#college-football-recruiting

#college-football-recruiting

Increasingly, the nation's top recruits are also stepping onto campus as some of the highest-paid members of their respective rosters, some with six- and seven-figure financial deals before they've played a single college snap. Whether it's providing instant impact or showing early signals of future promise, the pressure is rising on college football's highest-rated (and best-compensated) freshmen to deliver immediate return on investment.

JAMES FRANKLIN DIDN'T have any answers. Instead, minutes before Virginia Tech's Nov. 22 home game against Miami, he was asking for a considerable leap of faith. Roughly a dozen of them, actually. It had been just 38 days since Penn State made the decision to fire Franklin six games into his 12th season with the program. Now, sporting a maroon hoodie inside the Hokies' team room, he was pitching a collection of high school prospects on why they should join him in Blacksburg.

"For me, it was really just being at a place where I feel comfortable [sic]," Henry told McAfee. "It was never really about the money. I was getting tons of offers [from] other places ... but ultimately for me, it was just a place I feel comfortable being developed and ultimately reaching my goal, which is to be a first-round draft pick."

Curtis, a senior at Nashville (Tennessee) Christian School, is the No. 5 overall recruit in the 2026 ESPN 300. Multiple sources told ESPN earlier on Tuesday that Curtis' intention was to commit to the hometown Commodores during this week's earlier signing period before closing his high school career at Nashville Christian School in the Division II-A state championship Thursday night.

Texas and coach Steve Sarkisian got on the board in the 2027 recruiting class on Saturday when five-star wide receiver Easton Royal, No. 16 in the ESPN Junior 300, announced his commitment to the Longhorns. Royal, a 6-foot, 195-pound pass catcher from New Orleans, is ESPN's No. 3 wide receiver in the 2027 cycle. He picked Texas over Ole Miss, LSU, Oregon and a long list of other Power 4 programs.

West Virginia and coach Rich Rodriguez secured a massive commitment in the 2026 class Tuesday from four-star offensive tackle Kevin Brown, who will land as the Mountaineers' highest-ranked signee in at least 15 years. Brown, No. 78 in the 2026 SCNEXT 300, is a 6-foot-5, 265-pound prospect from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He previously spent more than a year committed to Penn State's incoming recruiting class before reopening his process following the firing of coach James Franklin last month.

When Weis wanted to confirm that he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing, he called in quarterbacks coach Joe Judge. Then, just to make sure they were both right about Chambliss' ability, they brought in co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Joe Cox for further confirmation. As Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin watched Chambliss scrambling and throwing deep balls, he saw the traits of someone familiar: former Miami quarterback Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick in April's NFL draft.

We're highlighting the top 10 prospects from the 2025 ESPN 300, diving into how they've fared across their initial months on campus, where they stand at the close of fall camp and projecting the roles they'll fill in their debut seasons. That group of five-star newcomers is spread across eight schools, including each of the programs -- Texas, Georgia, Oregon, Alabama and Ohio State -- that made up the top five of ESPN's 2025 recruiting class rankings.

USC has made significant strides in the 2026 recruiting cycle, currently holding the No.1 rank with two five-star recruits and strong talent across key positions.