Class of 2020 SEC Early Signing Period Overview with Quarterback Focus
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
College football’s early signing period produced fireworks that could end up changing the fortunes for teams throughout the Power 5 ranks for years to come, and one SEC program was hit a little bit harder than the others. With a break until National Signing Day on Feb. 7, 2020, let’s look at how the SEC is shaping up on the recruiting trail for the 2020 class.
SEC Rankings and Performances
The SEC dominated the show Wednesday through Friday finishing with six teams ranked in the top 10; No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 7 Auburn, and No. 8 Florida. On the negative, LSU experienced a dropped entering the event slotted third in the nation losing five-star receiver Rakim Jarrett to Maryland, four-star safety Malcom Greene to Clemson, and four-star receiver Jermaine Burton to Georgia but rebounded securing four-star offensive lineman Marcus Dumervil and four-star linebacker Phillip Webb. Georgia’s rise to the fourth spot bumped A&M from fifth to sixth, but the Aggies made it through the day without losing five-star receiver Demond Demas while retaining all 12 four-star commits.
Georgia closed out the period strong with two five-stars and 14 four-stars. The climb is credited to the aforementioned addition of Burton and another four-star receiver, Arian Smith. Auburn was the other climber from ninth to seventh looking like a full class is close to being had with 24 total commits. The early period saw the Tigers add three four-stars, safety Erick Reed, linebacker Dedmond Tisdol, and athlete Jeremiah Pegues.
The SEC was strong throughout the Top 25 seeing Tennessee jump to No. 15, South Carolina No. 16, Kentucky to No. 23, and Mississippi State at No. 25. Of all the teams throughout the country, the Volunteers arguably had the best day leapfrogging the competition from 22nd to 15th. The jump forward included three four-stars and one three-star prospect.
The four remaining SEC teams have a lot of work ahead. Ole Miss is ranked No. 44 overall with 17 commits, followed by Vanderbilt No. 52 (17), Arkansas No. 56 (12), and Missouri No. 81 (11). Hats off to Arkansas rallying under the new staff. All things considered, the performance of the new coaches on the trail in a few short days was nothing short of remarkable. With six three-star commits ranked at 116th, the Hogs closed strong landing 12 total including two four-stars; safety Myles Slusher, a flip from Oregon, and Memphis receiver Darin Turner.
The Quarterbacks
Looking at the Top 10 overall ranked quarterbacks in the 2020 class, the SEC cleaned up with four. Top-rated dual-threat Bryce Young was flipped from USC to Alabama, Luke Doty decided to stay home to play for South Carolina, as is Texas Longview High School four-star Haynes King to A&M, and Georgia pro-style QB Harrison Bailey is going to Tennessee. Just outside the Top 10, 11th ranked Anthony Richardson is heading to Florida, No. 14 QB Carson Beck to Georgia, and No. 20 pro-style Max Johnson is packing for Baton Rouge.
Kentucky picked up three-star QB Beau Allen and also landed former Auburn quarterback Joey Gatewood out of the transfer portal. Vanderbilt spent three scholarships at the QB position taking a “now” quarterback in JUCO transfer Jeremy Moussa and prepared for the future with dual-threat Michael Wright and pro-style Ken Seals. As of now, LSU is the only other program bringing in multiple quarterbacks. Arkansas is the only team without a committed quarterback losing four-star Chandler Morris when his dad was fired as head coach of the Hogs. The Hogs have yet to name an offensive coordinator, so a new QB could be added, but the former staff did bring in 2019 four-star KJ Jefferson.
In all, six classified dual-threats are headed to the SEC so far and 10 pro-style field generals.
SEC
Alabama – Bryce Young – Mater Dei (CA) – No. 1 dual-threat
Arkansas – no QB commit
Auburn – Chayil Garnett – Lakeland (FL) – No. 22 dual-threat
Georgia – Carson Beck – Mandarin (FL) – pro-style No. 8
Florida – Anthony Richardson – Eastside (FL) – dual-threat No. 5
Kentucky – Beau Allen – Lexington Catholic (KY) – pro-style No. 20
LSU – Max Johnson – Oconee County (GA) – pro-style No. 10
LSU – TJ Finley – Ponchatoula (LA) – pro-style No. 20
Mississippi – Kade Renfro – Stephenville HS (TX) – pro-style No. 51
Mississippi State – Will Rogers – Brandon (MS) – pro-style No. 25
Missouri – Brady Cook – Chaminade Prep (MO) – pro-style No. 30
South Carolina – Luke Doty – Myrtle Beach (SC) – No. 3 – dual-threat
Tennessee – Harrison Bailey – Marietta (GA) – pro-style No. 4
Texas A&M – Haynes King – Longview (TX) – No. 4 dual-threat
Vanderbilt – Ken Seals – Weatherford (TX) – pro-style No. 23
Vanderbilt – Michael Wright – Woodward Academy (GA) – No. 26 dual-threat
Vanderbilt – Jeremy Moussa – San Bernardino Valley JUCO – pro-style No. 3 JUCO