On Wednesday, National Signing Day, the early signing period for the 2023 college football recruiting cycle began. We witnessed the rich getting richer throughout the day, as well as teams sprinting to the finish line with strong finishes while teams with high hopes failing to finish.
In the end, a surprising newcomer rises to prominence as a talking point in addition to some familiar faces at the top of the heap. In the new world where NIL reigns supreme, the college football recruiting landscape is rapidly changing. As a result, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see some new power players step up in the game over the next few cycles.
Having said that, now that National Signing Day 2022 has come to an end in mid-December, let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers.
Winners
Alabama: The world is in perfect order. Six impressive five-star prospects from the industry-generated 247Sports Composite Rankings put the Crimson Tide back on top of the recruiting rankings. One three-star recruit joins the group out of the total 27 recruits landed: 26 are rated four stars or higher. They clung to the No. 1 player, Caleb Downs. the nation’s No. 1 safety, landing the Keon Keeley, the nation’s No. 1 EDGE, flipped the No. Kadyn Proctor, a nationally ranked offensive tackle from Iowa,
Georgia: The No. 1 group in the nation and it are immovably dug in as the No to rule public heroes. 2 group in the rankings. The Bulldogs flipped running back Kyron Jones from NC State to balance their class, however the large news was bringing in edge rusher Damon Wilson out of Florida, a player for whom Ohio State was believed to be the most loved yet the Dawgs’ late push kept him in the Southeast.
Oregon: Eugene was saddened by the loss of Dante Moore, a top quarterback prospect, early in the week. However, Dan Lanning was not one of them as the second-year Ducks coach brought in five-star EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei and five-star safety Peyton Bowen from Notre Dame in a trade. But Bowen wasn’t the only Irish commit to switch to Oregon; Lanning also got Irish running back pledge Jayden Limar at the end of the day. He also switched Baylor quarterback Austin Novosad and LSU cornerback Daylen Austin, both of whom have committed to the Tigers. Eugene is no longer depressed at this point.
Auburn: When it comes to flips, Hugh Freeze’s first Auburn class included two of its own: the Tigers acquired Top100 EDGE Keldric Faulk from Florida State and Top247 cornerback Kayin Lee from Ohio State. All of this took place just one day after Auburn won the No. 4 Izavion Miller, an offensive tackle for a junior college. Under Bryan Harsin, Auburn had no recruiting momentum, but Freeze appears to be making a difference on the Plains.
Texas: Keonilei Akana, a Louisville ace who helped the Longhorns win the NCAA volleyball championship on Saturday night, served match point for the Texas women’s volleyball team. Tausili Akana, her younger brother and the No. With a commitment from the No. 1 prospect in Utah, the Horns received yet another prize: 35 prospects in total. At the start of the day, Oklahoma had Akana ahead of them, but defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski never gave up trying to get Akana, who had the most beautiful backdrop of any recruit when he announced in his home state of Hawaii. Most importantly, however, the No. 1 overall pick signed a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday for Texas. 1 enroll in the nation, Curve Monitoring, giving Steve Sarkisian his crown-gem select over the course of his time in Austin to this point.
UCLA: The Bruins didn’t sign anyone on Wednesday who changed the game, which is fine because Chip Kelly’s recruiting strategy had already been altered when Dante Moore left Oregon earlier this week. He’s the most noteworthy evaluated hostile commit in the cutting edge selecting period for UCLA, the most elevated evaluated enroll Kelly has at any point landed and may have the most obvious opportunity with regards to any 2023 quarterback underwriter to begin as a genuine rookie. UCLA’s acquisition of the Midwest’s No. Prior to the program’s move to the Big Ten, one player was significant.
Losers
Notre Dame: In the grand scheme of things, the Irish are not necessarily losers, but they did have a forgettable signing day. It looked enjoyed they might clutch Bowen, who at last turned out to be flipped by Oregon. Things deteriorated when the Ducks likewise flipped Limar. Even though this class was good for most of the year, the Bowen loss hurts especially.
Oklahoma: The Sooners hoped to benefit from Bowen, which is related to losses. Instead, they watched as Bowen chose Oregon and Oklahoma was not even on the table. Even worse, they were thought to be Akana’s leaders, but Akana chose Texas, a rival Red River state, over the Sooners.
USC: In this class, the Trojans have the third-most five-stars. The issue is that they all committed to USC in December 2021. Today? Longtime local target Uiagalelei, who chose Oregon, was not available. That was a major misfortune for a group that necessities help on protection and was searching for the ideal swap for Pac-12 Guarded Player of the Year Tuli Tuipulotu.