SEC Spotlight: Grading the 2022 class
A tight race atop Rivals’ 2022 team rankings in the SEC went down to the end on National Signing Day with national ramifications. The SEC fared well overall with 10 programs occupying the top 30, but how Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M finished got most of the headlines.
Going into the Early Signing Period, Georgia was out in front among FBS programs, but Alabama and Texas A&M started closing the gap. Last Wednesday morning, the Crimson Tide were the national leader but they were jumped by the Aggies after adding two five-star prospects.
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MORE NSD: Grading the Big 12 classes | Grading the Pac-12 classes | Biggest stings | Texas A&M wins 2022 recruiting title | The Gorney Awards | Recruiter of the Year | Winners and losers
ONE-ON-ONE COACH INTERVIEWS: Oklahoma's Brent Venables | Rutgers' Greg Schiano | Clemson's Dabo Swinney | Vanderbilt's Clark Lea | Illinois' Bret Bielema | West Virginia's Neal Brown | Virginia's Tony Elliott | Indiana's Tom Allen | Utah's Kyle Whittingham | South Carolina's Shane Beamer | Arizona's Jedd Fisch | Stanford's David Shaw | Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman | Florida State's Mike Norvell | Michigan State's Mel Tucker | Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz
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ALABAMA (No. 2 SEC, No. 2 overall)
If an Alabama fan wanted to split hairs, the Crimson Tide may have had the best overall class with an average star ranking of 4.04 to A&M’s 4.03. Keeping Alabama out of the top spot was the fact it signed 24 to A&M’s 29. Alabama’s only addition around NSD was three-star Louisiana tight end Danny Lewis, a hot commodity in late January.
Within the class comprised of four five-stars and 17 four-stars was defensive end Jeremiah Alexander, offensive lineman Elijah Pritchett, receiver Aaron Anderson and linebacker Jihaad Campbell. Another fantastic class for Nick Saban and Co.
Grade: A+
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ARKANSAS (No. 12 SEC, No. 26 overall)
The Razorbacks' 2022 class had worked inside the top 15 at the end of the Early Signing Period but fell outside the top 25, losing out on Rivals250 safety Myles Rowser, a Campbell signee. For the Arkansas faithful, the Hogs are in good shape. With the coordinators under head coach Sam Pittman, this staff has done a good job of scouting and evaluating talent to fit their scheme. They also leave room on the roster to add key transfer portal players ready to take the field Week 1.
Arkansas did a great job addressing needs on offense flipping Isaiah Sategna away from Oregon back in December while adding running back Rashod Dubinion, receiver Quincey McAdoo and offensive lineman E’Marion Harris.
Grade: C
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AUBURN (No. 9 SEC, No. 18 overall)
Auburn was set to make some noise on NSD but ended up being another SEC program that closed its class in the early period. The Tigers were in the running for notable four-stars like Florida defensive end Jack Pyburn but lost out. Due to the inactivity, the haul started NSD ranked No. 16 nationally but ended up falling down two spots. On “star power” alone, Auburn’s class was fifth in the conference.
Of the 12 four-stars signed, defensive back Austin Ausberry stands out, especially since he played for University Laboratory in Baton Rouge. Another high-profile signee was linebacker Robert Woodyard. A troubling sign, only one offensive lineman was signed: four-star Eston Harris.
Grade: B-
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FLORIDA (No. 10 SEC, T-No. 24 overall)
In a two-way tie for the 24th spot with South Carolina accumulating 1,712 points, Florida edges out the Gamecocks thanks to five-star Alabama linebacker Shemar James. Florida fans may not be happy with barely a top-25 ranking but considering there were only six holdovers from the previous staff, Billy Napier finished strong.
Napier brought on 11 recruits from Dec. 10 to NSD, a group that included James and four four-stars. Signing Trevor Etienne is a boost to the Gators’ backfield. Securing defensive backs Kamari Wilson and Devin Moore will help the “DBU” moniker live on. Pyburn was a last-minute steal from Auburn and Miami.
Grade: C
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GEORGIA (No. 3 SEC, No. 3 overall)
The Bulldogs also stockpiled talent pushing as close as they could to the new 32-scholarship mark among signees and transfer portal additions. The last three pieces to the class on Wednesday were three-stars, running back Andrew Paul and linebacker EJ Lightsey along with four-star defensive tackle Christen Miller. Georgia worked to keep Miller away from Ohio State, Miami, Oregon and Florida A&M.
A class with five five-stars and 15 four-stars, any other year chances are this is the top recruiting class in the nation. From one position to the next and on both sides of the ball, UGA signed about as balanced of a class as it gets.
Grade: A+
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KENTUCKY (No. 5 SEC, No. 13 overall)
The Wildcats moved up a spot on NSD after taking three-star defensive end Noah Matthews out of Delaware to finish inside the top 15. The overall message coming out of Lexington is taking root, coach Mark Stoops is locked in and working to build a winner in the SEC East. Stoops had his second 10-win season with Kentucky (2018) bouncing back from a 5-6 mark. There was a notable difference in talent signed going from No. 11 in the SEC with only three four-stars signed last time around to fifth with 11 four-stars.
Slotted as the eighth best offensive tackle in the country, Kiyaunta Goodwin has as much talent and upside as anyone. Stoops landed a potential all-conference left tackle in the four-star. Receiver was the position Kentucky perhaps recruited best with three four-stars and one three-star. It’ll be fun to see what Barion Brown can do in Kentucky’s offense over the next three to four years.
Grade: B+
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LSU (No. 6 SEC, No. 14 overall)
LSU’s 2022 recruiting class is in the eyes of the beholder. Either new head coach Brian Kelly did a great job, or he fell below high expectations. The 2021 class was loaded with four-stars ending second overall in the SEC, but all of that quickly fell apart early in the season. As far as looking at a rankings jump on NSD, Kelly nailed it moving from No. 30 on morning of to No. 14 by the end of day. Like the 2021 class, Kelly also signed two five-stars.
The impressive jump up the team rankings was due to four-star linebacker Harold Perkins, a steal from A&M, and four-star defensive back J. Davis-Robinson signing on, both out of Texas. The focus of the class is on five-star quarterback Walker Howard. Howard’s success will be Kelly’s success early in Baton Rouge.
Grade: B
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MISSISSIPPI STATE (No. 7 SEC, No. 16 overall)
As everything was shifting around the nation and in the SEC, Mississippi State was just hanging out. This class was signed, sealed and delivered at the end of the Early Signing Period. In an oddity, the Bulldogs held their spot in the national rankings at 16 and slid up one in conference without doing anything.
If Braedyn Locke can run coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense, he becomes the most important person signed in 2022. Per the rankings, defensive ends Trevion Williams and Jacarius Clayton are the heavy hitters.
Grade: B
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MISSOURI (No. 8 SEC, No. 17 overall)
One of the best recruiting classes in Missouri history, the Tigers have a lot to be happy with going forward. On the national perspective, Mizzou entered NSD slotted No. 12 but dropped to No. 17 and lost a four-star along the way. But it added giant three-star offensive lineman Curtis Peagler. The other post-ESP addition is three-star linebacker Carmycah Glass out of Louisiana.
Five-star receiver Luther Burden will help win games in Columbia, but the rest of the cast in the class is equally as important. Quarterback Sam Horn is a terrific dual-threat that should fit into Eliah Drinkwitz’s offense seamlessly. A late addition as a four-star player in the Rivals’ rankings, watch out for defensive tackle Marquis Gracial. He has all the tools to be a terror in the SEC.
Grade: B-
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OLE MISS (No. 13 SEC, No. 27 overall)
The Rebels were yet another team that made no further additions to their class after the Early Signing Period but still put together a solid all-around haul. Per head coach Lane Kiffin, the class holding with 18 signees comprised of six four-stars and 12 three-star prospects, is due to NIL deals or the lack thereof in Oxford.
The good news, the top end of Mississippi’s class is defense heavy with monster defensive tackle Zxavian Harris in the trenches. Four-star defensive backs Davison Igbinosun and Taylor Groves should compete for playing time early. Linebacker Jaron Willis is an Under Armour All-American, and a thumper in the box.
Grade: C
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SOUTH CAROLINA (No. 11 SEC, T-No. 24 overall)
South Carolina signed 22 early and held there through National Signing Day. Without bringing on any additional players, the Gamecocks only dropped three spots from December to February. The 2022 class may not be ranked where the fans want, but first-year coach Shane Beamer made a dramatic jump from his 2021 class when he only signed 13 and finished 74th nationally.
As is the case for most coaches trying to establish themselves in the SEC, all eyes will be on four-star quarterback Tanner Bailey. The Alabama native has a lot of hope and promise resting on his arm talents.
Grade: C
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TENNESSEE (No. 4 SEC, No. 12 overall)
During Josh Heupel’s first season in Knoxville, Tennessee produced a 7-6 (4-4 SEC) record with three games lost by one score. The future is bright for the Volunteers and recruits know it. Given a full year to recruit, Tennessee jumped from 12th in the SEC for the 2021 haul to fourth. The mix included seven four-stars and 14 three-star talents.
The class was also well-balanced with 11 of the 21 set to score the ball for the Vols. The prized get for coach Heupel was four-star QB Tayven Jackson out of Indiana.
Grade: B+
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TEXAS A&M (No. 1 SEC, No. 1 overall)
A lot of teams closed National Signing Day strong, but A&M perhaps closed best adding five-stars in defensive back Jacoby Matthews and defensive end Shemar Stewart. Adding some shine to the feat, Matthews was brought on out of Louisiana and Stewart out of Florida. Putting a broader look at how well A&M finished, from Dec. 15 the Aggies hauled in five four-stars and three five-stars.
There are no holes in this class, but if one wanted to be picky A&M only signed one running back and one linebacker … granted the running back was highly desired four-star Le’Veon Moss and four-star backer Martell Harris Jr.
Grade: A+
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VANDERBILT (No. 14 SEC, No. 33 overall)
Perhaps not keeping pace with the rest of the SEC, but coach Clark Lea pieced together another good class. Nearing identical numbers to his first haul in 2021, Lea closed in 2022 with two four-stars and 23 three-stars. His class was rated ahead of Miami, Nebraska, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Utah, Oregon and Wisconsin.
A recurring theme in the 2022 class for first-year head coaches making the transition into Year 2 ... the four-star quarterback. Lea got Under Armour All-American AJ Swann early. After the ESP, five more players were added including four-star defensive back Daniel Martin.
Grade: C-