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

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2. ALABAMA FINISHES WITH A TOP-FIVE CLASS

Don’t panic Alabama fans, you’ll be fine. The Tide are involved with too many talented prospects – Justyn Ross, Jaylen Waddle, Nick Petit-Frere, Penei Sewell, Patrick Surtain, Tyson Campbell, Isaac Taylor-Stuart, Olajiah Griffin and others – to be shut down and kept out of the top five. Heck, Alabama could push up into the top three depending on how many surprises it can pull.

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5. SOME FIVE-STARS SURPRISE

There are seven five-stars that remain uncommitted and we know there will be some surprises. The leading candidate to shock some people are Patrick Surtain, Nick Petit-Frere, Olaijah Griffin and Isaac Taylor-Stuart. The leaders for each respectively seem to be LSU, Florida, USC and USC but I suspect one or more of them will end up elsewhere, especially with the Trojans lack of scholarship numbers.

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10. JIMBO WILL GET HIS

Between Jaylen Waddle, Leon O’Neal, Jeremiah Martin, Jashaun Corbin, Isaac Taylor-Stuart and so on, there will be some big commitments for Texas A&M down the stretch. Waddle and O’Neal seem to be strong leans, Martin is leaning that way as well as Corbin and who knows what will happen with Taylor-Stuart. I have a feeling that Aggie fans will be happy come Signing Day.

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With National Signing Day right around the corner, several of the nation’s top prospects are nearing final decisions in advance of officially signing their letters-of-intent on Wednesday.

Today, experts from the Rivals.com network examine where five-star Houston (Texas) Episcopal wide receiver Jaylen Waddle will end up playing his college football in advance of his Signing Day announcement. The candidates are Texas A&M and Alabama.

THE SITUATION

One of the nation’s most electric offensive playmakers, Waddle has been a priority for several programs this cycle, with Oregon, TCU, Florida State, Texas A&M and Alabama all hosting Waddle for official visits. But the closer we get to signing day it’s shaped up to be a battle between the Tide and the Aggies to land his signature. So which school will he pick? We asked our team experts to state the case for their respective programs and let National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell issue a verdict.

ALABAMA

"Waddle has been a priority target for the Crimson Tide since the spring. He visited Tuscaloosa several times and developed a very strong relationship with the coaching staff. Alabama has a young group of receivers, but there is not a lot of depth. Alabama has been considered the team to beat for a the last few months. His decision is expected to come down to Alabama and Texas A&M. The Aggies have made things very interesting since Jimbo Fisher became the head coach in College Station. It is very close." – Andrew Bone, BamaInsider.com

TEXAS A&M

"The Aggies return all of their wideouts from last year, save one: the dynamic Christian Kirk. They are in need of an explosive slot receiver with elusiveness, but with the speed to be a threat down the field. The closest thing out there to Kirk is Jaylen Waddle, who will jump right into the fray for immediate playing time and a lot of catches in Jimbo Fisher's quick passing offense. He's also a Houston-area guy, so adding a five-star from the area will make a statement that the new Aggie staff isn't just here to cash paychecks." - Mark Passwaters, AggieYell.com

REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE

"The Aggies have a great shot at Waddle for a variety of reasons but the most obvious is the connection that the friends and other close people involved in his recruitment tied to A&M. He has been heavily linked to Alabama, but staying close to home - in-state - is an opportunity that might be too good to pass up, considering several recruits that he is close to personally still are committed to A&M. He would be the star of the Aggies 2018 signees and a much-needed feather in Jimbo Fisher's hat in his first recruiting class but Texas A&M has to close hard on him." - Nick Krueger, Rivals.com Texas recruiting analyst

THE VERDICT

"I’ll go with Texas A&M here as there seems to be a really good connection between Waddle and Jimbo Fisher. The Aggies' new staff are selling him on the Christian Kirk role and production early." – Mike Farrell, Rivals.com Recruiting Director

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National Signing Day is on Wednesday and it’s easy to get confused by some of the lingo thrown around by recruiting insiders. Here’s a quick and easy guide of terms a recruiting novice needs to know.

Early Signing Period: For the first time ever, the NCAA instituted an Early Signing Period in football, which ran from Dec. 20-22. More than half of the top 2018 recruits signed their letters of intent during this period.

Blueshirt: A relatively new practice, blueshirt recruits enroll in the fall at the respective school at their choice, but are awarded a scholarship upon arriving on campus. This allows the schools to count players toward the next signing class, allowing for programs to sign more than 25 players. Blueshirt recruits often take the place of players who are dismissed from their teams and/or transfer between Signing Day and the start of fall practice.

Grayshirt: This term refers to a play who has committed to a school, but will delay enrollment to the winter or spring term after the traditional academic year begins. The delay is often due to an injury or a scholarship numbers crunch and preserves a year of eligibility for student-athlete.

Redshirt: Players who redshirt are full members of the team and participate and all team functions, except for the games themselves. A player who plays in just one game can lose his redshirt status, but typically a redshirt is planned heading into a season. By taking a redshirt year, players pause their eligibility clock and still have four years of on-field eligibility.

Early Enrollee: These are prospects that graduate early from high school and elect to attend school in January of their graduating year. Players who enroll early are often expected to be early contributors. The drama of Signing Day has already passed for them as they are typically almost a month into college before other prospects sign their LOIs.

National Signing Day: This is the start of the regular signing period for high school prospects. It occurs on the first Wednesday in February and runs until April 1. However, this title likely will move toward being the first day of the Early Signing Period in future years.

Official Visit: These are all-expenses paid 48-hour visits to college campuses. Each prospect can take up to five official visits starting in September of their senior year and many of the top-flight prospects take advantage of the opportunity. This is a college program’s best chance to pitch both their football program and academic opportunities to the prospect.

National Letter of Intent (abbreviated as LOI or NLI): A binding agreement between a prospect and an institution in which the institution agrees to provide financial aid in exchange for the student athlete to attend the university. All FBS programs participate in the LOI program, so once a prospect signs an agreement he is no longer allowed to be recruited by other programs. College coaches are not permitted to comment publicly about prospects until they sign a letter of intent.

Grant-In-Aid Agreement: Similar to an LOI, but is non-binding from a prospect’s perspective. These are often signed by early enrollees but can be signed by any prospect if offered by the school. This agreement binds the school to the prospect, but the prospect can still change course and attend another institution.

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Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here with 30 commitment predictions as we head towards National Signing Day.

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2. RIVALS100 PREDICTIONS

And let’s now attack the rest of the uncommitted prospects in the Rivals100.

DT Rick Sandidge – South Carolina – The Gamecocks have been the assumed leader for too long to think he picks anyone else.

ATH Devon Williams – Oregon – USC has entered the fray in a big way here but Oregon was his leader under Willie Taggart and Mario Cristobal will keep him in the fold.

OL Penei Sewell – Oregon – Alabama has been in the mix as have others, but in the end he picks Oregon.

OL Rasheed Walker – Penn State – This is a tough one between Penn State and Ohio State and could go either way but I’ll go with the Nittany Lions, who have been his favorite the longest.

WR Ja’Marr Chase – LSU – This one seems like a lock for the in-state Tigers.

QB Tanner McKee – Stanford – He’s a couple years from playing but he plays at Stanford in the end.

OL William Barnes – North Carolina – This one appeared to be all Gators before the staff change, but now the Heels will land the key offensive line target.

DT Michael Thompson – Missouri – Many feel this could be Oklahoma and no one really knows, but I am going to go with the local favorite here.

LB Solomon Tuliaupupu – USC – This has long been the assumption and USC has made him a must-get target.

DB Mario Goodrich – LSU – The former Nebraska commitment seems to be enamored with LSU and the DBU reputation but keep an eye on Clemson here.

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