Rivals Roundtable: Excitement, anxiety heading into Signing Day

California. Despite residing in one of the most fruitful states in the land, the Golden Bears might not crack the top five in the Pac-12 Conference recruiting rankings. On top of that, Sonny Dykes has seen the top local prospects in the 2016 class look elsewhere – Jonah Williams, Devin Asiasi, Lamar Jackson, Camilo Eifler, Jordan Parker, Boss Tagaloa and Shurod Thompson all rank inside the top 25 in the state, but appear to be leaving the Northern California area for college. Losing so many battles in its own backyard certainly won’t help Cal’s rebuilding efforts and that's definitely a concern, especially with how well rival Stanford has done. - Blair Angulo, West Coast analyst

In my region? Probably Vanderbilt. All the recruiting progress the program built under James Franklin has been erased with some haste. The product on the field has suffered and may continue to do so as perception shifts back to what it was pre-Franklin. The concern for Vanderbilt should be there in spades because this seems like a long-term issue. – Rob Cassidy, Southeast analyst

I would say Florida State but not concerned as in worried because even if it misses on 70 percent of its guys down the stretch it will still have a great class and kill it next year. By concerned I mean the Seminoles have a lot of players out there that could go either way and I’m not sure they are the outright leader for any of them. I think they close well anyhow. I guess concerned brings to mind Texas, but I think it closes nicely as well. – Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director

Weird things can happen on Signing Day so a school like Alabama with a lot of potential commitments that day should be concerned. Nigel Knott could announce before National Signing Day but players such as Ben Davis, Lyndell Wilson, Terrell Hall, Mique Juarez, Rashan Gary, Jeffery Simmons, Jared Mayden and A.J. Brown will likely be announcing on Wednesday. Alabama either leads or is a finalist for all these players so the Crimson Tide coaches will be biting their fingernails until each one of them announce their decision. - Adam Friedman, Mid-Atlantic analyst

There's not a lot of concern surrounding the Alabama football team but the Tide sure have a lot riding on National Signing Day since a lot of top undecided prospects still haven't made their decision. Things could be boom or bust for the Tide next week with Ben Davis, Mique Juarez, Mecole Hardman, Jack Jones and many others making their decisions with Alabama as one of the frontrunners. Something tells me, though, Alabama will be just fine and will finish strong on signing day. – Adam Gorney, National recruiting analyst

Friday's story from Yahoo Sports that Ole Miss faces NCAA violations did not come at a good time for a program that was looking to make a run at the No. 1 recruiting class in 2016. Whether or not these violations will have any impact on scholarships or bowl eligibility in the future almost does not matter as it relates to finishing off the 2016 class. The Rebels' competitors are undoubtedly already using the report to sow seeds of doubt in their top targets and it will force the Ole Miss coaching staff to spend the remaining few days defending their program when they should be trying to sell it. – Josh Helmholdt, Midwest analyst

I don’t know about concerned but Oklahoma State seems to be trending downward. The Cowboys are in danger of not signing a four-star for the first time in Rivals history and more importantly they are still trying to secure a quarterback for the 2016 recruiting class. The Cowboys have also seen Baylor and TCU eat into its Texas talent pool the last few years. – Jason Howell, Mid-South analyst

This is a tough one because I think there are plenty of schools that aren't on track to close like they or their fans bases would like in the 2016 class. From a distance I would have to say Oregon should be worried. The Ducks have lost several four-star commitments in this class already and as of now they have just five players ranked as four-stars or higher. The school has shown an ability to develop players over the years, but in order to maintain among college football's top programs, recruiting is going to have to improve. – Woody Wommack

Chris Petersen has the Washington Huskies rolling. The numbers aren’t quite there in this class given that the former Boise State coach has a young group in Seattle, but what this class lacks in quantity it makes up for with high quality. Heading into the final weekend before National Signing Day, the Huskies hold commitments from seven four-star prospects – second only to UCLA (nine) and USC (eight) in the conference. Washington had the best defense in the Pac-12 last season and Petersen is primed to add even more young talent to that unit, and that’s no easy task seeing as Stanford and Oregon have ruled the division in recent years. This class deserves a woof or two. - Blair Angulo

Say what you want about Michigan and the tactics used by Jim Harbaugh. Are they different? Yup, but his programs is constantly in the headlines and making massive headway in Florida because of it. In the end, a coach's job is to win football games and, regardless of if you like how he's doing it, Harbaugh is building a talent pool capable of doing just that. Even if you disagree with how the sausage is being made, the end product is impressive. – Rob Cassidy

I’ll say Brian Kelly because I know the academic restrictions that a school like Notre Dame has to deal with compared to nearly every other program in the top 10. That isn’t to say academics aren’t important at places like Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State, but Notre Dame has a more stringent academic screening process than almost any other program aside from perhaps Stanford and Duke and he still puts together top 10 classes. I don’t think he and his staff get enough credit for that. – Mike Farrell

It was almost a foregone conclusion that Chris Partridge would really help Michigan in the state of New Jersey when he left Paramus (N.J.) Paramus Catholic but he’s been able to help the Wolverines on a national scale much more than anticipated. He was a key recruiter for many of Michigan’s recruits in Florida and California as well. The progress Partridge and Harbaugh have made in the Southeast, in particular, is very impressive. - Adam Friedman

I'm taking Les Miles. The man was almost fired late in the regular season and has managed to cobble together the second-best class in the country. What kind of job security can he really have in Baton Rouge with the way he was treated this season? But players want to play for him, he and his assistants can still recruit so well and the Tigers are doing a fantastic job with the top class in the SEC for now. – Adam Gorney

What new Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell has done in the short time he has held the reigns in Ames has really impressed me. Campbell was recruiting at a high MAC level for Toledo before accepting the position with the Cyclones, and he has utilized Midwest connections and what I see as an excellent eye for talent to bring that momentum on the recruiting trail to Iowa State. Four-star offensive tackle Sean Foster is almost a clone of current starter Jake Campos, and they wooed three-star tight end Chase Allen away from Michigan and Nebraska on Friday. – Josh Helmholdt

Agree with his tactics or not, Jim Harbaugh has been a tireless recruiter. He hit the ground running once he arrived in Ann Arbor. He had the satellite camps outside of his region. He had the sleepovers. In his year back he not only reenergized the Michigan brand with recruits, but he was innovative with his recruiting tactics and tireless in his effort. – Jason Howell

We saw Clemson play in the national championship game earlier this month and several of the star players on that team were recruited by assistant coach Jeff Scott. He's done a tremendous job of recruiting talent over the past few years and he's rolling again in 2016. The Tigers' ability to not only identify but to close on top talent at the wide receiver position has been among the best in the country and I see that as the case again this year. – Woody Wommack

Five-star wide receiver N'Keal Harry, who burst onto the recruiting scene last spring. When Chandler, Ariz., head coach Shaun Aguano introduced me to Harry in his office late in 2014, he did so by prefacing that Harry was a basketball star giving football a bit more attention. It certainly showed when Harry put on a show at the Rivals Camp Series Presented by Under Armour stop in Las Vegas last February, dominating every defensive back that stepped up to him. Harry then backed up his ranking at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge in Baltimore and then earned the No. 1 position rating with an impressive showing at Under Armour All-America week in Florida. The Arizona State commit has lived with his grandmother most of his life and all he wants is to make her proud, and it’s been cool to see him do just that this past year. - Blair Angulo

I'm a Sam Bruce guy. Bruce is entraining without being over-the-top. He’s forthright without being standoffish and confident without being off-putting. Humor goes a long way with me, and Bruce has a way of making everyone laugh. I legitimately enjoyed every interaction I had with him, and think Miami fans will love him for his football ability and his personality. – Rob Cassidy

Demetris Robertson has been fun to cover and I would have never expected him to be one of the guys to go beyond National Signing Day to decide but I know he’s not doing it for attention, he’s not that kid. But his recruiting process has been exciting from his early commitment to Alabama to his de-commitment to his focus on academic schools like Stanford and Notre Dame and now the family decision of staying local or going away from home and all that comes with it. He’s a good kid and has handled himself very well. – Mike Farrell

It has been particularly fun to cover the recruitments of Rashan Gary, Jarrett Guarantano and Kareem Walker, the three major players in northern New Jersey. Having known all of them for at least three years, watching them and listening to their reactions to offers, visits, and the ups and downs of the recruiting process has been very enjoyable. The progress they’ve made in high school and the lessons they’ve learned will surely help them in college. - Adam Friedman

Curtis Robinson has been a pleasure. Thoughtful, engaging, honest, the Stanford commit already sounds like a seasoned veteran when it comes to interviews and it looks like he could have a tremendously successful college career and beyond. There are many others in this class who have been great but Robinson definitely has a good head about things, is a great player and oozes success. – Adam Gorney

I have been covering four-star Messiah deWeaver since he was a freshman and have watched him develop from a gangly kid with a long delivery into one of the most fundamentally sound quarterbacks to come out of the high school ranks in several years. Most impressive about Messiah is the way he carries himself, though. Coaches look for those intangibles that make great leaders at the quarterback position and the Michigan State commit has those in spades. – Josh Helmholdt

Euless (Texas) Trinity defensive tackle Chris Daniels has been a lot of fun to cover. His recruiting process has had some ups and downs, twists and turns, and will go down to National Signing Day. He has had days where he returned from an official visit to greet a coach for an in-home visit. He had multiple coaches show up back-to-back-to-back for visits. He added late offers. He has changed his plans and he has had to answer some tough questions and made some tough decisions. And throughout it all he has kept a great attitude and smile on his face as he handled a wild and stressful process. – Jason Howell

Being in the Southeast Region I have plenty of colorful personalities to deal with so choosing one player is tough. Among my favorites were Isaac Nauta, Sam Bruce and Mecole Hardman. All three handled the process in different ways, but were easy to deal with from a media standpoint as well as fun to watch on the field. – Woody Wommack