College football's 2022 recruiting cycle is starting to gear up for the early signing period in December. As it stands, 228 ESPN 300 prospects have made a commitment, leaving the microscope on the remaining 72 top recruits.
Breaking down those numbers further: six of the 15 five-star prospects have made a commitment, as have 13 of the top-25 prospects, 34 of the top-50 and 65 of the top-100.
The highest-ranked commitment is corner Travis Hunter, the No. 2 recruit, who picked Florida State. Defensive end Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy, the No. 4 recruit, who committed to Oklahoma on Tuesday, is the next highest, followed by cornerback Domani Jackson, who chose USC, at No. 6 overall.
Alabama has two five-stars committed with offensive tackle Tyler Booker and defensive end Jeremiah Alexander, and the Crimson Tide also have the most top-100 commitments of any class with seven. Georgia is next with six, followed by Penn State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma, which each have five.
Below, we look at the important numbers, the key prospects and the broader recruiting landscape across the country.
Top uncommitted prospects
The opposite side of those numbers means that there are 35 top-100 recruits still uncommitted with only a few months until the early signing period.
With nine five-stars still uncommitted and 12 of the top 25, there are some big names still left for teams to add to their classes. Because there are so many highly ranked recruits uncommitted, the class rankings could change significantly throughout the next few weeks and into December.
The No. 1 prospect overall, Walter Nolen, is the top uncommitted recruit at this point. Nolen released a top three of Georgia, Tennessee and Texas A&M, but then took a visit to Michigan and said he has interest in Florida, as well.
He just recently took a visit to Texas A&M for the game against Alabama, and has not yet come out with a commitment date. With the Aggies ranked No. 9 in the class rankings, Michigan at 18, Florida at 17 and Tennessee at 31, his commitment could have a big impact on the future rankings.
Teams looking for defensive linemen like Nolen are in luck, because there are still nine top-100 players at the position who are uncommitted. Nolen leads the way, followed by Shemar Stewart, Omari Abor, Bear Alexander and Enai White, who are all within the top 50.
Wide receiver is another position group that still has a lot of talent on the board with three five-stars still uncommitted.
Luther Burden is the highest-ranked wide receiver at No. 8 overall. An Oklahoma decommit, he is considering Alabama, Georgia and Missouri. The other two five-star wideouts are Evan Stewart, who is considering Alabama, LSU, Florida, Texas and Texas A&M, among others, and Shazz Preston, who is considering Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Texas, among others.
There are 10 other uncommitted wide receivers throughout the ESPN 300, as well as two ESPN 300 tight ends.
Unfortunately, if a team is still looking for a high-end quarterback, there is only one in the ESPN 300 who is uncommitted. Of the 21 ESPN 300 signal-callers, Justyn Martin (No. 276) is the only one left after he decommitted from Cal. He has had interest from UCLA, Ole Miss and Michigan. There is a chance he ends up with the Bruins, but as of now he is still on the market.
Potential flips
In addition to the uncommitted recruits, we can always expect a few flips and decommitments as the early signing period draws closer.
There are a few recruits who have started to take visits or test the waters within this class.
The aforementioned Hunter, a 6-foot, five-star cornerback currently with Florida State, has had a lot of interest from other programs. He took a visit to Georgia and has heard quite a bit from the in-state Dawgs as he is from Suwanee, Georgia.
Several other Seminoles commits -- Aliou Bah, Sam McCall and Antavious Woody, to name a few -- are hearing from other schools as well. While Florida State helped its case by beating North Carolina this past weekend, it will be worth monitoring down the stretch to see if any of them flip.
The same goes for USC. After firing coach Clay Helton, the school doesn't have a permanent head coach and is losing time in this recruiting cycle. The Trojans are currently ranked No. 26 overall in the class rankings after finishing eighth in 2021. They currently have six ESPN 300 commits, but that number could change.
Quarterback commit Devin Brown has been taking visits as well, as has the Trojans' highest-ranked committed prospect, 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback Jackson out of Mater Dei High School.
Jackson's father, Randy, said his son will wait to see who the next coach is before making any decisions, but they are watching the situation closely.
Jackson took a visit to Michigan and has been recruited by his friend and fellow corner, William Johnson, who is currently committed to the Wolverines. The similarities between Jackson and Hunter are coincidental, but aplenty.
Top classes
The top-ranked class in the country right now belongs to Penn State with 12 ESPN 300 commitments. The Nittany Lions staff signed four ESPN 300 recruits in the 2021 class, so this turnaround in one year has been remarkable.
From top to bottom, it's a well-rounded class, but what sticks out the most is the offensive talent coming. The class is led by Kaden Saunders, the No. 5 receiver in the class, and one of two ESPN 300 wide receivers with Anthony Ivey.
Quarterback Drew Allar is next in line, ranked No. 40 overall. Allar became a highly sought-after quarterback in this class but chose Penn State over other national offers. He is joined by four-star quarterback Beau Pribula, the No. 9 dual-threat quarterback.
The staff also has running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, along with tight end Jerry Cross, a 6-foot-6, 220-pounder from Wisconsin.
Alabama is lurking at No. 2 in the rankings, with 12 ESPN 300 commitments including the two five-stars. The staff has eight commitments ranked in the top five of their respective positions.
That includes the Booker, Alexander, No. 1 running back Emmanuel Henderson, No. 1 inside linebacker Shawn Murphy, No. 1 tight end Jaleel Skinner and No. 2 dual-threat quarterback Ty Simpson.
Alabama has quite a few big-name targets still on the board, though, and could easily take over the No. 1 spot if all goes as planned for the Crimson Tide.
Sitting behind Alabama at No. 3 is Notre Dame, with 14 ESPN 300 commitments. New defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman has made a big impact in his first season, and four of the top six Notre Dame commits are on the defensive side. Linebackers Jaylen Sneed and Niuafe Tuihalamaka are the highest-ranked, followed by defensive end Tyson Ford and linebacker Joshua Burnham.
After Notre Dame, Texas is at No. 4 with 13 ESPN 300 commitments. Oregon rounds out the top five with 12 ESPN 300 commitments.
Georgia is at No. 6, but similar to Alabama, could very easily move up in these next few weeks with big targets still remaining, and Ohio State is ranked seventh.
Teams that need to pick it up
It's unusual to see Florida ranked so low in the class rankings at this point in the recruiting cycle, currently sitting at No. 17.
The Gators have six ESPN 300 commitments, which is half of what Alabama has, four fewer than LSU, three less than Georgia and two fewer than Texas A&M.
If all of them close strong and Florida isn't able to keep pace, that gap will only widen. The Gators could make up ground by landing the top-ranked Nolen, but that might be too big of a task.
Ole Miss is currently ranked No. 40 overall with only two ESPN 300 commitments in the class. Lane Kiffin's Rebels are 4-1 and ranked No. 13 in the AP poll, but that hasn't transferred yet into recruiting this cycle.
A big part of sustaining success is continuously bringing in talent to replenish the roster, so if the Rebels pick it up, this could go a long way.
Defensive tackle Zxavian Harris and corner Nick Cull are the team's highest-ranked recruits in the class at 182 and 300, respectively, in the player rankings. That is coming off of a class in which the staff had seven ESPN 300 commits sign in 2021, including defensive tackle Tywone Malone, who was ranked No. 45 overall.