The ESPN 300 has been released for the 2023 class, and the recruiting cycle has gotten off to a quick start. Among the top 300 recruits, 66 have already made a commitment.
That includes five of the top 20, 10 of the top 50 and 20 of the top 100. With the rankings out and the class in full swing, here is a look at some of the top storylines around this 2023 class.
Manning’s recruitment has been closely watched and reported on since he is the nephew of Peyton and Eli, the grandson of Archie and the son of Cooper.
Manning is the No. 1-ranked recruit overall, but took his time during his football and basketball seasons. He has since started to take more visits and make some progress in his recruitment.
He visited Georgia, Texas and Alabama, and according to his coach, Nelson Stewart, Manning will also try to visit Ole Miss, LSU and Florida.
“I think he’s still very open, but he said he wants to go to practices and sit in meetings,” Stewart said. “He really is a meat and potatoes kid, he wants to go see the schools, he’s not about the fluff. I think he’s pretty locked in with what he wants to do, but he’s not one of those guys that’s going to announce a list or anything.
“He’s being really thorough. He’s going to get through this round and see where it is. He definitely doesn’t have a timeline.”
The schools he is still considering are waiting for that decision, but it might take some time. He is the type of prospect that schools will wait for, though, as his commitment will make national headlines no matter where it is.
Great year for quarterbacks
Beyond Manning, this is a great year to find a quarterback — and who isn’t recruiting quarterbacks? There are 17 quarterbacks in the ESPN 300, 10 of whom are in the top 100. There are six ranked inside the top 50, including Manning, No. 2 recruit Malachi Nelson, No. 8 Dante Moore and No. 13 Nicholaus Iamaleava.
There were 22 ESPN 300 quarterbacks in 2022, but only seven were ranked inside the top 100 and most were further down the list than the current crop of quarterbacks.
Of the 17 in the 2023 ESPN 300, eight are currently committed. USC has the highest-ranked committed quarterback with Nelson, followed by Tennessee with Iamaleava, then Oklahoma, which has No. 39-ranked Jackson Arnold committed. Louisville got a high-profile commit in ESPN 300 quarterback Pierce Clarkson, the son of quarterbacks coach Steve Clarkson.
North Carolina has Tad Hudson committed, while Florida State has already gotten a commitment from Chris Parson.
After Manning, next in line among those not committed is Moore, who has taken visits to Notre Dame, LSU, Florida, Oregon, Michigan State and Miami. Notre Dame seems to have a good shot, but these visits could change that for him going forward.
Jaden Rashada is ranked No. 22 overall out of Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, California. He is the top-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the class and has taken recent visits to BYU, Oregon and Miami. Ole Miss is also after Rashada, but it doesn’t seem as though he has a timeframe yet to make a decision.
Eli Holstein, Dylan Lonergan, Christopher Vizzina and Avery Johnson round out the final uncommitted quarterbacks ranked in the top 100. Lonergan has visited Florida, Georgia Tech, Stanford and Alabama, and has visits to Ohio State and South Carolina still on deck.
Quarterbacks represent the third-most of all the position groups in the top 100, trailing wide receivers (16) and defensive ends (11).
Five-stars lack defensive ends
Defensive end is a premium position, and usually there are quite a few ranked in the top 10 or top 20. There were four top-20 defensive ends in 2022 and there were five in the 2021 class, including the No. 1 player overall, Jack Sawyer, who signed with Ohio State.
In the 2023 class, no defensive ends are ranked in the top 20. Lebbeus Overton, a defensive end from Milton, Georgia, was the No. 1 recruit overall in the class, but he reclassified to the 2022 cycle and signed with Texas A&M. That doesn’t mean there aren’t talented prospects along the edge.
There are 44 total defensive ends in the ESPN 300. The highest-ranked end is Keon Keeley, the No. 23 recruit overall, who is committed to Notre Dame. Derrick LeBlanc is the highest-rated uncommitted defensive end at No. 31 overall.
LeBlanc released a top seven in December consisting of Clemson, UCF, Ohio State, Miami, Penn State, Florida and Oklahoma. He also announced he’ll be making his commitment on July 23, and recently took visits to Florida and Miami.
Next is Jason Moore, the No. 41 prospect from DeMatha High School in Maryland. Moore has been targeted heavily by Notre Dame, as well as Penn State, among others.
Of the 44 defensive ends in the ESPN 300, only nine are currently committed. While there might not be any five-stars, any team looking for a highly ranked prospect still has a great shot.
Positional breakdowns
While defensive ends are lacking among five-stars and top-20 prospects, we should probably highlight which position groups are near the top.
The quarterbacks make up three of the top-10 prospects, along with two offensive tackles, two outside linebackers, two defensive tackles and one corner. There are no defensive ends, receivers, safeties, interior offensive linemen or running backs in the top 10 this class.
That changes, though, when looking at the top 100, which has 16 wide receivers, 11 defensive ends, 10 quarterbacks, nine defensive tackles, six safeties and five running backs.
Cormani McClain is the highest ranked corner at No. 3 overall. McClain has interest in Alabama, Ohio State and Florida, among others, and is highly sought after.
Anthony Hill is the highest ranked linebacker at No. 4 overall, and is considering Alabama, Miami, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and USC. Francis Mauigoa is the top offensive tackle, coming in at No. 5 overall. Mauigoa recently released a top 10 of Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Miami, Alabama, Oregon, LSU, Penn State, Ohio State, Hawaii, USC and Michigan.
After Mauigoa, Peter Woods is ranked No. 9 overall and is the top defensive tackle. Woods recently released his top list with Alabama, Clemson, Florida and Oklahoma still in the mix.
At running back, Richard Young is at the top, ranked No. 11 overall. Young has taken visits to Georgia and Florida, and also has Ohio State, Alabama and plenty of others after him.
At wide receiver, Zachariah Branch is No. 12 overall and is already committed to USC, where his brother Zion committed in the 2022 class. Caleb Downs is the top safety at No. 14 overall and is uncommitted. Downs has Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Clemson and a handful of others still in it.
Notre Dame’s hot start
When Notre Dame announced Marcus Freeman was taking over as head coach, his players celebrated wildly. He’s a younger coach with a ton of energy and personality who can relate to his players and recruits.
It’s no surprise Freeman has Notre Dame rolling early on in this 2023 class with the most ESPN 300 commitments of any program — six, which is one more than Georgia, followed by Ohio State and Louisville, each with four. Penn State, Michigan, Arkansas, USC and FSU are all next with three each.
Notre Dame’s class is led by Keeley, the No. 23 prospect, followed by safety Peyton Bowen, ranked No. 49 overall. Corner Justyn Rhett is at No. 63, linebacker Drayk Bowen is the No. 86 prospect, defensive end Brenan Vernon is ranked No. 104 and safety Adon Shuler is at No. 169.
The Irish are still on quite a few lists of ESPN 300 recruits as well, so this class could start strong and finish strong if Freeman continues on this path.
USC turning the corner
Once Lincoln Riley took over at USC, he was able to land some highly sought-after transfers, including quarterback Caleb Williams and receiver Mario Williams.
He was also able to get five-star corner Domani Jackson to commit again after decommitting from the Trojans, and was also able to get ESPN 300 running back Raleek Brown, ESPN 300 safety Zion Branch and ESPN 300 receiver C.J. Williams to commit.
Riley didn’t have enough time to really salvage the high school class and finished with only eight total commitments from non-transfers.
Now in the 2023 class, Riley already has the No. 2 prospect overall committed in Nelson, as well as ESPN 300 receivers Branch and Makai Lemon. Riley has built a ton of excitement in California, and is in position to have a successful 2023 class as plenty of other ESPN 300 recruits are still considering the Trojans.
The staff is after linebacker Anthony Hill, running back Cedric Baxter Jr., receiver DeAndre Moore Jr., and quite a few others. If Riley can continue the momentum he has already started in 2023 and show improvement on the field, recruiting could continue to get better at USC.