And late November is the stretch now. Early Signing Day is three weeks off, and the dead period begins in a little over a week, I believe.
Obviously this subject is uniquely fluid, but as of today my sense is that just how good the class will be is going to depend on about five decisions. Having said that, it's not as if we're battling Buffalo and Charlotte for the worst ranking in college football. Rivals has us #1 in the AAC; 247 puts us at #4, behind USF, which has two more commits. And neither site is showing four-star DE Bryan Jones, who picked UH over Texas, USC, and Oklahoma, and will resign. So we're going to bring in a good group.
Anyway, IMO, here's what will determine whether we have a good class or hit a homerun in three weeks.
1. We have to fill some holes in the depth chart through the junior college ranks and possibly grad transfers, but it's difficult to say how much, if any, room there will be for the latter. But we are recruiting junior college players at offensive tackle, inside linebacker, and safety. Getting two good ones at those first two positions, especially the second, is essential.
2. We have a chance to sign two of the finest WR/athletes in the region in Lawrence Keys and Julon Williams. Keys is just outside ESPN's National Top 100. Williams made the AAS Fab 55. Those two could transform the WR position for us. We haven't seen that kind of quickness since Edwards and Carrier. I think the odds of us getting one are good and the chances of signing both roughly 50-50. Keys could go most anywhere but has a cousin here and will take his one official to UH on our biggest recruiting weekend. Williams, who is committed to UH, has some nice offers--TCU, OK State, etc.--but bigger fish are swimming around, checking him out.
3. We need to hold the ones we have, including Donovan Mutin, arguably the best ILB in the Houston area. The cream of the crop is guys like RB Kelan Walker, Mutin, QB Chance Amie, TE Cristian Trahan (impressive prospect from LA), DE Tahj Boyd, and OLB Delaken Goodson. But some of the other commits could turn out to be really good players. WR Peyton Sawyer, for example, isn't rated that highly, yet he's very fast and good enough to garner offers from Arizona State and Texas Tech. I especially like WR Jakori Morgan, DE Logan Hall, CB Zaire Taylor, OG Max Banes, OT Kam Lewis, DL Willie Smith, and LB Zamar Kirven. All except Kirven (he plays at a tiny school) are three-star recruits on one of the two sites, so it's not as if they're "hidden gems" like Payton Turner apparently was. But I do think they may have been overlooked a bit a la Howard Wilson, Steve Taylor, Jerard Carter, Garrett Davis, etc. We'll know in a few years.
Obviously this subject is uniquely fluid, but as of today my sense is that just how good the class will be is going to depend on about five decisions. Having said that, it's not as if we're battling Buffalo and Charlotte for the worst ranking in college football. Rivals has us #1 in the AAC; 247 puts us at #4, behind USF, which has two more commits. And neither site is showing four-star DE Bryan Jones, who picked UH over Texas, USC, and Oklahoma, and will resign. So we're going to bring in a good group.
Anyway, IMO, here's what will determine whether we have a good class or hit a homerun in three weeks.
1. We have to fill some holes in the depth chart through the junior college ranks and possibly grad transfers, but it's difficult to say how much, if any, room there will be for the latter. But we are recruiting junior college players at offensive tackle, inside linebacker, and safety. Getting two good ones at those first two positions, especially the second, is essential.
2. We have a chance to sign two of the finest WR/athletes in the region in Lawrence Keys and Julon Williams. Keys is just outside ESPN's National Top 100. Williams made the AAS Fab 55. Those two could transform the WR position for us. We haven't seen that kind of quickness since Edwards and Carrier. I think the odds of us getting one are good and the chances of signing both roughly 50-50. Keys could go most anywhere but has a cousin here and will take his one official to UH on our biggest recruiting weekend. Williams, who is committed to UH, has some nice offers--TCU, OK State, etc.--but bigger fish are swimming around, checking him out.
3. We need to hold the ones we have, including Donovan Mutin, arguably the best ILB in the Houston area. The cream of the crop is guys like RB Kelan Walker, Mutin, QB Chance Amie, TE Cristian Trahan (impressive prospect from LA), DE Tahj Boyd, and OLB Delaken Goodson. But some of the other commits could turn out to be really good players. WR Peyton Sawyer, for example, isn't rated that highly, yet he's very fast and good enough to garner offers from Arizona State and Texas Tech. I especially like WR Jakori Morgan, DE Logan Hall, CB Zaire Taylor, OG Max Banes, OT Kam Lewis, DL Willie Smith, and LB Zamar Kirven. All except Kirven (he plays at a tiny school) are three-star recruits on one of the two sites, so it's not as if they're "hidden gems" like Payton Turner apparently was. But I do think they may have been overlooked a bit a la Howard Wilson, Steve Taylor, Jerard Carter, Garrett Davis, etc. We'll know in a few years.
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