5 surprise teams in On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking

With the early signing period opening up in just 43 days, college coaches are making mad dashes to wrap up the 2022 recruiting cycle. While it’s not a shock to see Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State doing well, there’s a crop of other teams that have surprised with their success. Here’s a look at five surprise classes in the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking.

Missouri Tigers

On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: No. 15
Commitments: 15
Average rating: 89.43
Score: 90.550

The Tigers are easily the biggest surprise class in the country. Prospects have really responded to Eliah Drinkwitz’s message and the Tigers have done a solid job of keeping top local talent at home in the 2022 cycle.

The most important prospect to stay home in Missouri this cycle is On3 Consensus five-star receiver Luther Burden out of East St. Louis (Ill.) High. Burden turned down Georgia and Alabama to play for the Tigers.

But this class is much more than Burden and players from Missouri. The Tigers went into Texas to steal away a gem of a running back in On3 Consensus four-star Tavorus Jones. Plus, On3 Consensus four-star offensive tackle Deshawn Woods was a major win over Nebraska in their own backyard of Omaha. Plus, Tiger fans are giddy over the pledge of quarterback Sam Horn down in Georgia.

There’s still some wiggle room for Mizzou to move up some with some late additions, but Tiger fans are excited about the future because of Drinkwitz’s recruiting success.

Kentucky Wildcats

On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: No. 16
Commitments: 15
Average rating: 88.22
Score: 90.159

The Wildcats rival Mizzou for the top unexpected class in the country. Granted, savvy UK fans have seen the Wildcats recruit at a much higher level over the past few classes. But this crop has a chance to be the best recruiting class in Lexington in the modern recruiting era, which is a welcome surprise.

The headliner is On3 Consensus five-star offensive tackle Kiyaunta Goodwin. Kentucky is fighting hard to keep him on board and away from Alabama and other national programs. But if Goodwin signs, he’ll be the highest-ranked player to pick UK in ages.

The Wildcats have also done a good job of adding other top pieces, like On3 Consensus four-star EDGE Tyreese Fearbry and in-state four-star athlete Dane Key. Mark Stoops has also done a quality job of hitting on the Wildcats’ needs.

There’s still more coming, so there’s still room for UK’s class to move up before the early signing period arrives.

Stanford Cardinal

On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: No. 19
Commitments: 20
Average rating: 87.36
Score: 89.416

Recruiting at Stanford is always different because of the Cardinal’s academic standards. Stanford must be picky about who it offers and take commitments from. However, there’s a lot to like about this 2022 class heading to Palo Alto. It definitely ranks as one of the nation’s biggest surprises.

As always, Stanford has a national class built on players from Texas, California, Tennessee, Hawaii, Missouri, Minnesota, Washington D.C. and other parts of the country. On3 Consensus four-star Ernest Cooper IV is one of the top EDGE defenders in the Lone Star State. His commitment was a big recruiting victory for Shaw. While he’s only a consensus three-star, Stanford insiders are fired up about quarterback Ashton Daniels out of Georgia.

Stanford’s rebound after a class in the 40s in 2021 helps them fall into the surprise category for 2022.

Indiana Hoosiers

On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: No. 22
Commitments: 14
Average rating: 87.81
Score: 88.775

Indiana also is in line for a surprise class. The Hoosiers have commitments from three players in the On300, including four-star athlete Dasan McCullough at No. 54 overall, according to the On3 Consensus. McCullough, from Bloomington (Ind.) South, originally committed to Ohio State before flipping to the Hoosiers.

IU signed two On300 prospects in the 2021 class, but there’s a sense of recruiting momentum in Bloomington that hasn’t been seen since, well, maybe ever.

Indiana is holding its own in the Midwest — see the commitment from On3 Consensus four-star running back Gi’Bran Payne from Cincinnati LaSalle and pledges from seven other quality players from Indiana and Ohio. Plus, the Hoosiers also are dipping into south Florida (Trevell Mullen) and central Texas (Josh Hoover) for talent.

At this point, if IU didn’t gain another commitment in the class, it still would rank as the best in Indiana history, just ahead of the 2019 class that had 23 commitments.

UCF Knights

On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking: No. 35
Commitments: 14
Average rating: 86.87
Score: 87.748

The UCF commitment list isn’t long with only 14 pledges, but the quality puts it in the surprise category ahead of Power 5 programs that normally recruit well like Mississippi State, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and Iowa State.

The Knights have four On3 Consensus four-star commitments, headlined by cornerback Ja’Cari Henderson and EDGE Keahnist Thompson.

UCF has continued to make strides where it can recruit against quality ACC and some SEC schools, but even the success in the 2022 cycle is exciting and somewhat unexpected.