Who’s No. 1? On3 experts break down 2022 rankings

We’re entering the home stretch of the 2022 football recruiting cycle. Prospects are mid-way through their senior seasons. The early signing period and all-star games are just a few months away. On3 released an updated On300 ranking for the 2022 cycle last week.

Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Power and Senior National Recruiting Analyst Gerry Hamilton tackle six burning questions surrounding the 2022 rankings.

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Who is the No. 1 prospect in the cycle?

Power: Quinn Ewers reclassifying and heading to Ohio State early certainly left a void at the top of the 2022 cycle. In the years that I’ve been doing this, the 2022 cycle most closely resembles the 2019 cycle – one that was difficult to peg the top prospect. Honestly, as things stand right now, 2022 is more ambiguous than 2019. Marvin Jones Jr. holds the top spot as the top EDGE prospect but this is anything but settled. The 2022 cycle is not traditionally strong at the most premium positions – quarterback or EDGE – at least as things appear. We’re closely tracking the senior seasons, but will also lean heavily on all-star evaluations in sorting out the top of the On300.

Hamilton: I think this class is extraordinarily difficult to rank a number one prospect. I think it’s clear the best player is Travis Hunter. The reason I say that is he has legitimate NFL capabilities on both sides of the ball at two positions. That’s just rare. So I think he is the best player. Is that going to carry over to the best prospect when you consider guys for the NFL Draft? I don’t think so. I do think the EDGE position is so huge and the quarterback position is so huge, but I don’t see a quarterback that is worthy of the number one ranking right now.

How would you handicap the race for the top QB?

Power: This is an interesting quarterback cycle, for sure. The senior season is a huge evaluation point for the position, so we’re placing a bunch of emphasis on how they’re playing this fall. We’ve had Penn State commit Drew Allar has held the top quarterback spot since Ewers’ departure in August. We’ve seen Allar’s production and overall play start to meet his arm talent and physical skills. He’s playing very well as a senior and has his team (not a traditional powerhouse) off to a 7-0 start.

Clemson commit Cade Klubnik, Alabama commit Ty Simpson Texas A&M commit Conner Weigman and Florida commit Nick Evers round out the top five. Klubnik has been relatively untested thus far at powerhouse Austin Westlake. The playoffs should provide a more accurate picture for Klubnik, more so than the others given his situation at Westlake.

Simpson and Weigman are playmakers for their respective teams and have shown the ability to make some impressive off-schedule plays with their creativity and mobility. Simpson moved up in the last update. He’s having what is easily the best season of his high school career as a senior. After Allar, Evers may be the next up in terms of pure arm talent. He’s the least experienced of the bunch as a one-year starter, but has shown a very quick release and the ability to touch all areas of the field.

Hamilton: I like Drew Allar one because I think he’s got the frame, he’s got the arm talent. Because he has to play under duress on his team, he is forced to make quarterback plays – to play when the pocket or the game is not perfect. I think that’s going to help him in his transition to the next level. I think Cade Klubnik has a lot of intangibles. He may not have the physical frame or arm strength/talent of some of the others, but I think he has a lot of the intangibles that could lead to being a really good college quarterback, more so than a NFL prospect.

Who is a potential program-changer in the 2022 cycle?

Power: Any conversation about program changers should probably start with quarterbacks. Drew Allar would easily be the most talented quarterback James Franklin has signed at Penn State. We’ve seen the Nittany Lions stack talent at other positions, but they’ve never really had a true top level difference-maker behind center. Allar could be that guy. In that same vein, I think Nick Evers has the best passing ability among quarterbacks that Dan Mullen has landed at Florida.

As far as non-quarterbacks, I think you have to start with Travis Hunter. The longtime Florida State commit is the best high school football player in the country and is an instant impact type on both sides of the ball. He’s a highly competitive player who elevates others. The Seminoles may have to fight to hang on to him.

Hamilton: If Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy goes to Oklahoma, that is massive for the Sooners. They’re going to the SEC. Oklahoma hasn’t had a first round pick on the defensive line since Gerald McCoy. That’s over a decade ago. That is amazing when you think about the Oklahoma program. To have a prospect with that ability, that Gerald McCoy, Ed Oliver ability, would be huge for the Oklahoma program as they try to build on the defensive front to be good enough to compete in the playoff and in the SEC.

Who has surprised the most as a senior so far?

Power: In working on this last update, Clemson cornerback commit Toriano Pride and Alabama offensive tackle pledge Elijah Pritchett were two that had pleasantly surprising senior video. We were already higher on Pride than the rest of the industry based on his athleticism and showings at camps and 7-on-7’s. He’s transferred to East St. Louis (Ill.) High as a senior and is playing as a true outside corner and locking down some top competition. Seeing his technical ability and athleticism in playing on an island has taken away a bunch of the projection with his evaluation.

Pritchett jumps off the video as a senior. His coordination and reactive quickness look to be as good as any among the offensive tackles. The 6-foot-6, 280-pounder is also playing with a degree of physicality and confidence that is highly encouraging. It looks like he’s flipped the switch. Pritchett is on the short list of prospects I’m most eager to see in person at all-star games.

Hamilton: LSU running back commit TreVonte’ Citizen. Back in the spring and early summer, there were a couple of college coaches that believed he might be the best running back in the class. I didn’t think the junior tape necessarily showed that, but his senior tape is extremely impressive.

Citizen is put together and has a tremendous running back body type. He is a fast starter, but also patient. He can jump cut and skip cut. TreVonte’ Citizen has everything you need – feet in the hole, contact balance – to work from the first level to the second level and be a yard maximizer after contact. I think he’s shown enough speed where he can make vertical plays downfield. He’s not going to necessarily be a home-run hitter, but I think he’s shown enough where he’s in the conversation now with Nicholas Singleton and couple others as a top running back in this class.

What position group is surprising you with the depth in the class that you didn’t expect?

Power: I’m most pleasantly surprised by how many of the linebackers have played as seniors. In our last update to the On300, it felt like we had a bunch of linebackers tabbed as “stock up” prospects. Five-stars Harold Perkins and Ohio State commit C.J. Hicks have played up to their rankings as seniors. We’ve seen Notre Dame commit Jaylen Sneed transfer his athleticism to the field and he’s making plays off the ball in addition to offense. Alabama commit Shawn Murphy is showing play speed and considerable striking power. We’re seeing so many more like Jaren Kanak (Clemson), Shemar James (Florida), Gabe Powers (Ohio State) and Joshua Burnham (Notre Dame) make impressive plays on both sides of the ball – typically a strong indicator for linebacker prospects.

Hamilton: I’m going to say wide receiver. We have (TCU commit) Matthew Golden ranked higher than anyone in the industry and he is proving it on the field. You look at the depth of receiver in this class – the state of Texas is loaded on its own. Then you get into the other states, the receiver depth is tremendous. I think what makes the depth great is you have big wideouts, outside receivers, you have slot receivers, hybrid guys. I think it’s an amazing wide receiver class and the best we’ve seen in a while.

Other than QB, what other position battles are the tightest or most intriguing?

Power: Cornerback and tight end are the two that immediately come to mind. This cornerback group is as good as I’ve seen in terms of depth. We knew that going into the season, but we’ve seen some more prospects like Toriano Pride make a big jump early on as a senior. The fact that the No. 2 and 3 ranked corners, USC commit Domani Jackson and Denver Harris have missed time with injuries also muddies the waters a bit. Clemson commit Daylen Everette is our No. 1 corner and typically goes untested in many of his games at IMG Academy. That’s all to say I’m looking forward to continuing to track their senior years and seeing them in all-star games.

At tight end, current No. 1 Jaleel Skinner could get challenged by LSU commit Jake Johnson and Alabama commit Amari Niblack. Skinner made a late summer transfer to IMG Academy from Greer, S.C. and has yet to receive many targets. He’s an athletic projection with some unique physical traits. Johnson continues to show outstanding technical ability and the most consistently large catch radius among tight end prospects nationally. Niblack has broken out as a senior at Clearwater (Fla.) Lakewood. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder is a triple threat with his ability to separate within the route, win at the catch point and pick up yards after the catch.

Hamilton: Defensive line for me. It’s always one of the big discussion points in recruiting, especially nowadays. You take Walter Nolen, who is 80 to 100 pounds bigger than the guys he plays against on Friday night. Then you have Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy, guys who are great athletes and you have to decide, how are we ranking these guys – who has the most upside and who is closer to leveling off?

They’re all massive recruiting battles, but you look at it and decide are we going with the frame guys who are smaller right now who are around 280 pounds, but better athletes that project better long-term over the bigger-bodied guys right now who may have to reshape their bodies and are closer to tapped out. I think that’s one of the more interesting dynamics with recruiting right now – where do you go with defensive line as far as projecting out and ranking.