It’s way early, but still interesting to speculate what the seven current commitments might suggest about the rest of our 2021 football class.
First of all, my count suggests Amani Gilmore’s transfer leaves 86 recruited scholarship players on our 2020 roster. If accurate, this is technically over the limit. But more departures are coming. I don’t want to name names, but I can count at least nine obvious current scholarship players who could easily transfer or give up football altogether without surprising any poster on this board. Over time, that number will probably increase. In any case, we will be down to 85 before August because that’s the roster rule.
Presently, 14 scholarship seniors are scheduled to be on our roster this fall.
At a bare minimum, then, Coach Stoops will have 14 scholarships for his 2021 class. But that assumes no undergrad players leave next fall. In reality, undergrads transfer or graduate early every year.
So I assume Coach Stoops’ next class will have at least 15-20 players. And let’s keep in mind that we have made spring and summer predictions of small, similarly-sized classes in prior years, only to see our classes expand in size once departure numbers accelerated the next fall.
So here are some preliminary expectations.
Terry Wilson and Sawyer Smith will graduate. With Gilmore, Wood, and Langhi transferring, and Scalzo’s health still uncertain, Stoops will sign two QBs in this class.
Dekel Crowdus will commit to UK shortly. Along with Magwood and Scott, that will give the class three receivers. I think Stoops will take a TE in the class, and Jordan Dingle is the target. But this could possibly mark the end of 2021 WR recruiting even though it is only May. Would Stoops take Reece Jesse, Cameron Wright, or Quincy Skinner even though he may have a limited number of scholarships? IDK.
AJ Rose will graduate. Smoke, Rodriguez, Tisdale, Drennen, and McClain still have multiple years of eligibility. But Stoops recently accepted a commitment from LaVell Wright and is still actively recruiting Kyree Young. Will he take two RBs in the class? Looks like it.
With Paul Rodriguez and David Wohlabaugh already committed, Stoops might only have room for one more offensive lineman. He wants Jager Burton, but he is still recruiting Brody Wisecarver and several others. How long is he willing to wait on Burton? Burton is thought by some sources to be a OH St leaner. Interesting to watch how this plays out.
This class will be heavily slanted toward the offense, since our defensive depth chart is deep with talented undergrads. But Stoops will need to replace Max Duffy after this season, and Coach Hood is gone now. How will this play out?