{"id":4254,"date":"2021-05-20T08:15:34","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T13:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gridironstuds.com\/blog\/?p=4254"},"modified":"2021-05-20T08:15:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T13:15:34","slug":"no-surprise-at-the-top-of-the-latest-247-class-of-23-state-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/no-surprise-at-the-top-of-the-latest-247-class-of-23-state-rankings\/","title":{"rendered":"No Surprise at the Top of the Latest 247 Class of ’23 State Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Chad Wilson – GridironStuds Blog<\/strong>
\nTwitter: @gridironstuds<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have long known where the hotbeds are when it comes to college football recruiting in this country.\u00a0 Though we wish to argue over it because our geographical pride demands that we do,\u00a0 there is no denying where the hottest bed is and the latest 247 sports Class of 2023 rankings bears that out.<\/p>\n

When Alabama rolled up to their national championship title game vs. Ohio St. with an entire secondary comprised of starters from the Sunshine State,\u00a0 we should have all bowed down to the king hotbed.\u00a0 I’m not here to piss off the other 49 states but spades must be called spades in the interest of avoiding delusion.\u00a0 In their latest class of 2023 Top 247,\u00a0 247 sports has loaded 49 players from the state of Florida.\u00a0 If you are being honest with yourself,\u00a0 there should be no surprise there.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 there were some interesting things to take from the latest rankings and we can look at them here.<\/p>\n

Leading the Way Through the Palm Trees<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though a Florida prospect does not hold the top spot overall,\u00a0 the state does have four in the top 20 with three of them being the #1 rated recruit at their positions.\u00a0 Starting with IMG Academy’s offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa.\u00a0 The two way trench player has been all over the country during his high school career but currently calls the Bradenton, FL academy his home.\u00a0 Newly acquired American Heritage wide receiver Brandon Innis is the #1 ranked wide receiver in the country and falls at #7 on the Top 247.\u00a0 The former University School product seems like he’s been on the scene for half a decade but is one of the five Top 10 recruits that are committed.\u00a0 Like two others,\u00a0 Innis is committed to Oklahoma.\u00a0 IMG’s weak side defensive end Malik Bryant comes in at #12 on the list and is ranked second at his position.\u00a0 The 6’2″ speedy edge rusher is originally from Orlando and has all the usual suspects on his recruiting heels.\u00a0 Finally,\u00a0 Lehigh’s running back Richard Young is also the top player at his position and is ranked #19 on 247 sports latest rankings list.\u00a0 Since earning Max Prep Freshman All American honors,\u00a0 Young has shown no signs of slowing down literally.\u00a0 The dual sport track athlete is building himself into a monster.<\/p>\n

Peaches on the Rise<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have continued to tell people about the rising giant that is the state of Georgia.\u00a0 Over the last half decade,\u00a0 the Peach State has been cranking out top talent that is getting more and more heavily pursued by the kings of college football.\u00a0 The eye opener here should be that a state significantly smaller than California has nine more (30 to 21) top 247 recruits.\u00a0 Georgia is also holding the top spot with strong side defensive end Lebbeus Overton from Milton HS.\u00a0 The 6’3″ 265 lb. manchild is one of three Top 10 recruits committed to the Oklahoma Sooners.\u00a0 Though he is the only state of Georgia recruit in the Top 20,\u00a0 the state is well represented throughout the rest of the rankings.<\/p>\n

California Drought<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of California,\u00a0 you know they say it never rains.\u00a0 Well the drought is starting to spread to the college football recruiting area too.\u00a0 I wouldn’t say that it is reaching brush fire potential but when you are second in population but fourth in number of top recruits,\u00a0 there is a smokey trend taking place.\u00a0 There was a time when you wouldn’t dream of Alabama (18 top recruits) nipping at the heels of California in terms of pumping out talent.\u00a0 The reasons for this could be better expounded on in other blog posts but for now,\u00a0 the decline of Pac-12 football is either the result or the anthesis for the decline in talent.\u00a0 I will let you,\u00a0 the reader,\u00a0 decide.\u00a0 For now,\u00a0 let me just mention that California does come in with the #4 overall rated recruit and #1 pro passer with Los Alamitos high’s Malachi Nelson.\u00a0 He and his partner in crime, Maki Lemon are the only two Cali prospects to be ranked in the top 20.\u00a0 Malachi to Maki is going to be a common theme this up coming football season.\u00a0 Stop me if you’ve heard this before but Oklahoma has a commitment from Nelson and is in pursuit of Lemon as well.<\/p>\n

Putting Up Those Goose Eggs<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are some parts of the country that just have a hard time producing top talent.\u00a0 It can be weather,\u00a0 history, population, importance or weather.\u00a0 Whatever the case may be,\u00a0 I often tell kids from these areas that if they really want to find out where they stand,\u00a0 get to the hotbeds to go camp during the offseason.\u00a0 If nothing else,\u00a0 you will see what it is you have to work on or perhaps,\u00a0 pull yourself out of delusion.\u00a0 Prospects from these following states need to either book flights or pack up the minivan in search of camps to warm weather states this summer:\u00a0 Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Delaware, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, Idaho and Alaska.\u00a0 \u00a0All of the mentioned states have zero prospects in the Top 247.\u00a0 If you think you are a baller and you hail from these states,\u00a0 grab a straw hat and some sun tan lotion.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s time to book it to a heated site for some competition.<\/p>\n

Loan Wolf<\/strong><\/p>\n

Typically,\u00a0 I would have to include the state of Minnesota in a paragraph like the last one.\u00a0 The state possess all the traits of the ones mentioned which makes it difficult for them to compete with others in terms of producing top high school football talent.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 one young man keeps the land of timberwolves out of the bagel box when it comes to Top 247 recruits.\u00a0 Robbinsdale Cooper High School’s Jaxon Howard’s mailbox is probably violating USPS codes daily.\u00a0 The 6’4″ 245 tight end is the #65 ranked prospect in the country and can boast 51 offers from schools from coast to coast.\u00a0 With the tight end position gaining more and more favor of late,\u00a0 Howard,\u00a0 with his size and athleticism is taking advantage.\u00a0 My guess is that he will continue to rise up these rankings as he continues to look like a beast among mortals in competition this Fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Chad Wilson – GridironStuds Blog Twitter: @gridironstuds We have long known where the hotbeds are when it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":4255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1114,1027,984,152,260,913,1116,1115,689,982],"class_list":["post-4254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-school","tag-1114","tag-247-sports","tag-california","tag-college-football","tag-florida","tag-georgia","tag-jaxon-howard","tag-minnesota","tag-recruiting","tag-top-recruits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}