National Signing Day 2018: Who will make instant CFB impact?
With the 2018 class now signed, we take a look forward and project who from this class will make an instant impact for their college teams this fall.
MORE NSD: Ranking the jobs done by new coaches | Farrell Awards | Winners and losers | Sting factor: Who got burned?
CLASS OF '18 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | State | Position | JUCO
Amon-Ra St. Brown, USC
St. Brown may be the most college-ready prospect in the 2018 class. He is physically ready, mentally ready and he will make plays for the Trojans this fall. He has that confidence you cannot teach and he will go in expecting to start immediately. Everywhere St. Brown has been, he has been a star and Rivals.com expects it to be no different once he arrives at USC.
Lorenzo Lingard, Miami
The top returning running back for the Hurricanes is Travis Homer, and while he may be the starter early in the season, Lingard will push him immediately. Running back is one of the easiest positions to transition to as a freshman, so with Lingard’s natural talent and home run ability out of the backfield, the Miami fans should expect him to make plays in 2018.
Justyn Ross, Clemson
Ross is the big-bodied receiver that schools covet and he will have passes thrown his way very early in his career. He certainly will have talented QBs capable of getting him the ball early and often with the stable of signal-callers that Clemson boasts. The Tigers will continue their run at producing top wideouts and Ross will show his ability right away.
JT Daniels, USC
Just a couple of months ago, Daniels was the No. 1 prospect in the 2019 class, but now we are talking about him as an impact player in college this fall? He re-classified to the 2018 class and he did so knowing that the quarterback job was wide open with Sam Darnold leaving USC early for the NFL. It would be somewhat surprising if Daniels does not win the starting job as funny as that may sound. He is drawing comparisons to Josh Rosen coming out of high school and he is focused on making an impact this fall for the Trojans.
Jamaree Salyer, Georgia
Georgia has four of its five starters that helped it get to the national championship game returning, but Salyer is just too good not to get on the field. There will be some shuffling going on this spring and position battles as well, so expect Salyer to be right in the mix when he arrives this summer. He is one of the best offensive linemen to come out in recent years and he is college-ready. He has great strength, he is smart, he is versatile and he is going to be tough to keep off the field in Athens.
