Your weekly serving of faculty soccer roster acquisition ideas — recruiting, switch portal, you identify it — from 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins.
Why would anyone go earlier than Travis Hunter in NFL Draft?
It is a chicken… It is a airplane… It is Travis Hunter.
This previous weekend, I handed on the quad-box view from my sofa and drove to UCF to look at the Knights tackle Colorado. I instructed myself I wasn’t certain what I used to be going to put in writing about after the sport, however deep down I knew that was a lie. Travis Hunter was going to be the story as a result of Travis Hunter has at all times been the story. He is Superman.
Again in March of 2021, I acquired an opportunity to scout Hunter for the primary time up shut and in particular person at a 7-on-7 event outdoors Atlanta. I used to be merely in awe. A lot in order that I rapidly filed a narrative from an Uber proclaiming I believed Hunter had the potential to go down as an “all-time prospect” — you possibly can learn that right here. Speak about underselling a participant who would possibly find yourself being chosen No. 1 general within the 2025 NFL Draft. To me he appears like the apparent decide over some cold and warm quarterbacks.
By now, most of America has seen Hunter play, and it does not take a skilled eye to know he is a one-in-a-million expertise who can do issues others merely cannot. Whereas there is no query Hunter is particular, there isn’t any scarcity of debate within the personnel world as as to if his ceiling is highest as a cornerback or a large receiver on Sundays.
This is a thought: It does not matter.
After we ranked Hunter because the No. 1 prospect within the 2022 recruiting cycle, we had the identical questions that many NFL scouting departments have now. Can a fringe playmaker actually be the highest participant within the class? Can his wiry body maintain up when the physicality will get ramped up? Can he actually make an impression on each side of the ball when so few others have?
The reply is proving to be a powerful sure, and that is why whichever group finds itself with the highest decide subsequent April must not overthink it and critically contemplate investing that asset in Hunter. A cornerback has by no means gone No. 1 earlier than and a large receiver hasn’t gone that top since Keyshawn Johnson again in 1996. However Hunter is each positions wrapped up in a single. And in the event you’re any person like, say, the Carolina Panthers or the Jacksonville Jaguars, and in determined want of a franchise reinvention, Hunter may be the superior selection.
Sitting on press row in FBC Mortgage Stadium this previous Saturday, there was no scarcity of feedback made about Hunter. My favourite got here from an area reporter who proclaimed that the primary defender nearly by no means tackles Hunter after watching him juke a would-be tackler and dance his approach up the sphere for a primary down. That remark acquired me considering.
From the leap, I’ve at all times seen Hunter as extra of a cornerback long run due to his potential to learn and react along with his size and velocity, however I am beginning to consider he is simply too good of an offensive weapon to not have on the sphere always along with his very good physique management and top-flight ball abilities.
Deion Sanders, the most effective defensive backs to ever do it, appears to agree. Hunter at the moment leads all Energy 4 gamers in snaps from a large receiver alignment this season (232) and ranks within the prime 5 on the FBS stage in each receiving yards (561) and receiving touchdowns (six).
After all, Hunter is getting it achieved on protection, too. He owns the second-highest protection grade from Professional Soccer Focus amongst qualifying cornerbacks by means of the primary 5 weeks of the season, along with his NFL passer ranking allowed (30.1) rating twenty fifth greatest amongst Energy 4 defenders.
Hunter merely has been elite in two utterly totally different features of the sport, which was additionally the case when he was in highschool. A two-way common at Collins Hill outdoors Atlanta, Hunter completed his prep profession with 232 receptions for 3,963 yards and 48 touchdowns. He added 19 interceptions on protection and did all of that regardless of lacking 5 video games of his senior season as a result of harm.
The information and stats actually paint the image of a generational expertise, however so does the attention take a look at. To steal an statement from my colleague Cooper Petagna on The 105 earlier this week, Hunter is likely one of the few gamers whose movie cut-up really seems like an prolonged spotlight reel. He is simply that good.
Quarterbacks will certainly drive a lot of the dialog within the lead-up to the NFL Draft, however entrance places of work must be lining as much as draft Hunter. In any case, he did it on each side of the ball on Fridays. He is doing it on each side of the ball on Saturdays. Why cannot soccer’s model of Superman do it on each side of the ball on Sundays?
Auburn scores Deuce Knight, however switch QB nonetheless wanted
One of many greatest recruiting sagas in latest reminiscence got here to an finish Wednesday evening when quarterback Deuce Knight introduced he was formally switching his dedication from Notre Dame to Auburn.
On the floor, this seems like a significant win for the parents on The Plains as quarterbacks Payton Thorne and Hank Brown have mixed to throw a Energy 4-worst 9 interceptions this season. The Expertise Tracker is not going to inform anybody to not roll Toomer’s Nook following the addition of Knight, however we’re going to attempt to mood expectations a bit.
Knight is a lottery ticket with a monster payout, however one which’s going to want loads of seasoning earlier than he is able to go. After finishing simply 56.8% of his passes throughout his sophomore and junior seasons, Knight turned in favorable outings this offseason at each the Elite 11 Finals and Additional time’s OT7 Championship.
There was hope that Knight was going to take a significant step ahead as a senior, very similar to Florida’s DJ Lagway did a 12 months in the past in his rise to our No. 1 quarterback rating, however a hamstring harm derailed issues and has pressured Knight to overlook a while. He is anticipated to return to motion sooner or later within the close to future, but it surely’s nonetheless laborious to disregard the truth that he has a shedding report as a starter and is not essentially the most constant along with his ball placement.
The Tigers are greater than seemingly going to present Knight an opportunity to compete for the beginning spot subsequent 12 months as they seek for a solution at quarterback, however it could be silly for Hugh Freeze and his employees to once more go up on the chance so as to add a veteran sign caller by way of the switch portal.
In any case, it wasn’t too way back that each one the hype popping out of Auburn needed to do with the freshman vast receiver class that was headlined by five-star Cam Coleman. However the “Freeze 4” hasn’t had an opportunity to interrupt — or ought to we are saying thaw out — primarily due to the dismal play of Thorne and Brown.
If Freeze needs to make issues work and maintain these receivers pleased, he must safe the companies of a ready-to-play quarterback for 2025, with the thought that Knight and former four-star recruit Walker White, who seems to be taking a much-needed developmental 12 months, can battle it out for the No. 1 gig the next 12 months.
Conventional redshirts may be on life help
When Iowa travels to Ohio State on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS), one of many few true remaining participant growth packages can be on show. Of the 20 anticipated starters for the Hawkeyes signed out of highschool, 16 of them redshirted their first 12 months on campus. That might appear like much more of an anomaly a couple of years from now with participant motion and roster turnover at an all-time excessive.
Over the previous week, almost a dozen gamers have elected to close issues down and choose out of the season in hopes of preserving an additional 12 months of eligibility they intend to make use of elsewhere. Given the present NCAA guidelines, which permit gamers to seem in as much as 4 regular-season video games and nonetheless declare a redshirt, it is laborious to fault student-athletes for benefiting from the system. However do not be stunned if faculties get sensible and begin shying from redshirting their freshmen class.
Give it some thought. The chances of a faculty really receiving that further 12 months of eligibility are getting smaller and smaller. Certain, there are actually some instances the place an incoming recruit simply is not going to be able to go from a bodily standpoint, however the days of attempting to squeeze essentially the most out of a participant may be numbered because the time and assets invested in that particular person may very properly find yourself benefiting one other program.
Once more, not each first-year participant goes to have the ability to contribute instantly, however as seasons progress and accidents mount, it’d make extra sense for a training employees to only break the glass and play the youth.
Keep watch over the true freshmen at your favourite college this weekend. There are most likely a handful of them who’ve hit or are approaching the four-game mark. It wasn’t too way back you may need been campaigning for a redshirt. Now? Play ’em.
Sneaky-Good Commit of the Week
ATH Antavious Richardson to Notre Dame
Notre Dame has addressed loads of totally different wants by means of highschool recruiting below the course of Marcus Freeman, however one space the place the Irish have struggled to discover a true game-wrecker is vast receiver. Antavious Richardson would possibly change that.
One of many quickest prospects within the Peach State for the 2025 cycle, Richardson is a small-town, two-way athlete who reps at quarterback and linebacker. He has restricted, if any, expertise really operating routes and catching the soccer, however he has confirmed to be a dynamic mover who can produce explosive performs on scrambles or designed runs along with his acceleration and agility.
After initially committing to Georgia State after which flipping to USF this previous summer season, a number of School Soccer Playoff contenders have been working to get Richardson on campus. He has gone as little as 4.5 seconds within the 40-yard sprint.
‘Freak’ of the Week
Texas A&M DL commit DJ Sanders
The Top247 for the category of 2025 can be up to date subsequent week, and one prospect who has made a critical case to shoot up the board is Texas A&M line of defense commit DJ Sanders.
A mountain of a human, Sanders seems like a close to carbon copy of Michigan’s Kenneth Grant, who continues to dictate what opponents are capable of do on offense. Whereas the dimensions hasn’t been third-party verified, Sanders is believed to be hovering round 6-foot-3, 330 kilos. That is near what Grant was popping out of highschool, and the 2 have related personal-best efforts within the shot put on the similar stage: 57 ft for Sanders to associate with 57 ft, 3 inches for Grant.
Texas A&M has had no scarcity of difference-makers up entrance lately, however Sanders provides Mike Elko a novel physique sort that may clog the drain within the center.
