Fact or Fiction: Jaylen Sneed should be a top 5 outside LB
Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney and recruiting analyst Adam Friedman along with Mike Singer from BlueandGold.com and Jake Reuse of UGASports.com tackle three topics in recruiting and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. After visiting Tennessee over the weekend, the Vols will have a real shot with Lebbeus Overton.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Anything is possible and Tennessee has had its fair share of five-star signees over the years but I just do not see this happening. Overton is going to visit a lot of schools and he could have a diverse list of favorites based on a lot of factors. But every program can sell him early playing time and a lot of SEC and ACC powerhouses have developed more NFL talent recently. The good news for Tennessee is that the new coaching staff has some time to show Overton that the program is headed in the right direction. The bad news is that the Vols have a long way to go to become a national contender again.
Friedman’s take: FACT. It's so early in Overton's recruitment that every team still has a shot. Tennessee is close to home, he knows some of the players there, and the coaching staff has been working hard to make up for lost time. Right now the main group for Overton is Alabama, Texas A&M, Georgia and Clemson but Tennessee has as good a chance as any to get into the upper echelon of his recruitment if they keep hitting all the right buttons.
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2. Another team other than Georgia can still land No. 1 running back Branson Robinson.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. It might be foolish to count out Clemson, LSU, Alabama and others but after talking to him and reading some other interviews from the Rivals Camp in Atlanta, it just really feels like it would be a shocker if Georgia didn’t land Robinson. First, the UGA coaching staff is making him a top priority and it is building that relationship every day. Then Robinson has the Nick Chubb comparison and he’s also followed Herschel Walker closely. There are just too many strings tied together to believe Robinson goes anywhere else. He was awesome on Sunday and I’d be stunned if he decides to play elsewhere.
Reuse’s take: FICTION. If there's one team that seemed to have piqued his interest, it's Clemson, but based on his comments on Sunday, it seems unlikely that anyone will pass the Bulldogs. He seemed quite open to the possibility of taking a single official visit, getting the home feeling, and being done. With Georgia getting the first crack, the staff in Athens will be looking to shut the door quickly, and even with a loaded group heading into town for the weekend, expect him to receive more than his fair share of attention. If he makes it to another official visit, anything could happen, but right now, that could be a tall order. The Dawgs have been the team to beat, and they certainly remain that for the time being.
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3. Jaylen Sneed should be a top-five outside linebacker among a loaded group.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. This is a tough question because it’s about which players need to fall out to get Sneed up to the top five. Right now, the Hilton Head, S.C., four-star prospect is No. 8 in the position rankings and we can all agree that’s a touch too low especially after he performed so well at the Rivals Camp in Atlanta over the weekend. Could an argument be made for Sneed to catapult up into the three spot and have Ohio State commit Gabe Powers and new Indiana pledge Dasan McCullough slide one spot? Sure. But both of those players are also incredibly talented and so is Harold Perkins out of Texas. Sneed deserves a move up but it’s going to be a pretty heated debate about exactly where he should land when the new rankings are released.
Singer’s take: FACT. Notre Dame has offered 11 of the 12 top outside linebackers in the country, so I am familiar with this loaded position group. I wouldn't be up in arms if Sneed didn't end up in the top five of the position ranking, but after what he showed at the Atlanta Rivals Camp, he made a very strong case. In a very limited junior season, Sneed was mainly used as a pass rusher, but at the camp, he was superb in coverage and had very strong reps against four-stars Oscar Delp, Branson Robinson and others. The outside linebacker position means so many things these days, and the name of Sneed's game is versatility. He can do it all, which is why I believe he should be in strong consideration for a move up the positional rankings.
MORE: The race for Rivals100 LB Jaylen Sneed is tightening ahead of visit season