UA All-America Game: Five biggest questions
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The practices leading up to the Under Armour All-America Game are over and all that's left for the players to do is rest up for Sunday's game. The performances from practices answered a lot of questions but there are still issues up for debate.
Here are the five biggest questions we're hoping the game will answer.
MORE UA ALL-AMERICA: Travis Hunter goes in-depth on shocking decision | Five things we've learned | Friday's top performers | Midweek progress report | Thursday's awards | Stock rising | Takeaways from opening practice | Latest on Under Armour All-America standouts | Video of skill players' 1-on-1s | Video of OL vs. DL | Domani Jackson feature | Javontae Barnes discusses finalists | Mathews breaks down top schools
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CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State | JUCO
CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
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1. Which teams will add to their recruiting class?
Nearly all of the players here in Orlando are already signed but three players are announcing their commitments during Sunday's game. Five-star Harold Perkins is the headliner and his recruitment looks like a three team race. Texas A&M is the favorite but Perkins says he isn't going to sign until the February signing period so they're going to have to hold off teams like Texas and LSU. Florida is a team to watch as well. He is supposed to take a visit to Gainesville later this month.
Jovantae Barnes is deciding between Oklahoma, USC and Florida State. The Rivals250 running back from Las Vegas has great relationships at all three schools but DeMarco Murray at Oklahoma could have given the Sooners the inside track. USC head coach Lincoln Riley's offense is very attractive and the opportunity for playing at Florida State has caught his eye.
Ohio State has been the leader for Omari Abor for a long time but Texas is making this interesting. The Texas native says he isn't signing until February so he'll likely take visits this month. Larry Johnson has had a major influence on Abor throughout his recruitment but the Longhorns and all the transfers they've been getting have caught the defensive end's eye.
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2. Can Travis Hunter solidify No. 1?
Travis Hunter is a phenomenal talent that could be a five-star on either side of the ball and he was dominant this past season but he hasn't had much success this week. He has bounced back and forth between cornerback and receiver, and the quarterbacks have targeted him a handful of times but there hasn't been any notable results.
Meanwhile, No. 2 overall prospect Walter Nolen has been a man on a mission this week. The Aggies signee has been dominating in one-on-one and in team drills and could have a case to move up if he continues to destroy the competition.
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3. Will the Texas A&M commits show they are building toward the CFB Playoff?
There are more future Aggies on the roster than any other school and many of them have been playing well but the standards at Texas A&M are high. Jimbo Fisher and his squad are shooting for a national championship, Texas A&M's first since World War II, and they're hoping this recruiting class can push them into the upper echelon of the College Football universe.
Walter Nolen, Evan Stewart and Denver Harris are the three five-stars they have in this No. 1 recruiting class and they could have at least one more when all is said and done. Sunday's game should be a good look into the future of the SEC West program.
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4. Is there another five-star WR?
Luther Burden (Missouri), Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) and Evan Stewart (Texas A&M) are the three five-star receivers in this class so far and there could be another name joining this group. Shazz Preston (Alabama) has been very good this week and has the skill set to be a dominant receiver at the next level. He isn't a huge receiver but has good size and consistently gets open against elite defensive backs.
Chris Marshall (Texas A&M) has made a number of highlight reel catches throughout the week and his size/speed combination has been tough for defensive backs to handle. Aaron Anderson (Alabama) has only practiced twice this week but he was unstoppable when he was on the field. He is fairly short but he is so fast and caught everything thrown his way that wasn't completely overthrown.
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5. What are we going to learn about the running backs and linebackers?
The structure of the practices this week made it really hard for the running backs and linebackers to showcase their skills and the two groups are really talented. Five-stars CJ Hicks and Harold Perkins along with Rivals250 prospect Jihaad Campbell have flashed at times but Shawn Murphy, Jaylen Sneed, Dasan McCullough and Jalon Walker, all Rivals100 prospects, haven't been able to really show much.
There are other linebackers that are highly rated here too but they haven't been able to show off much of anything notable yet.
The running backs group is stacked too but hasn't really participated in one-on-ones much and the team drills aren't at full speed.
Branson Robinson is here and is one of two five-star running backs in this class and he looks like he's in great shape physically. Jovantae Barnes, George Pettaway and Emmanuel Henderson have been going through drills but their full speed action has been limited.
Kaytron Allen hasn't participated in more than two practices and the only practice Le'Veon Moss suited up for was Saturday's walk-through. The game is really the only opportunity these players will have to impress before heading home or off to college.