A Way-Too-Early Look at the Class of 2026 Recruiting Class
Get to know who the best recruits are, where they're from, and which programs are off to a hot start.
And that is a wrap for the 2024-25 college football season! As a Michigan alum it is a sad day to see evil win with Ohio State winning the national championship but I can take solace knowing they’ll have a Maize colored asterisk on the trophy. Though with the season in the books, the 2025 recruiting class in the books, and the transfer portal dying down for now, we have no choice but to look forward. So we’ll take a moment to table-set for the 2026 recruiting class by answering the following questions: which programs are off to a hot start, where are the best recruits coming from this cycle, and who exactly are the best recruits?
For the analytics readers who are unfamiliar, we’ll take a moment to go over the outlines of the Division 1 recruiting calendar. Prior to the summer before a high school athlete’s junior year, coaches can only scout and recruit informally at in-person events such as 7-on-7 tournaments, recruiting showcases/camps, and their varsity games. Coaches may verbally offer athletes scholarships and athletes may verbally commit at this time, but these are not official acts in the eyes of the NCAA. Official recruiting begins the June following an athlete’s sophomore year, which is when coaches are allowed to electronically contact players but not call them. The athletes are then allowed to make official visits where the program pays for their travel to campus beginning in April of their junior year.
Therefore, recruiting begins in earnest the summer before an athlete’s junior year and kicks up a notch when college coaches can roll out the red carpet on official visits beginning in the spring of their junior year. We’ll take our first serious look at the Class of 2026 now, when they’ve officially been talking to college coaches for more than half a year but before they’re able to take official visits. So where does every program stand right now?
On the whole, these rankings are not particularly meaningful. Only 16 programs have 5 or more players committed at time of writing, and when most teams have so few all rankings devolve into “who has the most committed right now.” We expect these to change considerably and only get solidified as we enter the spring after recruits begin to take their official visits. That being said, we can acknowledge that 5 teams (Oregon, Texas A&M, USC, Penn State, and Tennessee) are off to hot starts with 8 or more commitments this early. This doesn’t seem to have much predictive power, but there may be something to glean from seeing where the top recruits are coming from this cycle.
Since Class of 2026 athletes still have to go through the spring and summer circuits of evaluations, we expect Power 4-caliber recruits to get more offers and thus bring up the amount of top recruits within most metros. From this vantage point we cannot say if some of the more important metros (Miami, DC, Houston) are truly having down years or not. On the other hand, we can absolutely say that the Charlotte and Cleveland areas are having particularly years.
Charlotte currently has 13 recruits which are either blue chip prospects or have 10+ Power 4 offers, which is nearly double their total over the 2025 class (8). This could potentially benefit Bill Belichick’s North Carolina, Georgia, or maybe even South Carolina. Cleveland is having its best year in recent memory with 10 top recruits, the most its had over the past 5 cycles. This will look to be a major battle ground between Michigan and Ohio State with both schools offering 5 of the 10 top recruits (4 Star CB Elbert Hill, 4 Star ATH Jakob Weatherspoon, 4 Star IOL Max Riley, 4 Star OT Sam Greer, and 3 Star IOL Will Conroy).
Now that we know high level which areas are trending up and which teams are off to strong starts, let’s look into who the players teams will be battling over are.
Attentive readers will note that there are only 15 5 stars in the table when recruiting services usually try to have around 32 5 stars per season. That is because On3 and 247Sports do not release their full slate of 5 stars until later in the year, so for now we have only what On3’s scouting staff has deemed the 15 best recruits in the nation. On3 will have 20 graded 5 stars after NSD in February, 25 in April, and then the full 32 in July. 247Sports will have an update in early spring and then release their full 32 5 stars in May.
With the 5 stars we’ve identified so far we can see some interesting trends. Most notably, there are 0 5 stars from Texas. This almost certainly will not stay the case - DFW OT John Turntine is the 16th-ranked player according to On3 and #18 player Houston QB Keisean Henderson has been shooting up the rankings - but it is interesting that no Lone Star player has clearly established himself as an elite player nationally this early on. We can also make small inferences about positional quality in this year’s class. There are no RBs, interior DL, and only one DB within the top 15 which potentially indicates a down season for those groups.
Let’s take a moment to dive deeper into each position.
As is typical, most of the blue chip QBs which were identified early are already committed to a Power 4 program. There are still some top options uncommitted on the board, notably #1 QB Jared Curtis and #3 QB Ryder Lyons, and some lower rated options which are highly sought after such as former West Virginia commit Brodie McWhorter and DJ Bordeaux.
Some storylines to follow:
Why did Tennessee choose Faizon Brandon over Jared Curtis? Or was it the other way around?
Will LSU pursue a QB this cycle after losing out on Bryce Underwood in 2025?
Why are there no high caliber QBs from the DFW metroplex? There has been at least 1 in every class since 2021. Bowe Bently is currently closest as a 3 star with 7 P4 offers, but only one comes from an in-state program (Texas Tech).
As opposed to the top quarterbacks, very few of the best running backs in the nation are committed to a program at this point in time. A point which I find interesting is that even though RBs are notorious for being easy evaluations, there doesn’t seem to be a particularly strong correlation between industry rating and offer counts.
Some storylines to watch:
Will Michigan win the NIL bidding war for #1 RB Savion Hiter?
With RBs being particularly easy to acquire in the transfer portal, is there any chance HS RBs could end up with fewer opportunities?
Moreso than other positions, southern recruits dominate the best receivers list. Only one receiver from the top 30 - CJ Sadler - comes from north of the Mason-Dixon line.
Some storylines to watch:
Of the 74 top recruit WRs in the 2026 class, 17 are exactly 6-foot while only 7 are 5’11. While it’s possible this just a fun statistical oddity, I will be watching the official measurements come in from the camps.
There are 3 top WRs from Mississippi. Will Ole Miss and Mississippi State do a better job of keeping top offensive talent in-state?
There have not been many strong TEs identified at this point in the cycle either by the recruiting services or P4 programs. I do not have data to back this up, but I would imagine this is fairly typical as its unlikely that high school teams would put one of their best athletes at TE.
Some storylines to watch:
There is a 70 pound range in weight within the top TEs. How many of these recruits will put on weight with successive updates, and will the lighter players stay at TE in college?
Will more southern and western TEs emerge?
Gavin Mueller is currently listed as a 3 star by 247Sports but unranked by On3 despite considerable P4 interest. How far will he rise?
Despite being probably the 2nd-most prioritized position after QB, only 2 top recruits at OL are currently committed to a Power 4 program. There is a significant amount of talent at the top of the class all throughout the country this cycle, aside from the west coast.
Some storylines to watch:
How fast will the top OL recruits come off the board? This past cycle we’ve seen top OL such as Ty Haywood play out their recruitment well past the Early Signing Period.
Where will each of the top 4 OL end up, and who exactly will be most competitive in those races?
Despite having largely similar body types and skill sets, more top defensive line recruits are committed to Power 4 programs at this point than their offensive counterparts. I also find it interesting that the top defensive line prospects as a whole, whether they are on the edge or interior, are nearly as southern as a group as the wide receivers are.
Some storylines to watch:
Will the #1 EDGE rusher and #3 player overall really stay committed to the Maryland Terrapins?
With the top TE commitment, a top OL commitment, and two top DL commitments already, Oregon has made it a clear priority to add beef this cycle. Will they be able to maintain this endeavor?
A significant amount of top EDGEs are currently listed at or below 220 pounds. Will they put on weight over the course of the summer?
Outside of QBs, top LBs have the most Power 4 commitments of any position at this point in the cycle. My hypothesis is that this is because so many athletes who would be an LB in high school in the past are now playing EDGE, so a high-caliber athlete who is already a good linebacker at that level is rarer now. Thus, colleges may prioritize the position relatively more early compared to other defensive positions.
Some storylines to watch:
These athletes are light! Only 5 of the top 30 are listed at 220 or above at this point in the cycle. Will that go up as time goes on?
Will USC with Lincoln Riley on the hotseat manage to hold onto Atlanta LB Xavier Griffin?
The west coast is positively full of defensive backs this year, and USC has already secured commitments from two within the top 10. It appears to be a particularly strong year for safeties overall, with 5 of the top 7 defensive backs all carrying the torch at that position.
Some storylines to watch:
LSU has only gotten commitments from the top Louisiana prospect in 1 of the last 4 cycles. Will they be able to turn their luck around with Blaine Bradford?
After struggling in-state last cycle, Alabama has a commitment from 4 Star CB Zyan Gibson. Can Kalen DeBoer turn around his luck this cycle?
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe so that you can receive emails updating you upon every post and share this with others who you think might enjoy. This is a free newsletter, but if you are feeling so generous you can buy me a coffee.