Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of physics states that for every action, there is an equal or opposite reaction. And while Newton wasn’t known for his love of football recruiting, his principals can easily be applied to reaction a major commit can have on the recruiting landscape.
On Friday night, Auburn landed its second tight end commitment of the 2019 class when three-star Greenwood, S.C. prospect Luke Deal pledged to the Tigers. While the move didn’t catch the eye of many fan bases, today we examine which programs could feel the reverberations of Deal’s decision in the weeks and months to come.
Clemson
The Tigers were the in-state option and for most of the time seemed like the easy choice. One of the nation’s top programs and in need of a tight end, the Tigers checked most boxes for Deal. But in the end, Clemson ended up coming up empty-handed and now must look elsewhere for a tight end in the class. Early indications are that the Tigers might turn to Rivals250 prospect Keon Zipperer, a talented prospect who might translate as more of an H-back at the next level as opposed to a traditional tight end like Deal. The Tigers also made the cut for the nation’s No. 1 tight end Hudson Henry, who announced his top five on Friday night.
Michigan
The Wolverines hosted Deal for an official visit and hoped to pull an upset on Friday when Deal announced his decision. The news wasn’t a shock and Michigan already began making contingency plans earlier this month when it offered three-star wide receiver Erick All as a tight end. All has seen his recruitment take off recently and the Wolverines now jump into the mix with other programs such as Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Maryland and others. Michigan also has offers out to seven other uncommitted tight ends, including four-stars Ethan Rae and Jahleel Billingsley.
Notre Dame
The Irish were all in on Deal in terms of their preference at the tight end position and there were even some rumblings this week that he would land in South Bend. But the Irish missed on their man and now have to decide whether or not to take a tight end at all in the 2019 class. The bad news came in double doses on Friday as the Irish also failed to make the cut for Henry, another prospect thought to be high on the school’s board. Much like the Wolverines, Notre Dame extended an offer to All as a tight end this week and are also involved with Rae and three-star uncommitted California tight end Jude Wolfe.
N.C. State
The Wolfpack were Deal’s first major offer and were a player for most of his recruitment before getting passed down the stretch. Now with Deal officially out of the conversation, the staff will likely move on to three-star Virginia prospect Kyle Bilodeau, who earned an offer after camping at the school last summer. Bilodeau has been high on the Wolfpack for a while but also added an offer from Pitt this spring and has spoken highly of the Panthers. But of all the schools on this list, it seems as if N.C. State has the most secure backup plan, especially with Bilodeau not expected to drag out his decision into the fall.
Pittsburgh
The Panthers weren’t a major player for Deal but as usual the domino effect will have an impact on their board. Had Deal ended up at N.C. State, it would have basically been Pitt’s race to lose when it came to Bilodeau. Of course, all of Pitt’s eggs weren’t in the Bilodeau basket as it has also been recruiting All and even hosted him for a visit last month. The Panthers also have offers out to six other uncommitted tight ends so they will have other options if the competition for All and Bilodeau doesn’t fall their way.
