In this week's Twitter Tuesday mailbag, Rivals.com Southeast recruiting analyst Chad Simmons answers your questions about the top quarterbacks he's seen this spring, Georgia's chances at several top prospects, Michigan's 2019 class and more.
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I can’t speak for the college coaches, but everyone that has evaluated Jonathan Mingo knows he is an athlete who can make plays. I like him on offense at wide receiver. He runs crisp routes, has very good hands and has that sneaky speed. His speed has been questioned, but all I know is that he gets open and has great hands.
On his ranking. Mingo obviously impressed us at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas in Mobile as he left with the MVP award for wide receivers/tight ends. I have seen a good bit of Mingo over the last year and he is a prospect on the rise for me. He could be a prospect to monitor when the 2019 rankings are updated in a few weeks.
There are three 2019 signal callers in particular that will add offers in the coming months. Lets start with Justin Fomby, the QB MVP at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. I like his arm strength, he has a good frame and his stock is on the rise. I expect him to add offers in the summer and into the fall.
Austin Kirksey is another one. He is an athletic quarterback who will play in some big games this fall. He wasn’t 100 percent in the spring, so the fall will be big for him. He plays along side Rivals100 wide receiver Dominick Blaylock, so has a top target to throw to and he will add offers. Will they come over the summer? Will schools want to see Kirksey in the fall? The offers will come. He is a quarterback who has really improved as a passer over the last year and a half and he can run as well.
TQ Newsome is an entertaining athlete out of Mississippi who played quarterback in 2017 after lining up and making plays at running back as a sophomore. Southern Miss offered him this spring and others likely will follow in the coming months. The question is whether the offers will all be for quarterback. Teams want to see him throw, but we know he can run and make plays.
I will start with Travon Walker, since he is in one of my states. I have been covering him since he was a freshman, so I feel I have a pretty good read on him. Georgia is considered the favorite, but Clemson is one to watch. Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina and some others want to be at the top of Walker’s list, but Georgia is in a good place at this point for the Rivals100 defensive lineman.
With C.J. Clark and Tyrique Stevenson, both were back in Athens over the weekend. Clark has been a regular lately and the Dawgs may have some real momentum here. He has been open about Georgia being on top. North Carolina is in the thick of the race for Clark as well.
On Stevenson, he has spent a lot of time on the road the last few months. Auburn, Florida, Miami and Georgia have had him on campus. He was at Georgia with his mother over the weekend and the Bulldogs have put themselves in a spot to be in this until the end. Stevenson still looks to be a ways away from a decision. Georgia had some success in South Florida in 2018 with Tyson Campbell, Divaad Wilson and Nadab Joseph, so is there a new trend here? Georgia hopes so.
Michigan signed 30 prospects in 2017 and finished with the No. 4 recruiting class. After signing only 19 in 2018, they landed at No. 24. I see the Wolverines ending the 2019 cycle somewhere in the middle of those numbers.
As we near the end of May, Michigan sits at No. 9 in the Rivals.com Team Recruiting Rankings with 10 commitments. The Wolverines have one five-star and four four-stars on that list. They are involved with many other top prospects, like Zach Harrison, John Emery, Mazi Smith and Michael Fletcher.
The Early Signing Period is still several months away, so many prospects will have their eye on the Wolverines this season. In the end, I expect Michigan to finish with a higher-ranked class in 2019 than it had in 2018. Hard for me to say if you will feel it is a disappointment or not. Michigan has to focus on their needs and they are off to a good start this cycle.
In short answer, yes. Owen Pappoe is going to visit Athens again, likely multiple times, so this is not over yet. Pappoe said that himself the day he announced his commitment to Auburn. He has taken official visits to LSU, Penn State and Texas. He is not going to any of those schools, but if there is a school who can give Pappoe something to think about, it is Georgia. I feel his commitment is pretty strong at this time, but nothing will be final with Pappoe until he signs his letter of intent.
Alabama has as good, or likely better of a chance to flip Auburn commit George Pickens than anyone. He is set to take an official visit to Michigan and he has visited Florida State and Georgia, but I still like where Auburn is right now.
Pickens has gotten very close with Bo Nix, Auburn’s 2019 quarterback commit. We know Pickens will visit Tuscaloosa over the summer, then likely return in the fall. The biggest question is what took Alabama so long to offer. Pickens is clearly one of the top wideouts in the 2019 class, but it does not sound like the timing of the offer hurts their chances. He does have some close to him, including family members that are Alabama fans, but he will not be an easy pull from Auburn.
Yes, Jeremy Pruitt is a very good recruiter. At least he was an assistant coach. I expect him to be very active as a head coach and he knows what it takes to land top recruits.
How he is as a coach is how he is as a recruiter. He is relentless. He knows it takes a lot of effort on the recruiting trail and that is why he put the staff together that he did. That staff is full of good recruiters and Pruitt knows that is the lifeblood for any top program on the college level. I would definitely expect for Pruitt to be a very good recruiter as a head coach. His track record helps him too. He has coached a lot of top guys and helped them land big paychecks.
The one to watch is Nakobe Dean. The linebacker out of Horn Lake is one that will be in the discussion for sure. I saw him practice last week and was again, very impressed. He is a complete linebacker and very explosive. The only thing I would change with Dean is his length. If I could make him a little taller/longer, he would be about as close to perfect as any inside linebacker.
The state of Mississippi is as strong at the top as I have ever seen it in my 14 years. It has about 20 prospects who can make a fair case to be four-stars this cycle, so it is a very strong year, but when it comes to five-stars, Dean is the one that stands the closest at this time.
