re: Class of 2015 Recruiting MEGATHREAD - Twilight Edition

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Collegiate offenses rely on field-stretching wide receivers to enhance vertical efforts and exploit pass defenders dealing with a heightened prevalence of penalties. These elite pass-catchers can make the difference between an average downfield attack and one capable of routinely taking the top off of defenses.

We continue to see premier prospects become effective weapons as freshmen—2014 5-star recruit KD Cannon has 38 receptions for 731 yards this season—so members of this recruiting cycle are destined to make an impact as early as next fall.

Here's a look at several young receivers capable of creating matchup issues for opponents throughout their college careers. Each will be counted on to elevate offenses at the next level.

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A Virginia Tech program muddled in mediocrity for the majority of this decade is enduring a disappointing 2014 campaign that turned south in October with three consecutive conference losses. The Hokies, who improved to 2-0 by upsetting Ohio State on road, are now just 4-5 and in danger of missing postseason action for the first time since 1992.

Head coach Frank Beamer, just 10-11 against ACC opponents during the past three seasons, faces mounting questions about his longevity in Blacksburg. This downward trajectory creates concerns for a program that appeared in eight BCS bowls between 1995 and 2011.

Recruiting efforts always become more difficult when things aren't working out on the field, making a successful national signing day feel elusive. Here's a look at key Virginia Tech targets impacted by the Hokies' struggles during a frenzied recruiting stretch.

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Virginia Tech was among the first power-five conference programs to extend an offer to Lawrence Cager, a promising 6'5" receiver from Calvert Hall. The late-rising playmaker landed on the Hokies' radar this summer when he attended a team camp during a two-week stretch in July that saw him collect offers from Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio State and Tennessee.

Cager is enjoying another strong recruiting run this fall. Offers have arrived from Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Miami, Nebraska and South Carolina since mid-October.

These late contenders have created a crowded race in this recruitment. However, Virginia Tech managed to line up an official visit earlier this month and remains firmly in the mix.

Cager watched the Hokies lose to Boston College during his visit. He will follow that game day experience with official visits to Ohio State and Notre Dame later this season.

The Hokies could certainly use an influx of offensive talent, and Cager fits the bill. Virginia Tech ranks 84th among FBS teams in points scored per contest.

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There is nothing novel or endearing about saying Alabama is the best-built team for the College Football Playoff, but that doesn't make it any less correct.

It has the best players, after all. It does. That's what four straight No. 1 recruiting classes will do for you.

"Arguably, they’ve got the greatest collection of football players ever assembled for a college team if the recruiting services are correct," South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said at SEC media days this summer. "And they're pretty much correct."

It has the most experienced coaching staff, too—at least among the contenders.

TCU head coach Gary Patterson and defensive coordinator Dick Bumpas have been together longer than Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, and they have enjoyed great success in their own right. But they haven't done it on a CFP-sized stage the way Saban and Smart have.

They haven't won three national titles in a four-year stretch.

More than that, though, Alabama is the most complete team in the country. There is nothing it struggles to do.

It doesn't throw as well it did in 2013, but it can still throw. It doesn't run as well as it did in 2012, but it can still run. It doesn't defend as well as it did in 2011—actually, maybe it does.

Just ask Mississippi State.

According to the F/+ ratings at Football Outsiders, Alabama has the No. 4 offense and the No. 2 defense in the country. No other team has two top-five units. Heck, no other team has two in the top 10.

Oregon's pass defense (and the health of its offensive line) is still an issue. Florida State cannot stop the run. TCU has looked careless away from Fort Worth. Ditto Baylor away from Waco.

We can't know for sure what kind of team is best-equipped to handle the playoff, because it's never happened before. But it stands to reason that the team with the fewest weak areas would rank toward the top.

The addition of a semifinal means one more chance for a team to exploit you, one more opponent that might be your kryptonite. The teams that can beat you in multiple ways have the best chances of surviving two playoff games.

Alabama can beat you in any way it must.

In the words of Matt Brown of Sports on Earth:

"Like any other team, Alabama has its flaws, and any team of college players is going to inject a degree of uncertainty into the proceedings. Still, like no other team, every aspect of a game in Tuscaloosa is a relentless physical test for opponents. Like the rest of the Saban era, Alabama is beatable—only once has it finished undefeated, after all—but it takes a lot for multiple teams to get the job done in the regular season. ...

There are ways to beat Alabama. There just aren't as many ways as the rest of college football, meaning Alabama is back to being the team anyone should least want to face in November and beyond."

The Crimson Tide are peaking at the end of the season for the umpteenth time under Saban, and they're doing it with a redshirt senior quarterback in Blake Sims. They're doing it with a Heisman candidate skill player in Amari Cooper. They're doing it with a one-time national champion offensive coordinator in Lane Kiffin.

Florida State fans would argue (and would not be entirely wrong to argue) that the 'Noles are best-equipped to handle the playoff because they are the only power-conference team with an undefeated record. Plus, you know, they won the national championship with the same head coach and quarterback last year.

But the way Florida State has dug itself into holes—even if it's just to pull a Houdini at the last possible second—does not make it a comfortable horse to back.

Louisville and Miami are good teams, but they aren't very good teams. Whichever team the Seminoles play in the playoff will by definition be very good. And very good teams are by definition able to hold a lead.

That's ostensibly how they'll have made the CFP in the first place.

But Jameis Winston is the best clutch quarterback in football. Yes. Yes he is. There's a reason he has never lost a game.

Sims, however, is starting to close the gap.

He led a nine-play, 50-second, 55-yard field-goal drive to force overtime against LSU in Tiger Stadium. He led a 15-play, six-plus-minute, 76-yard touchdown drive to ice the game against Mississippi State. The latter prompted Saban to tell reporters, "That was probably one of the greatest drives in Alabama history."

Saban. Who literally never uses hyperbole.

He knows a special something when he sees it.

That is slowly what this team has become.

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Nov 16, 2014 | 10:06 pm
DAWGS GIVE HARRISON A MESSAGE
Dean LeggeDean Legge
Publisher
Dawgs Give Harrison a Message
Ronnie Harrison left Georgia with a message received.

The 6-2, 205 defensive back was told that if he signed with Georgia he would get something that many young players want.
“Early play time,” Harrison said of what the Bulldogs are offering him. “They need DB's bad. That’s what Georgia's message was to me was. They are really close to being good, but they are missing that piece. Knowing they need guys at my position does help them and make me look at them differently.”
The Tallahassee native is being pursued by Jeremy Pruitt who spent time there, and at Alabama, which is where Harrison is currently committed. He will officially visit Tuscaloosa for the Tide’s rivalry game with Auburn in two weeks.
"My visit to Georgia was great,” he said. ‘I met some commits and some UGA players. I got to hangout around Georgia and get a better feel for it."
Harrison, a four-star prospect, said he was hosted by Tramel Terry and Dominick Sanders.
"I think I got right in at Georgia,” he said of spending time with Bulldog players and commits. "Right now it is just Alabama and Georgia for me. Georgia has a chance and I'm very interested in them.”
Harrison will make his college decision soon, and will enroll this January.
Chad Simmons contributed to this report

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Damien Harris will visit again for the Iron Bowl.

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