At one point in the process, it looked like Lincoln Riley was going to do it again. And by again, we mean scoring a commitment from the Top247’s No. 1 quarterback in the country, like he did with his current starter Spencer Rattler and in 2021 with Caleb Williams.
The passer we’re talking about this time is Quinn Ewers, the Southlake (Texas) Carroll five-star, and original recruiting domino at the position in the 2022 cycle.
Ewers took an early visit to Norman and from the moment he stepped on campus that day he felt like he was walking around his future home. He and Riley found a whiteboard and were drawing up plays and talking X’s and O’s and the chemistry was phenomenal.
The blue-chipper, who’s been hailed as the best QB prospect since Trevor Lawrence, left thinking he potentially found the one.
But time goes on and tastes change. Ewers ultimately committed to Texas in August but the trajectory of Tom Herman’s program wasn’t what he thought, leading to his decommitment in October and ultimate pledge to Ohio State.
The Buckeyes were ultimately the runner-up for Ewers and never relented after he originally committed to the Longhorns. In fact Ryan Day, lead recruiter Corey Dennis & Co. turned it up for Ewers and ultimately won his word. Since Steve Sarkisian was hired in Austin, Day and his staff have come even harder, continuing to communicate with Ewers at a pace like he isn’t committed at all.
In the end, Ewers committed to Ohio State over Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and USC, setting off a cascading wave dominoes:
- Make no mistake: Sarkisian is still coming after Ewers with everything he’s got, contacting the kid and his family and also his coaches at Carroll (the Longhorns are still recruiting local passer Cade Klubnik of Austin Westlake as well). But over the weekend, Texas secured a pledge from another 247Sports Composite five-star Maalik Murphy, the country’s No. 2 pro-style passer and No. 30 prospect overall. UCLA was the runner-up for Murphy and at this point is the only signal-caller Chip Kelly and his staff had offered.
- Texas A&M ended up casting a big net at quarterback but ultimately got the No. 2 guy in the state in Conner Weigman, who chose to play in College Station over the Longhorns, Sooners and several others.
- Oklahoma went to the transfer portal for its quarterback, landing former Penn State player Micah Bowens, the nation’s No. 16 dual-threat player in the 2020 class. Riley is not expected to take a high school quarterback this cycle with his only other offers having gone out to Weigman and Ty Simpson, who we’ll touch on soon. The Sooners are instead all-in on elite 2023 Malachi Nelson moving forward.
- USC ultimately found their guy in September in Queen Creek (Ariz.) High’s Devin Brown. They are done and like the Sooners have turned their attention all the way to Nelson in 2023, who also happens to be the only quarterback Day and the Buckeyes have offered a full-ride to.
EWERS ISN'T THE ONLY 5-STAR QB TO SHUFFLE THE DECK
I can't find any precedent where the top 2 QBs in a recruiting class decommitted from their original destination. Gunner Stockton, the top-ranked dual-threat quarterback out of Tiger (Ga.) Rabun County who gave South Carolina an early verbal back in August. Stockton had some particularly strong relationships in Columbia, particularly with then-offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and Connor Shaw, but once head coach Will Muschamp was fired during the season ultimately sending Bobo to Auburn in the same role, he reopened the recruiting process in January.
While Auburn appeared to have momentum because of the Bobo hiring on the The Plains, there was too much doubt regarding the program and their new staff moving forward and Stockton found his way to Georgia, committing to the Bulldogs on Jan. 28.
When the Auburn staff saw the writing on the wall with Stockton, they offered another Peach State standout in Holden Geriner on Jan. 26 and he didn’t take long to take Bryan Harsin up on the opportunity, committing on Feb. 1.
South Carolina has turned its attention to the likes of Tanner Bailey, Drew Allar and Tayven Jackson.
THE NEXT BIG DOMINO FALLING SHORTLY
With four of the top-five ranked quarterbacks already committed, the next big domino is Ty Simpson
We have Ewers to Ohio State, Stockton to Georgia, Murphy to Texas and Walker Howard staying home to play for LSU. Next up to make a move is Simpson, the No. 5 overall quarterback who has a Feb. 26 commitment date locked in.
While Clemson is the 247Sports Crystal Ball favorite, Alabama is very much in this. The other two finalists are Ole Miss and Tennessee.
If Clemson loses on the Simpson sweepstakes, they’ll continue their pursuit of Braden Davis (No. 152 overall) and perhaps make a move on Klubnik.
Alabama has several offers out at the position but like Clemson, there is no doubt Simpson is the top target.
There was a time where Tennessee looked to be in great position for Simpson but following the coaching change in Knoxville, it set the Vols back some. Head coach Josh Huepel and his new staff are doing all they can to keep the coveted in-state player home but if they can’t, look for them to go all in on a guy like fellow All-American Sam Horn (who likes Missouri quite a bit right now).
ANOTHER QB COMES OFF THE BOARD SOON
Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy quarterback and California native AJ Duffy will announce his college decision in March. Arizona State is trending on the 247Sports Crystal Ball with his other finalists being Florida State, Michigan State, Penn State and Oregon. The Seminoles already have a quarterback commit in Nicco Marchiol but they’d certainly take two if the other was Duffy.
"cycle" - Google News
February 19, 2021 at 12:23AM
https://ift.tt/2ZtFAEH
The 2022 recruiting cycle is seeing QB dominos fall harder than ever before - 247Sports
"cycle" - Google News
https://ift.tt/32MWqxP
https://ift.tt/3b0YXrX
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "The 2022 recruiting cycle is seeing QB dominos fall harder than ever before - 247Sports"
Post a Comment