Early Signing Period: Five prospects who could flip
The first day of the Early Signing Period is Wednesday and major recruits have been committing, decommitting or flipping their decisions at a high rate over the last week and a half.
Here are five players that are on "flip watch" with less than a week until signing day.
RECRUITING UPDATES: Five-star Xavier Nwankpa chooses Iowa | Four-star LB Raylen Wilson gives pledge to Michigan
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RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK
Saturday: Who should be awarded fifth star?
Sunday: Who should be No. 1?
Monday: Five-Star Countdown | Meet the new five-stars
Tuesday: New Rivals250 revealed | Gorney's thoughts | Who will we regret dropping? | 10 biggest movers
Wednesday: Offensive position rankings | Recruiting updates on all uncommitted offensive players in Rivals250 | Five schools that received boost from new rankings | QB Rankings Spotlight | RB Rankings Spotlight | WR/TE Rankings Spotlight | OL Rankings Spotlight
Thursday: Defensive position rankings | Recruiting updates on all uncommitted defensive players in Rivals250 | DL Rankings Spotlight | LB Rankings Spotlight | DB Rankings Spotlight | ATH Rankings Spotlight
Friday: State rankings
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The No. 2 player in the Rivals250 may not be as solidly committed as Texas A&M fans would hope. Nolen, a Tennessee native, continues to take visits elsewhere, namely to Tennessee. The Vols hosted the five-star defensive tackle again this past weekend, but it was an official visit this time.
Nolen's recruitment has been a roller coaster and his abrupt commitment to Texas A&M in early November caught some by surprise, even though the Aggies had been the rumored leader. Tennessee has ground to make up, but the Vols are closing the gap.
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A riser in the latest rankings update, Goodwin has not been shy about taking his visits. The massive offensive tackle committed to Kentucky in April but has taken official visits to Alabama, Florida State, Michigan and Texas A&M. He will take his last one to Michigan State this weekend.
Goodwin has the potential to start the day he steps foot on his future campus, and teams are working hard to try to flip him. Coaches from all the schools mentioned here have been or are scheduled to visit him this week prior to his final official visit.
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A longtime Notre Dame commit, Williams was caught by surprise when Brian Kelly left the Fighting Irish for LSU. Notre Dame wants to hold onto the No. 45 prospect in the Rivals250, but USC has become a serious threat. The opportunity to stay close to home and play in Lincoln Riley's high-powered offense is very appealing to Williams, so the Trojans could be in a great spot.
Williams hasn't tipped his hand much, but keep an eye on the Southern California star as signing day gets closer.
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With the way West has been so publicly taking visits while still committed to Georgia, it seems very likely that he ends up flipping. The Rivals100 defensive tackle has been committed to the Bulldogs for more than a year, but Florida State, Auburn or Tennessee could end up flipping him.
The Noles have hosted West multiple times, and he was in Tallahassee this past weekend for an official visit. West has also been to Auburn a few times, but he canceled his official visit that was supposed to start this week.
Tennessee will have West on campus for an official visit this weekend, and the Vols are hoping to convince him to sign with them.
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The coaching change at Virginia Tech caused a lot of Hokie commits to look around, including Givens, the highest-ranked Virginia Tech commit. North Carolina hosted Givens for a visit, and the Tar Heels appear to have some momentum. He is very close with five-star UNC commit Zach Rice, and the two have talked about playing together at the next level.
Givens has been committed to Virginia Tech since July, due in large part to the efforts of Vance Vice, the offensive line coach under former head coach Justin Fuente.