Podcast: On3 experts talk about the senior sit-out trend

A trend that is impacting the world of football recruiting unlike anything we’ve seen before is highly recruited players opting-out of their senior seasons.

Five-star wide receiver Evan Stewart announced he was sitting out the rest of his season at Frisco (Texas) Liberty.

Opting out of senior seasons of high school football has become a lot more commonplace for top prospects. Stewart is just the latest big name to do so.

What does it mean for the future of recruiting? Charles Power, Director of Scouting and Rankings for On3, joins Senior Recruiting Editor Jeremy Crabtree on the Over The Middle podcast to break it down.

Over the Middle with Jeremy Crabtree · Charles Power on the Senior Sit-out Trend

Stewart latest senior to skip season

The biggest name in the 2022 recruiting cycle and five-star QB Quinn Ewers opted out of his senior year of high school at Southlake Carroll. He reclassified to the 2021 class to enroll this fall at Ohio State.

Ewers skipped his final year of high school football due to the state of Texas’ Name, Image, and Likeness laws. If Ewers returned for another year of high school football, he would be leaving close to $1 million on the table, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.

Consensus four-star Texas RB commit Jaydon Blue opted out of the entirety of his senior season in high school. Blue will stick out a lot of his senior year of high school academically. But the expectation is that he will enroll early on the Forty Acres for spring ball.

Plus, Emeka Megwa of Fort Worth (Texas) Nolan Catholic reclassified to join the University of Washington a year early. Megwa committed to the Huskies on July 1. He had offers from 36 other D-I programs, including Alabama, Notre Dame and Texas. Running backs coach and special teams coordinator Keith Bhonapha led the recruiting effort for the highly-touted prospect.

Latest on Stewart’s recruitment

Stewart lists Florida, Texas, Alabama, LSU and Texas A&M as his top teams. But On3 National Analyst Chad Simmons says the Gators are the leader.

“Billy Gonzales (wide receivers coach) and Dan Mullen are doing a great job recruiting Stewart,” Simmons said. “Then he has the connection with Florida quarterback commit Nick Evers. Those two are close. They play 7-on-7 together, they train together, and that connection could stay together in Gainesville.”

Stewart, who was committed at one point to Texas before his senior season, has an official visit to Alabama scheduled for Nov. 6. He will be at the Cotton Bowl this weekend to watch Oklahoma and Texas.