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4-Star DL DJ Sanders Commits to Texas A&M

Consensus 4-Star DL DJ Sanders committed to Texas A&M over Texas, LSU, Notre Dame, Houston, and others.

Sanders was one of new coach Mike Elko’s top priorities when he got to Texas A&M, and now it looks like Coach Elko has got an elite talent to add to the defensive line.

Sanders ranks as high as 71st nationally and 6th at his position (On3), with an On3 industry composite ranking of 79th nationally and 8th at his position.

This is Texas A&M’s 14th Blue Chip commitment and 20th commitment overall, for a 2025 class which now ranks 7th nationally and 5th in the SEC.

4-Star OT Aaron Dunn Commits to Utah

4-Star OT Aaron Dunn committed to Utah over finalists of Oregon and USC – Dunn also took official visits to BYU and UCLA.

For Dunn, staying close to home for an established program like Utah was too appealing to pass up. Couple that with the development and system-fit that he believes he will be getting from coaches like Jim Harding and Andy Ludwig, and this was a decision Dunn believed would make him the most successful.

Dunn ranks as high as 70th overall and 9th at his position (ESPN), and ranks 230th nationally and 19th at his position according to the On3 industry composite rankings.

This is only Utah’s 2nd Blue Chip commitment for a 2025 class with 17 commitments, a 49th ranking nationally, and a 9th ranking in the new look Big 12.

ESPN’s Top 25 Players to Determine College Football Playoffs

ESPN recently ranked its Top 25 players which will determine the College Football Playoff race during the 2024 season.

Though only 11 members of the list are QBs, all 8 of the top 8 are QBs.

Leading the way are a trio of Big Ten QBs presumed to be starters for the first time: Ohio State’s Will Howard, Michigan’s Alex Orji (pictured above), and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel.

Following them are a trio of returning QBs: Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Penn State’s Drew Allar, and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart.

LSU’s QB Garrett Nussmeier, Miami’s QB Cam Ward, Michigan’s RB Donovan Edwards, and Alabama’s WR Kobe Prentice round out the Top 10.

Ole Miss’ DT Walter Nolen is the first defensive player to make the list, checking in at 13th.

Miami’s Cam Ward and Georgia Tech’s QB Haynes King (21st) are the only ACC representatives, and Colorado’s WR/CB Travis Hunter (25th) is the lone Big 12 representative.

4-Star LB Cam Smith Flips From Duke to Penn State

4-Star LB Cam Smith has flipped his commitment from Duke to Penn State after originally committing to the Blue Devils on February 8th of this year and then taking an official visit to Penn State the weekend of July 27th.

Smith ultimately made the flip because he believes that Penn State is the perfect scheme fit for him, and that the combination of development and ability to compete for a national championship was best for him.

247Sports ranks Smith the highest, at 167th nationally and 19th at the position. His On3 industry composite ranking places him 264th nationally and 26th at his position.

This is Penn State’s 12th 4-star commitment and 24th commitment overall for a 2025 class which now ranks 16th overall and 4th in the Big Ten.

Duke has now lost the one 4-star commitment it held, and is down to 48th nationally and 12th out of 17 teams in the ACC.

247Sports’ Playoff Sleeper Teams

247Sports’ Brad Crawford recently put out a list of the eight teams he believes to be sleepers to watch out for in 2024.

Topping the list is Virginia Tech, which begins the year unranked and has key matchups at Miami and vs. Clemson. The Hokies have been a trendy pick thanks to their dynamic QB, Kyron Drones. Other ACC teams to make this list were Miami and NC State.

West Virginia and Kansas represent the Big 12 on this list, which will largely come down to what sort of consistency and injury luck they can both get at the QB position.

And Tennessee and Texas A&M represent the SEC on this list, depending on if they can break through and take that next step that they should have the talent to.

The lone Group of 5 team on the list is USF, which is coming off a solid recruiting class and has a relatively favorable schedule with key matchups at Tulane and vs. Memphis.

4-Star S CJ Jimcoily Commits to LSU

4-Star S CJ Jimcoily committed yesterday to LSU over Alabama, Tennessee, and Stanford.

For Jimcoily, the coaching staff and environment felt like family. Not only that, but he has a lot of family members from Louisiana, which only added to the family-type of feeling that the LSU staff gave him.

Jimcoily ranks 389th nationally and 36th at his position according to the On3 industry composite rankings, with his highest rating and ranking being a 4-star rating from Rivals which ranks him 189th nationally and 20th at his position.

This is LSU’s 17th Blue Chip commitment and 20th commitment overall for a 2025 class which ranks 3rd nationally and 2nd in the SEC behind only Alabama.

Ryan Day: Will Howard Taking Strides in QB Battle

Ohio State coach Ryan Day recently opened his press conference to share that QB Will Howard was taking strides in the battle between him and 4 other highly touted QBs in the Ohio State QB room.

Day shared that Howard and Devin Brown have been taking a majority of the snaps with the ones.

But where Day did comment on Howard’s play specifically is by calling positive attention to his command of the offense and his command of the team at the line of scrimmage. Howard’s confidence has shone through to Day in the early going of fall camp.

Andy Staples’ Freshmen & Transfers Who Could Become Household Names

On3’s Andy Staples recently shared which freshmen and transfers could become household names by the time the College Football Playoff bracket is decided.

For the freshmen, Staples went with a pair of WRs who have turned heads in fall camp after being so highly regarded as recruits: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Auburn’s Cam Coleman.

For the transfer, Staples named four: 3 offensive players and a defensive player. On the offense, Staples named Notre Dame transfer WR Kris Mitchell who transferred from FIU, Tennessee OT Lance Heard who transferred from LSU, and Baylor QB Dequan Finn who transferred from Toledo. For his defensive pick, Staples named Texas DE Trey Moore who transferred in from UTSA after tallying 14 sacks with the Roadrunners.

3-Star LB Will Hawthorne Commits to Iowa State

Consensus 3-Star LB Will Hawthorne committed to Iowa State yesterday over Nebraska, among other offers.

Hawthorne also took an official visit to Nebraska back in June, and all indications are that this really was a two school race, as there is not much evidence Hawthorne was seriously considering any schools besides ISU and Nebraska. Ultimately, he chooses to commit to Iowa State and become a Cyclone.

Hawthorne is ranked as the 908th prospect nationally and 95th at the LB position according to the On3 industry composite rankings.

This marks only the 14th commitment for the Cyclones in the 2025 class which ranks 61st nationally and 13th out of 16 teams in the newly expanded Big 12.

2026 3-Star QB Quinn Murphy Commits to Baylor

2026 Composite 3-star QB Quinn Murphy committed to Baylor yesterday over Oklahoma State, Missouri, NC State, SMU, and others.

For Murphy, his relationship with new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital was a huge reason for his commitment. When Coach Spavital took the job with Baylor, within hours Murphy had a Baylor offer and was being told that he was their guy.

Murphy is rated a 4-star by Rivals, who ranks him as the 16th best QB in the 2026 class. On3’s industry composite rating has him lower due to 3-star ratings from On3 and 247Sports. Murphy ultimately ranks 470th nationally and 37th at the position, for now, on the On3 composite rankings.

Baylor’s 2026 class currently has 3 commitments, as Murphy joins consensus 4-star ATH Ryelan Morris and 3-star RB Davis Penn. The Bears’ 2026 class ranks 12th out of the 16 programs with enough commitments to be ranked by On3.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (87) RB Tomir Bransford commits to Georgia State

3-Star (87) IOL Jaishaun Offutt commits to Wake Forest

Unrated Long Snapper Hunter Solwold commits to Washington