Best Available: Top 10 RBs still on the board
Nearly 75 percent of the Rivals250 in the class of 2019 were committed to college programs entering their senior year. That leaves a very small pool of potential prospects as programs gear up for the Early Signing Period, which starts on Dec. 19. This week we take a position-by-position look at the top prospects still on the board.
BEST AVAILABLE: QBs
MORE: Farrell's Three-Point Stance | Helmholdt's Midwest commitment predictions | Wommack's Five-Star Checkup
The best prospect at the position is still there for the taking, but there are definitely schools that have a better shot than others going into the final months. Sanders traveled up I-75 to Gainesville for the opening weekend of college football to attend Florida’s first game. Alabama is the other school most believe resides in that early top two, but Florida State, Georgia and Texas are also respected as contenders. He has yet to take official visits, but wants a decision before December.
A multi-tooled prospect who is listed as an all-purpose back because of his skills as a receiver out of the backfield, Antony-Richards provided some clarification to his recruiting process on Aug. 12 when he released a final five of Auburn, Florida, Miami, Penn State and Tennessee. The first of his official visits is scheduled to Auburn for this weekend, but the expectations are that Antony-Richards ultimately sticks close to his South Florida home and ends up a Miami Hurricane.
There is a final six of Auburn, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State and Texas, but this recruitment has become more about whether any team get Cain away from Ed Orgeron and LSU? The Bayou Bengals are the current team to beat, but Cain is still doing his homework and that includes official visits. Auburn will receive the first planned official visit the weekend of Oct. 12, and he is eyeing the Nov. 23 weekend to take his official visit to Ohio State. Cain plans to decide by December's Early Signing Period.
Look for a top eight coming from McIntosh in the near future, but there are still a lot of teams being thrown around by the South Florida native as contenders in this recruitment. Oklahoma is one that has solidified its standing as a major player with an official visit scheduled to Norman for the weekend of Sept. 28. Alabama, Georgia, Penn State, Michigan and Oregon are also contenders, but Antony-Richards McIntosh will be difficult to pull away from the local Miami Hurricanes in the end.
The available talent at the running back position is certainly skewed toward the state of Florida, with the top six prospects on this list playing out their prep careers in the Sunshine State. Wright is the second-highest ranked all-purpose back still available and another strong candidate to stay in-state after he took his first official visit of the process to Florida for its Sept. 1 opening weekend. He wants to continue exploring options, though, and plans to schedule more official visits.
Carter took advantage of the early spring official visit period and made his way up to Pittsburgh to check out the Panthers' program. For a moment he considered giving his commitment to head coach Pat Narduzzi, but decided to take his recruitment into the fall when more official visits are expected to be set. Officially there is a top 10 that Carter has held since June, but where he sets his remaining official visits will reveal more about legitimate contenders.
The first non-Florida player on the list, Glass is also one of the more wide-open prospects heading into the fall. A top 10 was released back in the spring and Glass has not publicly altered that group yet, though new offers have come in from LSU and Virginia Tech since. Glass recently listed Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma State as schools recruiting him the hardest, but he is not ready to pare his list further.
The Texas Longhorns were the clear-cut leader for Brown heading into his senior season, but when he will make his decision is not as obvious. The top-ranked running back prospect in a deep state of Georgia class, Brown generated more than 30 scholarship offers from all across the country. Back in June he broke out a top 10 that included the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Florida State and Notre Dame, but whether any of those schools will receive official visits remains to be seen.
Comparing the offer lists of Swen and the other prospects on this list, there is a glaring disparity. Most of these prospects have collected several dozen offers during the course of their recruitments. Swen’s total number of offers sits at four: Arizona State, Kansas, San Diego State and SMU. At one time considered an athlete prospect, Swen has settled into the running back position and could be an interesting late target for schools in need of a ball carrier for 2019.
The biggest running back on this list at 210 pounds, Bangda’s recruitment has been quiet for several months. Officially the number of schools that have offered Bangda sits at 14, but the last of those offers came in May from Georgia Tech. Based on his recent comments and tweets the Yellowjackets appear to be the team to beat for Bangda heading into the fall. But until he schedules official visits his other contenders are anyone’s guess.