National Signing Day is in the books, so it’s time to take a look and see who had the best day Wednesday. Obviously, it’s difficult to accurately grade a team’s recruiting class until a few years after the fact, and some teams finished with excellent classes without making much noise on the day itself, but these 11 teams made the best moves on Wednesday.
2015 National Signing Day’s 11 biggest winners
Some big moves were made on Signing Day. Here are the biggest winners.
USC
The Trojans came into Signing Day with a top-five class, then they picked up a pair of five-star defenders in DT Rasheem Green and CB Iman Marshall. They also gained the signature of four-star LB John Houston and two new three-star commits, pushing their already impressive class to the top of the Rivals rankings and a close second behind Alabama in the 247Sports Composite rankings.
The Trojans have been able to maintain a high level of talent through sanctions, but depth has hurt them. With the cuffs off Steve Sarkisian and staff now, they’re adding talent and depth, and could be very dangerous, very soon.
Auburn
The Tigers cleaned up on Wednesday, picking up five-star DE Byron Cowart (not without some trials and tribulations), four-star WR Ryan Davis, four-star LB Jeffery Holland, and four-star WR Darius Slayton, flipping him from rival Georgia. Auburn won several of those recruits, most notably Cowart, after competing directly with Florida, giving new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp a stick a poke his former employer with.
The Tigers lost a few battles to Florida and one to Georgia, but came out ahead in the end to rank ninth in the Composite, and they already had a healthy group of early enrollees.
Ohio State
The Buckeyes were able to get four-star WR K.J. Hill and four-star OT Isaiah Prince into the fold, and also kept four-star RB Mike Weber from flipping to Michigan. That’s it, though Urban Meyer said there was plenty of drama behind the scenes.
The Buckeyes have far and away the top class in the Big Ten, finishing sixth in the national rankings according to the Composite. Pair that with how much they have coming back in 2015, and the near future is brighter and brighter for the defending champs.
UCLA
The Bruins finished very hot on Signing Day, vaulting into the top 10. The biggest name is five-star RB Soso Jamabo, who picked the Bruins over Texas (and University of Phoenix and ITT Tech). The other blue chippers to sign for UCLA were four-star TE Chris Clark, four-star OG Josh Wariboko, and four-star WR Cordell Broadus. Yes, he’s Snoop Dog’s son, and yes, USC fan Snoop says he’s a UCLA fan now.
The one still in the air is four-star LB Roquan Smith. Smith committed to the Bruins during a ceremony Wednesday morning, but defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s reported departure for the Atlanta Falcons has caused Smith to re-open his recruitment. If he stays, UCLA has a top-10 class. If not, it’s still a huge Signing Day.
Florida
It was a tough start for Jim McElwain’s Gators, but they shrugged off four losses to Muschamp’s Auburn and brought in a pair of five-stars in OT Martez Ivey and DE CeCe Jefferson, plus four other new commits. The Gators’ class finished 20th, and considering they ranked in the country’s bottom half just a couple weeks ago, that’s a strong finish.
Alligator Army calls it Florida’s “best worst class ever.”
Michigan
The Wolverines’ situation was similar to Florida’s, as Jim Harbaugh turned a class that was around the bottom 40 into one in the top 40 in just a few weeks. Michigan didn’t hit on everything -- notably missing UCLA’s Clark and Ohio State’s Weber -- but added four-star legacy Tyrone Wheatley Jr. and four other new commits. Of the final 14, eight were Harbaugh commits.
LSU
The Tigers quietly finished No. 5 by adding three players to their class on Signing Day, including four-star CB Derrick Dillon and four-star OT Toby Weathersby.
Missouri
Missouri was only in a few late battles, but won its biggest one -- an emotional East St. Louis five-star Terry Beckner Jr., potentially the next star in Mizzou’s long defensive line lineage -- and added three-star fireball Terez Hall. And looked good doing it.
Boise State
The Broncos followed up on their latest Fiesta Bowl win by turning in the highest-rated mid-major class, ahead of 11 power-conference teams, part of a strong 2015 for the Mountain West. Their Signing Day included adding three-star DBs Darreon Jackson and Tyler Horton and keeping safety Damion Wright from flipping to Navy, despite an offer to play quarterback there.
San Jose State
The Spartans finished an amazing No. 58, second among all non-power teams, despite a 3-9 season in 2014. That’s after averaging a finish of No. 107.75 over the previous four classes. Their late additions to a class almost entirely composed of Californians included four-star WR Kanya Bell, who reported a USC offer in June, and three-star CB Taeon Mason, a former USC and Washington State commit.
Alabama
National Signing Day was fairly drama-free for the Crimson Tide, but they got to celebrate their fifth straight top-ranked recruiting class, and that is pretty good. Beating LSU for four-star WR Daylon Charlot on Wednesday was just enough to hold off USC for the No. 1 spot.
