There are roughly four months until college football's early signing period starts, which means coaches are starting to put things into high gear to land their remaining targets.
It has been an unusual cycle for recruits in the Class of 2022, but they were able to take visits in June and are not currently restricted to take visits this season. The in-season visits will likely help shape where the remaining uncommitted prospects go and when they make their decisions.
There are currently more ESPN 300 prospects uncommitted than we've seen in the past, which means we are in for a wild race to December.
Here is a look at where things stand in the 2022 cycle, how many ESPN 300 prospects are still uncommitted, the current classes sitting at the top, the teams that can make a big move up the rankings and how name, image and likeness is impacting recruiting.
ESPN 300 commitments
As of right now, 218 of the ESPN 300 prospects have made their commitments. It's difficult to compare any numbers or stats to the last recruiting cycle because the COVID-19 pandemic and visit restrictions impacted the 2021 class differently than it has for this 2022 class.
Many 2021 recruits were able to take visits before restrictions were in place, whereas 2022 prospects weren't able to take visits during the NCAA's dead period, which spanned from March 2020 to May 2021. Some prospects are now catching up and continuing to wait out the process to take visits during the season.
When the NCAA lifted its dead period and allowed recruits to take visits from June 1 through June 27, a lot of coaches thought they would see a large number of prospects commit. While some did end up deciding, several elite-level prospects decided to wait to take more visits.
On Aug. 20, 2020, there were 63 uncommitted ESPN 300 prospects, including three ranked as five-stars, in the 2021 class. For the 2022 class, there are 82 uncommitted ESPN 300 recruits, including nine of the 13 five-stars still uncommitted. That includes No. 1-ranked defensive tackle Walter Nolen, Shemar Stewart, the No. 2 prospect, and defensive tackle Gabe Brownlow-Dindy, the No. 5 overall recruit.
Top classes
Notre Dame currently leads the way with 14 ESPN 300 commitments, which is the most of any FBS program, followed by Penn State (12), Oregon (11), Alabama, LSU and Texas (10 each), and Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State all holding on to nine.
Notre Dame hiring defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman in the offseason has had an immediate impact on recruiting, as the top two recruits in the class are linebackers. Jaylen Sneed is the highest-ranked commitment at No. 49 overall, with Niuafe Tuihalamaka, the No. 96 prospect, as the second-highest ranked commit.
Penn State currently has the No. 1 recruiting class in the 2022 cycle, a year after finishing outside the top 25. The Nittany Lions have five top-100 commitments, led by wide receiver Kaden Saunders, ranked No. 28, and quarterback Drew Allar, the No. 40 prospect in the class.
The staff has a little more stability and has had more time to build relationships after turnover the past few seasons. New offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich has sold a vision for offensive prospects that is already paying off with six ESPN 300 offensive commitments, including running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
But with so many uncommitted prospects, there are still plenty of opportunities for many schools to move up. Of the top 50 recruits this cycle, 33 are committed. Alabama has the most top-50 commitments of any program with six, meaning 60% of its ESPN 300 commitments are ranked in the top 50. Compare that with Notre Dame, which has the most ESPN 300 commitments, but only has one ranked in the top 50 (i.e. 7%).
Florida State and Georgia have the second-most top-50 commitments with three each, while Texas A&M, North Carolina, LSU and Penn State each have two.
Teams that could move up the rankings
Right now, the Buckeyes have the No. 4 class, falling from No. 1 because the previous No. 1-ranked prospect, quarterback Quinn Ewers, reclassified from the 2022 class to 2021. The Buckeyes are working to get back to the top-ranked class and still have quite a few targets that could keep them in the driver's seat.
Ohio State is still in it with ESPN 300 recruits Enai White, ranked No. 41 overall, offensive lineman Aamil Wagner, safety Xavier Nwankpa, as well as defensive linemen Shemar Stewart and Omari Abor (whom we will dive more into below).
The Buckeyes have more targets than listed above, but that shows that there are still plenty left for Ohio State to climb back to the top.
Penn State, Notre Dame and Alabama are all ahead of Ohio State, while Oregon, LSU, Georgia, Florida State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma round out the top 10 of the class rankings.
With only four months until the early signing period and 82 uncommitted ESPN 300 recruits, these rankings are likely going to change quite a bit in the next few months.
Alabama is lurking at No. 3, and the Crimson Tide are always a class to watch to move up in the rankings. Alabama is still in on five-star receiver Evan Stewart, five-star offensive linemen Devon Campbell and Zach Rice, five-star receiver Shazz Preston, ESPN 300 linebacker Cyrus Moss and a handful of other top prospects who could alter this class for Alabama greatly.
Georgia sitting at No. 10 is another school to watch, as well as Texas A&M, as the Dawgs and Aggies still have a ton of targets on the board that could elevate their class ranking.
Which schools are the top prospects considering?
Nolen recently listed his top three as Georgia, Texas A&M and Tennessee. Landing the No. 1 prospect would obviously make a big impact for each school, as Nolen is a 6-foot-4, 325-pound defensive tackle, sought after by most programs. He is versatile in that he can stop the run and also get after the quarterback and should be able to make an immediate impact no matter where he goes.
The Dawgs and Aggies are also both in the running for the No. 2 prospect, in Shemar Stewart, whose top group also includes Ohio State, Miami and Clemson.
Five-star defensive tackle Brownlow-Dindy has a top two of Texas A&M and Oklahoma. The Aggies are in on wide receiver Evan Stewart and Abor, an ESPN 300 defensive end who narrowed his list down to Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Texas and Texas A&M.
Georgia is now heavily involved in ESPN 300 wide receiver Luther Burden's recruitment. Burden, the No. 11 prospect overall and No. 2 wide receiver, recently decommitted from Oklahoma. Given the injury luck Georgia has had at receiver, the staff could use all the depth it can take, and Burden would be an immediate impact type prospect in the offense.
Kirby Smart and his staff are also very involved with ESPN 300 safety Kamari Wilson, the No. 22 prospect overall and the No. 1 safety in the class. They're also in on ESPN 300 cornerback Jaheim Singletary, the No. 14 prospect and the No. 3 corner in the class, who recently decommitted from Ohio State and is also considering Florida and Alabama, among others.
Just off this list alone, that's five recruits ranked in the top 22 that are considering Georgia. It isn't a stretch to think the staff hits on quite a few of its targets, so Georgia could be the class to watch to see how the coaches close down the stretch over the next four months.
Name, image and likeness: the new arms race
When Shemar Stewart released his top five, he also launched a website that is in its infancy right now with basic information and contact info. The purpose of the website, however, is for the future and what is about to come Stewart's way in college with name, image and likeness opportunities.
"I want people to be able to follow my journey as far as it goes, God willing to the league," Stewart said. "And I owe it to all my supporters to be able to go to a place where they can just read to get to know me or see different pictures or videos of me without having to read blogs and other comments. Also, with name, image and likeness, I wanted to start building my brand more on and off the field."
Building brands and opportunities that are presented at different schools are becoming more and more of the conversation within recruiting.
We have seen arms races with helmets, alternate jerseys, shoe contracts and facilities; now, opportunities for marketing, branding and NIL deals for the players will be a factor. While the NCAA didn't intend for NIL rules to be specifically used as a recruiting tool, it didn't come out with any steadfast, universal rules for how each school should approach NIL.
Because of the lack of guidance, coaching staffs and athletic departments are putting in time, money and resources into partnering with agencies, providing blueprints for success in marketing the players, having alumni offer guaranteed NIL contracts for each player and more.
This also leaks into recruiting, and we have already started to see high school players seek out opportunities for themselves.
Ewers reclassified and enrolled early at Ohio State, partially to take advantage of NIL deals. He signed a three-year, $1.4 million deal with GT Sports Marketing on Tuesday and is his third NIL deal, along with Holy Kombucha and Ricart Automotive. The state of Texas has a law prohibiting high school athletes from engaging in those types of deals, so Ewers had to leave Texas high school if he wanted to take on that contract.
Texas, Illinois and Mississippi are the only states with state laws prohibiting NIL contracts for high school athletes, so prospects in the other 47 states will have rules and guidelines provided by their high school associations.
No. 1 prospect in 2023 releases top list
Lebbeus Overton is the No. 1-ranked prospect in the Class of 2023. The 6-foot-3, 265-pound defensive end listed 11 schools: Ohio State, USC, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Tennessee and North Carolina.