Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney has three predictions on Deuce Knight’s final decision, quarterback upheaval in the coming weeks and some big Colorado visitors over the last few days.
MORE PREDICTIONS: Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, Ole Miss, Notre Dame
MORE GORNEY: Biggest weekend visits on tap
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1. DEUCE KNIGHT'S DECISION WILL BE THE BIGGEST DRAMA OF NSD.
Last week when Ole Miss beat Georgia in convincing fashion, two of the biggest visitors in Oxford were four-star Auburn quarterback commit Deuce Knight and four-star receiver Caleb Cunningham, who at that time was committed to Alabama. They are the top-two prospects in the Mississippi state rankings.
In the last couple days, Cunningham has flipped his commitment from Alabama to Ole Miss and the word I’ve gotten is that the Rebels will now make an even more concerted push to flip Knight, who has been a target for Ole Miss for months even when he was still committed to Notre Dame.
This is where things could get interesting.
Auburn is having a terrible season but there is a lot of young talent on the roster including at receiver – if they stay after this year as teams will surely try to poach them in the transfer portal. Knight would have the opportunity to come in right away and compete for early playing time on The Plains.
That might not necessarily be the case at Ole Miss where in a short window four-star lefty Austin Simmons looked great in place of Jaxson Dart last week. But the Rebels are rolling to the College Football Playoff, they have tons of talent and coach Lane Kiffin is one of the best play-callers in the game.
Cunningham’s choice to flip to Ole Miss makes Knight’s final decision even tougher. What looked like an Auburn lock is no longer especially after the four-star QB visited Oxford last weekend and then saw Cunningham go to the Rebels although Knight will be back at Auburn this weekend.
2. AT LEAST ONE MORE ELITE QB WILL FLIP PRIOR TO NATIONAL SIGNING DAY.
RELATED: With weeks to signing day, QB dominoes heating up
There is always a lot of movement right around signing day as prospects jockey for position, the coaching carousel obliterates recruiting classes and players hopscotch all around the country making their final choices.
Rarely do so many quarterbacks make late flips like this recruiting class and it’s likely not even close to over.
Things picked up Thursday morning when four-star quarterback Tramell Jones decommitted from Florida State and the expectation is that he ends up at Florida.
That means Florida State needs a quarterback and the Seminoles have targeted former Michigan pledge Carter Smith.
Five-star Bryce Underwood has to decide between sticking with LSU or flipping to Michigan. Five-star Julian Lewis has to decide whether he’s sticking with USC or flipping to Colorado or now Georgia where he’s visiting this weekend.
Deuce Knight is covered above. Cal commit Jaron Sagapolutele could stick with the Golden Bears or flip to Oregon, which is more than likely, and he’s also visiting Georgia. The Bulldogs are also making overtures toward Mississippi State pledge Kamario Taylor. Arizona commit Robert McDaniel is looking at a handful of programs.
The list goes on and on. Maybe one or two quarterbacks make late decisions. This year, quarterback recruiting is off the rails and so much more is yet to come.
3. COLORADO WILL LAND AT LEAST ON OF THE IMG PROSPECTS VISITING COLORADO THIS WEEKEND.
At least three major prospects at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy have been visiting Colorado over the last few days and one will be there this weekend – and it’s not just for getting in front of coach Deion Sanders or taking a trip.
Five-star linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng has been on campus and on Wednesday it became clear that Notre Dame and he parted ways, as Michigan has become the presumed front-runner in his recruitment. But Colorado is definitely making a serious move in his recruitment and with the Buffaloes playing so well this season it could be something to watch.
Four-star defensive end London Merritt has been committed to Ohio State since March but he’s also been in Boulder. And the biggest one – literally – is high four-star Alabama offensive line commit Michael Carroll.
After talking to a source, there is legitimate interest in Colorado (Carroll is not just taking a free trip to Boulder) but the Crimson Tide remain very strong in his recruitment. If Sanders could convince Carroll to flip then that would be huge but it would also be a surprise.
Either way, Colorado is taking steps that just were not possible under former regimes. Sanders is getting elite players to consider the Buffs. It wouldn’t be totally shocking to see one – if not more – of these three end up with the Buffs.
