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Rival Views: Which 2018 class has the makings of a title contender?

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney don’t always see eye to eye. In this edition of Rival Views, the two debate which recruiting class has the makings of a national title contender.

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CLASS OF '18 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | State | Position | JUCO

FARRELL'S VIEW: GEORGIA

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Justin Fields
Justin Fields (Chad Simmons)

I’ll go with the obvious answer and pick Georgia. The Bulldogs hit all their needs, added some amazing depth at numerous positions and are setting themselves up to be a contender in the SEC every year with the way they are recruiting.

Ohio State, Clemson and USC also come to mind, but give me Georgia. The Dawgs will win a national title based off of the 2018 class.

GORNEY'S VIEW: CLEMSON

Trevor Lawrence
Trevor Lawrence (Nick Lucero/Rivals.com)

Clemson might not even finish with a top-10 recruiting class but it’s not going to matter because the quality is so much more important than the quantity.

The Tigers have the best quarterback in the 2018 recruiting class in Trevor Lawrence, two five-star defensive ends in Xavier Thomas and K.J. Henry, a versatile five-star offensive line monster in Jackson Carman and a five-star receiver in Derion Kendrick, who is outstanding in space.

Those are just the five-star prospects. Although the class is small, talent abounds across the board and there might not be a better collection of elite players in the country. This class on the field against any other class, I think the Tigers would have a chance of winning it all.

Georgia is unquestionably up there. I love the class USC has put together with some final pieces at defensive back possibly coming as well, and Ohio State, Texas and others are also impressive. There’s no doubt about it.

But I’ll take Lawrence, Kendrick and four-star running back Lyn-J Dixon on offense and then Thomas and Henry causing havoc off the edges on defense. Clemson won’t finish among the top recruiting classes nationally but it’s certainly not because of lack of talent.

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