Take Two: Will Jordan Burch's visit put the Tide on top?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue 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 an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
TAKE TWO: As visits loom, does Clemson lead for Justin Flowe?
THE STORYLINE
Jordan Burch is one of the most interesting prospects in the 2020 class because everyone likes to speculate where he’s going to play his college ball, but the five-star defensive end rarely does interviews and so much of his recruitment is speculation.
Clemson seems to be the team to beat for the Columbia (S.C.) Hammond School standout who’s currently ranked fourth nationally, but others are definitely involved.
South Carolina cannot be counted out. Georgia has been in the mix. And now Burch has scheduled his official visit to Alabama for its massive matchup against LSU in a few weeks.
Alabama has the recruiting muscle to go anywhere in the country to get any elite player, but Clemson is no slouch in that regard and the Tigers have put a lot of work in landing the local standout. The two other SEC programs cannot be dismissed either.
Will the Crimson Tide emerge as the front-runner in Burch’s recruitment after he visits Tuscaloosa or will Clemson be able to land the elite five-star defensive end, holding off other legitimate contenders in his recruitment?
FIRST TAKE: ANDREW BONE, BAMAINSIDER.COM
“Alabama has been in the race for a very long time. Everybody has been making their own assumptions on where he’s going to go even though he doesn’t talk about any of his favorites at all and doesn’t do any interviews. Everybody is trying to guess on what he’s going to do.
“Alabama has been in the race for him throughout the entire year. I don’t think it’s any surprise he’s going to make it back for the LSU game. Coming in that weekend for his official visit is going to be one of the best atmospheres in college football and maybe one of the best games of the season. There’s going to be a lot of excitement, a lot of top players coming in that weekend. Alabama is in the hunt for him, but I don’t think we’ll really know how good of a chance it has with him. We’ll find out more after that official visit.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“It’s pretty hard to gauge when Burch isn’t giving interviews, but his mom is very involved in the process, so wherever he visits that’s not home they’re going to really have to impress her to make her feel comfortable.
“Alabama has a shot at anybody. They can recruit anybody. Nick Saban is the best recruiter out there, but I still think Clemson is the safest choice, so somebody is going to have to blow them away.”