Rivals rankings director and national transfer portal analyst Adam Friedman has a trio of predictions about the top-ranked defensive prospect and the best recruiting classes on the offensive and defensive lines.
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1. Georgia will sign the top defensive line class in the 2025 cycle.
The Bulldogs are primed for a strong finish to the 2025 recruiting class and many of their top remaining targets are defensive linemen. Georgia already holds commitments from five-star Elijah Griffin, top-100 prospect Isaiah Gibson, Rivals250 prospect Darren Ikinnagbon and a couple of three-stars.
The only other program with commitments from multiple defensive linemen in the top 100 is Ohio State. As it stands right now, the Buckeyes have the best class of defensive linemen but the Bulldogs have the inside track for five-star Justus Terry and four-star Chase Linton.
Yes, Ohio State, Texas and Auburn appear to be pushing for a big finish on the defensive line but Georgia will do enough to claim the No. 1 defensive line class of the 2025 cycle.
2. The 2025 Alabama offensive line class will be the best of the year.
Not exactly going out on a limb here but it’s worth pointing it out. Austin Pay is the lone uncommitted four-star offensive lineman. There are some potential flip candidates but not many who could impact Alabama’s claim to the No. 1 offensive line class in this cycle.
The Crimson Tide hold commitments from five four-star offensive linemen, but four are in the Rivals250 and two are in the top 100. Michael Carroll and Ty Haywood, Alabama’s two top-100 offensive line commits, are both borderline five-stars and Rivals250 commit Jackson Lloyd is a potential riser in the next rankings update.
Georgia, Oregon and possibly LSU are the most likely candidates to overtake Alabama here but it’s likely that the Crimson Tide finish with the top-ranked offensive line class of the 2025 cycle.
3. The top defensive prospect in the class will be someone other than Jahkeem Stewart.
Jahkeem Stewart's reclassification to the 2025 class was punctuated by his placement at No. 4 in the Rivals250. The incredibly talented defensive lineman from Louisiana is set to enroll in college for the spring semester but he has not played much football at the high school level. We've seen him dominate on the camp circuit over and over again but it's no substitute for live action. What to do with Stewart in the final two rankings updates is one of the biggest questions of this rankings cycle.
Defensive linemen Justus Terry and Elijah Griffin are elite prospects in their own right and they have the measurables to hold up in comparison with Stewart. On top of that, Griffin and Terry have dominated year in and year out on the field and, unlike Stewart, neither Terry nor Griffin have participated in the offseason camp circuit. Based on what we've seen from the two of them, I'd be willing to bet that Stewart does not finish the 2025 rankings cycle as the top defensive prospect in the Rivals250.
