Updated analysis throughout college football recruiting’s first-ever Early Signing Period

Check back for news and notes as many of the country’s top recruits make their official choices.

College football recruiting’s new Early Signing Period is finally here, and runs Dec. 20-22. SB Nation will be providing live updates in this space on a regular basis.

9 a.m. (Thursday) — What you missed last night

Let’s get caught up on some stuff from last night.

• We’ve updated our tracker to show who is still available, and who signed.
• The 12 most important and fun tings from Early Signing Period
• The best classes of Early Signing Period

More to come, to be sure.

4 p.m. — Texas lands Anthony Cook and maybe the best DB class ever

The Texas Longhorns are setting up to blanket everyone in the Big XII, thanks to a huge number of elite defensive back prospects. In fact, it might just be the best class of defensive backs ever. The latest is Anthony Cook, of Houston. The elite corner goes along with No. 1 safety B.J. Foster, No. 3 safety Caden Sterns, No. 6 corner Jalen Green, No. 6 safety DeMarvion Overshown, and No. 14 corner D’Shawn Jamison. In a league that throws the ball as much as the Big XII does, that is unreal. The ability to play man coverage is such an advantage, and Texas should be able to do that.

2:50 p.m. — Georgia is signing the nation’s best OL class. Again.

Under offensive line coach Sam Pittman, Georgia signed the best offensive line class in 2017. And it’s doing so again in the class of 2018 with guard Jamaree Salyer, guard Trey Hill, and now tackle Cade Mays. Kirby Smart has five 5-stars committed. The rest of the SEC East has zero.

1:30 p.m. — A big day for Clemson

Clemson is having a strong day under Dabo Swinney, as expected. First, though it wasn’t a surprise, the Tigers signed the top offensive (QB Trevor Lawrence) and defensive (DE Xavier Thomas) players in the nation.

They also added a player many expected to go to Ohio State in five-star Ohio tackle Jack Carman. Carman is a great player in his own right, but there was also the issue of him saying that Dabo Swinney told him that OSU coach Urban Meyer wouldn’t coach much longer.

Noon — Florida gets its QB

Dan Mullen was the first to offer QB Emory Jones, several years back. But schools like Mississippi State don’t sign QB recruits with major interest from Alabama, Florida, Florida State, and Ohio State. It’s a good thing for Mullen and the Gators that he is now the coach in Gainesville, because Jones flipped from the Buckeyes to the Gators Wednesday, over FSU and Alabama.

Jones is a perfect fit for Mullen’s offense, which heavily emphasizes running the quarterback. And he’s the only player on Florida’s roster who is an ideal fit, so there is a real chance he could start as a true freshman in the SEC. Jones is exactly what Florida needed, especially since Georgia just signed Justin Fields and has Jake Fromm. Keeping Jones away from Florida State is also a plus.

10:45 a.m. — Georgia keeps one blue-chip, adds two more

Given that his mother did not accompany him on the visit to Florida State, I never bought in to the idea that FSU would flip James Cook back from Georgia, even though Dalvin is his older brother. He stuck with Georgia this morning.

In addition, the Dawgs signed Jamaree Salyer, the No. 1 guard in the nation, and four-star defensive back Divaad “Newt” Wilson.

Georgia is also inking Justin Fields, who might be the top QB in the nation.

I’m positive UGA has more to come.

10:20 a.m. — Penn State adds one elite pass rusher, and it might get another

As expected, Penn State signed five-star defensive end Micah Parsons today, beating out a number of elite programs.

I also expect the Nittany Lions to land four-star defensive end Jayson Oweh, of Blairstown (NJ), though I don’t expect him to sign early.

10 a.m. — Forget Plan B, on to Plan C

I’m sure there will be many unforeseen consequences of the new Early Signing Period, but one that I saw coming from a mile away, and wrote about, was the new rule helping smaller schools keep the gems they’ve scouted and recruited. Under the old system, it was relatively easy for big programs to figure out their top targets weren’t coming, and then flip a kid from a smaller school.

But already this morning, I am seeing numerous reports of kids spurning last-minute offers from big schools to stick with their commitment to lesser programs which have recruited them for a long while.

Like a QB sticking with ECU instead of waiting for Florida, or this guard sticking with Kansas instead of jumping on a Texas offer.

Some kids will be willing to wait, of course, but the small schools are benefitting under the system more than before.

9 a.m. — How confident are the Gators in flipping Emory Jones?

Four-star Atlanta QB Emory Jones is committed to Ohio State, but nobody I speak with expects him to sign with the Buckeyes, as I mentioned in the “Flip Watch” situation, below. As of Tuesday night, most thought he would flip to the Florida Gators, who desperately need QB help. New coach Dan Mullen was Jones’ first offer back when he was the head man at Mississippi State, and Jones visited over the weekend. But he also visited Florida State over the weekend.

The interesting thing to note here is that Florida was busy recruiting lesser QBs late Tuesday night.

Is a kid really spurning Florida to sign with ECU? I can’t believe that. More likely is that the Gators tried to get Ahlers and Travis to wait a bit to sign because Jones has not yet given Florida assurances that he is coming. That’s what I would do if I was in Florida’s situation. There’s also the possibility that the Gators want to take two QBs, but don’t want to scare off their No. 1 target.

8:40 a.m. — Georgia clearing room for a huge finish?

It looks like Georgia is going to follow up its No. 3 2017 class with a run at the No. 1 class in 2018. That might be weird to say considering UGA lost a four-star commitment to Ole Miss Wednesday morning. But I’m not convinced UGA fought all that hard to keep him. I think the Dawgs are clearing room.

I’m not predicting a No. 1 class just yet, but I do expect UGA to keep James Cook’s commitment this morning. And Georgia sources are extremely confident that they’ll sign Cade Mays, one of the top offensive tackles in the nation. Pair Mays with commit Trey Hill, and expected signee Jamaree Salyer, and UGA should have the best offensive line class in the nation yet again. Kirby Smart is not screwing around in Athens. The Dawgs are building a monster.

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