Three-Point Stance: Signing Day, top classes, sneaky Syracuse

Rivals national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. has thoughts on National Signing Day, how top uncommitted prospects might influence the recruiting team rankings and a Syracuse team that’s having a sneaky good season.

Don’t look now, but the de facto National Signing Day is coming up right around the corner. While the first day of the Early Signing Period is always a busy one with commitments, confirmations of top prospects and of course the flip game, it might feel more frantic than usual this year. We’re beginning to expect more chaos than usual on this front because of the timeline.

Signing Day is Dec. 4, as early as it’s been in years, and of course this is the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff. It means more teams will be playing deeper into the winter, therefore potentially spending less time on the road and or recruiting come December. The weekend prior, the last chance to see prospects on campus in person, is not only a holiday weekend (Thanksgiving) but it’s rivalry weekend. The following Monday used to be the day most failing coaches received word that they were headed out the door. Should that happen, imagine prospects trying to sign with a program just two days later?

Throw in the transfer portal, the usual NIL-led surprises and the usual change-of-heart factors and we could be set for a show on the first Wednesday in December.

Piggy-backing off of the initial topic, there could still be plenty of shakeup atop the Rivals recruiting team rankings. At one point, the top class seemed like a foregone conclusion with Ohio State running away with things. The Buckeyes still hold the top spot by a considerable margin, but several of their top commitments have taken trips elsewhere of late from five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord to blue-chip pass rusher London Merritt. Linebackers Riley Pettijohn and Tarvos Alford remain extremely coveted by others, too, so the home stretch for these out-of-state and out-of-region recruits could become storylines that stick.

Should there be a departure or two from the stacked commitment list, the door would surely feel open come December. The programs ranked behind the Buckeyes, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Auburn, Texas, Oklahoma and Miami are all in the mix for some of the best still available such as five-stars Jahkeem Stewart, Justus Terry, Javion Hilson and Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng. The decisions from those prospects could be enough to sway the top of the team rankings.

The ACC has been at the butt of low-hanging fruit jokes for years, especially since Clemson‘s run atop the sport came to an end, but the 2024 season has been a pleasant surprise on Saturdays. Miami and Pitt are undefeated, Clemson has bounced back from the Georgia loss in a big way, newcomer SMU is ranked and the rest of the league has plenty of reason for optimism.

Even Syracuse, under first-year head coach Fran Brown, has a chance to see a ranking next to its name with a win over the Panthers on Thursday evening.

Sneaking under the radar along with his team, transfer quarterback Kyle McCord deserves his own due. He is approaching his touchdown numbers (19 passing, one rushing) from the entire 2023 season with a — let’s be honest — much less talented group of targets to operate with compared to the one he left at Ohio State. The Orange offensive momentum should continue, too. It is about to face a defense that hasn’t shown well against the pass, with the Panthers ranked outside of the top 100 in yards in passing yards allowed per game.

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