekend.

--DB Rico McGraw of Nashville-Ensworth, as has been noted numerous times, is thought to be leaning to flipping back to Georgia, where he visits this weekend. Tide coaches are tentatively scheduled to visit with McGraw later this week.

--As TI reported yesterday, Coach Saban is scheduled to meet with WR K.J. Hill and his family on Wednesday evening. Hill is expected to pick Alabama or Ohio State, though Arkansas has not been eliminated. Hill's stepfather told TI that Hill might make his decision this week. Ohio State made a big move on Hill during his official visit last weekend. We still feel good about Alabama's chances at this point.

--Buffalo-Canisius, NY head coach Rich Robbins tells TI that Coach Saban and assistant Bobby Williams met TE Tyrone Wheatley on Monday. The visit went well, as expected. The general feeling has been been that Wheatley would follow in his father's footsteps to Michigan (Tyrone Wheatley, Sr/the former Michigan star now on the UM staff). But TI has been reporting for several weeks that our sources were indicating Wheatley, Jr was not likely to end up in Ann Arbor. The hiring of Jim Harbaugh certainly improved Michigan's position, but as of late last week it still appeared that Wheatley would end up elsewhere. Alabama, Oregon USC and UCLA have been the top four. One source has told TI that Alabama is in the top two. Coach Robbins tells TI that Wheatley will visit either Oregon or Michigan this weekend before making a decision. We're told that Alabama will have a spot if Wheatley chooses to join the Tide's class.

--Spoke to a close source in Maryland this morning. Nobody really knows how the Isaiah Prince situation will play out. The 6-6, 280-pounder, who committed to Alabama last Friday, made an official visit to Ohio State over the weekend. Maryland is also in the picture. Obviously Prince is highly coveted by OL coach Mario Cristobal. Sources say that after speaking with Ludowici, GA OT Chidi Valentine-Okeke on Monday, Cristobal flew out to Maryland, where he and Saban will meet with Prince and his family this evening. We'll let this one play out without speculating right now.

--Several sources, including some close to Texas A&M, feel that star cornerback Kendall Sheffield of Missouri City, Texas remains solid in his commitment to Alabama. The Aggies had hoped that the addition of new DC John Chavis would help sway Sheffield to College Station. Those hopes seem to be fading rapidly.

--Reports that linebacker/defensive end CeCe Jefferson of Glen St Mary-Baker, FL spent some time in Tuscaloosa over the weekend created excitement among Tide fans. The Alabama staff, including ace recruiter Tosh Lupoi, are scheduled to meet with Jefferson later this week (Thursday). Sources still believe Alabama is running third or fourth behind Ole Miss, Florida and possibly Auburn.

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