East Spotlight: Four tough rankings questions
Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Adam Friedman looks at four burning questions in the East Region ahead of the next rankings update for the 2024 recruiting cycle.
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1. How will the quarterback rankings shake out?
This might be the toughest question of any heading into the rankings meetings. Michigan commit Jadyn Davis is currently the top-ranked quarterback in the East region. Oregon commit Michael van Buren, Georgia commit Ryan Puglisi and South Carolina commit Dante Reno represent the rest of the four-star quarterbacks in the East region.
This group will get shuffled around but who lands on top is still up in the air. Don't be surprised if one or two other signal callers join the four-star club. Texas A&M commit Miles O'Neill has already been identified as stock up candidate and Rutgers commit AJ Surace has been impressive this season. They could really shake things up if they're elevated to four-stars.
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2. What will the offensive tackle shuffle look like?
There are a lot of highly-rated offensive tackles in the East region and order will see some changes in the postseason rankings update. Right now South Carolina commit Kam Pringle leads the group followed by Notre Dame commit Guerby Lambert, South Carolina commit Josiah Thompson and Penn State commit Cooper Cousins. Other four-stars include Wisconsin commit Kevin Heywood, Arkansas commit Kai Greer, LSU commit Ethan Calloway and Maryland commit Ryan Howerton.
Each of these prospects has shown some level of improvement this season so sifting through the senior film will help provide clarity when it comes to their order in the upcoming rankings refresh.
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3. Is there another five-star?
South Carolina commit Dylan Stewart is the only five-star in the East region right now but could there be any others that join him? When a prospect is rated as a five-star, it means he's expected to be a first-round draft pick so position value at the NFL level plays a huge role in this discussion.
Quarterbacks, offensive linemen and defensive linemen are the premium positions in terms of NFL Draft value so, naturally, much of the conversation about five-star prospects centers on this positions.
There are plenty of talented quarterbacks in the region but none of them have played their way into the five-star conversation. Some of the offensive linemen listed above will be discussed. Defensive lineman Amaris Williams is one of a handful of defensive linemen in the conversation.
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4. Where does Quinton Martin fit into the overall running back rankings?
Penn State running back commit Quinton Martin has been one of the highest-ranked prospects in this class since the rankings were originally released but there is going to be some movement among the top running backs in the Rivals250.
Martin is the fourth-ranked running back in the nation, after Florida State commit Kameron Davis, Michigan commit Jordan Marshall and Oklahoma commit Taylor Tatum. Martin is bigger and is averaging more yards per carry this season than each of them.
Stats don't tell the whole story and Martin hasn't been tested like other top-ranked running backs in this class but his skill set and production could help keep him near to the top of the running back rankings.