National recruiting big board: The 10 most impactful uncommitted 2021 prospects (2024)

If you wanted to make a list of the top 10 remaining recruiting targets, it would be easy to simply go down the 247Sports list of the top 100 players in the 2021 class and choose the first 10 who haven’t made a commitment yet. That’s not what this is.

This is a list of the most “impactful” uncommitted prospects in order of importance, which is a list that goes further than using rankings as the most important metric. Rankings are important, sure, but this is about being “impactful,” so that could mean anything from importance to a specific college, location, trends or just being plain interesting.

This exercise at the beginning of every month will be a good way to keep track of the comings and goings in college football. You’ll find pieces of information about a bunch of schools from all over the country, and you’ll be able to track which ones are leaning in different directions. As players commit and the landscape changes, this list will change too.

So let’s get started with the first edition of this national recruiting big board, a list of the top 10 most impactful uncommitted 2021 prospects:

1. QB Caleb Williams

Particulars: Five-star prospect from Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga

The buzz:If we’re talking about important recruitments to track, then you absolutely have to start off with the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the country. Rated the No. 5 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings, Williams released a final five at the end of March that consisted of LSU, Clemson, Oklahoma, Penn State and Maryland. Right now, Williams has to be considered an Oklahoma lean, and he posted on Twitter earlier this week that he’s close to narrowing his decision down. You can probably cross Penn State out of the running because the Nittany Lions took a commitment from four-star pro-style quarterback Christian Veilleux of Potomac (Md.) Bullis School on Wednesday. A potential program-altering talent at quarterback will always find his way atop lists like this.

2. DE Korey Foreman

Particulars: Five-star prospect from Corona (Calif.) Centennial

The buzz:This list isn’t only going to be five-star prospects, but Foreman has to be on it because he’s the No. 1 overall player in the 2021 class and he recently decommitted from Clemson. Located in southern California, Foreman is now considered a USC lean, so this isn’t just a recruitment anymore. This is as much about Clay Helton’s quest to keep his job and whether he can keep the No. 1 player in the country at home. The Pac-12 is down because USC is down, and USC won’t get up off the mat if it continues to sign classes like its 2020 class, which finished No. 55 overall. Other schools like Ohio State, LSU, Georgia, Oregon, Arizona State, Alabama and, yes, Clemson, will get into the mix. But Helton has to close this one.

3. RB Will Shipley

Particulars: Five-star prospect from Matthews (N.C.) Weddington

The buzz:Rated the No. 1 all-purpose back in the country, Shipley has drawn constant comparisons to Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey. The two have even linked up because of McCaffrey’s close proximity as a member of the Carolina Panthers. Shipley is still considering Stanford, North Carolina and NC State, but the real battle seems to be between Clemson and Notre Dame. Shipley has made it onto this list because this is the holy grail prospect for Notre Dame, the guy the Irish want to steal out of the south and build their program around. Notre Dame is in the middle of a very important question: Can it compete against the College Football Playoff programs? The answer to that question rests in whether it can beat a team like Clemson for a five-star running back in the Carolinas. Strap in, this recruitment is going to be intense and Notre Dame couldn’t want him more.

4. RB Donovan Edwards

Particulars: Four-star prospect from West Bloomfield (Mich.) High

The buzz:You couldn’t count on one hand how many times Edwards visited Ohio State, and for a while there, it seemed like the Buckeyes were going to steal a top-40 prospect out of the state of Michigan. Ohio State, however, took two commitments at running back in five-star TreVeyon Henderson of Hopewell (Va.) High and four-star Evan Pryor of Cornelius (N.C.) William Amos Hough, so the door is wide open for Michigan State and Michigan to battle this out. Edwards, the No. 38 overall player in the 2021 class, grew up a Michigan State fan and likes Mel Tucker and the new Spartans staff, but Michigan is considered at least a slight favorite. Both of those Big Ten East programs need a top-40 player on their roster, especially Michigan State, which is trying to make a splash in year one under Tucker.

5. OT Savion Byrd

Particulars: Four-star prospect from Duncanville (Texas) High

The buzz:Don’t look now, but is SMU on its way to becoming the next Group of 5 power? The Mustangs already have four-star quarterback Preston Stone of Dallas Parish Episcopal School committed, and he’s the No. 67 overall player in the country. Now Sonny Dykes’ program seems to be the favorite for an elite-level offensive tackle in Byrd, the No. 33 overall player. What is happening here is the perfect example of what any college football coach has to do to ultimately be successful: Attack the area and keep kids home. That’s what SMU is doing in Dallas. The biggest competition SMU has for Byrd is Texas, and Longhorns coach Tom Herman is the one who kept five-star defensive tackle Ed Oliver home at Houston before jumping to the bigger job. This recruitment will be fun to track.

6. DT J.T. Tuimoloau

Particulars: Five-star prospect from Sammamish (Wash.) Eastside Catholic

The buzz:The state of Washington has three players in the top 11 of the 247Sports Composite rankings, which is a ridiculous opportunity for Washington if it wants to be in the race to take over the Pac-12. The Huskies have one committed in five-star quarterback Sam Huard of Burien Kennedy Catholic, who is rated the No. 11 player in the country. The other two are five-star wide receiver Emeka Egbuka of Steilacoom (Wash.) High (No. 9 overall) and Tuimoloau (No. 2). It seems as if Egbuka is down to Clemson and Ohio State, so Tuimoloau is the recruitment to watch to see if Washington can keep two of the three home while the Pac-12 is there for the taking. Tuimoloau is also a top target for Ohio State, which has become a thorn in Washington’s side, especially after taking four-star receiver Gee Scott Jr. out of Sammamish in the 2020 class.

7. WR Jacorey Brooks

Particulars: Five-star prospect from Miami (Fla.) Booker T. Washington

The buzz:Miami has 13 commitments in a class that ranks No. 8 overall, so there has been some excitement about what Manny Diaz is doing. But if you look closer at the Hurricanes’ class, you’ll see only four of those commitments are four-star prospects, which means Miami may have a hard time holding onto a spot in the top 10 in the team rankings. If The U is ever going to be back under Diaz, it needs to land some top-end talent like Brooks. Rated the No. 23 player in the country, Brooks seems high on Alabama, Auburn and Florida, but if the Hurricanes show signs of improvement on the field, they may be able to keep this talented prospect home.

8. WR Isaiah Brevard

Particulars: Four-star prospect from Southaven (Miss.) High

The buzz:Brevard named a top 10 of Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis, Missouri, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Oregon and Texas A&M, but the four schools that seem to have the inside shot are Ole Miss, Georgia, Oregon and Texas A&M. The top-rated player in Mississippi has already committed to LSU, so Brevard makes this list because it’s super fascinating to see if the Lane Train is back. Lane Kiffin is in his first year as Ole Miss’ head coach, and if he is going to be competitive in the SEC, he has to keep prospects like Brevard from leaving. Rated the No. 121 player in the class, Brevard could be the prospect who starts a trend for Kiffin’s rebuilding of the Rebels. Ole Miss theoretically could sign three of the top five players in its state in Kiffin’s first full class.

9. OT Nolan Rucci

Particulars: Five-star prospect from Lititz (Pa.) Warwick

The buzz:Since Penn State seems to be out of the picture with the top player on this list now, it has to make sure it lands the five-star talent located two hours away outside of Lancaster. Rated the No. 13 player in the class, Rucci is also closely considering Notre Dame, Clemson and Wisconsin, where his brother plays tight end. Rucci is a legacy at Penn State — his father, Todd, played for the Nittany Lions before an eight-year NFL career — and James Franklin has prioritized the offensive lineman on his board. Franklin has won the Big Ten East before, but he is still chasing Ohio State at the top, which are words that have come out of his mouth. The Nittany Lions can’t do that if they don’t land five-star talent two hours away from State College.

10. OT Geno VanDemark

Particulars: Four-star prospect from Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph Regional

The buzz:Rutgers is one of the worst Power 5 programs, but there is finally something for Scarlet Knights fans to get excited about because their program hired Greg Schiano, the most qualified coach there is to lead the turnaround. Schiano has won in New Jersey before and he’s trying to do it again, but it’s going to take years of recruiting to assemble a competitive roster, especially in the Big Ten East. Schiano knows every edge of New Jersey and has vowed to keep top talent home. He has done that so far with seven commitments from New Jersey out of eight pledges in the 2021 class. But can he keep the top-end New Jersey talent home in year one? That’s what he is trying to do with VanDemark, who is the No. 4 player in the state. Tracking Rutgers’ attempt at a turnaround under Schiano will be a long task, but is the turnaround starting already? Let’s see what VanDemark does.

(Photo of Caleb Williams: Will Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Ari Wasserman is a senior writer for The Athletic covering college football and recruiting nationally. He previously spent 10 years covering Ohio State for The Athletic and Cleveland.com, starting on the Buckeyes beat in 2009. Follow Ari on Twitter @AriWasserman