re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition

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WEST

The top player out West is Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman linebacker Palaie Gaoteote. The USC commit, ranked as the No. 4 overall player in the country, would have been the top linebacker in the region as a junior last year as well and has tremendous upside. There really isn’t anything on football field that Gaoteote doesn’t excel at. He has the size, toughness and instincts to play in the middle with the quickness, athleticism and playmaking skill to play on the outside. He can rush the passer, is tough against the run, can chase down plays run away from him and shows the cover skills to track a back or tight end 30 yards down the field and make a play on the ball.

The strongest position group out West this year is easily the wide receivers. The class of 2016 was very strong but in terms of strength at the top of the board and the overall depth, the class of ’18 is even stronger.

Among the top 60 prospects in the region that are all in the Scout 300, an amazing 14 are wide receivers and that’s not including Chase Williams and Devon Williams, who are rated with the athletes and Michael Ezeike, who was just moved to tight end and just missed making the cut.

Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei’s Amon-Ra St. Brown is the top guy on our board and is also rated as the top receiver in the country. He’s a dynamic pass catcher, tremendous after the catch with great hands and is a big play threat in the return game as well.

-National recruiting analyst Greg Biggins

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While the focus of most is the class of 2018 as we dive deep into the spring evaluation period, members of the class of 2019 are getting offers as well on a daily basis. Rather than rush out a Rivals100 on prospects who have played two years of high school football, we thought we’d put stars on 100 of them and release 20 a day. Here’s our fourth batch, led by five-star defensive end Christopher Hinton.

The prospects listed are grouped by their Rivals Rating from 6.1 to 5.9 but are in no particular order otherwise.

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LB Owen Pappoe

At linebacker, perhaps the most well-known name in the entire class of 2019 is Loganville (Ga.) Grayson standout Owen Pappoe, who has been on the radar of colleges since seventh grade.

“Pappoe is an athlete first and foremost. He can do so many things well on the football field, and although he has shined on defense the first two years, some think he could even be a better running back,” said Simmons. “He really flies to the football while playing under control. He has been on the big stage at a top program starting since his freshman year and the moment has never been too big for him. He is that new-age linebacker who can run, cover, blitz, and most importantly, stay on the field all three downs.”

Pappoe has offers from almost everyone and has visited Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, LSU and Miami.

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“I like everything about Alabama.” Mwikuta said. “I like all the coaches and the facilities and everything about it. I’ve been over there about three times. I would say Alabama and Miami are my top two right now with Georgia, Auburn and Florida State behind them. Miami has not offered yet but they are a team I grew up watching, I like head coach Mark Richt, and I’ve always liked that orange and green.”

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TE Glenn Beal - River Ridge (La.) John Curtis Christian Beal has emerged as the top tight end prospect in Louisiana. His 6-foot-4, 250-pound frame also would allow him to play defensive end or possibly even offensive tackle in college, though most schools appear to want him as a big, well-rounded tight end. Beal holds double-digit offers, including Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Mississippi. -- Gabe Brooks

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BURFORD, Ga. — As Auburn searches for its quarterback in the 2019 recruiting class, there’s an obvious starting point: Bo Nix.

A 6-foot-2, 195-pound quarterback who will play at Pinson Valley this fall, Nix was on Auburn’s radar well before the Tigers offered him last June. Nix grew up an Auburn fan because, well, he was raised in an Auburn-only household. His father, Patrick, played quarterback at Auburn when Terry Bowden, Tommy Bowden and Jimbo Fisher were all on staff together. He finished his Auburn career as the program’s most efficient passer.

Now it’s Bo’s turn.

Nix’s Auburn upbringing causes him to wish Auburn well on Saturdays, but since his recruiting process hit, it’s forced him to take a different approach to his fandom.

“I’m an Auburn fan. I like when they win because my whole family are Auburn people. That’s how I was born and raised. But it’s definitely not going to play a factor in my college decision,” Nix told SEC Country. “It might play a little bit because I grew up being an Auburn fan. But, at the end of the day, it’s all going to come down to my decision of where I want to go. He has nothing really to do with it. He just wants me to go and be comfortable wherever I want to go.”

Right now, Nix feels pretty comfortable everywhere because, quite honestly, everyone wants him.

Auburn and others want Nix

Despite just finishing his sophomore season, Nix is one of the most sought-after quarterback prospects in the nation. In the past month, Nix added offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, Clemson, Georgia and most recently LSU.

Everyone is a contender right now.

“I’m just laid back right now, just looking at all the options and seeing which coaching staff, which campus, all those kinds of things, just seeing what I like and what I don’t like. Then I’m going from there,” Nix said. “All the major teams that have offered me are all up there because of how good they are because of the product of the type of player you’ll be when you leave and the type of college it is itself.”

Not laid-back, however, are the college coaches chasing Nix.

He hears from most of them on a daily or every-other-day basis. The attention revved up recently, as Nix is coming off standout sophomore season at Scottsboro High in Alabama. Nix finished his 10th-grade year with 1,737 yards passing with 16 touchdowns and 1,300 yards rushing with 20 touchdowns. That’s dual-threat production at its finest.

Nix stands out

Before composite rankings come out, 247Sports has Nix listed as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the nation in 2019. Nix’s stock will only continue to rise. Last weekend, at the Nike Opening regional in Atlanta, he became the first underclassman to be named quarterback MVP of an Opening regional, beating out prospects like Ohio State commit Emory Jones.

“I was surprised a little bit, but when he said first underclassman, that’s what I work for, so I guess I wasn’t really too shocked about it,” Nix said. “I actually didn’t even know they had MVP for the lower class, so I was just out here being myself and doing my thing, and it somehow paid off … I had some good receivers to go to, so that always helps.”

Nix doesn’t plan on making a decision anytime soon.

He’s eating up the recruiting process, but not in the look-at-me way. Nix enjoys taking college visits, especially for practices, to all the programs he’s interested in, so he can see how different coaches and quarterbacks operate at the next level. He absorbs every detail he can.

For that reason alone, Nix wants to take a casual approach to his recruitment in order to find the coaches he connects with most.

“I enjoy going to watch practice and watch other teams and watch other quarterbacks. I learn a lot from those things. Visiting all these college, I keep learning,” Nix said. “Definitely the coaching staff, what kind of coaches I’m going to be around, how they’re going to train me, how they’re going to make me better and the kind of person I’m going to be when I leave that campus. That’s how I’ll decide.”

Auburn hopes the strongest connection is with Chip Lindsey and Tim Horton — the two Auburn coaches recruiting him.

Nix said he already likes the vibe he’s gotten from those two, and he expects that bond to build more as time progresses. He also respects the fact those two coaches, in particular, haven’t made him feel pressure to end up at Auburn simply because he’s a legacy. Lindsey and Horton have made it clear they want him at Auburn, but they want him to be patient to make the best personal choice.

Tigers on top

All of that said, Auburn is still perceived as a clear favorite for Nix. There are nine Crystal Ball selections for Nix right now, and 100 percent of them favor Auburn.

It’s not a guarantee, by any means, but the Tigers are sitting pretty.

“Auburn has always been a choice, and I’m sure they’re going to be a choice until the end,” Nix said, “but I’ve got to look at all the other places because another college out there might fit me better.”

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