The 2022 recruiting cycle isn’t quite over yet as the All-Star games coming up this weekend will bring us a batch of more commitments that will more or less close the door on the top of the national rankings. It’s been a weird year full of massive coaching turnover, the top recruit shocking the entire world, and a numbers game still working itself out at many campuses across the country.

Here’s a macro-level review of the national recruiting scene.

Teams Under 20 Commits: 40

One of the big things that jumps out right now is just how small some of these classes are for 2022. Amazingly, among the Power 5 programs there are 40 teams with fewer than 20 commits. Here are some of the low numbers from the more prominent schools:

Oklahoma – 16
Florida State – 16
LSU – 13
Wisconsin – 14
Nebraska – 14
NC State – 13
Louisville – 13
Clemson – 12
UCLA  – 12
Pitt – 12
Oregon – 11
Florida – 10
Miami – 9
Arizona State – 8
USC – 7
Washington – 6

Some of these numbers are completely insane! What gives?

One thing that I’m curious about is how many of these schools are keeping around more upper-classmen than usual due to the 2020 Covid rules while at the same time biding their time in the larger-than-ever transfer portal.

Blue-Chips Available: 27

5-stars: 4

Texas A&M is projected to pick up 2 more of these 5-stars and is definitely not one of the teams going light on the numbers this year. A couple more recruits takes them to 29 for the cycle and 7 players total with Composite 5-star status. Seven!

4-stars: 23

There are 6 more 4-stars in the Top 100 overall who are still to announce. This includes our old friend C.J. Williams who is doing the completely lame thing of waiting until the All-American Bowl even though the entire world knows he’s set to sign with USC. Can’t wait to see all the hats on the table, buddy!

Of the 3-star players in the top 600 nationally, only 24 have yet to commit.

Conference Leaders

ACC – North Carolina

UNC is trying to hold on to the top spot in the ACC for the first time in the Mack Brown era, and I’m assuming quite a long time overall. They were helped out by Florida State losing the country’s top recruit (see below!) but beware all 3 of the Tar Heels, Seminoles, plus Clemson have just 45 combined recruits right now so a few more signings could swing the league’s top spot.

Big 12 – Texas

This race was over once Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC. Since then, the Sooners have lost 6 commits from the 2022 class, including a pair of 5-stars and an additional Top 100 recruit.

Big Ten – Ohio State

Beared Ryan Day lost the battle but continues to win the war vs. Michigan. 

No surprise as the Buckeyes top the Big Ten again with quality over quantity. Despite just 18 commits, Ohio State is carrying an insane 94.04 player average with only a pair of 3-stars and the rest all blue-chip prospects.

Pac-12 – Stanford

What the hell? The Pac-12 remains in absolute shambles. Good on Stanford for leading the way and being 16th nationally, although their class only features a pair of Top 200 recruits. The gap is pretty wide with the rest of the league with Utah (3rd in the league) sitting in 34th place nationally. Good job by Arizona’s Jedd Fisch for finishing 2nd in the league and 23rd nationally coming off a 1-11 season.

Oregon likely would’ve taken the league’s top spot if not for their coaching change and losing 10 commits since Mario Cristobal took the Miami job.

SEC – Texas A&M

Ohio State is in the mix in terms of player average but A&M, Alabama, and Georgia really are a class apart as the top 3 teams in the country all battling it out for No. 1 overall in the country and SEC. We should probably expect the Crimson Tide to come through with a surprise or two to finish this cycle although the betting odds have the Aggies holding on here.

*Notable G5 team national rankings:

Cincinnati 37th
UCF 41st
Boise State 55th
BYU 56th
Marshall 58th
Houston 59th
Memphis 63rd
San Diego State 65th

Given their status in the playoffs you would probably expect this to be the case as Cincinnati has out-recruited 29 other Power 5 programs.

Best at Each Position

Quarterback – Cade Klubnik, Clemson

Klubnik is technically tied with Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman as both have a 0.9901 Composite score, although the Clemson commit gets the nod one spot higher as the country’s top quarterback. He committed to the Tigers back in March just a few days after receiving an offer. Tough blow for Texas as Klubnik is from Austin.

Running Back – Emmanuel Henderson, Alabama

Auburn offered first but this was an easy one for the Crimson Tide to keep the in-state product home at Alabama. Henderson (30th overall) had been challenged by USC commit Raleek Brown (33rd overall) as the top running back in the nation.

Wide Receiver – Luther Burden, Missouri

Ten years after Dorial Green-Beckham stayed home at Missouri as the top receiver and overall player in the country we have Burden (3rd overall) nearly pulling off the same feat as a kid from East St. Louis. He was originally committed to Oklahoma for 10 months but left the Sooners class during the summer, ultimately committing to Missouri in late October this year.

Tight End – Jake Johnson, Texas A&M

Tight ends just can’t get any respect as Johnson comes in as the 83rd overall best player. Johnson was originally committed to LSU where his brother Max Johnson played quarterback. Jake left LSU’s class earlier this month with Max entering the Portal, as well. Now, they’re both headed to College Station.

Offensive Tackle – Zach Rice, North Carolina

Voluntarily choosing UNC for offensive line is certainly a decision. 

You’d think Rice would be UNC’s highest-rated commit but he’s edged out by 7 spots nationally by defensive lineman Travis Show who just barely missed out on being the top defensive lineman of 2022. These two represent the 2nd and 3rd highest rated Tar Heels ever in the modern recruiting era.

Interior Offensive Line – Devon Campbell, TBD

Most expect Campbell to sign with Texas. His 5 official visits included the Longhorns along with Georgia, LSU, Alabama, and Oklahoma.

Edge Rusher – Jeremiah Alexander, Alabama

Alexander committed to Alabama shortly after their Junior Day back in 2020 only later to leave their class that fall. He took a couple official visits this summer only to re-commit to Alabama anyway.

Defensive Line – Walter Nolen, Texas A&M

The country’s No. 2 overall prospect was down to Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas A&M but spurned his in-state Vols to sign with the Aggies.

Linebacker – Harold Perkins, TBD

The Cypress, Texas native has driven the 290 up to the 6 to College Station a whole bunch of times and not so much other places. Do the math.

Cornerback – Travis Hunter, Jackson State

I found it odd all cycle how a 165-pound corner remained the top recruit in the country and then he goes and ditches Florida State on ESD–after being a verbal since March–for FSU alum Deion Sanders and FCS Jackson State. I’m sure the drama isn’t over with this one yet.

Safety – Sonny Styles, Ohio State

How good is Sonny Styles, brother to Notre Dame’s Lorenzo Styles? He was once a 2023 recruit who re-classified for 2022 and immediately became the top safety in the older age bracket.

Athlete – Malaki Starks, Georgia

The Dawgs kept Starks in-state without much drama. He’s expected to play safety for Georgia.