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Come Fan with UsSaturday, June 20, 2026

Podcast: The recruits who shined at The Opening 2017

Bud Elliott and Alex Kirshner discuss some of their favorite recruits from The Opening 2017.

Patrick Surtain Jr.
Patrick Surtain Jr.
Pat Surtain II
Nike

BEAVERTON, Ore. — One-hundred-sixty-six of the nation’s best players just finished competing at Nike’s The Opening Finals, the premier showcase for college football prospects.

We return with an episode of the SB Nation College Football Recruiting Podcast. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.

A link to the podcast can be found here.

We begin with a discussion about defensive backs. The event was long on elite cornerbacks, so it would take us over an hour to name them all, but five-star Pat Surtain II lived up to the billing with his combination of size, athleticism, instincts, and technique.

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We then discussed offensive linemen, linebackers, defensive linemen, receivers, quarterbacks, linebackers, and running backs.

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It’s clear that the group of offensive tackles is not that great this year but that the interior linemen are excellent. And at receiver, the crop of slot types is not great, but there is a plethora of bigger receivers in the 2018 class.

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