Editor’s note: This article first appeared on Rivals.com, the leader in college football and basketball recruiting coverage. Be the first to know and follow your teams by signing up here.
Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney has thoughts on the quarterback watch as signing day approaches, five prospects who could become five-stars in the next rankings and the case to be made for them Florida to keep the controversial coach Billy Napier.
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1. QUARTERBACK WATCH WITH SIGNING DAY CLOSES
Michigan is desperate for a solution to his quarterback problem and five-star Bryce Underwood lives about 30 minutes away in Belleville, Michigan.
Five-star quarterback Julian Lewis has committed to it USC for more than a year, but the high in Carrollton, Georgia, was back Colorado this weekend for another visit.
The quarterback dominoes really took center stage recently when they were four-stars Deuce Knight of turned Notre Dame Unpleasant Chestnut brownSo Blake Hebert of turned Clemson to Notre Dame and now it appears Clemson is going through a number of names to potentially land a quarterback in this class as well.
With less than six weeks until National Signing Day, there could still be a tremendous amount of movement at the quarterback position, though there’s always the looming naivete that there won’t be any changes at that position.
So much can still happen. What is the future of the 73 year old Mack Brown bee North Carolina and would that affect four-star? Bryce Baker in the closing weeks? Duke committed Then Mahan remains locked up with the Blue Devils, but Penn State has shown a lot of interest.
Cal four-star commitment Jaron Sagapolutele is visiting Oregon this weekend and Georgia is pushing for a trip and the Ducks now look like a really serious contender. Arizona connect Robert McDaniel just offered by Florida late Thursday.
Coaching changes, coordinator changes, position coaching changes and then the quarterback dominoes can still fall. It should be an interesting month.
2. FIVE THAT COULD BE FIVE-STARS
There are currently 25 five-stars in the Rivals250 and we will do our best to get that number to 32, reflecting the first round of the NFL Draft. There’s a good chance that at least one of them will lose their five-star status when we publish a new ranking next month, so there’s still plenty of room to add players. Here are five that I watch during the all-star events:
Caleb Cunningham: There are only two five-star receivers in the class of 2025 and that feels low, so Cunningham will be in the conversation. There is still some refinement that the Ackerman (Miss.) Choctaw County standout needs to polish up, but Cunningham is a crazy athlete, has great hands and has produced. I just wish he got more attention against the elite competition to compare apples to apples.
Dijon Lee Jr.: State of Ohio commits Devin Sanchez And Na’iem Offord are the two five-star cornerbacks, but Lee is almost a carbon copy of those two and is perhaps the most natural athlete of the group. Lee has length, passing ability, coverage ability, speed and he is such a fluid playmaker on both sides of the ball that he cannot be ignored.
Nathaniel Marshall: Watching him on tape, I don’t necessarily believe the Auburn commit is 6-foot-4, but he’s pretty close and he covers the entire field to make plays. Defensive end is also a primo position in the NFL Draft and right now there are only two total. Marshall has size, height, slimness and he can move. He’s another one I wish would come around Rivals five star however, as planned to see what he could do against elite players.
Michael Caroll: After watching Carroll’s senior film at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, it is clear to me that the Alabama commit has all the tools to be a future first round pick. He always had impressive size, but now he has added a physical strength that is perhaps unrivaled in this class. He crushes people and does it with pleasure. There can’t possibly be five more gifted offensive tackles to follow.
Alvin Henderson: At what point can we ignore Henderson’s stats throughout his high school career and just not take the chance that he has first-round NFL potential? I despise making ranking decisions based on stats alone, but Henderson has now rushed for over 2,400 yards with 42 touchdowns this season, averaging over 13 yards per carry. Last year, the Auburn commit had over 3,500 yards rushing with 61 touchdowns. Yes, he’s doing it against the competition in Elba, Alabama, but maybe he’s just really good. And even though he didn’t participate in the Rivals five star this summer there is a bit Bijan Robinson look at him physically.
3. THE CASE OF KEEPING BILLY NAPIER
© Matt Pendleton-Imagn images
Under no circumstances, did the Florida coach Billy Napier did a great job in Gainesville.
He is 15-17 overall. He has won eight of 20 SEC games. He’s had two losing seasons Then Mullen‘s final season makes three in a row for the first time since the late 1940s. When it comes to winning, Napier has been a colossal failure in every sense.
Even the start of this season hasn’t been great, as Napier hyped up the Florida team all offseason just to see Miami embarrass the Gators in The Swamp. But after losing Texas A&M on September 14 (and when they were told that Napier was essentially a dead man walking until the powers that be could work out the buyout details), the Gators actually looked… good.
Florida didn’t look phenomenal in his beating The state of Mississippi but won by 17. The Gators were exhausted UCF and won. The Tennessee the loss went to overtime in a game Florida should have won in Knoxville. And last week they struck Kentucky in perhaps the best performance of the entire year.
Here’s the tricky part: the rest of the schedule is brutal. Georgia followed by Texasfollowed by LSUfollowed by Ole ma’am and then the State of Florida rivalry to rule things out.
Even if Florida loses — with the exception of Florida State because the Seminoles are embarrassingly bad right now — the decision makers should consider keeping Napier.
The alternative may be scarier: potentially losing a five-star quarterback DJ Lawaywho has shown signs that he could be special. Surprise standout running back Jadan Baugh could hit the portal. What would Eugene Wilson Doing?
And how would the star receiver commit to it Vernell Brown And Naeshaun Montgomery Doing?
Maybe this is all for nothing. Maybe the fan base is just so tired of losing and the power brokers in Florida are done with Napier anyway. I couldn’t blame them.
But there have been some green shoots for Napier and the program to build on. Napier had to get rid of a weak selection in the first two years. Things have been looking better lately. Give Napier more time to get this back on track.
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