July 2, 2009

Jamie Newberg
Rivals.com Football Recruiting

Ole Miss had a big season both on and off the field last year. So why are the Rebels off to such a slow start with this recruiting campaign?

Penn State has commitments from two offensive linemen in Luke Graham and Thomas Ricketts. What's the take on them?

Finally, is there any reason for Miami fans to worry about how recruiting is going so far?

The answers to these questions are in this week's mailbag.

Jamie's Mailbag

Deep at D-end This year, defensive end is ridiculous with four being rated as five-stars. How does this year's crop of defensive ends compare to one another and who is the best in your opinion? -- Jim in Tallahassee, Fla. ----- You are correct, it's a deep year for defensive ends and there's plenty of talent at the top. Four five-star recruits find themselves inside the Rivals.com top 14 players overall: Jackson Jeffcoat (Plano, Texas), Ronald Powell (Moreno Valley, Calif.), Chris Martin (Princeton, N.J.) and J.R. Ferguson (Chatham, Va.). A fifth defensive end, Reggie Wilson (Haltom City, Texas), is a high four-star currently residing at No. 21 overall. Right now I think it's a tossup between Jeffcoat and Powell. Jeffcoat currently holds that distinction, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Powell leapfrog Jeffcoat and end up in the top five overall. They are both very athletic off the edge, but I would give the edge here to Powell. He can also play linebacker and tight end. Speed and quickness are attributes of both ends. These two standouts are special, and don't be surprised if they both move up when the next rankings are released. Both Jeffcoat and Powell are undecided. Notre Dame landed another big-time defensive recruit with Martin. Sure he could play linebacker in South Bend, but we feel he will grow into a defensive end because he's 6 feet 4 and 240 pounds right now. Like Powell and Jeffcoat, he has outstanding athleticism. Martin plays aggressively and can make plays in coverage, against the run or rushing the passer. To me, Ferguson is as intriguing a prospect as anyone at this position. He may not have the same length (height), but he has those long arms and super athletic ability. At 6-3 and 270 pounds, he carries his weight exceptionally well. He may look more like a defensive tackle, but he plays like an end. Ferguson is a standup pass rusher who will need to learn to play with his hand down. Initially, I thought he was the top end in the country. But after watching the guys ahead of him, I think he's slotted about right.

Slow start? What is up with Ole Miss recruiting this year? After a 9-4 season and huge wins over Florida and Texas Tech, you would think that momentum would transfer to recruiting. But they have two commits as of now. What gives? -- Bennett in Columbia, S.C. ----- It does seem strange that Ole Miss, here in the beginning of July, is just sitting on two commitments ? linebacker Clarence Jackson and quarterback Randall Mackey. In fact, only two schools have fewer commitments ? Kentucky and UConn, with one each. So why are the Rebels off to such a slow start, especially coming off such a big season in the first year of the Houston Nutt regime in Oxford? They really just don't want a ton of commitments going into the late recruiting period of November through National Signing Day. Ole Miss believes it will continue its success on the field. If that happens this fall and the Rebels make a real run at the SEC West title, they believe they can land some players that they wouldn't be able to right now. Remember, the Rebels oversigned with their last class, bringing in a whopping 37 prospects. Of the 37, the Rebels committed 28 prospects after Thanksgiving. Speaking of 28, that's the new number of maximum signees SEC schools are allowed each year. Employing this strategy of less commitments going into the late fall/early winter will give Nutt and Ole Miss more room come crunch time. Only this time, they are capped like everyone else. This plan is a gamble. But if it plays out the way Nutt intends it to, the payoff at the end of the day could be huge for the Rebels. Expect Ole Miss to sign a full class of 28.

Ratings on the way When will Rivals.com rate Luke Graham and Thomas Ricketts? -- William in Altoona, Pa. ----- These two Penn State commitments are both offensive line prospects. Graham, 6-5 and 260 pounds, plays offensive and defensive tackle. Graham, from Penn Trafford High School in Pennsylvania, could be a combo guy at the next level and play guard and/or tackle. He has a long frame and is quick off the ball. More important, he has great feet and moves well. Ricketts, 6-6 and 265 pounds, is an offensive tackle prospect who plays offensive guard for North Allegheny High School in Pennsylvania. Like Graham, he moves exceptionally well. Ricketts gets off the ball quickly and is a dominant drive-blocker. He looks downright nasty on film. I think they both have terrific upside and both have a chance to be very good offensive linemen for coach Joe Paterno in Happy Valley. Personally, I think Ricketts is a four-star and Graham is a four-star/high three-star prospect. Look for their ratings when Rivals.com updates the rankings later this month.

Hurricane concern? Like Florida State, Miami has gotten off to a slow start. Do we Hurricanes fans have anything to worry about? -- Ron in Palatka, Fla. ----- While I don't think Miami is off to a roaring start, the Hurricanes certainly aren't off to a slow start by any means with nine commitments. Of the Hurricanes' nine commitments, four are four-star prospects in defensive tackles Louis Nix, Todd Chandler and Tavadis Glenn and linebacker Javarie Johnson. Four others are three-star prospects. Meanwhile, Jeremy Davis is yet to be rated and ranked (he should be a high three-star prospect). The key for Miami with the remainder of this recruiting class will be how well the Hurricanes do in south Florida. Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are absolutely loaded with high-end talent this year. In fact, it could be the best ever. On one hand you have the numbers and they are just so enormous in terms of the amount of kids, there's no way the Hurricanes will be able to get everyone. They just need to make sure they will get their share. And they will. Randy Shannon and his coaches should capitalize off the field in recruiting and finish with one of the top classes in the ACC. If they do that, it means they did well in their backyard.

Jamie Newberg is a recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. Click here to send him a question or comment for his mailbag.