Fact or Fiction: Florida fizzled most down stretch with 2021 class
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1) Florida fizzled down the stretch the most for 2021.
Farrell’s take: FACT. It’s a tough call between Florida and Oklahoma for me but with their home-state advantage I feel that the Gators should have done more. They whiffed down the stretch on numerous key players and losing Terrion Arnold (I don’t buy that he was dropped) was the cherry on the top. Yes Oklahoma missed on some huge names but many were out of state.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Florida had a higher-ranked recruiting class than Oklahoma and despite finishing with an impressive three five-stars, it could have been wildly better for the Sooners down the stretch. Oklahoma missed out on five-stars Emeka Egbuka, Bryce Foster, Tristan Leigh and Camar Wheaton. For a while, it didn’t feel like a stretch that Foster, Leigh and Wheaton would end up in the class. To win national championships, closing down the stretch is huge and the Sooners didn’t get it done in 2021, although the class is still very strong.
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2) No one outside Alabama and LSU has a chance for Walter Nolen.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. The Crimson Tide and Tigers will likely be finalists as that is the scenario for many elite defensive tackles in the Southeast. But Ohio State, Clemson and others are serious contenders here. Larry Johnson has done an amazing job with linemen at Ohio State and Nolen has noticed that. Clemson put two defensive tackles in round one a few years ago. I can see Nolen choosing from these four in the end but not just Alabama and LSU.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Ohio State is going to be a major contender for Nolen and Clemson will as well plus I definitely would not count out Tennessee especially if he stays at Cordova (Tenn.) St. Benedict where former Vols linebacker Marlon Walls is his coach there. If Nolen hits it off with new Tennessee coach Josh Heupel and his staff then the Vols will squarely be in his recruitment. I get the sense LSU is very high, Alabama is going to be there because it’s Alabama and Ohio State is really intriguing. So it’s definitely not just the two SEC powers.
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3) Greg Rousseau is the top DE for the NFL Draft.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Michigan rush end Kwity Paye is making some serious noise heading into pro days and played this past season while Rousseau opted out so the latter will need to remind everyone how good he is and he will. I don’t see a top-five rush end pick in this draft but both of these guys will be gone by pick 15.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. I love Rousseau and he could easily be the pick here but I’m also concerned that he basically only played one season of college football. That one year was phenomenal as he had 54 tackles and 15.5 sacks but the Miami defensive end did not show that dominance over years with the Hurricanes. He does have the length, athleticism and playmaking ability off the edge to be special though. I’ll stick with Paye.
