Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.
MORE TAKE TWO: Butch Jones | J.T. Barrett | Mason Rudolph | Anthony Cook
STORYLINE
The nation’s top offensive guard and five-star prospect Jamaree Salyer has two favorites – and now he has a date for his commitment.
The Atlanta (Ga.) Pace Academy star plans to sign early on Dec. 20 with Georgia and Clemson as his two favorites. Notre Dame, Ohio State and Stanford cannot be counted out yet but those three programs have a ways to go to land Salyer’s commitment.
The real question is will Salyer stay in-state and play for the Bulldogs, who have emerged as a legitimate SEC contender this season, or be one of many top prospects in recent years to leave the state and pick Clemson, the defending national champs?
Georgia is not expected to receive an official visit this fall but that’s not necessarily bad news. The five-star prospect has been to Athens so often, another weekend trip might not be needed. He is expected to take an official trip to Clemson before making his decision.
What’s even more intriguing about Salyer’s recruitment is that he stays relatively low key, so a surprise could be in the works. But recently the five-star said Clemson and Georgia are his top two schools and even though it might be too early to call this one, there are some signs that point to the Bulldogs holding on.
FIRST TAKE: CHAD SIMMONS, RIVALS.COM SOUTHEAST ANALYST
“This is a battle, and Clemson is Georgia's biggest competitor, but the home-state school is the favorite to land Salyer. He has connected with Georgia's offensive line coach, Sam Pittman, he is watching his former teammate Andrew Thomas start as a true freshman at right tackle and he has relationships with numerous Georgia commits and current players. Those are some of the reasons Georgia is the pick for one of the top prospects in the 2018 class.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM NATIONAL RECRUITING DIRECTOR
“He’s torn. I’m going to stick with my original guess, which was Georgia. There is a lot of kids he’s familiar with in-state that are working him. It’s comfort, it’s the first school he loved. It’s really, really close. Clemson five-star QB commit Trevor Lawrence is working on him, so he has a tough decision to make but right now I’d say Georgia.”
