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Breaking down the SEC’s best recruiting classes thus far
By Keith Farner
Published:
With just over a week before National Signing Day, LSU’s recruiting class is rounding into being the consensus No. 1 in America. Three of the four major recruiting services rank the Tigers No. 1 after they recently secured five-star DT Rashard Lawrence and four-star OL Willie Allen to give Les Miles’ program 18 four- or five-star recruits, according to 247Sports. Five of the 22 players in the class have already signed their letter of intent.
LSU has done it by locking down the borders for six of Louisiana’s top 10 prospects as ranked by The Times-Picayune’s Nifty 50 rankings. The Tigers aren’t finished yet. But if they land on top, it would end Alabama’s five-year grip on the No. 1 position. OT Jonah Williams of Folsom, Calif., leads the Crimson Tide’s class.
As strong as the LSU class is collectively, Ole Miss has picked up verbal commitments from two of the top four players nationally in OT Gregory Little and QB Shea Patterson. Patterson is a five-star recruit, who has one of the more personal recruiting stories as his brother, Sean, is associate director of recruiting operations at Ole Miss. The Rebels, LSU and Florida easily lead the top SEC teams in number of commits, but the likes of Alabama and Georgia are hoping their work on the top uncommitted prospects pays off next week.
Georgia, though, has its share of top-ranked talent in QB Jacob Eason and TE Isaac Nauta, while they Bulldogs remain in the mix for top in-state prospects DT Derrick Brown and ATH Mecole Hardman, Jr.
As it stands, 14 of the top 50 and 29 of the top 100, according to 247Sports, are committed to SEC schools, and many of the top uncommitted players have SEC schools among their finalists.
Here are the SEC’s best 2016 recruiting classes to date, including each school’s top 100 commitments as of Monday night.
The following ranks are according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
1. LSU: Hard commits — 22; Five-stars — 1; Four-stars — 17; Top 100 players — 6.
| NAT RANK | Player | HS (CITY, STATE) | STAR | POS | HT/WT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Saivion Smith | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) | 4 | CB | 6-1 175 |
| 63 | Michael Divinity | John Ehret (Marrero, La.) | 4 | OLB | 6-2 218 |
| 23 | Rashard Lawrence | Neville (Monroe, La.) | 5 | DT | 6-3 305 |
| 55 | Eric Monroe | North Shore (Houston, Texas) | 4 | S | 6-0 180 |
| 66 | Edwin Alexander | St. Thomas Aquinas (Hammond, La.) | 4 | DT | 6-2 310 |
| 75 | Erick Fowler | Manor (Manor, Texas) | 4 | OLB | 6-1 226 |
2. Ole Miss: Hard commits — 22; Five-stars — 3; Four-stars — 10; Top 100 players — 3.
| NAT RANK | Player | HS (CITY, STATE) | STAR | POS | HT/WT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Shea Patterson | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) | 5 | QB | 6-1.5 192 |
| 24 | Benito Jones | Wayne County (Waynesboro, Miss.) | 5 | DT | 6-2 285 |
| 3 | Gregory Little | Allen (Allen, Texas | 5 | OT | 6-5.5 305 |
3. Florida: Hard commits — 26; Five-stars — 0; Four-stars — 9; Top 100 players — 4
| NAT RANK | Player | HS (CITY, STATE) | STAR | POS | HT/WT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | Chauncey Gardner | Cocoa (Cocoa, Fla.) | 4 | CB | 6-0 194 |
| 54 | Feleipe Franks | Wakulla (Crawfordville, Fla.) | 4 | QB | 6-5.5 210 |
| 26 | Antonneous Clayton | Dooly County (Vienna, Ga.) | 4 | DE | 6-3 218 |
| 67 | Shavar Manuel | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) | 4 | DT | 6-4 290 |
4. Alabama: Hard commits — 17; Five-stars — 1; Four-stars — 9; Top 100 players — 4
| NAT RANK | Player | HS (CITY, STATE) | STAR | POS | HT/WT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Jonah Williams | Folsom (Folsom, Calif.) | 5 | OT | 6-5 296 |
| 35 | B.J. Emmons | Freedom (Morgantown, N.C.) | 4 | RB | 5-10 232 |
| 83 | Raekwon Davis | Meridian (Meridian, Miss.) | 4 | DT | 6-6.5 327 |
| 93 | Kendell Jones | Shoemaker (Killeen, Texas) | 4 | DT | 6-5 375 |
5. Georgia: Hard commits — 15; Five-stars — 2; Four-stars — 9; Top 100 players — 4
| NAT RANK | Player | HS (CITY, STATE) | STAR | POS | HT/WT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Jacob Eason | Lake Stevens Sr. (Lake Stevens, Wash.) | 5 | QB | 6-5.5 208 |
| 12 | Isaac Nauta | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) | 5 | TE | 6-3.25 244 |
| 68 | Julian Rochester | McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) | 4 | DT | 6-5 321 |
| 91 | Ben Cleveland | Stephens County (Toccoa, Ga.) | 4 | OT | 6-6 319 |
6. Auburn: Hard commits — 17; Five-stars — 0; Four-stars — 9; Top 100 players — 3
| NAT RANK | Player | HS (CITY, STATE) | STAR | POS | HT/WT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Marlon Davidson | Greenville (Greenville, Ala.) | 4 | DE | 6-4 260 |
| 49 | Antwuan Jackson | Cedar Grove (Ellenwood, Ga.) | 4 | DT | 6-2.25 305 |
| 72 | Kyle Davis | Archer (Lawrenceville, Ga.) | 4 | WR | 6-1.5 218 |
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
