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2026 5-Star QB Faizon Brandon Commits to Tennessee

2026 5-Star QB Faizon Brandon committed yesterday to Tennessee over in-state NC State, Alabama, and LSU, among other offers.

Brandon said that he was interested in Tennessee from the beginning, and it was that great first impression that set the tone for his recruitment. As the staff continued to recruit him hard, it made an impact and ultimately led to him landing on Tennessee.

Brandon is ranked as high as 1st nationally (247Sports) and at QB (On3, 247Sports) and as low as 132nd nationally and 8th at QB (Rivals). According to On3’s industry composite, Brandon ranks 10th nationally and 2nd at QB.

This is Tennessee’s first commitment in the 2026 class, and what a way to start for the Volunteers who join Ohio State and Georgia as the only schools with a 2026 On3 composite 5-star committed.

5-Star S Trey McNutt Commits to Oregon

5-Star S Trey McNutt committed yesterday to Oregon over Texas A&M, USC, Ohio State, and Florida, among other offers.

McNutt said that the staff and program in Eugene are what fits him best, and he wants to be a part of the program that they are building. He sees the program as full of people who want to accomplish greatness, and he wants to be a part of that.

McNutt is rated a 5-star by 247Sports, which ranks him the top safety in the 2025 class. According to On3’s industry composite, he ranks 20th nationally and 2nd at the safety position.

This is Oregon’s 14th Blue Chip commitment and 15th overall commitment for the 2025 class, a class which ranks 5th nationally and 2nd in the new look Big Ten.

Florida’s Billy Napier Believes DJ Lagway Making Lots of Progress

Florida coach Billy Napier recently took some time to share that 5-star true freshman DJ Lagway has made “tremendous growth” from where he was at the start of spring.

Napier specifically referred to his knowledge of defense as an area where he’s shown an impressive ability.

Not only has part of the mental game improved, but also his fundamentals have improved – Napier believes “the ball is coming out more consistently” and his footwork has “been polished up.”

For now, it looks like Graham Mertz is still Florida’s QB in Napier’s make-or-break season with Florida, but this is still huge news for Gators fans as Lagway is the QB of the future.

4-Star Edge Jared Smith Commits to Auburn

Composite 4-star Edge Jared Smith committed yesterday to Auburn over Florida State, Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and USC, among others.

Staying home at Auburn has always been appealing to Smith, and as time went on he started to consider it more and more. By the time this summer rolled around, Smith said he started feeling like that was the right choice, so now he commits to Auburn. He also says that he sees the direction Auburn and coach Hugh Freeze are going, and he wants to be a part of it.

Rankings on the major recruiting services range for Smith, ranging from 19th nationally (247Sports) and 2nd at his position (247Sports, ESPN) to 176th nationally and 18th at his position (On3 for both).

According to On3’s industry composite rankings, he ranks 42nd nationally and 4th at his position.

This is Auburn’s 14th 4-star in the 2025 class which currently has 22nd total commitments, a 6th place rank nationally, and a 4th place rank in the SEC.

Baylor’s Dave Aranda “Excited” About Baylor’s QB Battle

Baylor has two QBs fighting for the starting QB spot heading into 2024: Toledo transfer DeQuan Finn and former Mississippi State transfer and Baylor’s part-time 2023 starter Sawyer Robertson (pictured above).

After the first day of practice, Baylor’s coach Dave Aranda said that he was not closer to naming a starting QB, but that he was excited to see how it plays out.

Finn transferred in from Toledo throwing for 2,657 yards and rushing for another 563 yards with 29 total touchdowns en route to being named First-Team All-MAC.

Robertson had a significant role in 6 of Baylor’s games last season, where the team went 1-5 and he threw for 864 yards, 2 TDs, and 4 INTs on just 117 pass attempts. Early reports from Aranda, though, have been positive for Robertson.

Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola Cutting Down on Turnovers, Improving with Protections

True freshman, 5-star Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola recently shared that he believes there have been two major improvements of late: cutting down on interceptions and improving with understanding protections.

Raiola said that QBs coach and Co-OC Glenn Thomas has really hammered home that the QBs need to protect the ball and cut down on turnovers, which has made an impression on the true freshman.

The QB also shared that he’s grown a lot in understanding protections. Understanding O-Line play and making the right checks can be one of the steepest learning curves for a QB, so the fact Raiola understands it before games even begin in his true freshman season, that’s a promising sign for him.

2026 4-Star S Aiden Hall Commits to LSU

2026 Consensus 4-star safety Aiden Hall committed to LSU yesterday over offers from Georgia, Oregon, Florida State, and others.

The New Orleans native liked to hear that back in March, LSU coaches told him that he was the top safety on their recruiting board. He was also a big fan of their approach to the game and how they coach up their players or run a practice.

Hall ranks as high as the 51st ranked prospect nationally and 5th ranked safety (On3 for both). On3’s industry composite ranks Hall 54th nationally and 6th at his position.

This is LSU’s 4th commitment for the 2026 class, which currently ranks 9th nationally and 5th in the SEC, though it is still early with only 15 teams having enough commitments for a ranking from On3.

4-Star OT Damola Ajidahun Commits to Georgia Tech

4-Star OT Damola Ajidahun committed yesterday to Georgia Tech over Georgia and Ole Miss, among others.

Ajidahun shared that he likes the chemistry he has with the coaches and the players, and that he believes in coach Brent Key and the program he and the rest of the coaches are building.

Because Coach Key was also an OL coach, the fact Ajidahun can be coached simultaneously by two coaches – including current OL Coach Geep Wade – that was also a big plus in Georgia Tech’s favor for Ajidahun.

Ajidahun ranks as high as 10th at the OT position according to On3, with the On3 industry composite ranking placing him 254th nationally and 20th at the OT position.

This is Georgia Tech’s 21st commitment for a 2025 class which now ranks 28th nationally and 5th in the ACC, behind only Clemson, Florida State, Miami, and SMU.

Lincoln Riley: No Patience, Incredible Sense of Urgency

USC Coach Lincoln Riley recently shared that there is an incredible sense of urgency and no more patience for the Trojans to start contending for championships.

Riley said that when he got to USC, he said that the standard would be championships, and thus far, he has not exactly made good on that yet. Now, Riley says there’s no more patience and there’s a sense of urgency to start making right on those statements.

“Well there’s no patience. It’s just an understanding of what it is. Our patience is – we want it to happen yesterday. … There’s an incredible sense of urgency but we also understand that the key is everybody involved, we can’t ever get down when one thing doesn’t go perfect.”

Two Suspended Penn State Players No Longer with Team

BlueWhite Illustrated’s Greg Pickel is reporting that LB Kaveion Keys and DE Jameial Lyons were removed from Penn State’s online roster yesterday and a program spokesperson confirmed they are no longer enrolled at the university.

Both were on “interim suspension,” and it’s unclear why they were suspended in the first place, but the university said it was due to a personal matter and declined to comment further.

Both were 4-star recruits in the 2023 class, with Lyons appearing in 8 games and racking up 6 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, and 1 sack as a true freshman. Keys redshirted after only appearing in 2 games and registering 1 tackle.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

4-Star (93) IOL Jaylen Gilchrist commits to Maryland

2026 4-Star (90) Edge Colton Yarbrough commits to Arkansas

2026 4-Star (90) QB Jonas Williams commits to Oregon

3-Star (89) CB Chris McCorkle commits to Kansas

2026 3-Star (89) S Adam Auston commits to Arkansas

3-Star (87) RB Cameron Settles commits to Arkansas

3-Star (86) WR Qeanu Johnson commits to Duke

3-Star (84) TE SMU Transfer, Lonnie Johnson, commits to Tyler JuCo

Unrated LB Aden Hall commits to UTSA

Unrated ATH Ty Doughty commits to Air Force

Unrated JuCo CB Shannon Blair commits to Arkansas