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Good afternoon! Signing day is tomorrow (yes, it’s easy to forget nowadays). Today, we’ll look at the programs to watch and re-rank the Class of 2022 quarterbacks.
Signing Day Already?
Programs to watch
February’s signing day on the first Wednesday of the month used to be one of the most important days on the college football calendar. That’s no longer the case, thanks mostly to December’s early signing period.
In the 2025 cycle, all but two of the top 150 prospects in the 247Sports Composite have signed. So, where’s the intrigue entering Wednesday? I asked a few recruiting writers at The Athletic to help us find the storylines by answering the following prompt:
Can you pick a fan base that should care about signing day and why?
Antonio Morales, CFB writer: Michigan is the favorite for four-star offensive lineman Ty Haywood, the lone top-50 prospect who remains unsigned. Haywood was committed to Alabama but re-opened his recruitment in January. Michigan already has five-star offensive lineman Andrew Babalola in this class, so the addition of Haywood could set that line up well for the future. —
Manny Navarro, CFB writer: The right way to answer this is to look at all the Power 4 programs that don’t utilize the transfer portal very much. Ten have taken fewer than eight transfers on average per cycle during the last three offseasons: Clemson (four total), Iowa (16), Iowa State (16), Penn State (19), Northwestern (20), Stanford (20), Georgia (21), Tennessee (21), Ohio State (22) and Texas (22). Of that group, Iowa, Iowa State, Northwestern and Stanford do not recruit at a top-25 level like the other six former national champions have. So, I’d say for Iowa, Iowa State, Northwestern and Stanford it’s imperative to pay attention to how they’re recruiting at the high school level and developing their homegrown players.
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Grace Raynor, CFB writer: It’s hard to get excited about the February signing period these days given the way the December date has taken over, but Michigan fans have every reason to tune in on Wednesday. Haywood, out of Denton, Texas, was expected to issue a commitment Monday but announced later he’ll be signing at 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday. He is the nation’s No. 39 prospect and No. 6 offensive tackle. Michigan landing Haywood to team up with five-star offensive tackle Andrew Babalola, whom the Wolverines signed in December, would be a massive win.
Another fan base that has some intrigue is Maryland. Four-star edge Zahir Mathis just took his final official visit to the school during the weekend, and On3’s Steve Wiltfong issued a prediction he’ll end up with the Terps. Mathis would be the Terps’ third top-150 player, joining four-star quarterback Malik Washington and four-star offensive lineman Jaylen Gilchrist. (check out more of Grace’s signing day recruiting thoughts here)
Mitch Light, CFB editor: It could be a good day for Maryland if the Terps land Mathis out of Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia. The former Ohio State commit visited Maryland this past weekend, and all signs are pointing toward Mike Locksley and his staff. He would be the sixth blue-chipper in a class that is headlined by Washington.
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik has thrown for 7,180 yards and 57 touchdowns during his career with the Tigers. (David Buono / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Re-ranking 2022 QBs
Still a lot to prove in 2025
Only three of the top 20 quarterback prospects in the Class of 2022, per the 247Sports Composite, have started more than 15 games at the Power 4 level. It has been three years since this group entered college, and Antonio Morales re-ranked the quarterbacks of the class this week. Here are a few of my biggest takeaways:
Klubnik or Allar for No. 1? Clemson’s Cade Klubnik sits at the top of Antonio’s rankings (Klubnik was the No. 6 overall player and No. 1 QB originally). There’s debate between Klubnik and Penn State QB Drew Allar, but while Klubnik led the Tigers to the ACC championship and a respectable first-round Playoff loss to Texas, Allar finished his season on a sour note with a late interception in an Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame. Statistically, Klubnik has a 62.8 percent career completion rate with 7,180 yards and a 57-to-18 TD-to-INT ratio. Allar has a 61.6 percent completion rate with 6,302 yards and a 52-to-10 ratio. We’ll have to revisit this after both QBs lead their teams in 2025.
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Transfers: Only two of Antonio’s top 10 quarterbacks have transferred in their careers: No. 5 Fernando Mendoza (Indiana via Cal) and No. 8 Maalik Murphy (Oregon State via Duke via Texas). Even though transfer portal QBs have become a new trend (half of the teams in the CFP had a transfer QB), the most successful players in this class seem to be sticking with the development route at their initial schools.
Biggest snub: John Mateer ranked as the No. 119 QB (1,766 overall recruit) in the 2022 class. Since that evaluation, Mateer has become one of the best dual-threat QBs in the FBS. In 2024 at Washington State, Mateer passed for 3,139 yards and rushed for 826. He accounted for 44 touchdowns (29 passing, 15 rushing) and was the No. 2 transfer in the winter cycle behind Georgia’s Carson Beck. Mateer will play at Oklahoma in 2025.
Where are they now? Among the underperformers is former No. 2 Conner Weigman, who entered the past two seasons as Texas A&M’s starter but transferred to Houston this offseason with Marcel Reed set to take over. Former No. 8 Sam Horn (Missouri) and No. 10 Brady Allen (Louisville) have seen minimal playing time, while former No. 3 Ty Simpson (Alabama), No. 5 Walker Howard (Louisiana) and No. 7 Gunner Stockton (Georgia) all walk into likely starting opportunities in 2025.
Read Antonio’s full ranking here.
Quick Snaps
The Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis swap stunned the sports world during the weekend. And it got Joe Rexrode thinking … which college sports transactions were the most shocking in history?
Fresh off a national championship, Ryan Day has openings at offensive and defensive coordinator to fill. On Sunday, OC Chip Kelly left the Buckeyes to take on the same role with the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL.
Also on the coordinator carousel, Ryan Grubb will reunite with Kalen DeBoer as the OC at Alabama in 2025. Grubb was fired after one season as OC of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and will now join DeBoer’s Crimson Tide staff. The duo have worked together at multiple stops since 2007.
Spring sports season is here! Check out The Athletic’s top 25 rankings for softball, led by No. 1 Texas and baseball, led by No. 1 Texas A&M.
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(Top photo of Sherrone Moore: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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