Rival Views: Most impressive class outside the top 10?
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney don’t always see eye to eye. In this edition of Rival Views, the two debate which recruiting class ranked outside of the top 10 is the most impressive.
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FARRELL'S VIEW: AUBURN
I really like the Auburn class and think it will go a long way toward keeping the Tigers in the hunt for the SEC West down the line.
Gus Malzahn's staff added a marquee quarterback who fits their offense perfectly in Joey Gatewood, an elite running back in Asa Martin and some speed and size at wide receiver. The Tigers didn’t target the offensive line that much but I like Jalil Irvin as an early impact guy.
Defensively this is a really strong class led by the defensive linemen and defensive backs. The linebackers are also very quick and cover a ton of ground. I like the fact that many of these prospects can play multiple positions.
Alabama gets all the attention in state and Georgia is the darling of the recruiting world, but this is the third-ranked class in the SEC, and a very good and deep one at that.
Notre Dame, Washington, South Carolina and Virginia Tech are others that come to mind for me but I’ll go with Auburn.
GORNEY'S VIEW: FLORIDA
By average star ranking, Florida's class is ranked seventh nationally so I'm not sure the Gators are getting the respect they deserve. Dan Mullen definitely isn't getting the credit he deserves on piecing together an excellent class during a transition period.
Fourteen of 18 signees are ranked as four-stars although the Gators did miss on five-star offensive tackle Nick Petit-Frere, who picked Ohio State over Florida and others on signing day. He would have been the cherry on the top. Still, National Signing Day was pretty solid for the Gators landing four-star receiver Jacob Copeland, four-star defensive end Malik Langham and four-star linebacker Andrew Chatfield. Not a bad way to close out the 2018 class.
A lot of talk on signing day was about Miami's finish in the top six and Florida State emerging from the ashes to finish in the top 10 but don't overlook Florida's class. A lot of the offensive skill players fit exactly what Mullen wants to do on offense and the defense is loading up again. Auburn, LSU, Washington and Notre Dame also have an argument here but Florida did really well. Mullen and his staff deserve plenty of credit.
