Our weekly #TwitterTuesday file continues this week where you ask National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell your college football questions via social media. Here are four questions we chose, including Farrell’s take on future Gators starter Malik Zaire.
It’s good for the Gators, but he’s not the solution to their quarterback issues. Obviously, at best, Zaire is a stopgap to allow Feleipe Franks or someone else to get a year of development, but I am wondering if Zaire will stay healthy through a full SEC schedule. Zaire was injured at Notre Dame (ankle against Virginia) and he’ll be expected to do a bit of running around at Florida to extend plays against elite pass rushers. I liked Zaire out of high school and loved his character, but I didn’t like his long-term potential as much as some others did. Now many are saying he will be the missing piece for the Gators to win an SEC East title and I just don’t think it’s that simple.
I agree with you that it’s a given that Washington should win the Pac-12 North with Stanford as its biggest threat and I am going to say USC led by Sam Darnold will win the Pac-12 South, although this won’t be as easy as some might suspect.
USC has a ton of young talent, but it also lost some key playmakers especially on the offensive line, in the middle of the defensive line and of course at wide receiver and cornerback. But with Ronald Jones II, Deontay Burnett, Daniel Imatorbhebhe, Rasheem Green, Iman Marshall and others ready to take the next step, you can’t argue the talent level at USC. Colorado is expected to take a step back and Arizona State, Arizona and UCLA are coming off horrendous seasons, so I see it as a USC-Utah battle for the Pac-12 South title.
There are actually three with Justin Fields joining Trevor Lawrence and Emory Jones as a five-star in-state quarterback in the new rankings last week and some might argue it should be four with Kentucky verbal commitment Jarren Williams getting so much attention lately. But no, I don’t think their decisions have been affected by the five-star duo of Jacob Eason and Jake Fromm already on the roster.
Lawrence chose Clemson, the defending national champs, over Georgia despite five-star Hunter Johnson and four-star Chase Brice signing in 2016. And with Jones and Fields being dual threats, there was some concern whether they fit in what Georgia traditionally does under center. Williams committed to Kentucky and re-committed, so clearly his heart was there well before the Georgia offer arrived.
I just think this happens to be the best year in Rivals history at quarterback in the state of Georgia and factors beyond Eason and Fromm led the big three (or four) away from home. But as I wrote last week, I am not worried about UGA and the quarterback situation. I think it will land another elite one in 2019 or 2020. Harrison Bailey in 2020 is the one everyone seems to covet, but that class is deep with talent under center.
The early returns, in regards to on-field work and recruiting, for the new coaches at Tennessee have been good ones. I think Kevin Beard has been a great addition and a step up in recruiting for the Vols, and the new line coaches, especially Walt Wells, seem to be popular among recruits.
The additions and shifting have paid off greatly for Butch Jones at least in recruiting as this is a much better start to recruiting than 2017. Beard’s experience as a Miami player and coach is helpful, Brady Hoke we all know is a great recruiter as evidenced by his work at Michigan and Wells has been received very well by offensive linemen and also other position players. Adding these coaches to a fairly strong core led by Tommy Thigpen was a smart move.
These guys seem to bring additional energy and aggressiveness to recruiting and prospects have noticed that. As for the AD search, that’s not my area of expertise but I fully expect something good from Alvin Kamara if/when he scores his first touchdown with the Saints, likely in the passing game.
