Something many people don’t understand about Signing Day is that it’s not really just a day. While the new Early Signing Period back in December got the headlines, it’s not the only signing period on the calendar.
Recruits can still sign Letters of Intent, but there aren’t any top players left to do that thanks to the Early Signing Period
The safety net is in place, but the ESP changes whether kids will use it or not.
Photo by Matt McClain/ The Washington Post via Getty Images
Recruits can technically sign their Letters of Intent until April 1.
Some high school players in the past have taken this offer up. Honestly, if you want the real headlines it makes sense to keep everyone waiting until after Signing Day because you can garner more headlines and keep the grand stage to yourself.
Most FBS schools are done with the recruiting process after Signing Day, and now can kick their feet up and focus on 2019.
But for lower-tier programs and FCS schools, there’s still work to be done to fill out their classes.
The rest of the period allows room for any indecision involved in top-level recruitments. It’s actually a good part of the process, but one that is rarely taken.
Most recently, five-star recruits from the state of Georgia have waited until after Signing Day to make their college choice and then ended up not signing their Letters of Intent, a privilege enjoyed by the highest-level players thanks to the leverage their skill affords them. In 2015, Cal’s Demetris Robertson had three Letters of Intent sent to him by schools. He didn’t sign any of them. Georgia’s Roquan Smith did the same thing.
In 2015, Roquan Smith waited a week after NSD to commit to Georgia and chose to decline signing a Letter of Intent in favor of showing up in Athens on June 1st for summer classes/team workouts.
And even that may happen less often than in the past thanks to the ESP.
There already weren’t many players left for the taking on Signing Day thanks to most classes getting near full back in the December period. The top players mostly signed.
There are 369 players regarded as blue-chip prospects (four- and five-stars) in the 247Sports Composite, and 279 of them signed on the dotted line. That’s three-quarters of the elite recruits who are now off the board.
Of the 97 unsigned blue chips, 73 of them are also uncommitted; five of those are five-star players. Of the nation’s top 101 recruits, 33 of them remain unsigned heading into February Signing Day.
Out of the top 500 high school recruits listed on the 247Sports Composite, only nine are un-signed after Signing Day. Everyone’s pretty much done with the 2018 recruiting cycle.
But if a player does have some level of indecision or trepidation about a college choice, the days and weeks after February Signing Day offer a buffer to take time and decide. Pressure from coaches and the splendor of the day may force a hand, but there’s a safety net if you choose to take it.
