Don James: National Signing Day predictions and notes

College Football’s Christmas, I mean National Signing Day period is less than 24 hours away and us college football fans couldn’t be more excited. Feb, 7th 2018 will be an interesting day to say the least as more than 70 percent of incoming freshman have already signed their letter of intent with the new early signing period (December 20th-22nd).

Most power-five programs have two-thirds of their classes signed already but are looking to seal the deal tomorrow and sure up their rosters for the next three to five years. Some of the top players left are superstars so there will be a lot to look forward to for your favorite team come Wednesday. Top prospects from 2018 listed below:

#1 CB Patrick Surtain Jr

#6 OT Patrick Petit-Frere

#4 QB Tanner McKee

#3 CB Tyson Campbell

#6 CB Olaijah Griffin

#7 CB Issac Stuart-Taylor

#2 WR Justyn Ross

#7 WR JaMarr Chase

#5 LB Solomon Tuliaupupu

Prediction Time

• Georgia finishes with the best recruiting class of the decade:
  We will start with my top five predictions for National Signing Day 2018. That is the Georgia Bulldogs will not only finish first this year but have an all-time class and best of the decade. Ohio St will have something to say about this of course as they boast the No. 2 overall class this season but heading into Wednesday Georgia has seven five-star commitments and 13 of the top 100.
• Tanner McKee picks Stanford: Four-star Corona-Centennial (Calif.) quarterback Tanner McKee is rated the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the class according to 247Sports but the signal caller from Cali will delay his career while completing a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The 6’6 220, McKee will pick Stanford because of the stability and system that David Shaw runs and won’t play until 2020 which is fine because of Stanford’s loaded depth chart at QB including: starter K.J Costell (Soph), Mills (rFr), Chryst (rSr) and Jack West (FR).
• Matt Rhule’s the day for Baylor: A team that finished 1-1 has a real chance to finish with a top-25 class. Yes! I know that’s insane when you think about it but the Texas power has a complete staff from top to bottom and Rhule has done a great job keeping kids in state. The Bears main target to watch tomorrow is 4 newly rate 4-star WR/ATH Tommy Bush of Schertz, Texas.
• Willie Taggart and Florida State finish strong: The Noles’ are pushing for a top 20 class after being ranked outside of the top 50 during the off-season. This current class includes seven of the top 100 in the nation featuring prospects like son of former New England Patriots great #8 CB Asante Samuel Jr and #1 FS Jaiden Woodbey of St John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif).
• Michigan losses Otis Reese: The Georgia Bulldogs gain another homegrown superstar in Lee County GA outside linebacker Otis Reese. Reese is from the same small town that Buster Posey and Luke Bryan grew up in and I have a feeling he will be the next star in line. Reese is the 72nd overall ranked player in the 2018 class.

 

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