Three-Point Stance: Top position recruiters, overrated teams
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here with thoughts which teams are recruiting which positions the best, how ridiculous preseason polls are and some random football thoughts from the weekend.
RIVAL VIEWS: Which ranking does Mike Farrell regret the most?
1. WHICH PROGRAMS RECRUIT EACH POSITION BEST?
It’s always subjective, but every once in awhile I like to look at what programs are recruiting the best at each position. This is based on the last few years, not just the 2020 or 2021 classes.
QB – Clemson – This is a tough call because of how well Georgia, Oklahoma and others have been recruiting at the position. But it’s hard to go against Trevor Lawrence and D.J. UIagalelei and let’s not forget that Dabo Swinney also recruited Hunter Johnson. That’s a lot of five-star quarterbacks.
RB – Georgia – Oklahoma and Alabama are up there but how can you go against the Dawgs here? If you go as far back as Todd Gurley the string of running backs has been amazing and Kendall Milton is another really good one for 2020. Running backs are lining up to go to Athens.
WR – Oklahoma – Three five-stars last year, CeeDee Lamb before that and the hits keep coming. The Sooners' offense is fun to watch and better to play in if you’re a wide receiver and they will never have a problem recruiting the position as long as Lincoln Riley is around.
TE – Notre Dame – You’d think this would be Iowa the way the Hawkeyes develop them, but when it comes to luring top tight end talent over the last few years it has to be Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have two four-stars in the 2020 class and another already in 2021.
OL – Georgia – Georgia cracks the list again in a close battle over Ohio State and Alabama. It’s hard to pick one team here, but with so many five-stars heading to Georgia and with the success the Bulldogs have had the last few years at the position, they get the slight nod. Tate Ratledge is just the latest.
DL – Clemson – There isn’t much of a doubt here when you consider the players the Tigers have recruited and sent to the NFL. With Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy leading the way this year, the roll just continues. How does it get better than Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence on the inside together?
LB – Alabama – My goodness, Alabama has recruited well at linebacker in recent years from flipping Reuben Foster from Auburn to pulling Dylan Moses away from LSU. It continues in 2020 with five-star Chris Braswell and high four-star Quandarrius Robinson among others.
DB – LSU – Another hard call as Clemson, Ohio State and others have also done a great job, but with Derek Stingley Jr. as the No. 1 prospect in the country in 2019 and Elias Ricks on board for 2020 they just add to the list of great defensive backs recruited like Kristian Fulton and Grant Delpit.
2. TEAMS THAT WERE WOEFULLY OVERRATED IN THE PRESEASON
I hate preseason polls. I guess, as a media member, I’m supposed to love them, but I simply can’t stand them because they end up leading to “quality wins” for teams that aren’t beating quality opponents. Here are some teams that were ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 that have turned out to be overrated.
No. 3 Georgia – I drank the Kool-Aid and felt Georgia would be a lock to win the SEC East and have a chance at a national title, but the loss to South Carolina shows the Bulldogs aren’t ready for prime time. They will bounce back, but will it matter?
No. 7 Michigan – Wisconsin embarrassed the Wolverines and showed the world that Jim Harbaugh's team is far from a playoff contender. Michigan's No. 7 preseason ranking seems quite far-fetched right now.
No. 12 Texas A&M – Is there a bigger disappointment than the Aggies? It’s hard to remember the last time they beat a good team, and moral victories in close losses to Clemson and Alabama last year don’t matter this season. And yet there were still ranked playing Alabama this past weekend?
No. 13 Washington – The Huskies' 5-2 record is not impressive and a loss to Stanford is a bad one. I fell for the Jacob Eason hype as well and expected Washington to make a run in the Pac-12, but that’s over now.
No. 17 UCF – The Knights were overrated when they claimed a national title and this year they were clearly overrated as they’ve suffered two losses to very average football teams.
No. 18 Michigan State – This is the same team that lost to Arizona State and just got destroyed by Wisconsin. The Spartans have been as bad as Michigan, with more losses to show for it.
No. 21 Iowa State – Some picked the Cyclones as a sleeper to win the Big 12. That hasn’t worked out at all with losses to Iowa and Baylor.
No. 22 Syracuse – I have one word to explain this: Maryland.
No. 23 Washington State – UCLA beat you, end of story.
No. 24 Nebraska – What? How did this happen? I like Scott Frost and all, but the Huskers were embarrassed by Ohio State and already have losses to Colorado and Minnesota.
No. 25 Stanford – Christian McCaffrey isn’t walking through the door for the Cardinal this year and they’ve already lost to a horrible Northwestern team, an overrated UCF team and a good Oregon team.
3. RANDOM COLLEGE FOOTBALL THOUGHTS
I’m not giving up on Georgia to potentially win a national title over the next few years under Kirby Smart, but I have some concerns that this year appears to be a wash barring a great finish. The team's quarterback situation looks iffy moving forward and Smart's coaching has once again come under scrutiny. The Bulldogs could be a team that recruits a ton of four- and five-stars and just never breaks through.
Ed Orgeron is for real and so is LSU. I was very impressed with what I saw Saturday night against Florida and this appears to be a very well-coached team. I might have been wrong about this hire.
Wow, Florida State, just wow. This team has been bad before, even under Bobby Bowden at the end, but I’ve never seen them this noncompetitive.
Wisconsin has been very impressive on both sides of the ball. But why do I feel the Badgers could still be drubbed 52-0 or something by Ohio State in the Big Ten title game? Is this a different Wisconsin team or are the Badgers just beating up on weak teams?
Oklahoma against Alabama would be epic and I might just put my money on Jalen Hurts if that happens. He wants to beat the Tide so bad and he’s earned the right.
I told you last week Minnesota should be ranked. This isn’t a team that will win the Big Ten, but it’s much better than people think.
Missouri has quietly become a legit threat in the SEC East and if you haven’t seen the Tigers play you should give them a look. I’ve been impressed.
Derek Stingley Jr. got picked on by Florida in that SEC clash and I kept thinking to myself “it’s not a good idea to pick on Stingley Jr.”. Right after that thought, he had the game-changing interception. It’s rare when you think that way about a freshman defender.
Oklahoma’s defense is so improved it’s scary and Kenneth Murray may well be one of the top three defenders in the country along with Chase Young from Ohio State and Derrick Brown from Auburn.