Volume 4 brings 35 new players to the Big Ten.
P.J. Fleck picked up where he left off last month by adding five recruits to his 2018 class. The Gophers currently lead the Big Ten with 14 commits.
Nebraska and Mike Riley matched Minnesota with five verbals. CB Brendan Radley-Hiles of California was the highest-rated commit in the Big Ten this cycle. Riley and his staff are taking advantage of a perceived weak Big Ten West and are bringing quality players to Lincoln.
James Franklin and the Nittany Lions had an up and down recruiting cycle. Everything hit the fan on back-to-back days. April 22nd was the day they lost OT Chris Bleich, but added a pair of offensive tackles. Nana Asiedu (.958) and Antwan Reed (.888) might have influenced Bleich's decision to play elsewhere.
A big blow happened to the Blue and White the next day when Micah Parsons, who is the nation's No. 1 weak-side defensive end, decommitted. Larry Johnson and the Buckeyes are in the running lead to get the talented defensive player.
Speaking of Ohio State, Urban Meyer is closing the composite ratings gap on Penn State. The Scarlet and Gray added four 4★ players this month and should be on the top of the composite list by the end of July...if not sooner. Having three players go in the First Round of the NFL Draft (seven players overall) is just another selling point for the Ohio State coaching staff.
This piece has information on:
- 247's B1G Rankings
- Comprehensive Stars Chart
- Top B1G committed players by position and Ohio State's top offers
- Charting the B1G's 2018 average player ratings
- Charting Ohio State's committed players
- Committed players by school
- Open commit/decommit board in the comment section
The 2018 Composite Team Rankings as of 4/30/2017 according to 247
Penn State remains the top team in the Big Ten, but Ohio State is one commit away from becoming king of the hill. Imagine the tears in Happy Valley if Micah Parsons commits to the Buckeyes and he puts Ohio State on top of the comp. average ratings.
Other teams making noise this cycle were Maryland and Nebraska. The Terps made the largest jump by leaping over four teams and landing at 8th. Aided by the addition of Brendan Radley-Hiles and two more California wide receivers, the Cornhuskers climbed three spots and are now fifth.
As teams go up, other teams must go down. This month, Michigan State and Wisconsin fell the furthest. The Badgers did not add a commit and dropped from fourth to seventh. Mark Dantonio received a verbal from Edward Warinner, but it wasn't enough to keep Sparty from slipping down three spots to 8th.
The separation from the top of the league to the bottom is still large, but strides have been made. Last month nine teams were below the conference average, this month proper number of seven teams are below the cut-off line. Look for Maryland, Michigan State and Wisconsin to flirt with the average line as the recruiting season plows on.
B1G RANK | TEAM | COMP. RATING | change |
---|---|---|---|
1 | PENN STATE | 220.60 | - 6.10 |
2 | OHIO STATE | 212.95 | + 77.39 |
3 | NORTHWESTERN | 154.37 | + 21.87 |
4 (+1) | MINNESOTA | 154.40 | + 45.22 |
5 (+3) | NEBRASKA | 150.40 | + 87.50 |
6 (+1) | MICHIGAN | 133.48 | + 63.12 |
7 (-3) | WISCONSIN | 112.82 | + 3.36 |
B1G AVERAGE | 105.49 | ||
8 (+4) | MARYLAND | 89.90 | + 78.13 |
9 (-3) | MICHIGAN STATE | 83.91 | + 11.89 |
10 (-1) | IOWA | 56.71 | +16.32 |
11 (-1) | INDIANA | 52.11 | +15.62 |
12 (-1) | ILLINOIS | 26.63 | + 14.42 |
13 | RUTGERS | 20.60 | +20.60 |
14 | PURDUE | 10.00 | + 10.00 |
AVERAGES | 105.49 | + 32.81 |
Officially committed , This is the best thing for me , SO you gotta respect it lol #GoBucks @OhioStateFB -H-I-O pic.twitter.com/dpyXnyf6n1
— B R E N T O N (@Brenton_cox) April 26, 2017
B1G STARS BREAKDOWN
Ohio State and Penn State remain the only teams in the conference to have 5★ commits. However, the five star players have changed. A couple of months ago, Emory Jones went down to 4 stars. This month, he earned enough points to give the Buckeyes two 5★ players (DT Taron Vincent).
As mentioned above, The Nittany Lions lost their lone defensive 5★ recruit when Micah Parsons decommitted. However, they still have two five stars with Ricky Slade and Justin Fields.
Falling stars. Maryland's dual-threat quarterback, Tyler Desue lost 25 points and his 4★ rating. The Virgnia Beach native is now a three star recruit. Other players sliding from four stars to three were Penn State safety Isaiah Humphries, PSU linebacker Jesse Luketa and Wisconsin linebacker Jack Sanborn.
67 percent of the Big Ten's 2018 commits are rated as three star players. The conference has four 5★ commits and two 2★ verbals. Leg one of this four lap race has been completed and some teams came out sprinting, while others forgot to run.
Who will win the race, the tortoise or the hare? My money is on the Buckeye.
RANK | TEAM | 5★ | 4★ | 3★ | 2★ | NR | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 (+3) | MINNESOTA | 14 | 14 | ||||
2 | NORTHWESTERN | 1 | 11 | 1 | 13 | ||
3 (-2) | PENN STATE | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 | ||
4 (+1) | OHIO STATE | 2 | 7 | 9 | |||
5 (+3) | NEBRASKA | 5 | 3 | 8 | |||
6 (-3) | WISCONSIN | 8 | 8 | ||||
7 | MICHIGAN | 4 | 3 | 7 | |||
B1G AVERAGE | 0.3 | 1.9 | 4.4 | 0.1 | 6.7 | ||
8 (+3) | MARYLAND | 2 | 3 | 5 | |||
8 (-2) | MICHIGAN STATE | 2 | 3 | 5 | |||
10 (-1) | INDIANA | 4 | 4 | ||||
10 (-1) | IOWA | 4 | 4 | ||||
12 (-1) | ILLINOIS | 2 | 2 | ||||
13 (-2) | RUTGERS | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
14 (-3) | PURDUE | 1 | 1 | ||||
B1G TOTAL | 4 | 26 | 62 | 2 | 94 |
Purdue and Rutgers added their first player(s). Congratulations if you picked Rutgers to be the last Big Ten team to get a 2018 recruit. Keep your guessing hats on and predict the bottom three teams in the Big Ten come February.
2018's Highest-Rated Big Ten Commits
Some new names are at the top of the list for the position battles. Five of Ohio State's nine commits are currently the best at their position. The Big Ten East owns 13 of the 18 positions. Will a team add a fullback this cycle?
POS. | PLAYER | 247 COMP. | POS RK | SCHOOL | OSU'S TOP COMMIT / OFFER |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DUAL | JUSTIN FIELDS | 986 | 1 | PENN STATE | EMORY JONES (983 / 2) |
PRO | JASON WHITTAKER | 865 | 18 | NORTHWESTERN | ARTUR SITKOWSKI (962 / 4) committed to Miami 2/27 |
APB | RICKY SLADE | 984 | 1 | PENN STATE | JAELEN GILL (978 / 2) |
RB | BRIAN SNEAD | 959 | 4 | OHIO STATE | ZAMIR WHITE (998 / 1) |
FB | |||||
WR | JUSTIN SHORTER | 959 | 16 | PENN STATE | JALEN HALL (994 / 1) |
TE | ZACK KUNTZ | 957 | 3 | PENN STATE | JEREMY RUCKERT (964 / 2) |
C | WILL FARNIOK | 935 | 14 | NEBRASKA | FREDRICK SCRUGGS (921 / 2) |
OG | EMIL EKIYOR | 953 | 3 | MICHIGAN | JAMAREE SALYER (996 / 1) |
OT | MAX WRAY | 965 | 6 | OHIO STATE | JACKSON CARMAN (995 / 1) |
DEFENSE | |||||
SDE | BRENTON COX | 973 | 2 | OHIO STATE | XAVIER THOMAS (999 / 1) |
WDE | TATE WILDEMAN | 861 | 29 | NEBRASKA | MICAH PARSONS (99 / 1) |
DT | TARON VINCENT | 994 | 1 | OHIO STATE | GREG EMERSON (981 / 2) |
ILB | NICK TARBURTON | 894 | 11 | PENN STATE | TERDJA MITCHELL (987 / 2) |
OLB | OTIS REESE | 927 | 9 | MICHIGAN | PAYTON WILSON (955 / 3) |
CB | BRENDAN RADLEY-HILES | 965 | 9 | NEBRASKA | PATRICK SURTAIN JR (998 / 1) |
SAF | JAIDEN WOODBEY | 981 | 3 | OHIO STATE | BJ FOSTER (993 / 1) |
ATH | XAVIER HENDERSON | 903 | 18 | MICHIGAN STATE | BLUE SMITH (950 / 2) |
New player.
RANK | TEAM | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | OHIO STATE | .978 | .979 | .981 | .967 | ||
2 (+1) | PENN STATE | .931 | .934 | .929 | .923 | ||
3 (+1) | NEBRASKA | .913 | .913 | .911 | .904 | ||
4 (-2) | MICHIGAN | .941 | .935 | .937 | .903 | ||
5 (+7) | MARYLAND | .818 | .885 | ||||
6 (-1) | MICHIGAN STATE | .923 | .883 | .883 | .873 | ||
BIG AVERAGE | .890 | .880 | .874 | .866 | |||
7 | WISCONSIN | .857 | .845 | .850 | .855 | ||
8 | MINNESOTA | .849 | .848 | .851 | |||
9 (-3) | NORTHWESTERN | .835 | .835 | .853 | .849 | ||
10 (-1) | IOWA | .829 | .829 | .836 | .845 | ||
11 | ILLINOIS | .822 | .834 | ||||
12 (-2) | INDIANA | .800 | .800 | .823 | .833 | ||
13 | RUTGERS | .803 | |||||
14 (-1) | PURDUE | .800 |
*Kickers, punters and long snappers are not included in player averages.
Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes took a bit of a dip this month, but maintained their lead overall lead. Penn State is now second, but is 44-points behind Ohio State. Meyer extended his lead over Harbaugh to 64 points.
With more 5★ and 4★ players on the horizon, the 2018 Ohio State recruiting class could be one for the ages.
Maryland's 67-point jump is the largest of this cycle. Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota are the only teams to have their player average increase over the last month.
Which teams do you think will rise and fall over the next month? One thing is almost certain and that is Meyer and Ohio State will finish the 2018 race at the top.
RANK | PLAYER | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | TARON VINCENT | 993 | 994 | ||||||
2 | EMORY JONES | 984 | 984 | 983 | 985 | ||||
3 | JAIDEN WOODBEY | 984 | 982 | 982 | 981 | ||||
4 | JAELEN GILL | 982 | 981 | 978 | |||||
5 | BRENTON COX | 973 | 973 | ||||||
6 | MAX WRAY | 967 | 965 | ||||||
7 | BRIAN SNEAD | 967 | 966 | 965 | 959 | ||||
8 | JOSH PROCTOR | 955 | 956 | ||||||
9 | SEVYN BANKS | 917 | 917 |
2018 B1G Commitments as of 4/30/17
Below you will find every team in the Big Ten and the players in the 2018 class who have committed to play at each university.
- Players in bold are new commits since 4/5/2017.
- The +/- represents the movement in a player's rating since 4/5.
-
Kickers/punters/long snappers are not included in the team average.
SCHOOL | NAME | POS | RANK | RATING | +/- | COMMIT DATE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
BRIAN SNEAD EMORY JONES JAIDEN WOODBEY JAELEN GILL TARON VINCENT MAX WRAY JOSH PROCTOR BRENTON COX SEVYN BANKS |
RB DUAL SAF APB DT OT S SDE CB |
4 2 3 2 1 6 8 2 22 |
959 985 981 978 994 967 955 973 917 |
-6 +2 -1 -3 +1 -2 +1 |
7/22/2016 7/29/2016 2/7/2017 3/1/2017 4/2/2017 4/15/2017 4/15/2017 4/25/2017 4/26/2017 |
AVG | 5.6 | 968 | -13 | |||
|
JORDAN JUSEVITCH ELIJAH RODGERS CAM JONES KRISTIAN PECHAC |
SAF CB ATH RB |
106 103 79 29 |
800 827 839 865 |
-3 |
1/21/2017 4/1/2017 4/2/2017 4/8/2017 |
AVG | 79.3 | 833 | +10 | |||
|
DURELL NCHAMI TYLER DESUE NIHYM ANDERSON AUSTIN FONTAINE EVAN GREGORY |
WDE DUAL OLB DT OG |
51 16 55 7 15 |
853 866 850 961 897 |
+35 -25 -5 |
3/13/2017 4/12/2017 4/13/2017 4/22/2017 4/22/2017 |
AVG | 28.8 | 885 | +67 | |||
|
OTIS REESE EMIL EKIYOR AIDAN HUTCHINSON MYLES SIMS CHRISTIAN TURNER GEMON GREEN GERMAN GREEN |
OLB OG SDE CB RB CB CB |
9 3 8 14 30 30 89 |
929 952 930 941 867 888 837 |
-2 +1 -16 +5 -4 -1 |
6/18/2016 10/2/2016 2/21/2017 4/7/2017 4/10/2017 4/20/2017 4/20/2017 |
AVG | 26.1 | 903 | -34 | |||
|
XAVIER HENDERSON TRENTON GILLISON THEO DAY CHRISTIAN JACKSON EDWARD WARINNER |
ATH TE PRO CB ILB |
13 11 17 68 49 |
903 913 868 852 829 |
-12 -4 +6 +12 |
9/9/2106 1/29/2017 2/26/2017 3/1/2017 4/12/2017 |
AVG | 31.6 | 873 | -11 | |||
|
JUSTIN SHORTER PAT FREIERMUTH ZACK KUNTZ JUSTIN FIELDS ISAIAH HUMPHRIES CHARLIE KATSHIR JESSE LUKETA RICKY SLADE NICK TARBURTON TRENT GORDON NANU ASIEDU ANTWAN REED |
WR SAF TE DUAL SAF OLB OLB APB ILB CB OT OT |
16 6 3 1 29 38 13 1 11 37 9 25 |
958 936 967 986 896 860 895 983 897 875 958 888 |
+1 +3 -10 -13 +2 -6 +1 -3 +4 |
8/6/2016 8/16/2016 11/26/2016 12/1/2016 12/31/2016 2/2/2017 2/3/2017 2/3/2017 2/9/2017 3/29/2017 4/22/2017 4/22/2017 |
AVG | 15.8 | 923 | -6 | |||
|
RACHAD WILDGOOSE JARRETT PAUL |
S CB |
112 111 |
789 818 |
4/15/2017 4/22/2017 |
|
AVG | 111.5 | 803 |
OLB Mike Bruner was the third player this cycle to decommit from a Big Ten school when he dropped Iowa on April 25, 2017. To date, five players have changed their minds.
— Mike Bruner (@MikeBruner35) April 26, 2017
SCHOOL | NAME | POS | RANK | RATING | +/- | COMMIT DATE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
CORAN TAYLOR JULIAN PEARL |
DUAL OT |
35 87 |
834 833 |
+12 |
4/3/2017 4/21/2017 |
AVG | 61.0 | 834 | ||||
|
JEFFREY JENKINS DILLON DOYLE HENRY GEIL TYRONE TRACY |
OG OLB RB RB |
46 42 65 46 |
832 858 836 854 |
1/22/2017 3/20/2017 4/23/2017 4/29/2017 |
|
AVG | 49.8 | 845 | +9 | |||
|
BENJAMIN SAPP III BRENNAN ARMSTRONG ELIJAH TEAGUE TERELL SMITH NOLAN EDMONDS ABI OKONJI LOGAN RICHTER AUSTIN BEIER JORNELL MANNS OYENMWEN UZEBU TYRIK HENDERSON ERIK GIBSON MARIONO SORI-MARIN |
CB DUAL DT CB RB SDE DT OG ATH OT CB WR OLB |
73 20 34 60 36 33 57 33 106 44 75 147 85 |
844 846 864 852 856 842 839 839 858 864 847 839 820 |
+4 +4 +16 +4 +7 +6 +9 +2 -10 +17 |
2/11/2017 2/19/2017 2/25/2017 3/10/2017 3/15/2017 3/25/2017 3/25/2017 3/30/2017 4/14/2017 4/15/2017 4/19/2017 4/22/2017 4/28/2017 |
AVG | 61.8 | 851 | +3 | |||
|
CAMERON JURGENS MASRY MAPIEU ERIC FULLER WILL FARNIOK BRENDAN RADLEY-HILES MANUEL ALLEN TATE WILDEMAN CHASE WILLIAMS |
TE DT CB OC CB WR WDE WR |
5 59 26 14 9 31 29 34 |
943 843 938 935 965 924 861 922 |
-4 -5 -2 +91 -12 -7 +7 |
8/6/2015 6/17/2016 1/18/2017 4/8/2017 4/14/2017 4/15/2017 4/16/2017 4/23/2017 |
AVG | 25.9 | 912 | ||||
|
JASON WHITTAKER PAYNE HE'BERT CHARLES SCHMIDT CHARLIE MANGIEIRI DEVIN O'ROURKE BRIAN KAISER WYATT BLAKE ANDREW LEOTA JACOB JEFFERSON GREG NEWSOME GRAYSON MANN ETHAN BONNER JEREMIAH McDONALD |
PRO OT OG ATH SDE TE OG WDE WR CB ILB CB SAF |
18 89 34 73 9 35 24 36 179 47 32 127 38 |
867 803 832 839 921 864 865 852 829 864 844 783 868 |
-2 +8 +15 +2 -9 -24 -3 +3 -17 |
12/10/2016 1/13/2017 3/5/2017 3/8/2017 3/10/2017 3/10/2017 3/17/2017 3/31/2017 4/1/2017 4/3/2017 4/7/2017 4/8/2017 4/10/2017 |
AVG | 57.0 | 849 | -7 | |||
|
RAYMOND ELLIS | DT | 5 | 800 | 4/10/2017 | |
AVG | 5.0 | 800 | ||||
|
BEN BRYANT REGGIE PEARSON TRENT INGALLS BOYD DIETZEN CJ GOETZ MASON PLATTER MICHAEL FURTNEY JACK SANBORN |
PRO SAF SAF SDE ILB OLB OT ILB |
25 40 54 22 43 61 52 15 |
857 862 850 860 835 840 854 883 |
+4 +5 +7 +9 +18 +4 -8 |
12/7/2016 8/27/2016 10/29/2016 2/20/2017 2/20/2017 2/20/2017 3/14/2017 3/22/2017 |
AVG | 39.0 | 855 | +5 |
SCHOOL | NAME | POS | RANK | RATING | COMMIT DATE | DECOMMIT DATE | NEW SCHOOL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
JOSEPH SCATES | WR | 65 | 933 | 1/18/2017 | 2/18/2017 | ALABAMA (LEADER) |
|
JALEN MAYFIELD | OT | 59 | 842 | 2/18/2017 | 3/26/2017 | MICHIGAN (LEADER) |
|
CHRIS BLEICH | OT | 33 | 896 | 4/7/2016 | 4/22/2017 | NEBRASKA (LEADER) |
|
MICAH PARSONS | WDE | 1 | 998 | 2/27/2016 | 4/23/2017 | OHIO STATE (LEADER) |
|
MIKE BRUNER | OLB | 76 | 826 | 10/23/2016 | 4/25/2017 |
IOWA STATE (LEADER) |
If you receive news of a player committing to a B1G school during the month of April post it in the comment section.