Three-Point Stance: SEC superlatives, transfers, calendar

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance takes a snapshot of 2021 recruiting efforts in the SEC, identifies some key transfers that will make an impact on college football and discusses potential changes to the recruiting calendar.

MORE ASK FARRELL: Which new Big Ten assistants will make biggest impact?

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

It's time to take a look at how recruiting is shaping up in each Power Five conference. Today I’ll look at the SEC with a few superlatives.

Hot Start: Florida — Dan Mullen has his program off to a strong start with a high average star rating that could lead to a top-five class.

Biggest Recruiting Win: QB Brock Vandagriff, Georgia — Vandagriff got away to Oklahoma only to return in-state and commit to the Bulldogs. He will be the SEC's next great quarterback.

Biggest Recruiting Loss: TE Jake Briningstool, Clemson — The Vols and others wanted this Tennessee product badly, but Clemson is hard to beat.

Slowing Down: Alabama — One commitment so far? I’m not worried because it’s Nick Saban, but the Crimson Tide's start is still troubling. They’ve had more decommitments than they have current commitments.

Steady Eddie: Texas A&M — Recruiting has never been a problem for the Aggies and it’s getting better under Jimbo Fisher. Will it translate to the scoreboard?

Must Keep: OT Amarius Mims — Georgia has to keep him in-state and Alabama has to keep him in the SEC if he spurns Georgia.

Best Out-of-State Grab: LB Raesjon Davis, LSU — Last year it was Elias Ricks from California and now this year it’s a big-time hitter at linebacker from California. The Tigers are impressive.

Best In-State Keep: DE Tyreak Sapp, Florida — Sapp may still be raw around the edges but his upside is awesome and he was a recruit the Gators couldn’t let get away.

Surprise Start: Tennessee — Is it a surprise though? Jeremy Pruitt recruited very well last year and the Vols always seem to get talent. But this is still an impressive start even by their standards.

Best New Coach ‘Crootin: Missouri — Eli Drinkwitz has a passion for recruiting as we’ve seen and Mizzou is doing a good job getting some attention in the Southeast.

Best Hot Seat Recruiting: South Carolina — Will Muschamp is an excellent recruiter and his 2020 class was very good. However, he’s recruiting this year with more hot seat talk than ever.

Here are nine transfers to watch during the 2020 college football season:

RB Trey Sermon, Ohio State — This could be one of the key transfers of the 2020 season as Sermon will fill a huge void left by J.K. Dobbins. He’s a talented kid who should be ready to impact immediately.

QB Jamie Newman, Georgia — Newman is a big kid who will bring something different to the Georgia offense: a bit of mobility. Expect RPOs in the offense. He has the ability to throw downfield and keep defenses off balance. Georgia is a national title contender with Newman on board.

QB D’Eriq King, Miami — King won’t make the Hurricanes a national title contender but, unless he's fool's gold like Tate Martell, he will help a sputtering offense. King has had success at the Group of Five level and can really keep a defense guessing and could lead the ‘Canes to a division title.

S Isaiah Pryor, Notre Dame — Defensive players don’t get as much attention, but Pryor fills a big need at Notre Dame and he has the talent to impact right away. The Irish lose a ton of talent in the secondary and Pryor can play corner or safety.

OL Cade Mays, Tennessee — He will be an instant impact guy. A physical road grader, Mays joins a talented group on the offense line at Tennessee, which is suddenly one of the best in the SEC.

DE Quincy Roche, Miami — Roche is a big-time talent and he will be a monster to deal with on defense for ACC teams as the ‘Canes can boast the best defensive line in the ACC. This is as key as King.

QB K.J. Costello, Mississippi State — Costello is talented with a very good arm and solid accuracy and he should put up monster numbers in Mike Leach’s offense. The Bulldogs won’t battle for the SEC West or anything but he will be fun to watch.

QB Jake Bentley, Utah — Bentley is an impact guy on a very good team that will make a run at the Pac-12 title. He’s more of a game manager than a game winner, but that’s perfect for the Utes.

QB Joey Gatewood, Kentucky — I don’t even know if Gatewood will be the starter this year, but long term he’s a very good addition and you know the Wildcats will create special packages for him.

The coronavirus pandemic has the world turned upside-down and, obviously, the football recruiting calendar is as low as it gets on the priority list. But heck, that's the stuff that we focus on here at Rivals, so here are some thoughts on what the NCAA should do when things settle down.

1. Allow summer official visits — The spring official visits could be out the window and summer camps are in jeopardy as well. So when social gatherings are allowed again, let recruits take their officials in July or August if needed. The loss of the spring evaluation period hurts relationship building.

2. Allow constant contact from coaches — Coaches can pester players, so having limits is always good, but all bets are off this recruiting season. Let the coaches call recruits as often as they want to help establish relationships. Without visits, Skype and FaceTime calls are key and there shouldn’t be limits.

3. Add two official visits to a total of seven — I changed my mind about this one. A couple of weeks ago I said additional officials wouldn’t be needed, but I think they are. With the recruiting calendar shrinking, prospects should be allowed to take more official visits.

4. Allow official visits to last 72 hours — Let’s allow an extra day for recruits to be hosted on campus especially since many visits will have to be done during the football season when college coaches are trying to focus on games. This will also help with relationships.

5. Eliminate the early signing period for this cycle — I know this takes away an opportunity for recruits to shut everything down, but coaches are hamstrung by the lack of a spring evaluation period and any other delays that may occur. For this year only, let’s go back to one Signing Day on the first Wednesday of February so recruits can take their time and coaches aren’t playing catch up all the time.