Five Sunshine State predictions for the 2018 recruiting cycle

Prospects in the 2018 class have 11 more months until they sign letters of intent, but Rivals.com makes its living on projections. Below are five way-too-early Florida-centric predictions for National Signing Day, 2018.

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Everything is coming up Miami lately. More exciting for Hurricanes fans, however, is the fact that the momentum shows no sign of stopping.

Miami already has a five-star in the fold in running back Lorenzo Lingard. The second running back in its class, Camron Davis, is also a Rivals100 member. Miami has a top 100 quarterback as well, and there’s plenty more high-end talent already committed.

What’s maybe more impressive, however, are the players that may join UM’s class down the road. Both defensive back Al Blades and wide receiver Mark Pope are prospects that favor Miami and may push for five-star status. The Hurricanes are also in play for a number of other big-time prospects that carry lofty star rankings.

Should the program’s 2018 season avoid disaster, the Canes are on pace for an abrupt return to the top of the recruiting rankings and could even flirt with finishing in the top five for the first time since 2008.

Miami is making progress and the buzz is back. Maintaining that buzz will come down to having a solid season on the field. If the Hurricanes find a way to win 10 games with a new starting quarterback, all bets are off. In such a scenario, Mark Richt’s program will likely topple the Seminoles in the recruiting rankings.

That said, a 10-win season seems like an optimistic projection.

This year will be a battle, but the Seminoles’ national brand and far-reaching recruiting arm should be enough to hold off the U for at least one more National Signing Day.

Four-star athlete Marcus Riley is committed to Louisville … for now.

Riley is a dynamic athlete from the Tallahassee area who holds an offer from Florida State. There is likely more in store for the versatile prospect who has already stated his intentions to take other visits. Holding his commitment for nearly a full year will be a tall task for Louisville when other Southeast powers come calling and the Seminoles start to press.

As things stand now, Patrick Surtain is the top prospect in the state of Florida. The fact that Florida State certainly has a chance to land him makes predicting him to spurn the Seminoles in favor of LSU, Alabama or some school of the like bold … or “bold-ish,” anyway.

The top prospect in the state of Florida has signed with an out-of-state program in each of the last three years. Of course, the rise of IMG Academy will make things a little tougher in the future as a few of the state’s top players aren’t actually from Florida these days.

That said, an IMG player has only been the top player in Florida in one of the last three seasons. This year may be more of the same, as Surtain and No. 2 prospect Xavier Thomas, an IMG player originally from South Carolina, are serious threats to exit the state.

This, strangely enough, may be the boldest prediction of the bunch. There will likely be some out-of-state options here, but the Gators, who were shut out of the five-star ranks last year, are also in play with five-star Tyreke Johnson. Johnson having a close friend in Chauncey Gardner thriving at UF will help the Gators in the fight to land his commitment.

This is not sure thing, obviously, but you’d think a Florida team that has been to back-to-back SEC title games could stumble into a five-star unless things crash and burn on the field this season.