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

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FOX HAS EVERYONE GUESSING

Andre Fox likes to keep to himself. He does not share much about his recruitment and he quietly took an official visit to Arizona on Sept. 2. The Wildcats are in this, and a lot of that has to do with Troy Young, a teammate of Fox’ last year at Mobile (Ala.) Mobile Christian. Can the Wildcats land Fox too? Despite the visit, it still looks unlikely at this time, but you never really know with Fox.

Alabama, Auburn and LSU still look to be the main competitors here. He is not going to give anything away, and when talking to friends of his, and some close to him, none really had an idea of which school he was leaning towards at this time. He visited all three schools over the summer and will see them again this season.

Stanford is hanging around as well and he plans to take an official visit out there. Fox does plan to put his top schools in a numeric order down the road, but he is not there yet. He did say LSU is recruiting him the hardest right now and Ed Orgeron is the head coach showing him the most attention. A decision is likely to happen in December or January.

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The first College Football Playoff ranking won’t get released for about two months, but teams are already jockeying for position in the AP Top 25 Poll. The newest version of the poll was just released, so here is a look at the top remaining targets for the four teams in the best position to make the College Football Playoff at this early juncture.

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Justyn Ross

Alabama is trying desperately to keep Ross, an in-state five-star receiver, from leaving the state and heading to Clemson. The Crimson Tide and Tigers have made Ross at top priority, so this one will be close heading down to decision time.

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Five-star Micah Parsons just finished up his official visit to Ohio State and he had a great time despite the Buckeyes loss to Oklahoma. The Harrisburg, Pa. star defensive end explained that this visit sets the standard for the rest of his official visits.

IN HIS OWN WORDS...

"I got there on Friday and they had everything laid out for me," Parsons said. "They treated us really good. They had it all.

"The first night I hung out with the coaches," he said. "The second day I did everything they usually go through. I was there for warm-ups, the pregame, and understood what it’s like for them on game day.

"Meeting all the guys on College Game Day was a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Parsons. "It was probably one of the best visits I’ve on been on. It made my mom and my dad happy. The coaching staff let me know where they want me to be at and showed me the goals and standards they have for me. It really set the tone for my official visits.

"Being there for the whole day, you see the good, the bad, and how much work they put in day in and day out," he said. "For unofficial visits you just see the game and the aftermath of all the work they put in. This visit really showed their determination, the meetings, and the time they put in.

"The game itself showed me that Baker Mayfield
is the real deal and their (Oklahoma's) offensive line is huge," Parsons said. "The defensive line is definitely the best part of Ohio State’s defense. They have a young team everywhere else but the defensive line is the only veteran group. People want to talk about the defensive backs but it’s hard to replace three first-rounders.

"The coaches are telling me that I could be like Baron Browning and play defensive end and linebacker or I could be like Nick Bosa and come in for a lot of pass rushing," he said. "It all depends. The played a 5-3 yesterday and they had one person standing up and dropping in some packages. I feel like I could contribute a lot to that program.

"They were down about the loss but it helped me see what kind of team they are when things don’t go their way," said Parsons. "Right before I left they were getting ready to go back to work lifting and practicing. It just shows what type of team they are and how they handle high expectations.

"The coaches didn’t seem that worried at all," he said. "They have nine more games to worry about. Coach Urban Meyer is a leader. He may be worried about the outcome but he keeps leading his team. They can still win the conference.

"I’m not sure if I’ll take an official visit this weekend," Parsons said. "I’m definitely gong to be traveling a lot for my official visits. It’s going to come down to who is playing who because I want to see some good games. I will still be at Nebraska for their game against Wisconsin.

"I’m definitely keeping an eye on Florida," he said. "I need to look at their schedule with my dad.

"I was going to try to attend the Florida State and Miami game but now I don’t know because of the hurricane," said Parsons. "I don’t know about going down to that way right now.

"I think I’m going to put a top four out in the next week or so," he said. "I’m not sure of all the teams yet."

RIVALS' REACTION

The Buckeyes still look like the favorite to land Parsons, an early enrollee, despite the disappointing loss to Oklahoma. It seemed like Parsons got a lot out of seeing how the team handled themselves and seeing everything that happens behind the scenes. Ohio State should be a lock to make Parsons' top four. Nebraska will likely make the top four as well. The other two schools are a bit unknown. Florida, Florida State, Georgia, USC, and a few others have been mentioned by Parsons at different times.

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Has Justyn Ross set a commitment date?

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