Three-Point Stance: Biggest recruiting wins, five rankings questions, more

Rivals national recruiting analyst Adam Friedman takes a look at the biggest wins on the recruiting trail so far, his five biggest questions heading into the rankings meetings and five teams that have recruited surprisingly well.

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Commitments are about to ramp up again with the first big weekend of official visits coming up, but we’ve already seen our fair share of wins on the recruiting trail. Here are the five biggest wins so far this recruiting cycle.

1. Nico Iamaleava: Tennessee doesn't often go all the way out to California for a quarterback, but the Vols were able to get Iamaleava on board this year. Beating Alabama, Georgia and a few others was a huge win for the Vols, and Iamaleava has since been a big help recruiting for the Vols.

2. Daylen Austin: USC was the early favorite for Austin because of the endless connections he has to the program through Long Beach Poly and Trojans legend Willie McGinest, who happens to be his uncle. LSU beating the hometown favorite was a major win for the Tigers.

3. Pierce Clarkson/DeAndre Moore: Scott Satterfield and his staff at Louisville have a top 10 recruiting class in the team rankings right now, and it's due in large part to commitments from Clarkson and Moore. Clarkson has been a huge help on the recruiting trail and helped the Cardinals get Moore, a former Oklahoma commit that was being pursued by Texas.

4. Mason Robinson: Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh has been a fertile recruiting ground for Penn State, and the Nittany Lions were the early favorite for Robinson. But a visit to Evanston was a big part of the reason Northwestern was able to land a commitment from the four-star defensive end.

5. Rodney Gallagher: Penn State, Pittsburgh and West Virginia were the major contenders for Gallagher since the very beginning of his recruitment, but Notre Dame really turned up the heat with a visit earlier in the spring. In one of its biggest wins in years, West Virginia secured his commitment just last week.

The spring was full of camps, showcases and 7-on-7 tournaments, and the Rivals.com team was out in force evaluating thousands of college football prospects. No doubt there will be a lot of moves in the rankings but, with rankings meetings beginning this week here are my five biggest questions.

1. Could this be a record-breaking quarterback class?

Arch Manning, Malachi Nelson, Dante Moore and Nico Iamaleava are the five-star quarterbacks right now. With four already achieving that lofty status, the 2023 class is tied with the 2017 and 2007 classes for second most five-star quarterbacks in one year. The 2021 class – featuring Quinn Ewers, Caleb Williams, Brock Vandagriff, Ty Thompson and Sam Huard – holds the record with five.

It would be surprising to see any of the four current five-stars lose a star, but there are a couple of signal callers that could push for their fifth star. Eli Holstein and Jaden Rashada have had very good spring seasons, and Christopher Vizzina has put together a solid resume as well.

2. What to do at the top of the receiver rankings?

Brandon Inniss has held down the top spot at the receiver rankings since the beginning of the cycle, but he has some very serious challengers to his throne. Shelton Sampson and Carnell Tate are already five-stars and are closing in, while Zachariah Branch and Hykeem Williams are pushing for their fifth stars and could end up challenging for the top spot as well.

3. Could TJ Shanahan finish as the top OL?

Shanahan and Kadyn Proctor are the only two five-star offensive linemen right now. There will be a number of challengers to Shanahan's No. 1 OL title, but he would be in some elite company if he holds on to the spot through the end of the cycle. Shanahan could become just the fifth guard to finish as the top offensive lineman in the Rivals250. The previous four are Justin Blalock, Andre Smith, Jamaree Salyer and Devon Campbell.

4. Is there another five-star in the defensive front seven?

There haven’t been many five-stars to emerge in the defensive front seven yet. Going into June, Keon Keeley, David Hicks, Jayden Wayne and Anthony Hill are the five-stars and the fewest ever in one class was six in 2008. There are a few candidates at outside linebacker and weakside and strongside end, but it’ll be interesting to see if any defensive tackle pushes for five-star status before the end of the cycle.

5. Is this the best class of defensive ends ever?

Along with Hicks, Wayne and Keeley, there are 13 other defensive ends in the Rivals100. That mark of 16 is tied with the 2021 class for the second most ever. The 2012 class - led by Jonathan Bullard, Noah Spence, Darius Hamilton and Adolphus Washington - had 17 defensive ends in the Rivals100, the most ever.

With another wave of commitments on the way this coming month, here are five teams that have recruited really well so far that could have their work cut out for them if they hope to finish in the top 25 of the team rankings.

Arkansas: Getting commitments from Rivals250 tight ends Shamar Easter and Luke Hasz was big for Sam Pittman's program. Sitting at No. 7 in the rankings now, the Razorbacks will need to step on the gas to stay high in the rankings.

Texas Tech: Joey McGuire and his staff have done a phenomenal job early in the cycle. They have more commitments than any other team and currently have six four-stars on their commit list. There isn't much room left in this Red Raiders recruiting class and other teams will likely pass them in the rankings as they add more commitments.

Northwestern: With the second-most commitments so far, Northwestern has found itself inside the top five of the team rankings. Recent commitments from four-stars Michael Kilbane and Mason Robinson have rocketed the Wildcats up the rankings, but it could be hard for them to keep pace as more four- and five-stars come off the board.

Louisville: The Cardinals have a top 10 recruiting class and they could have some staying power. With just 10 commitments so far, there is room in this class for the coaching staff to take commitments from enough highly rated prospects to finish in the top 25. QB commit Pierce Clarkson has been an ace recruiter for them and he'll need to continue to work hard.

Wake Forest: Dave Clawson and his staff have put together a recruiting class that sits at No. 11 in the team rankings, but not one of their commitments is a four-star prospect. With 11 plays in the fold, the Demon Deacons have the opportunity to finish this recruiting class strong, but they're going to have to get a few lucky breaks.