College Football Recruiting Special - Part I
by Matt Carroll

Signing Day is one of the most exciting days of the year for any College Football fan, especially those that know that next year always begins on January 2nd (or thanks to the BCS, January 9th). This day signifies the end of the College Football recruiting period. All of the letters, the calls, the e-mails, the text messages, the official visits, the unofficial visits, the coaches visits, the in-house visits, the coach-to-coach visits, all end on this day. It can be a lot to handle for a kid when he's only 16 or 17 years old.

Perfect evidence of this is Safety recruit Jerimy Finch. Finch committed to the University of Michigan on May 11, 2006. His committment was solid for 7 months until he decided to take an official visit on January 12, 2007 to Indiana University, his home state school. On January 14, he announced that he was de-committing from Michigan, and committing to Indiana. Two weeks later he announced that he was 50-50 between Michigan and Indiana. So yesterday he decided that he would attend ... The University of Florida.

This brings me to my one caveat: Recruiting is an imperfect science, for many reasons. There are a variety of factors that go into establishing who are the top recruits. Their size, their athleticism, their speed, their injury status, their HS performance and their HS pedigree. But the one thing that it is all based on is potential. These are the players that have the raw talent to become the best of the best, both in College Football and beyond.

But it takes hard work and great coaching to develop these student-athletes into the players that they are expected to become. Unlike College Basketball, the top College Football recruits are not always expected to make immediate impacts, especially in the case of top-tier programs. Oftentimes the top recruits for one recruiting class are not heard of until their Sophomore and Junior years of eligibility. With that in mind, I present the top 5 players whose names will be known by the end of their college careers (and in some cases, by this fall):



1) DE Everson Griffen - Avondale, AZ - Committed to USC:
This kid has the talent to play right away for USC, and that is saying a lot when you look at the talent on USC's defensive line. He already has the perfect build at 6'4", 265 pounds. Oh, and he can run the 40 in 4.55 seconds. He has incredible speed and agility coming off the edge and has more than enough power to disrupt the backfield as soon as he gets there. He was nicknamed "The Freak" when he attended the 2005 summer camp at The University of Arizona. He played against the best of the best in high school football in the Army All-American game last month, where he consistently rushed the backfield and forced the play to one side of the field.


2) DT Marvin Austin - Washington, D.C. - Committed to UNC:
This player is the Signing Day highlight among a few extremely talented players for new Head Coach Butch Davis. He already has the size at 6'3", 300 pounds. This kid had 30+ offers around the country. Name a big-time program and this kid had an offer from them. He has the power and athleticism to dominate the middle of the line and will start immediately for the Tar Heels. The fun thing about this student-athlete is his personality. Not only does he look and play similar to Warren Sapp, he acts (and jokes) like him, too.


3) QB Ryan Mallett - Texarkana, TX -
Committed to Michigan:
It is impossible to look at Mallett and not notice his presence. He is over 6'6" and reportedly weighs between 225 and 240 pounds. He has a rocket of an arm, both in terms of distance and velocity. Add his phenomenal accuracy to those attributes and this student-athlete should be fearsome in years to come. He has played against some of the top HS talent in the state of Texas, so he is game ready. Another positive is his natural leadership skills.


4) WR Arrelious Benn - Washington, D.C. - Committed to Illinois:
Ron Zook has proven once again that he is a master recruiter. Benn is a fantastic WR that has great size and body control. He will become an immediate impact player for the Fighting Illini, and QB Juice Williams has to love that. He has fantastic moves once the ball in his hand which enables him to get a lot of YAC.




5) CB Eric Berry - Fairburn, GA -
Committed to Tennessee:
Speed, speed, speed. Eric Berry has been clocked at a 4.35 second 40-yard dash. He has incredible speed, burst, and agility which should make him a fantastic CB at the college level. It would not be surprising to see him return kicks and play some WR as well. He is the kind of player that could have an immediate impact at Tennessee and he has the versatility to be used in a variety of ways on the field.


Noteworthy player to watch out for:

RB Noel Devine - North Fort Myers, FL:

This player has just as much speed as Berry, plus the moves to go along with it. He had a very long kick return in the Army All-American game. Devine is uncommitted right now because it is still TBD whether or not he will be academically qualified to play next season. He may have to play a year of prep school to qualify, but if he is able to do so this semester there is a lot of interest in him from West Virginia and Florida State. If he is able to attend school next year, he would be a great fit in the West Virginia offense and could very well be the next Steve Slaton.

In Part II I will give a capsule of the top 5 recruiting classes of the year, and also highlight some of the surprises that came about during the recruiting season.

All images are credited to Scout.com.