The Class of 2022 is officially in the books. The four-month recruiting period has come to an end and the final signing day came and went. This year’s class is ranked fourth best in the nation, but there were still plenty of surprises. Who are this year’s top prospects? Where did they go? And what does it all mean for their respective schools? Get the answers to these questions and more below.
The recruiting rankings
The recruiting rankings are out and the Class of 2022 is ranked fourth best in the nation. This is impressive considering this class just barely beats out the Class of 2021, which came in fifth. The top three spots belong to California, Texas, and Georgia respectively. All three schools produced over 15 blue-chip recruits and they each signed six 5-star players each.
Meet the top 10 recruits
1. Bobby Brown
2. James Fields
3. Travis Jay
4. Dwone Hicks
5. Malik Tisdale
6. Jalen Johnson
7. Tayjon Jones
8. Tyrese Maxey
9. Jordan Northrup
10. Jaden Mitchell
Where did the top 10 recruits sign?
For the second consecutive year, Alabama signed the most five-star recruits. The Crimson Tide picked up six of the top 10 prospects in Scout.com’s rankings. Auburn and Texas A&M each signed four five-star players. Ohio State, Clemson, and Georgia all signed three, while Notre Dame signed two and Florida State signed one.
RANKINGS OF THE TOP 5 RECRUITS:
1) DE Kayvon Thibodeaux (Alabama)
2) DB Patrick Surtain Jr. (Alabama)
3) DB Jaden Davis (Auburn)
4) LB Quay Walker (Georgia)
5) DL James Williams (Texas A&M)
What does their decision mean for their respective school?
This year’s recruiting period is in the books and it was a wild ride. The Class of 2022 has been ranked as fourth best in the nation, but there were still plenty of surprises. Who are this year’s top prospects? Where did they go? And what does it all mean for their respective school?
One thing that stood out is the number of prospects who signed with schools out-of-state. A total of 16 players signed with schools outside their home state, including six five-star recruits. That’s more than double from last year’s class, which had eight prospects sign outside their home state. This indicates an increased willingness to take risks on freshmen and/or a greater willingness to relocate after high school.
Another interesting development is how many top recruits committed early in the recruiting process or before they started playing their senior season. Of the 247 players who committed, 63% committed before their senior season (98) and 41% committed during or before September (64).
Then there are the five-stars - 25 prospects earned five stars from ESPN rankings, with 10 committing to Louisiana State University, nine committing to Oklahoma, four committing to Duke, three committing to Gonzaga and two committing to Kansas. And while Alabama landed its first five-star commitment since 2012 when Vernon Carey Jr., signed on Wednesday night - he's going across town to Auburn University - two other SEC schools landed commitments from this year's highest-ranked player:
Recruiting process
The recruiting process is finally over and the top football prospects in the class of 2022 have been selected. It was a long, arduous process but it’s finally finished.
For those unfamiliar with the recruiting process, here’s what you need to know: Hundreds of players are initially ranked by 247Sports in their rankings for high school athletes. The ranking system is based on a player’s performance on 247Sports’ proprietary rankings formula that factors in player-generated data from its own website, as well as metrics like size, athleticism and speed from high school film and game tape.
Players are then sorted by position based on evaluation and potential to play at the next level. The Top247 is a compilation of 247Sports’ ranking of America's best football players.
Rankings after this point will vary depending on which recruiting service one is using to make evaluations. Rivals has its own rankings system while ESPN relies heavily on its national recruiting expert, Tom Luginbill.
As for this year’s class? There were plenty of surprises for all four major recruiting services: ESPN; Rivals; 247Sports; and Scout (which does not publish its own rankings).
ESPN offered up some insight into where each five-star recruit in the Class of 2022 signed—and there were some major surprises along the way.
Early Signing Period (Dec 20-22)
This year’s early signing period served as the first of three opportunities for prospects to ink their National Letters of Intent. Many top prospects, including 5-star offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere (Notre Dame), 5-star cornerback Patrick Surtain Jr. (Alabama), and 4-star wide receiver Justyn Ross (Clemson) signed in the first week. Though it was a brief three days, those three days were big ones for Irish head coach Brian Kelly, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney, and Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
In total, 22 players signed during the Early Signing Period. Four of those signings came from Clemson, four came from Notre Dame, two came from Michigan, and one each came from Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Stanford—a surprisingly diverse group that included linemen, skill players, and defensive backs.
About Author
