Recruiting Show: Future CFB STARS + Ole Miss Class Check-In + Recruiting Pressure Index

(upbeat music) - What's going on y'all? Welcome back to "Covary Podcast." This is the "Covary Recruiting Show." That's Andrew Ivens, of course. National Director of Scouting for 24/7 Sports on Bud Elliott. And Ivens are back again, man. I'm enjoying doing this with you. Let's, well, we got cooking today, man. - Yeah, what? Team minus three months, still signing day. - That's right. - I think we're just gonna keep counting it down. Intering, I think, flip season a little bit, but you're seeing more offers go out to late rising seniors out there. Obviously big recruiting weekends. So it's a fun time of the year, bud. - It's important to keep watching that senior film. Like there are a number of guys who just forever reasoned develop a little later and they pop. And, you know, if you can scoop me, get the ratings on them. It pays off, come NFL Draftime for sure as we've seen. But also, you know, pays to pound the pavement, which, you know, you did recently checked out IMG Academy as they beat first Academy, you know, two of our schools here in Florida, loaded with talent. Like two dozen powerful recruits at least in this ballgame. What, what'd you take away? - Yeah, that would be probably on the conservative side. Always, always fun, bud. When you get a chance to check out IMG Academy, man. I think I've been doing this for like 10 years. I remember when it was Kellyn Monde running the offense for IMG. So yeah, they were in Orlando right in my backyard. Got to see them on Friday night. And I thought it'd be good to talk about some of these prospects because IMG's got 24 alums right now in the NFL. You know, you could throw a dart to a college team. There's probably an IMG player there. But I think it starts with their quarterback. Jayden Wade, he's a junior, right? So he's the number two player overall right now in the class of 2028. And bud, the big note is here, he's committed to Georgia and it's talking about the Bulldogs, right? Gunner Stockton's having a great season. Georgia is a program that I don't think it's really dependent on who's kind of pulling the strings at that quarterback position. Certainly these guys we've seen in recent years, I mean, they've elevated their play. They've kept that machine kind of humming. But Georgia's also gone after some of these five star quarterbacks and they've lost out a few years ago. It was Dylan Riala that it was Jared Curtis who everyone saw this past weekend at Vanderbilt. And you know, just talking with some people this summer in Athens, I think Jayden Wade's the one they want. And the reason why bud is this guy's got some free show traits, right? He's over six before, he's 200 pounds. He runs a four, four in the 40 yard dash. He's got 125 inch broad jump, which would be, I think like best at the NFL scouting combine. So this guy has all of the tools. And this is the one where I think Georgia's going to fight till the bitter end to keep him committed. We've had a chance to see him. What, two IMG pro days now, as we're seeing the film here, on screen, guys got a nice build, deliveries fairly clean. He certainly stood out there among all the other guys that they had. He looks like the dude for sure. With Georgia, obviously they're going to have to hold on to him. You said they're going to fight to hold on to him. Last year they had Jared Curtis, they had Jared Curtis, and then they didn't, right? He ends up going to Vanderbilt, and certainly Vandy, I guess thrilled with what he's shown so far. Couple of risky interceptions over the weekend, but also just some phenomenal play to go along with it there. And if you're Georgia, I don't think they want to play off game in sort of the full NIL plus transfer portal era, 21 and 22 certainly. But people will tell you the transfer portal in NIL was around back then. But it was kind of a micro-fraction, technically it was around. But 23 I think was the first year where everybody really started paying for guys out of the portal and truly doing the full on NIL thing. And I do think for UGA, it's an open question. Stockton looks good. Certainly, their competition has been horrendous. So far, Arkansas is the best team they've played and by a lot. Western is kind of a shell of itself. And obviously they played what? Tennessee Tech, which is like a terrible FCS team. If you're UGA, does the formula used to have, which is like we're so loaded every other position, we can stack five star talent as backups, that era is kind of gone. You just can't hold on to this depth anymore. Does that make the quarterback position more important? Can you still win without a top 100 type pick at quarterback? I don't know. Ohio State fans a couple years ago will say, yeah, we got it done. But that still had a lot of elements, I think, in some ways of the old era. And so I find it interesting that George has decided that we are going to go in on the expensive high-end high school quarterback market. Well, stop forget, too. But Georgia tried to make a late run at Camario Taylor. When he was a recruit, they offered in November, right before signing day. And again, just talking with some of the people around that program, I think they want to get a little more athletic at that quarterback position. And that kind of speaks to, hey, the 12 team playoff. You've got to find ways to win games with a margin, shrink. And I'm not saying, hey, Jaden Wade is Camario Taylor, kind of two different players. But they both have all these athletic traits that both can gash defenses with their legs. But at the same time, they want to win from the pocket. And Jaden Wade, to me, his deep ball. That's where he really shines. And we saw that. I saw that on Friday night. He opened up the game. He was over four passing in the first half. And I don't know what they told them in the locker room. He comes out in the second half. And he is dialed. 66 yard touchdown pass, 70 yard touchdown pass. He had another 25 yard touchdown pass where he was under center. I'm going to bring up that. But I don't know if you've noticed his trend. I don't know how much NFL you're watching. I know you're a busy guy. But week one of the NFL season, most under center snaps since 2013. I wouldn't be surprised if that trickles down a little bit to the college game. We're going to see more guys getting under center. Jaden Wade's a guy that's doing it there at IMG Academy. Very pro-style type of attack. So still kind of evolving as a passer. I think he makes the difficult things look easy. And some of the easy things look difficult. But man, if he hits a huge, huge ceiling there on Jaden Wade. And I think the two schools that keep an eye on that, I keep hearing with Jaden Wade. And this is coming from Tom Loy at 24/7 sports. LSU is a name that's been mentioned and then Michigan as well. And you think about Kyle Woodingham moving that quarter back around. Not surprised those two are the ones that have been linked to Jaden Wade. Even though he keeps saying all the right things about Georgia. Has there been any reclass chatter about Wade? I have pressed him. I pressed him again. Every time I see him, he is older, right? He's a bit on the older side. I've pressed him. And this is only a second year as a starter, right? This is a kid that is originally from California, kind of the rule of thumb with these IMG kids. They come into the powerhouse there. Is they usually go back to that same region where they're from. It doesn't seem to be the case USC UCLA. They're going other directions at that quarterback position. So I think he's going to stick. But I wouldn't be surprised if maybe he moved up. For sure. But certainly not the only stud he played in this game. Asani Gales, the receiver of the Bama Commit. He's always just been super productive and just really damn good football player. I assume he balled out as well. Yeah, 71 yard touchdown catch. He had a 99 yard kickoff return. You know me. I like my skill guys getting their hands on the football and their turn game and finding the end zone. But he's been a fun evaluation because there hasn't just been a ton of production on Friday nights. And that's a product of a lot of mouths to feed at IMG who usually wants to run the football. But you look at this senior season. I mean, he's already got 332 yards receiving four touchdowns and four games all of last year. You know, he only had 500 yards receiving. This kid reminds me of Mekai Limon. All right, yes, good. I'm glad you had a comp. Because I was like, who does he remind me of us? Sometimes a lot of come quick with the cops and this one just kind of stumped me. I like that. Yeah, Sudden route runner, you know, the speed changing nuance is there. I think he's a guy that can be a high volume target there in the slot. And I think for Alabama, you know, this could be a key piece, potentially year one for them. I think this is a guy that's going to be ready to go. Just you talk with the sunny gales. Like, you know, why are the right way? Alabama's general manager Courtney Morgan was there in Orlando on Friday night on the sidelines checking him out. So Washington has been the one school that is continued to chip away there at Ossani Gales. There's originally from California. But to me, you know, in that Ryangrep offense, I think this is a guy that's going to get the football a lot. No doubt. Another guy here, I don't think we struggle for a comp with. It's just one that you don't like to throw it around loosely. Eric McFarlane, guy we know about for three years now. I think he was just such a stud as a young player, still a stud. Dude, I think there's some tirey kill here. Like just with the instant, almost like driving a Tesla. It's just a wow. Like it's like top speed from the first step. How do you look for it? Yeah, Texas A&M commit two touchdown catches. So he caught one of those long ones from Wade and then on that 25 yarder, he got both of his toes in bounds. This is the kid I did. reclassified bud. So a reclassification, reclassification, reclassification. The thing is Eric McFarlane, I think he turns like 18 next month. So he's age appropriate in this class. And he's actually older than some of these other wide receivers in the 2027 cycle. Here's the knock on him. He is not big, right? He is five eight. He is on the smaller side, but this dude can absolutely roll. And every time you see him, he makes place. He is going to get the job done, whether that be a camp, whether it be a seven on seven tournament, whether it be in pads on Friday nights, when there's a power for DB matchup against him. This is a guy that just finds ways to get the job done. Yeah, you said Tyree Kill. I think Zachariah Branch makes sense as well. Zachariah Branch, and I think Farland both from Las Vegas, and you know, headed to Texas A&M. I think everything you're seeing from Mario Craver in that Aggies offense, which I know is running into some issues, but a similar player. Mario Craver was like five, nine coming out. This is just a guy that, you know, can can stress the post with his speed, but he's also going to take these underneath routes and turn them into long plays. So he's always been fun. He's electric and another guy where I think you're one, we're going to see him on the football field there in the SEC. I mean, just like getting the ball in his guy's hands can change the numbers on the scoreboard fast. You know, I just, they could use him right now, like watching that offense, especially with with Terry Bussey being out for the year now after that. Unfortunately, Andrew, yeah. Now, I mean, Marcel Reed would have to actually like throw in the ball and not bounce it to him, but like if he could do that, I mean, that would be like a real boost for A&M's offense right now. I'm running probably a little long in the segment. I do want to talk about major green though. Big time offensive lineman, you know, for my MG guy with a lot of power, interesting story coming down, you know, from the Northeast as well. How do you look for you? Yeah, I just want to point this out like kind of one of my things at IMG every year, you know, when I'm there, whether it be the spring, summer, fall, you know, you got to talk to those coaches, talk to the people that pull the strings in the program. Okay, who is the guy? And I think on the offensive line, it's so notable. I mean, IMG, I think they have eight alums on the offensive line playing right now in the NFL, you know, it does in more starting for college programs around the country. It is an online factory. So we're talking about Jordan C Tyler Booker, J.C. Lane Film, Francis Malanova, you know, those guys all started at IMG or they were all kind of taken to the next level at IMG. The name I kept here in major green. This is a kid that was 350 pounds this spring. I saw him in person. He looked like he had melted down reminding me of the transformation that Jordan seat and went through now. I don't think he's athletic as Jordan seat. But this is a guy to certainly know in the class of 2028. Mass wins at the point of attack. Major green. He's at that left tackle position. I think he's probably more inside, maybe on the right side. But this guy, they are big, big fans of him. Lots of schools involved originally from Virginia was just that Texas A&M. So if you're wondering, okay, who's the next offensive line and that is up coming out of IMG Academy? I think it's Major Green based on what I've seen. Dude, that's a hell of a game they have gone to. I'm glad you went to that. All right, let's go ahead and hit our first break here on the flip side. We're going to check in on one of the big winners of the last week, which is also winning in the recruiting class. You know, Dan, losing weight can feel a lot like getting so close to the end zone and then losing the ball right before you cross the line. Winning the game is great, but maintaining that success season after season, that's where the real challenge lies. That's right. So I say, noom, the leading behavior change company pairs GLP won medication with behavioral tools, bite-sized daily lessons and coaching to help you build sustainable habits. It's like having a full coaching staff to help you lose weight and keep it off even if you stop the meds. The Noom GLP1 program starts at $39 and medication can be delivered to your door in as little as seven days. Get a real game plan for lasting success. Start your GLP1 journey today at Noom.com. That's n-o-o-m dot com. Noom. Lose for keeps. Initial one month subscription from $39 plus tax and $99 plus tax per month thereafter. Cost of medication not included. Final pricing depends upon program selection. Hey, and welcome back here to the cover of the recruiting show. It's Andrew Ivans. Let's go ahead and check this out here. So Ole Miss, you know, does best LSU great game for trying to add samples. Great game from Will Eckles, by the way, who you heard about on this show just last week in our player-to-highlight segment. Ole Miss, nice way on the field. They're doing pretty well on the recruiting trail as well and bringing in quarterback defensive lineman. That kind of pattern seemed to fit pretty nicely on Saturday night for those guys. Yeah, and Ole Miss has been so fascinating for me, bud, right? I mean, obviously Elaine, when he was there, he was the king of the transfer portal. But I always thought Pete Golding and what he did on defense in terms of high school talent acquisition. It was always notable to me. Like, Ole Miss was kind of punched in above their weight class as weird as that sounds when it came to the high schoolers. Or as I understand the vision here, I think these guys can be impact players in the SEC. And I think on Saturday night, you saw that. Now, the entire offense, I think, aside from the center, was the transfers. I don't think they had a non-transfer play over 10 snaps on offense. But on defense, Will Eckles, Cam Franklin, Sunterine Perkins, those were all homegrown high schoolers, you know, all of them in state prospects. And, you know, Ole Miss right now was wondering, okay, Pete Golding, he's now running the show. Do they continue to focus heavily on the transfer portal? Or do they try to get this thing rolling on the high school recruiting front? And I really do think they are doing that. We saw a little bit of it in the 2026 cycle. Now you look at 2027, sit number 14 overall in the country. Number eight in the SEC and the strength of the class, no surprise. I think it's the defensive lineman. Mitchell Turner to me. This is, I think, one of the top, if not the top, interior pass rushers in the class. Do you see him right there? You know, four stars next to his name. Number 48 overall nationally. We're already talking about, hey, this guy's got potential five star ceiling for us. And you look at what he did as a junior, 41 tackles for loss, 14 and a half sacks. He's been just as productive here as a senior, the balance, the quick twitch, you know, one gap player. They kind of play on the edge, but he's really good inside and, and bud, what stands out about Mitchell Turner, elite baseball player, elite, elite, elite, he hit 627 this past spring, seven home runs, 41 RBI's, and why am I bringing this up? Fast hands, man, it shows up when you turn on the tape, his ability to rip and kind of swipe his right way through obstacles, those quick hands. I think they come from the baseball. So this was a huge win for Ole Miss, beat out Texas, beat out Alabama, a ton of other schools. This is a guy to me, you know, kind of similar in some ways to Will Eccles, but I think he is going to be a building block up front for them. The other guy would highlight that defensive line hall, Marvin Noonstop, out of Germany. But this is one of the biggest guys we have ever measured at 24/7 sports. You see right there he's over six foot seven, 268 pounds, right? He had a near seven foot wing span, like 36 inch arms. I mean, these are like the greenest of green numbers. And in Germany, now he's prepping there in Connecticut. And I wanted to highlight him because we continue to see this international wave in college football. And you saw it if you watched that Auburn Florida game, Florida edge rusher, a manual, a wavebobe. I think that's how you pronounce his name. He had like three sacks. He was a six foot seven guy. Marvin is very similar to him. And there's some other of these Europeans in the SEC, Justin Okunwaro at South Carolina, starts at linebacker, Valden Sonay at Georgia. You haven't seen a ton of them, but he's involved in Georgia's third down package, five star freshmen. So I love this international wave. And I think Marvin has a chance to be a monster. So love the D line. And then how about quarterback? And they got two quarterbacks committed. Keegan Croucher, Cruz Jenkins, they're like oil and water. Keegan Croucher, six foot four, 200 pounds, rifle for an arm. What's to win from the pocket? Cruz Jenkins, 511, 170 pounds, touch passer, but he can create under duress and just make things happen. And right now, Ole Miss, I think there's three other schools, three other power four schools that have two quarterbacks committed. So that'd be Alabama, Wake Forest is another one, cows another one. And then you got Ole Miss here with two and having talked with Cruz, having talked with Keegan throughout the off season. One of the big reasons why they're committed to Ole Miss, yeah, I'm sure Trinidad Chamblis plays a little bit of that. But they really like Joe Judge, the quarterbacks coach. And I don't think, but he has talked about enough. I know it didn't work out in the NFL, but didn't he first find Chamblis? Yeah, involved in Chamblis. And what we've seen from him, also Jackson Dark kind of mentored him during his time there in Oxford. I just think that's a name that doesn't get enough recognition. And he's big reason why they have these two quarterbacks are committed. Now, Ole Miss is set up nice. Duce Knight is waiting in the shadows there, former Blue Chip or Crouch, can beat you with his arm, beat you with his legs. But I always think it's interesting the schools in this era. All right, certainly everyone's looking for the transfer quarterbacks, but they're still kind of throwing numbers or taking guys where you can see the vision in that offense. And I really love the contrast between Cruz Jenkins and Keegan Croucher, both those guys can play. They actually played Squared Off against each other a few weeks ago in Tennessee. But strength of the class for me for Ole Miss, D-Line, and then that quarterback depth. I think it's important to build that out. You got anybody you like who they're going to throw into? Yeah, I wrote him down as the sleeper of the class, Alvin Mosley, wide receiver out of Texas, huge, huge fan of this kid. He's not one that's going to test off the charts, but you see him in person, and then more importantly, you watch him on Friday nights. This is a kid that's always open. He always is creating after the catch. So he scares the past, and then he's almost always making that first, first tackler miss. I've never seen him get catch caught. It's always, I'm making that first guy miss, and Bud, what stands out about Alvin, and he's having a heck of a senior season, already 31 catches, 500 yards, 6 touchdowns through four games. He also got a punt return touchdown, really talented basketball player. I think we, as a football-consuming community, think speed, speed, speed, speed. That's what we want in our wide receivers. Sure. Why not? We want to see these guys rip off the four threes at the NFL Scouting Combine. If you look at the guys that are playing on Sundays, and the ones making impacts on Saturdays, a lot of good high school basketball players, and I'm a big believer, and that transition from the hardwood to the gridiron, think about it in basketball. If you want to score, you're going to have to go through someone to the rim, and with Alvin Mosley, I think that directly translates to what he does on the football field, because again, good route runner that can get open, and then he's trying to get away from people as soon as he secures that. Ole Miss, a lot of transfer portal wide receivers that has kind of been the theme of the past few years. I think Alvin Mosley is a guy that can push for a starting role and be a multi-year impact guy there in Oxford. And you know, the state of Mississippi is pretty loaded for the class of 2028 as well. We're seeing that win-of-real issue, pay immediate dividends on Sunday. They had 2028 Braille and Bedford. And I saw your note in here, man, like Ole Miss could have its first top 10 high school class in over a decade, since 2016, when they got AJ Brown, you know, DK Metcalf, and that really kind of, you know, a special class to follow up. What was that? Can D.J. was earlier than that, right? Can D.J. was like the year before, but certainly a really special class. Well, I mean, but is that surprising to you? Like, Ole Miss hasn't been in the top 10 and over over 10 years? Probably not totally because of the emphasis that Lane put on the transfer portal. You know, like the last five years have been so portal heavy. It probably takes like, obviously, like the NIL has been great with what Walker's done, with the Grove Collective there, you know, to allow Ole Miss, you know, to compete legally for some of these guys, you know. And like you think about who was head coach in him, right? Like, you know, it's probably like the right combination of Pete Golding, who was a good recruiter at other stops, you know, like you said, renewed, maybe increased emphasis on high school recruiting, paired with the NIL, paired with, like, they just made the playoff last year. And they won some playoff games, right? Like, kind of a perfect storm there. And you pair that with, like, let's call it, like, an upcycle for the state of Mississippi in 2028. That makes some sense. Yeah. Sit number three right now in 2028. So, you know, we want to spin this ahead to the off season and who knows how the rest of the season goes for Ole Miss. And, you know, do they go all in on that 2028 class? Because I do think, you know, the logs are on the fire where it can be a very special, special group for them. I mean, Casey Barner, number one ranked safety in the class of 2028. He was there, Braxton Rain, number two ranked tight end. He was there in Oxford, Joshua Parker, an electric in-state wide receiver in 2028. I mean, that win happened in front of all those individuals. So, you know, me personally had some doubts about what this would look like with Pete Golding, you know, kind of running the show in the talent acquisition so far, so good. I, you know, I got to put my foot in the mouth here because what they're doing right now, certainly, I think it stands out. Absolutely. All right. Let's take our second break here on the flip side. We're talking a little hot seat and pair that with flip season to see, kind of, you know, dive into the pressure index. Who's going to be able to hold on to their classes? All right. We're going to take into the cover the recruiting show at Sandra Eibens, National Director of Scouting for 24/7 Sports, giving you all the lowdown. This, this show is really for like the college ball dihards and then the recruiting, you know, probably casuals to mediums, but I hope even the, in the recruiting dihards could something out of this. There aren't many recruiting shows out there. If you guys like this, you know, please make sure that you are liking the channel. Let's get us up to 75,000 subscribers, certainly on the cover for your podcast, YouTube channel. And again, if you got this on the audio, I, look, I think this is an okay audio product. But just being very frank here, you haven't seen me in these guys in person. You haven't seen me in these guys ever on your TV screen. This is a much better visual episode. I think like of all the ones we do, if there's one, you actually have to watch on YouTube. I think this is probably like the one that like stands out to me that is your experience is most enhanced by watching it actually on YouTube. So go ahead and hit that like and subscribe if you would. Make sure to catch us on YouTube whenever you get a chance to every Wednesday. All right, so Ivan's, we've had a couple games now, a couple of disappointing performances from teams out there. And, you know, some of those teams have done a decent job recruiting over the summer. They have some headliners in their class, but they, they may be a little bit of a struggle to hold on to them down the stretch. If their seasons don't turn around with a quickness, where do you want to take us first here? Yeah, and the idea here, I think for this bud, right, is, you know, CFB and insiders on CBS, right? Came out of the pressure index and some coaches on, I think the hottest of the seats. So why not look, all right, what do the recruiting classes look like? Is this a talent acquisition problem? So hey, let's start with Shane Beamer and South Carolina. Right now, number 30 class in the country, 17 commits. Last year, they finished 14th, and that was the best finish in the 24/7 sports era for South Carolina. So that dates back to 2010. And you're seeing some of those young guys play right now. The areas gray, five star offensive linemen starting at left tackle for them. Julian Walker, edge rusher, he has been involved. But I don't think this is a talent issue when we think about South Carolina, right? I mean, Dylan Stewart, Nick Harbor, Lenore Sellers, Vicari Swain, I think their NFL stocks are kind of all over the place and have been all over the place. But to me, I think Shane Beamer's done a really good job just in terms of winning some recruiting battles. I think he can recruit. I think kids like him, so who knows what happens there in Colombia. But to me, they've done a good enough job on the recruiting trail. And when I look at this class, my eyes, the name I go to, Davey on Jones, safety out of the state of North Carolina. I think this guy's a dog. I call him a five tool kind of center field safety. You can do a little bit of everything. You can play him up top, you can play him in the slot, you can play him down low, you know, could give you some perimeter looks if you needed to. But, you know, you know, a guy's good when you're watching and studying someone else and you're like, all right, who is this individual flying around making plays on the screen? That was Davey on Jones. And that was when I was breaking down phase on Brandon last year. They squared off early in the season and it's like, man, he might be a mighty might. But in these safeties, they got to be able to cover, they got to be able to tackle Davey on Jones. It's just that and I think he's one where either beamer or maybe some of these whoever were to come in there and South Carolina. They're probably going to have to fight to hold on to him because he's a very talented football player. I mean, look, a couple of teams we have on this list, I think it kind of boils down to this. You had to pay up to keep the stud quarterback, right? You needed that guy to take a leap. In some cases, that guy not only did not take a leap, he actually looks worse than he did last year. And in the case of Lorna sellers, like, man, you just can't have that guy making the same misreads and mistakes and just backbreaking choices and throws that he made two years ago in the bowl game against Illinois that he made some down the stretch last year. It's just, you know, if you don't have a $50 million roster and you have to go in and spend, you know, what I think we can assume on sellers is certainly north of free, right? Like, you got a guy taking up probably 12%, maybe 15% of your spend, like, you have to, like, that gives you a very small margin for error on some of your, like, your portal hits, you know, and so you better go damn near perfect on that sort of on a budget in some spots and, you know, like, I feel like they have some stars. But the roster is a little more like star and scrubby that I think you'd want it to be and the stars aren't starring quite as much. Dylan Stewart was great against Mississippi State, which I think is like, like, I'll do credit the car to Taylor for navigating around Dylan Stewart being in his backfield pretty much all day. But, you know, some of the other guys like Harbor is physically talented, but we wouldn't say he's one of the best receivers in SEC, right? Like, he's, he's still freaky athletically, but like the football stuff isn't there. So maybe it's a development issue for South Carolina or, you know, whatever it is, but a lot of it's like, okay, like sellers is the guy you built this team around and he's not a top half quarterback and league to me. Like, like, now you got to hold on David and Jones. We'll see if they do end up, you know, making a move there head coach for South Carolina, but if they can lock up some of the young talent they have on this roster. If there is a new coach, he should be in pretty good position to capitalize on it and maybe go find a solution at QB Of course, my school for the state who did make a move on the athletic director finally You know, Norville. We'll see what they do there. I assume he's out Question of these probably more win than if I know there's some theories that like hey, they'd like to just you know Spend more on the roster and you know change some things up organizationally Kind of doubt that but they've made some weird decisions in the past What do you think about Dakota Johnson? I I don't think they're holding on to this guy personally Yeah, and you know for a recruiting cycle where I think Florida states hands are Are tied behind their back. I mean there are some some nice parts in this recruiting class that is 34th right now And and Dakota Johnson's the one name where Sounds like a lot of other schools have are starting to make a move on him and now he's a kid that is reclassified He's at Miami Carroll City, you know listed as an athlete. He's started at quarterback as What when he was a sophomore? I guess now he's he's a senior and and I think he's a safety all the way You know Miami Texas A&M the two schools in here, but but but I mean this is the one where you have act of Florida's Best rosters they had guys like this. Yeah, we're just absolute playmakers and difference makers What I wanted to ask you on Florida state right, you know such a recruit a fertile recruiting area up there I think the panhandle in the state of Florida is a bit Under recruited so it'll be interesting to see whoever comes in No, can they win some of these local battles number one number two to me the big issue for Florida state is Offensive line recruiting, right? Yeah, just that it's 17 commits none of them are on the offensive line when is the last time Florida state has gotten a true blue chip offensive lineman, and I know they've Continued to add veterans through the transfer portal and they've certainly got some Forstar offensive lineman in there, but but none of them have really panned out and I think that is the one position group Where you see the product on the field look at the roster. It's like okay, they they have to get better there in the trenches Yeah, I think like the one guy you point to is is Lucas Simmons who then immediately had had a medical issue when he got on campus And he was a guy who you know like I think the ceiling was really high on him But you knew he needed like considerable development, right? Which some of these guys do it and you have to pay for the privilege of developing that player You know, like are you expecting to be really good by year or two? He was fairly raw when he came in had the medical thing and then they did not Like he didn't continue to develop there obviously and then had other injury stuff as well But you know like I've been to be frank. I I think you know norvel. You know, he's off that Malzone tree And I think they do a lot of like vanity recruiting in Tallahassee under his regime and take guys who You know, maybe other staffs have moved off of who still have a Forstar rating at the time who you know, it's it's good to pump to your boosters Hey, we we got this forstar on the roster even though You know like we'll look at them with quarterback in the last two years like Jadon Eel You know, can you sit here and tell me though? Alma really wanted to keep him cuz I don't believe they did You know like two years ago Kevin Sparry. Hey, we flipped this kid from I think about him in Oklahoma as well Like that's not real impressive to me. I don't think that like like you're keep like you're truly flipping a kid From that region if Oklahoma really wanted him, you know So but it's great for them for PR purposes when you're already having poor seasons to be able to say hey We got this forstar who's probably gonna get dropped to a three star by the way because you know other guys Past him up So like I don't know that they're always recruiting to win I think they recruit to win some PR battles sometimes and it's fairly easy to do that when you recruit a lot of skill position guys you know and like you don't spend up to get like the building blocks that you need on the offensive defensive lines You know now look some of their skill guys have hit certainly like like Kroma has looked I mean at the time I think like he was by far the highest paid running back ever coming out of high school for that year Well, that's good in different surpass. Well, right. Yeah. Now it's triple. So like now that spend looks looks pretty smart, right? I mean DGG is getting what to a year and that's like triple what what I think Kroma probably got so Yeah, we'll see if if a new regime focuses more on building in the trenches, you know and values the premium position Certainly you're seeing that done in Gainesville right like they're they're paying up, you know Miami pays up for that You know that that way seems to work their way has not worked You know and and ultimately I think it's kind of got high on their own supply of thinking they were really good at the portal when in fact They were good with the evaluation of the portal, but it was at a time when competition for portal prospects Was not nearly as fierce because not everybody was embracing the portal, you know when they did so They had first mover advantage, but you have to keep innovating you have to keep like you know honing that edge. I don't think they did that very well All right Maryland to be sweet talk Mike. Well, I watched that whole botek game. That was actually a pretty good game I'm not as down on Maryland like you know they They went on the road and what could have been like like a very like distracting, you know not care about a game They handled Yukon pretty well. What once they figured out what Yukon was running after like a quarter I just think Grunker Meyer might be a stud dude like he Was so good in that in that ballgame like like the his processing how well he threw it. I was like Maryland's gonna lose this game, and I'm like not that down on them like I think Malik's playing pretty well You know, like I'm very high Malik still I Don't like if I'm Maryland and my choices keep Michael Oxley and keep Malik for another year or lose him and hit the reset button I don't know that I'm pulling the trigger on that Yeah, and Maryland right now is you see 39th right there in the rankings last last cycle there were 25th They had a five star in Zion ealy and you brought up Malik Washington to DMV kids and to me That's where I think it gets difficult to hit reset because I don't know if Malik Washington and Zion ealy are at Maryland if if Mike Oxley's not there you do know No, they're not there. They're not there And then you you start looking at the snap counts you start looking at the two deep and it's like well This kids from the DMV this kids from the DMV this kids from the DMV Now I do think James Franklin at Virginia Tech is going to present some issues because we know he's going to be in the DMV And and that is going to make it harder to keep some of those kids homes But I don't have much issue with what Maryland has done on on their recruiting front and in terms of You know getting players that that can win in the big 10 and and winning some some battles that people didn't think they they would win and and go back to Malik Washington's recruitment. I think Michigan got involved in there at one point. There was a few other schools kind of Looking around on him. So I said at 39. I think the strength of their class is is the wide receiver is not surprising I mean, I think Mike Laxley has a background in that position and they got some good guys Kyron Caldwell Anthony Henderson Davian Vanderbilt Just just some guys that You know, I think other schools could could inquire about especially Kyron Caldwell Kid out out of Florida, but he's had a really good start to his senior campaign So to me again, Maryland's one where I don't know if it's a talent issue because they have some legitimate impact players You look at their schedule. I I think they're going to make a bowl of events And if they do, I don't think you should be fired Mike Laxley for for making a bowl in the big 10 when you're not one of the better resource Programs out there like and you're going to get your three from Malik Washington Yeah, exactly assuming that you find a way to keep them which you know like I kind of hate that discourse But it's the reality of college football today, you know But like they're they're two and one you got diced by a kid like nobody's been better in obvious passing situations this year So far than Gruckfire like he might just be the third best quarterback in the ACC behind Mensa and JKS like and one of the better ones I didn't I wasn't sure about him entering the years like maybe he is maybe he's not like I haven't seen enough, but Shoot if he had started all last year for James Franklin like is James Franklin in Blacksburg I don't know like not to be played like this If you play like this Penn State's probably, you know, maybe a playoff team last year still like you get UCLA this weekend I do kind of feel like that's one you got to get Because then if you lose that one at Nebraska could be challenging at Ohio State will be challenging But if you if you get UCLA you're sitting there three and one You're still 500 after the Ohio State game at worse And then you get Rutgers at home you get Illinois at home you go to Purdue you Wisconsin at home you got to go to USC And then Penn State comes to town like Penn State's not a game. You're gonna be favorite in but but that's a winable game if you play really well and they maybe don't play You know, they're absolutely best game. I I'm not in the fire Mike locks the camp right now like I Malik looks good to me So we'll we'll see if he's able to carry that team with with with locks. All right last one here Dave Dorn NC State you buddy That was rough on Saturday just I kind of think I got to put that on my quarterback, you know similar to to NC or to to soccer on it, right? You had to pay up a lot to keep this guy you built the team around him You kind of let him choose some of the receivers you brought in well not choose, but you know have a hand in certainly And it just has not gone well, you know smoked by Virginia absolutely blowing that game Against Vanderbilt They're number 41 right now with 19 commits like they don't usually recruit to the top 25 level anyway They've never signed a top 25 class. I was yeah, I was blown away by that. I will say And we can talk about about Gunner Rivers here, the headliner of the class on the second, but the second year in a row, bud, none of the top 10 players in the state of North Carolina are going to NC State, or North Carolina for that fact. They're going to Tennessee, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Miami, and South Carolina. And I just, I think that's hard to digest if you're an NC State fan, especially because, you know, UNC's been a bit of a mess when it comes to high school recruiting. And it's like, we can't, you know, get some of these guys down. Gunner Rivers, those that familiar, son of Philip Rivers, has a chance to be, Alabama's all-time leader in passing yards, completions, and I think touchdowns or something, Bonix holds it one of the records. I mean, he's already thrown for 10,000 yards. - He throws exactly like his dad, by the way. - Yep, that's the cop. Now, he had a knee injury week one, so he hasn't been playing as a senior, but, I mean, this guy, in my opinion, sees it extremely well, which isn't surprising, right? You grow up in an NFL environment. Like, you're going to know some things. And he's the one, and, you know, the other thing I have written down here, but is, how have you not built out a, you know, the stellar recruiting class around him? And I know Gunner Rivers isn't, you know, someone that has done all these all-star games and been irregular on the 7-on-7 circuit. So, you know, a lot of blue chip receivers probably don't know who he is, but it should be your job to sell that we got Philip River's son. So, I just think a little disappointing for NC State. It has been that recently. Now, you go up and down the commit list. Certainly, there's some guys I like. Jake Godfrey, linebacker, out of the Atlanta Metro. Like, he is one of the best at reading, diagnosing, in the country. He's just on the smaller side. So, NC State, again, hard to get over that fact about top 10 players in the state, just not picking the wolf pack. - Well, we'll see what happens there. We're gonna hit our final break here, and then we're gonna flip it, you know, towards this weekend, see what we're watching, you know, from guys who are former recruits, who we liked a lot. All right, back here on the cover three recruiting podcast, episode with Andrew Ivens. So, interesting game this weekend. Iowa has to go to Michigan. I think this is kind of a playoff elimination game. I know these teams are undefeated, but if you look at the remaining schedules that they have, you know, gonna be challenging. For sure, if you drop this one, if you get this one, despite how some of these offenses have looked so far, I think you actually feel like your playoff hopes are very alive, but of course, with a total sitting at what, 37, we're gonna go ahead and focus on a defensive player Ivens. He got cute up for us. - Cam Buffington, I call him the Farmtown Freak, and for those that know nothing about Cam Buffington, this is a guy that played eight-man football in the state of Iowa, finished as the number 24 linebacker for us in the class of 2024. He leads the Hawkeyes in tackles this season, such a unique background, but with that eight-man football, we wondered, okay, how is this gonna translate? How is it, I mean, we're going from eight to 11, and I will love this kid coming out, and you look up right now, and he is a key cog in that defense, and from the same area where George Kiddell's family is from, multi-sport kid in high school, but this kid was throwing it down on the hardwood in terms of the dunks, and that was one of the reasons why we were so convicted in Cam and Cam the athlete. Look at this right here on the screen, just throwing it down, kid that long jump, four-sport athlete, so, certainly one to keep an eye on. I've done a bunch of research, actually recently, on eight-man guys that have made the NFL, because there's another eight-man player out there, and that is gonna be in the big 10 next season, Landon Blum, wide receiver, he's had at the Penn State, Freak Show, Freak Show, Freak Show, Chad Greenway, and Layton Vander Esk, or two former eight-man football players that made the NFL, I think Cam Buffington is on track to be next, and I think you're gonna see him all over the TV screen on Saturday. - I mean, with how much zone I would place, he's probably gonna be to pull the pin and go try to chase down Bryce Underwood Player this weekend, so we'll be seeing a whole lot of him. On CBS, of course, CBS, it's big time. Big 10 football on CBS. Got some good games, but let's go, man. I'm excited for Big 10 season, of course, and we'll be watching it. And I'll see you again next Wednesday, man. - Freak Show, you bud. - I take care. - He was a gruesome discovery off a dirt road in Georgia. - Hunters had found a body. - Was it immediately clear to you that this woman had been murdered? - Yes. - But who was this mystery woman in the woods? - That looks like Mindy. - I'm Erin Moriarty, and from 48 hours, this is the woman in the woods. - I have never wanted to be wrong, like this in my whole entire life. - Follow and listen to the woman in the woods, wherever you get your podcasts.