Midwest Spotlight: Five potential flips
The home stretch of the 2023 recruiting cycle is nearly upon us but there aren't many elite recruits that remain uncommitted. In fact, more than 200 players in the Rivals250 are already committed.
With teams around the country still trying to fill out their recruiting classes, here are five players from the Midwest that could flip their commitment to another team down the road.
THIS SERIES: Five East Coast prospects that could flip | Mid-South flip watch | Southeast flip watch
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Galloway is far from a guarantee to flip and he does appear happy with his commitment to LSU. That being said, the four-star tight end out of Ohio seems to be keeping his options open and his pledge to the Tigers has done little to keep a number of elite programs from continuing to pursue his talents.
Florida seems to be the main contender here if Galloway were to actually flip his commitment prior to signing day. Despite his commitment, Galloway recently took a game day visit to Florida where he earned an offer and appeared to thoroughly enjoy the experience. Even if the Gators are not the team to flip Galloway, he has plenty of additional suitors looking to do so, and it seems as though his recruitment is somewhat open despite his pledge.
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Hayden seems extremely happy with his commitment to Illinois and the staff in Champaign is surely giving him plenty of love knowing the caliber of player they are getting in Hayden. One of the major reasons I see him as a flip candidate is the fact that Illinois was his only Power Five offer when he committed.
While Hayden maintains that he is solid with the Illini, he also seems open to other schools showing interest. He has talked about visiting Auburn and some other programs in the past. Missouri is another team that could be in the mix as the Tigers have a number of Hayden's friends on their roster and the Missouri coaching staff does not appear to be giving up on him any time soon. The other factor here is the caliber of player that Hayden has developed into. After seeing him play in week one, I would be slightly shocked if a few of college football's elite programs didn't choose to pursue him. I expect Illinois to be fighting off a slew of new teams in the coming months to hold onto Hayden's pledge.
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Davis is a flip candidate simply because I see him as a Power Five talent who is currently committed to a Group of Five team in Western Michigan. While the Broncos have had success with keeping their commits who are pursued by Power Five teams in the past, I am not sure if they will be able to repeat that feat here.
Davis is a long, rangy and athletic defensive back with the size that Power Five defensive coordinators crave. As we get closer to signing day and teams' defensive back boards fall apart, players with Davis' attributes become hot commodities. This is purely a speculation play as Davis has not given indication of looking elsewhere, but he already has Power Five offers from Boston College and Duke and that is likely just the beginning in terms of his large school recruitment. When additional Power Five programs enter the mix, it could be hard for the Chicago standout to pass on those opportunities.
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Taylor appears to be as solid as one can be with his commitment to Minnesota. The problem is that Taylor is incredibly gifted and has been absolutely lighting up the field early in the season. It is only a matter of time before the who's who of college football take notice and likely begin to pursue the talented athlete out of Michigan
Taylor has outplayed his ranking thus far and will likely be a four-star prospect come next rankings release. I even had one FBS coach tell me that he thought Taylor was the most under-rated player in the Midwest and that he saw him as a high-level SEC talent. There is nothing that indicates a flip for Taylor as things stand today, but this is a recruitment to watch leading up to signing day.
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Similar to my rationale for Davis being a flip candidate, Banks is a prospect that is probably out of Toledo's league in terms of the caliber of player he is. Banks' combination of size and speed makes him a home run threat and the type of player that Power Five schools will likely be looking to flip in the coming months.
There aren't many 2023 recruits that measure in at 6-foot-3 and run sub-11 seconds in the 100 and 22.05 in the 200 who are also committed to Group of Five teams. At some point the Power Five teams are likely to turn to Banks when they are in need of a big-time playmaker at receiver as signing day approaches.