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There is no shortage of outstanding prospects at the ever-crucial offensive tackle position currently committed to Southeastern Conference football programs for the 2016 cycle.
Here are the top five, led by the nation’s No. 1 high school prospect at that position and the No. 1 junior college prospect at that position.
Alabama, which has the top-ranked class in the conference, has two tackles on this list.
1- Greg Little, Ole Miss
Like Laremy Tunsil, Cam Robinson and Martez Ivey before him, Little is this recruiting cycle’s “franchise” type offensive tackle prospect and like Tunsil before him, he has committed to Ole Miss. The 6-foot-5.5, 305-pounder from Allen (Texas) High has outstanding athleticism for his size, great feat and a college-ready frame. It would be no surprise to see him in the two-deep right away once he gets to Oxford. From a recruiting perception standpoint, he’s another huge out-of-state commitment for Hugh Freeze and his staff. This one is particularly impressive considering he was once committed to in-state Texas A&M and that Alabama was pushing hard for his services.
2- Jonah Williams, Alabama
Williams is an ultra-talented offensive tackle prospect. At 6-foot-5, 296 pounds with plus plus athleticism and feed, it’s easy to see why nearly every program in the country wanted the Folsom, Calif., product. Offensive line coach Mario Cristobal and the Crimson Tide landed him over a host of additional offers and he’s expected to fit right in and develop at a high level in rather quick fashion. Though Williams is ranked as the No. 3 offensive tackle in the 2016 cycle per 247Sports Composite rankings, he’s a bit under-the-radar in terms of nationally perception. Expect that to change quickly during his career in Tuscaloosa.
3- Charles Baldwin, Alabama
It’s easy to say that it just isn’t fair that Alabama, which recruits at a high level on the offensive line nearly every cycle, landed Baldwin, from ASA College in Brooklyn, N.Y., as the 6-foot-5, 315-pound Connecticut native is the nation’s top junior college offensive tackle this recruiting cycle. The rich get richer here, so to speak. The bottom line, though, is that Baldwin is exceptionally talented and also is a versatile enough prospect to where you could realistically see him making a push up the two-deep at a number of positions starting this spring.
4- Ben Cleveland, Georgia
The thing most people miss about the massive 6-foot-7, 322-pound Cleveland is that he’s a great athlete for his size and like most talented offensive line prospects, his best days of football are ahead of him. From Stephens County in Toccoa, Ga., (in northeast Georgia near the South Carolina border), Cleveland has been a known prospect in the Peach State since his freshman season and is a great building block from new UGA head coach Kirby Smart and new offensive line coach Sam Pittman.
5- Landon Young, Kentucky
The first time I scouted Young in person was at a VTO Sports Combine in Cincinnati, Ohio when he was a rising sophomore. While he worked out as a defensive end that day, it was obviously that the 6-foot-7, 270-pounder had unlimited upside as an offensive tackle. It wasn’t too terribly long after that that hometown Kentucky (he’s from Lafayette High in Lexington) earned his commitment. Young, a U.S. Army All-American, is part of a more-than-solid group of offensive linemen in the Wildcats’ 2016 class. If he continues to develop, he has the makings of an All-SEC type performer during his career at UK.
Recruiting writer for Saturday Down South
