The college football recruiting landscape is forever changing and this is what happened in Week 8.
The weeks seem to be flying by now and college football is nearing bowl season. OK, we might still be a little over a month away from truly talking about bowl season and the College Football Playoff, but teams are putting in work to impress top-tier recruits.
In fact, just last week, some top programs landed players that could assist title efforts down the line. Just because some of these teams are struggling on the gridiron doesn’t mean the hope for the future is lost. Florida is a perfect example.
Let’s take a look at some of the top stories from our weekly recruiting roundup.
Note: Latest commitments, rankings and scheduled visits come from 247Sports.
Gators go big with Gouraige
Florida landed arguably the most highly-touted recruit of the week as four-star offensive tackle Richard Gouraige picked the Gators. Despite struggling this season on the field, Jim McElwain has found a way to recruit at a high level. In fact, this commitment moved the Gators up in the top 10 team rankings for 2018. Gouraige, a Tampa, Fla., native, stands 6-foot-5 and weighs about 270 pounds and he’s ranked No. 106 overall and is the 10th-best offense tackle in the class. He will be a key figure on that offense live for years.
Georgia bolsters defense
Georgia seems to tell Florida, “Anything you can do, I can do better.” Remember when I said Florida may have landed the most highly-touted recruit of the week? Well, the Bulldogs beg to differ. Kirby Smart landed a huge piece to the future defensive puzzle as Rome, Ga., native Adam Anderson, a four-star linebacker, committed to ‘The G’ last week. He picked Georgia over the likes of Alabama, LSU, Clemson, Auburn and Tennessee. He’s ranked the No. 44 overall player in the class.
West Virginia lands two
It was a big week for Dana Holgorsen and West Virginia as the Mountaineers escaped an upset against Baylor and also picked up two key commitments in the 2018 class. The first was three-star athlete TJ Banks, a Pennsylvania-native ranked No. 506 in the country. The next was a three-star offensive guard, and former Ole Miss commit, Blaine Scott. He is ranked No. 382 overall in the class and is the 17th-best offensive guard.
Jim Harbaugh lands his next elite tight end
Michigan has developed a couple of solid tight ends in recent years such as Devin Funchess and Jake Butt. Late last week, Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines may have picked up the next in the line of NFL-caliber ends. Four-star Missouri City, Texas, native Mustapha Muhammad picked the Wolverines over about 35 others, including Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Florida State and Penn State. He’s ranked as the No. 109 player in the class and is the fifth-best tight end.
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Stanford goes cross-country
It’s not exactly rare for Stanford to land a recruit from the opposite coast, but it’s notable. The Cardinal went to Maryland to pick up a pledge from monster defensive end Thomas Booker. The four-star from Baltimore stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 290 pounds. He looks the part of a future stud on the defensive line and Stanford needs help on that side of the ball. He’s ranked No. 223 in the class and is the 11th-best strong-side defensive end.