Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney and national recruiting analyst Adam Friedman along with Blayne Gilmer and Jed May from UGASports.com tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. Lebbeus Overton will play his college football in the SEC at either Georgia or Texas A&M.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Definitely? An upcoming visit to Oregon could make things especially interesting especially if first-year coach Dan Lanning can really sell his vision for the program. They know each other from Lanning’s days at Georgia, and Lebbeus Overton playing with his brother is really important so that’s another factor to consider. It’s likely Overton ends up in the SEC but if he was so sold on that he could have already made that decision. He hasn’t. So it opens up the possibility others could sneak in here.
Gilmer’s take: FACT. Texas A&M and Georgia have been the most consistent in their pursuit of Overton. A&M seems to have built the strongest rapport overall. Official visits will be important. Georgia should never be counted out because of how well it does with on-campus recruiting. However, it certainly seems like the Aggies are the team to beat.
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2. With a new OL coach at Georgia, the Bulldogs should be concerned about the commitments of Ryqueze McElderry and Johnathan Hughley.
Gorney’s take: FACT. I doubt Johnathan Hughley goes anywhere especially as he develops his relationship with new OL coach Stacy Searels. That should be fine. Ryqueze McElderry should be watched. I’ve heard from a source that the feeling was that the Anniston, Ala., standout would always end up in Alabama’s class even right after his commitment to Georgia. While I’m not certain that’s going to happen especially since the Bulldogs took a shot on him and landed his pledge, Alabama is slowly chiseling into this one and could flip McElderry at some point. Searels will do great work trying to keep McElderry but there is a risk there.
May’s take: FACT. This concerns McElderry more so than Hughley. Auburn and Florida are both now in play for Hughley, but the Bulldogs are still in good shape there. McElderry, on the other hand, is being heavily pursued by Alabama. He grew up in Anniston as a big Crimson Tide fan, but felt slighted when Alabama didn’t offer him early and committed to Georgia. The Crimson Tide have since offered McElderry. He visited in January and is planning to return to Tuscaloosa this weekend. As of now, there’s at least some reason for concern with both of these prospects sticking with the Bulldogs. Time will tell how the hire of Stacy Searels as the offensive line coach affects both prospects.
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3. Notre Dame commit Justyn Rhett is ranked too low in the position rankings.
Gorney’s take: FACT. The Southeast and Texas are loaded with very talented cornerbacks this recruiting cycle but Justyn Rhett can play with any of them and his strong performance Sunday is a great barometer as we see the others ranked ahead of him in the coming months. Rhett is a big, strong corner who is physical and who can run and that mix is special. The Notre Dame commit is being pursued hard by Georgia and others and while I think Cormani McClain has a near-lock on the No. 1 corner spot this recruiting cycle, Rhett should definitely be in the conversation with all the others.
Friedman’s take: FACT. I really liked what we saw out of Rhett over the weekend at the Rivals Camp Series in Los Angeles. The defensive back MVP is about as solid as they come and he put on an excellent performance on Sunday but the cornerback position is loaded this year. All six of the top cornerbacks are ranked inside the top 33 in the Rivals250, more than any other position group. Rhett currently sits at No. 7 but he could get as high as No. 5 in the position rankings. As for his overall ranking in the Rivals250, I'm not sure Rhett should move up much higher than where he is now at No. 53.
