On300: Inside the numbers show it's incredible class for QBs

Having been around college football recruiting for nearly three decades, I’ve learned to love numbers. Numbers help you identify small shifts that lead to changing tides and eventual seismic movements in the recruiting world. That’s why it’s important to sift through ranking lists to see what trends are emerging, and that’s what we’re doing here with the updated release of the On300 for the Class of 2023.

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Much has been written about Lincoln Riley’s impact on Pac 12 recruiting since his arrival at USC. The same is true about Dan Lanning at Oregon. And while it’s still early in the process and West Coast prospects do tend to take their time, it is also telling that USC and Oregon are the only two Pac-12 schools to have early commitments in the On300.

“It’s been USC and Oregon for a while out there,” a Big 12 recruiter said. “But it’s going to be even more that way moving forward. If I’m a school like UCLA or Washington, I’m really worried. They’re going to have to start going elsewhere to get some difference-makers because all the good ones are going to end up at USC and Oregon or get poached away by national programs like Alabama, Ohio State or Michigan.”

A rival Pac-12 recruiter agreed with that assessment.

“I hate to say this, but we’re already seeing USC and Oregon taking some big leads on guys in Los Angeles and other key recruiting areas for us,” the Pac 12 coach said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

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There are four new five-star recruits in the On300, headlined by offensive tackle Charles Jagusah of Rock Island (Ill.) Alleman. He joins 2022 recruit Luther Burden as the only two five-star recruits from Illinois since the Class of 2017 featured A.J. Epenesa.

Also making the climb to five stars is Alabama EDGE Jaquavious Russaw, USC receiver commit Zachariah Branch and Penn State offensive line pledge Jven Williams. Overall, there are 14 five-star recruits currently in the On300 for the Class of 2023.

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There are 12 quarterbacks in the new On300 for 2023, but it’s an awfully top-heavy class.

It’s obviously headlined by Five-Star Plus+ Arch Manning — the nation’s No. 1 prospect that has been the focus of recruiting hype that hasn’t been seen in decades. Alabama, Georgia, Texas and Ole Miss are the teams listed currently as the leaders, according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine.

Right behind Manning at No. 2 in the country is Los Alamitos, Calif. quarterback Malachi Nelson. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound five-star signal-caller was wanted by many of the top programs in the country, and he made national news when he flipped his commitment from Oklahoma to USC.

But the blue-chip quarterbacks at the top of the rankings don’t end there. At No. 5 overall is Downey (Calif.) Warren five-star Nico Iamaleava. Iamaleava has a long list of early schools, but Oregon is listed as the leader by the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine.

Then there is Christopher Vizzina of Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian at No. 20 overall. He climbed from the No. 74 spot in the previous rankings.

Dante Moore (49) from Detroit Martin Luther King and Oklahoma commit Jackson Arnold (79) from Denton (Texas) Guyer are the other quarterbacks in the top 100.

“The collection of quarterbacks at the top of the rankings just might be the best I’ve ever seen,” On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons said. “Arch, Malachi and Nico are guys that can immediately transform your program, but there’s also a handful of guys like Christopher Vizzina, Dante Moore and Jackson Arnold that are going to be big-time, too.”

There are even some newcomers to the On300 with JJ Kohl (213) out of Ankeny (Iowa) High, Brady Drogosh (234) from Warren, Mich., and Ajani Sheppard (250) out of New Rochelle, N.Y.

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There are 18 — yes, 18 — recruits in the On300 from the state of Alabama. Five-star teammates Russaw and James Smith lead the way, but the depth in the Alabama 2023 class goes well beyond the talented duo in Montgomery.

Defensive lineman Peter Woods (19) from Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson is wanted by everybody in the SEC and ACC. Vizzina (20) is the fast-rising quarterback in the country. Safety Tony Mitchell from Thompson is No. 26 in the On300 and Alabama commit Jahlil Hurley of Florence, Ala., is No. 32. All in all, there are 12 recruits from Alabama in the top 100 nationally. It’s something that’s unprecedented. It means Alabama will be the epicenter for some of the most intense recruiting battles in the Class of 2023.

24 & 34

If you need a pass-rush specialist, then the 2023 class is where you’ll find it. There are 24 players at EDGE that rank in the top 100 overall in the country. Plus, there are 34 overall in the On300.

Digging even deeper, you’ll notice EDGE rivals only quarterbacks for the most amount of five stars in the On300 at three apiece.

That elite group is headlined by Notre Dame commit Keon Keeley (4) out of Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep, Nyckoles Harbor (6) of Washington (D.C.) Archbishop Carroll and Russaw (8).

While the top-level talent is impressive, it’s also a deep EDGE rushing class with other blue-chippers like Damon Wilson (21), Bai Jobe (25), Joshua Mickens (34), Chandavian Bradley (42) and Adepoju Adebawore (50) ranking in the top 50 nationally.

“Harbor is the unicorn in this 2023 class because there is nobody else like him,” an SEC assistant said. “He’s one of those guys that has such a high ceiling and could someday be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. But I also look around the country and see guys like Damon Wilson and the two guys out of Kansas City (Bradley and Adebawore). It’s just a special group of guys in this defensive end class.”

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There are already 44 players in the On300 for 2023 that have made oral commitments to top programs.

Of those 44 players, 17 have, or 38%, have already committed to SEC schools like Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas A&M. That number climbs even more when you add future SEC team Oklahoma to the mix. With OU’s two early commits, that means 41% of the players already committed in the On300 are heading to SEC schools.

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Just like the senior class, the 2023 recruiting class is insanely deep at wide receiver. There are 47 wideouts in the initial On300 and 15 in the top 100. What also makes the group unique is that it’s not just receivers from the typical talent-producing states of California, Florida, Georgia and Texas.

There are plenty of other states represented with quality players, like Shelton Sampson Jr. (12) from Baton Rouge (La.) Catholic, new five-star and USC commit Zachariah Branch (9) from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, Noah Rogers from Rolesville (N.C.) High (28), Kentucky commit Shamar Porter (12) out of Nashville (Tenn.) Ensworth, Kyler Kasper (131) from Gilbert (Ariz.) Williams Field and Joshua Manning (272) from Lee’s Summit (Mo.) High.