Texas A&M, Florida State, Arch Manning, USC, and More!

CFB Roundup – July 1, 2024

Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

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Elite 4-Star LB Noah Mikhail Commits to Texas A&M

Consensus 4-Star LB Noah Mikhail committed to Texas A&M over Oregon and USC yesterday.

The composite 77th ranked recruit, ranked as high as 58th on ESPN’s Class of 2025 recruiting rankings, visited Texas A&M two weeks ago and felt comfortable and happy in College Station.

Mikhail is Texas A&M’s 16th commitment for Coach Mike Elko’s first class with the Aggies, which currently sits 4th in the SEC and 8th nationally.

4-Star CB Gregory “Zae” Thomas Commits to Florida State

4-Star CB Zae Thomas committed to Florida State yesterday. Prior to taking an official visit to Florida State, Thomas was very close to committing to Clemson.

Ultimately, Thomas is choosing to stay home and go to Florida State where he will be the first member of the Seminole tribe to be a scholarship player for the Seminoles.

Thomas marks the 9th commitment for the Seminoles’ 2025 class, which still only contains Blue Chip recruits, and ranks 9th nationally and 2nd in the ACC.

Finebaum: Arch Manning Will be Texas’ Starting QB by End of Season

Analyst Paul Finebaum originally claimed that he was guaranteeing Arch Manning would be Texas’ starting QB by the end of the 2024 season.

Upon seeing the commotion he stirred by making this bold proclamation, he took some time to clarify he meant after the season was over and Quinn Ewers presumably would look to move on even though Ewers does still eligibility for the 2025 season as a Redshirt Senior, too.

4-Star WR Corey Simms Commits to USC

Fringe 4-Star WR Corey Simms commits to USC over Missouri and Penn State, among others.

After taking official visits to all of USC, Missouri, and Penn States, it took a few days, but Simms decided that USC was the best program because of what it offered beyond a dynamic Lincoln Riley offense.

After a slew of Blue Chip decommitments, Simms’ commitment to USC looks to help get the Trojans back on track for a 2025 class which now has 12 commitments and ranks 15th nationally and 5th in the Big Ten.

3-Star IOL Houston Kaahaaina-Torres Commits to Nebraska

Consensus 3-star IOL Houston Kaahaaina-Torres committed to Nebraska over Cal, Arizona State, Michigan State, Utah, and others yesterday.

Though Kaahaaina-Torres is a consensus 3-star, Rivals lists the lineman from Hawai’i as the 3rd best IOL in the Class of 2025.

This is Nebraska’s 13th commitment for the 2025 class, which ranks 29th nationally and 9th in the Big Ten.

Sarkisian: “You can feel this is [Ewers’] team”

Coach Steve Sarkisian recently took some time to reflect on Quinn Ewers and the progress he’s made since transferring to Texas before the 2022 season.

Coach Sark pointed out that his first year there was really like his freshman season considering he forewent his high school senior season to enroll at Ohio State. And then ahead of Year 2 with Texas, he cut his hair and improved his diet. And now ahead of Year 3, Sark senses he’s developing a sense of leadership that was discussed as developing prior to Year 2. But now there’s no question: Quinn Ewers has developed the leadership abilities and earned the respect needed to unquestionably call this Texas team his team.

Ewers and Texas both have some of the best odds to win the Heisman and the College Football Playoff, respectively, and Ewers’ ability to lead a Sarkisian-called offense are a large reason why.

3-Star Edge Epi Sitanilei Commits to UCLA

3-Star Edge Epi Sitanilei has committed to UCLA over Cal, Ohio State, Utah, and others.

Sitanilei marks the 14th commitment for first-time Head Coach DeShaun Foster, in a recruiting class which currently ranks 30th nationally and 10th in the Big Ten.

Miami in Good Position with 4-Star S Hylton Stubbs

Consensus 4-star safety Hylton Stubbs decommitted from USC a few days ago, and ever since then, the tea leaves seem to be pointed towards the talented safety staying in-state at the University of Miami.

Looking at the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, Miami currently has a 79.2% chance to land Stubbs, with Florida in 2nd with just 17.3%.

Also, since yesterday, there have been four 247 Crystal Balls to go in for Stubbs to commit to Miami, from 247 National Analyst Tom Loy, Noles247 Contributor Zach Blostein, Swamp247 Florida Insider Blake Alderman, and InsideTheU Staff Writer Gaby Urrutia.

Stubbs will be announcing his commitment on July 4th – the Hurricanes are hoping for some fireworks that day.

Phil Steele’s Top 25 Freshman QBs for 2024

Phil Steele has released his Top 25 Freshman QBs as part of his 2024 preview magazine.

Largely, there are not many surprises on this list for those who follow recruiting, with Ohio State QB Julian Sayin topping the list, Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola at 2nd, and Florida QB DJ Lagway in 3rd. The lone Group of 5 entrant is Liberty’s Jayden Bradford.

Of the Top 9 QBs listed, only Lagway is from the SEC, with 5 of the Top 10 coming from the Big Ten. But, the SEC does then have 10 of the QBs listed from 10 to 25.

4-Star CB Blake Woodby Names Top 3 Schools

Consensus 4-Star CB Blake Woodby has narrowed his recruitment down to 3 teams: Auburn, Oregon, and Maryland.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine gives Auburn an overwhelming 80% chance to land the highly coveted athlete from Baltimore, MD.

ESPN is the highest of the 4 recruiting services on Woodby, listing him as the 3rd best CB and 22nd best overall prospect in the class of 2025.