Power 4 Class of 2025 Rankings: Week 14
Bryce Underwood flipped to Michigan, chaos ensued
The home stretch of the 2025 cycle has proved to be an exciting one. Georgia has overtaken Ohio State as the #1 class in the nation, USC and Florida have been trending late, and the crown jewel of the QB carousel Bryce Underwood decided to stay home at Michigan to the tune of a $12 million NIL deal.
The biggest headline of the week comes from Detroit native Bryce Underwood. He has been the #1 recruit in the 2025 class for its entire cycle and has been committed to LSU since January. Reporting outside of Michigan beat wishcasting didn’t indicate him as a significant flip candidate - until around Halloween. What changed in this time to make such a strong recruit waver on his commitment? Did he have a burning desire to stay close to home? Did Sherrone Moore give him the pitch of his career? Was he wowed by the incredible sights of South Quad? Was it because of Connor Stalions? We’ll never know for sure what was in his heart of hearts - but it’s safe to say that being offered $12 million in NIL money swayed him.
Underwood’s recruitment was absolutely not the first time that a top QB’s recruitment turned into a bidding war, but it represents a significant escalation in the NIL arms race. It also represents an extreme ray of hope for the Wolverines amid a disappointing season on the field. If Underwood were to fulfill a significant proportion of his immense potential, that would nearly single handedly solve their passing offense woes and completely preclude the need for Michigan to try out portal QBs.
Other seats were filled on the QB carousel this week. Former USC commit Julian Lewis chose Colorado, former Michigan commit Carter Smith decided upon Wisconsin, and DFW area 3 star Kevin Sperry chose Florida State over Oklahoma. All of the top 25 QBs in the 2025 class are now pledged to a program, but not necessarily settled. The next domino to watch out for is to see if toolsy Auburn commit Deuce Knight stays with the Tigers or flips to in-state Ole Miss. Once the picture is more settled, we’ll take a look at the future prognosis of all of the blue chip commits from this class.
By the hair on their chinny chin chin, Georgia has managed to overtake Ohio State’s claim for the #1 class in the nation. Their differences are minute, and liable to change with every passing day on the back of single flips. This week the difference came down to the defensive line. Ohio State lost a commitment from Philadelphia 4 Star EDGE Zahir Mathis while Georgia gained one from Atlanta 4 Star EDGE Chase Linton. This race is liable to change in the last two weeks before the Early Signing Period, especially with Alabama lingering in 3rd. Georgia has the clearest path to the #1 class since all they would need to secure it would be commitment from uncommitted in-state 5 Star DL Justus Terry.
There are some other minor notes I’m keeping my eyes on. USC has been finishing the class strong, flipping a 5 star QB last week and adding 3 trench players to the class this week. Florida still has a disappointing class relative to their historical expectations, but the university’s restated commitment to Billy Napier has seemed to be a major boon on the recruiting trail. They’ve raised 8 places up in the rankings over the past two weeks (#39 → #31), the 4th-biggest jump of any P4 program in that span. I am also surprised to see Clemson drop out of the top 25 this season. I have them at #29 after they lost 4 Star DB Tae Harris to Georgia Tech. It doesn’t appear to be a fluke of my rankings being particularly low on small classes either - On3 has them at #18 but 247Sports has them at #30.
Flips
Belleville, MI 5 Star QB Bryce Underwood (LSU → Michigan)
Underwood is the #1 recruit in the 2025 class and has been allegedly given a $12 million NIL deal to stay home and wear Maize and Blue. I am very excited about this :)
Winter Garden, FL 4 Star S Ivan Taylor (Michigan → Alabama)
Ivan Taylor is the son of longtime NFL DB Ike Taylor.
Detroit, MI 4 Star CB Elijah Dotson (Pittsburgh → Michigan)
Palatine, IL 4 Star DL Jaylen Williams (Michigan → Wisconsin)
Cedartown, GA 4 Star S Tae Harris (Clemson → Georgia Tech)
Gainesville, GA 4 Star OT Alex Payne (North Carolina → USC)
Denton, TX 3 Star QB Kevin Sperry (Oklahoma → Florida State)
After losing 4 Star QB Tramell Jones to their in-state rival Florida, the Noles still manage to secure a passer for this class. Oklahoma, on the other hand, is left high and dry without a passer this cycle after some underwhelming QB play this season.
Loxahatchee, FL 3 Star IOL Daniel Pierre Louis (Florida State → Florida)
Tampa, FL 3 Star RB Justin Thurman (Notre Dame → Kansas)
Athens, AL 3 Star OT Spencer Dowland (Auburn → Mississippi State)
Folsom, CA 3 Star EDGE Nela Tupou (Utah → USC)
Commitments
Carrolton, GA 4 Star QB Julian Lewis (Colorado)
Lewis was previously committed to USC before they seemingly took Longstreet over him. He has a serious chance to start next season assuming Shedeur Sanders enters the draft.
Ponte Verde, FL 4 Star QB Carter Smith (Wisconsin)
Smith was previously committed to Michigan before their efforts to flip Underwood began in earnest.
Atlanta, GA 4 Star EDGE Chase Linton (Georgia)
Linton was previously committed to Rutgers this summer.
Loganville, GA 4 Star DL Joseph Mbatchou (Texas)
Mbatchou was previously committed to Florida.
Humboldt, TN 3 Star DL Stephon Shivers (Florida)
Shivers was previously committed to Georgia.
Charlotte, NC 3 Star WR Arrion Concepcion (Kansas State)
Concepcion was previously committed to NC State, and has an older brother who plays WR for the Wolfpack.
Raymond, MS 3 Star OT Saquon Miles (Mississippi State)
Jenks, OK 3 Star IOL Cash Jacobsen (USC)
Murfreesboro, TN 3 Star CB Zyntreacs Otey (Purdue)
Anaheim, CA 3 Star RB Quaid Carr (Washington)
Chattanooga, TN 3 Star LB Joel Lowenberg (Wake Forest)
Bradenton, FL 3 Star K Brunno Reus (Florida State)
Detroit, MI 3 Star OT Danilo Guberinich (Texas Tech)
Middleburg, FL 3 Star DL BJ Carter (Iowa State)
Covington, GA 3 Star DL Timothy Griffin (Cincinnati)
Mobile, AL 3 Star S Jayven Williams (Mississippi State)
Las Vegas, NV 3 Star IOL Daniel Boyd (Duke)
San Antonio, TX NR ATH Myron Robinson (Arizona)
Fort Worth, TX NR WR JD Davis (Kansas State)
Bronx, NY NR DL Patrick Tackie (Kansas State)
Decommitments
Philadelphia, PA 4 Star EDGE Zahir Mathis (Ohio State)
Mobile, AL 4 Star OT Carde Smith (Alabama)
Newman, GA 3 Star CB Derrion Horsley (Mississippi State)
West Palm Beach, FL 3 Star RB Jaylin Brown (Louisville)
Toccoa, GA 3 Star RB Javin Gordon (Duke)
Middleburg, FL 3 Star DL Bernard Carter (Iowa State)
Longview, TX 3 Star LB Seth McFarland (Houston)
Long Beach, CA 3 Star CB Joshua Tuchek (Arizona)
Ratings Changes
4 Stars → 5 Stars
Geneva, IL WR Talyn Taylor (Georgia)
Wallingford, CT OT Will Black (Notre Dame)
3 Stars → 4 Stars
Vancouver, BC, Canada QB Blake Hebert (Notre Dame)
I would imagine this is the highest rated international player in On3’s database. Or at least the highest rated international QB.
Millville, NJ WR Lotzeir Brooks (Alabama)
Orlando, FL WR Isaiah Mizell (Arizona)
Chatsworth, CA ATH Jae’on Young (California)
Ellenwood, GA RB Bo Walker (Georgia)
Marietta, GA LB Anthony Kruah (Georgia)
Oswego, IL LB Carson Cooney (Iowa)
Fairfield, OH ATH Noah King (Kansas State)
Greer, SC TE Mikkel Skinner (Kentucky)
Phenix City, AL WR Daylyn Upshaw (Miami)
Newburgh, IN DL Benny Patterson (Michigan)
Omaha, NE LB Pierce Mooberry (Nebraska)
Wayne, NJ WR Elijah Burress (Notre Dame)
Milton, FL EDGE Tylon Lee (Ole Miss)
Brooklyn, NY WR Lyrick Samuel (Penn State)
Portsmouth, VA ATH Matthew Outten (Virginia)
Olney, MD WR DaMarion Fowlkes (Pittsburgh)
Havelock, NC EDGE Donovan Darden (South Carolina)
Charlotte, NC DL Charles House (Tennessee)
Gainesville, FL EDGE Nicolas Clayton (Wisconsin)
5 Stars → 4 Stars
Royersford, PA QB Matt Zollers (Missouri)
It’s worth noting that Zollers suffered an ugly ankle injury early this season and has played very little of senior year.
Jacksonville, FL WR Jaime Ffrench (Texas)
4 Stars → 3 Stars
Detroit, MI CB Alex Graham (Colorado)
Athens, GA WR Landon Roldan (Georgia)
North Aurora, IL WR Terrence Smith (Iowa)
Chatsworth, CA WR Jaden Nickens (Kansas)
Nickens plans to play both basketball and football at KU.
Melbourne, FL DL Brandon Brown (LSU)
Denton, MD ATH Zymear Smith (Maryland)
Savannah, GA RB Donovan Johnson (Michigan)
Fort Worth, TX IOL Henry Fenuku (Missouri)
St. Louis, MO S Charles Bass (Missouri)
Elmhurst, IL DL Joseph Reiff (Notre Dame)
Washington, DC Jayvon McFadden (Ohio State)
Denton, TX QB Kevin Sperry (Florida State)
Gautier, MS WR Dillon Alfred (Ole Miss)
Trenton, NJ LB Kamar Archie (Rutgers)
Jersey City, NJ LB DJ McClary (Rutgers)
Warner Robins, GA CB Michael Clayton (Rutgers)
Murrieta, CA QB Bear Bachmeier (Stanford)
Columbia, SC CB Onis Konanbanny (Tennessee)
DeSoto, TX RB Deondre Riden (Texas A&M)
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