Several notable recruiting streaks could come to an end in 2018

College football recruiting is often about momentum and the challenge for most programs is carrying that momentum over from class to class, even if the on-field results vary. Today we take a look at some notable recruiting streaks and analyze whether or not schools can extend them with their efforts in the 2018 class.

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Florida is one of the most talent-rich states in the country and while the Seminoles have built their roster on Sunshine State stars, the school is also very successful in luring out-of-state prospects. Dating back to 2015 when the ‘Noles landed five-star Virginia native Josh Sweat, they’ve managed to sign at least one five-star from out of state in every class. In the class of 2017, Florida State took their national recruiting to a whole new level, landing five-stars from Virginia (RB Khalan Laborn), Mississippi (RB Cam Akers) and Texas (DT Marvin Wilson). The only Florida-based five-star the school signed was IMG Academy defensive end Josh Kaindoh, who transferred from Maryland to Florida for his senior year. There are plenty of candidates to keep the streak going in 2018, highlighted by wide receiver Justyn Ross.

Signing back-to-back five-star quarterbacks is something that has rarely been done in the Rivals.com era, but Georgia pulled off the feat by signing Jacob Eason in 2016 and Jake Fromm in 2017. So can the Bulldogs do it again? It’s clearly a long shot but not something that is totally out of play. The state of Georgia has two five-star quarterbacks in the 2018 class in Trevor Lawrence and Emory Jones. Both prospects are committed, with Lawrence pledged to Clemson and Jones to Ohio State. But Jones has said he will still take visits and Georgia is among the schools he’s considering. Add in the fact that five-star USC commit Matt Corral will be in Athens this weekend and it’s clear the Bulldogs aren’t giving up on landing an unprecedented three consecutive five-star QBs.

The Tigers have quite the track record of signing and developing elite wide receivers and this streak would stretch even longer had Mike Williams been ranked higher in 2013. The streak got started in 2014 when Artavis Scott, the nation’s No. 68 overall player, signed with the Tigers. Since then prospects such as five-star Deon Cain (2015), four-star Cornell Powell (2016) and five-star Tee Higgins (2017) have kept the streak intact. The Tigers' highest-ranking wide receiver commit in the 2018 class is Derion Kendrick, the nation’s No. 141 overall player. But Clemson is heavily in the mix for some of the nation’s best pass catchers. Among the names could help extend the streak are Ross and current Alabama commit Xavier Williams.

Since arriving at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh has raised the Wolverines' recruiting profile and the school’s national approach to recruiting has paid major dividends. The streak started when Michigan landed the nation’s top prospect, five-star Rashan Gary in 2016. Then in 2017 the school pulled off a shocker, signing five-star Aubrey Solomon over SEC schools Alabama and Georgia. To extend it to three in 2018 and make it a true streak, Michigan will have to go out-of-state again. The prime target is North Carolina native Rick Sandidge, the nation’s No. 87 overall player. Michigan already sits high on his list, but it will again be an upset if the school can pull him away from programs closer to home such as South Carolina and North Carolina.

The Trojans are known for keeping top skill players close to home, but in recent years the program has done a very good job of signing some of the state’s top defensive linemen as well. The streak got started in 2014 when Olajuwon Tucker, the nation’s No. 228 overall player, elected to stay close to home with the Trojans. It continued in 2015 with five-star Rasheem Green, in 2016 with four-star Wole Betiku (No. 48 overall) and in 2017 with Hunter Echols (No. 68). The pool for talent isn’t as deep in California along the defensive line in 2018, making the streak tougher to keep going into year five. Right now the best candidate to keep it going is Tuli Letuligasenoa, the nation’s No. 133 overall prospect and one of the Trojans' top targets regardless of position.