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College Football Early Signing Period Primer

College Football Early Signing Period Primer
Marcel Reed commits to Texas A&M after decommitting from Ole Miss | Image by TexAgs/Website

The early national signing period for high school football players to sign with the college of their choice begins Wednesday and runs through Friday, December 23.

Not all recruits are announcing during the three-day period, as some will wait until the February 1 national signing day to put their signature on a letter of intent.

While just seven of 247Sports’ Top 50 recruits for the Class of 2023 are currently uncommitted to colleges, signing day always includes recruits flipping their commitments.

Some Texas schools have already landed some big-time flips.

On Tuesday, Texas A&M flipped four-star Nashville (TN) Montgomery Bell quarterback Marcel Reed, the No.18 quarterback in 247Sports’ rankings, who had been committed to Ole Miss since April.

247Sports also projects that Texas A&M will land Tulsa (OK) Booker T. Washington four-star athlete Micah Tease, the No.6 athlete in 247Sports’ rankings who committed to Arkansas in June but de-committed on Monday.

Tease will announce his college choice Wednesday.

On Monday, Texas Tech landed a commitment from four-star defensive lineman Dylan Spencer of Houston C.E. King. Spencer is the No.46 ranked defensive lineman by 247Sports and had been committed to Texas since mid-March.

Similar to the national rankings, most of the Dallas area’s top recruits have largely already made commitments.

Denton Ryan’s five-star linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., the No.1 Dallas area recruit and No.1 linebacker, according to 247Sports, committed to Texas on Thursday. Hill had committed to Texas A&M in July but de-committed in early November.

Also on Thursday, Arlington Martin four-star cornerback Javien Toviano, the nation’s No.6 cornerback, committed to LSU.

Arlington Seguin safety Jamel Johnson, the No.33 safety in the nation, pledged to join TCU on Thursday. He de-committed from Texas in November.

The top uncommitted recruits from the Dallas area include three-star Duncanville safeties Deldrick Madison and Lamodrick Spencer and three-star Arlington Martin running back Sergio Snider.

The Longhorns lead the overall class rankings among area colleges, with its recruiting class ranked No.4 by 247Sports, heading into the three-day early signing period.

Highlighting the Texas class with 21 commits is five-star quarterback Arch Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli and grandson of Archie.

Manning, the No.1 overall prospect per 247Sports, set numerous program records at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans and committed to Texas in June.

The Longhorns also have the commitments of several top Dallas area recruits.

Five-star DeSoto wide receiver Johntay Cook II, his three-star running back classmate Tre Wisner, and four-star South Oak Cliff cornerback Malik Muhammad have pledged to join the Longhorns, and all scored touchdowns in their respective state championship wins last week.

Texas also has the commitment of four-star North Crowley running back S’Maje Burrell and three-star South Oak Cliff defensive lineman Billy Walton.

Oklahoma currently has the No.8 recruiting class, with its list of 23 commitments highlighted by five-star Denton Guyer quarterback Jackson Arnold.

The Sooners also have pledges from four-star Crandall athlete Samuel Omosigho and three-star Denton Ryan running back Kalib Hicks.

Last year, Texas A&M finished with the No.1 recruiting class that 247Sports described as being among the best ever. But a disappointing 5-7 season has seen several players enter the transfer portal, including two from last year’s class, wide receiver Chris Marshall and cornerback Denver Harris, who were both rated as five-star prospects.

Still, Texas A&M currently has the 15th-ranked class, with 15 commitments, including from two five-stars.

Katy Paetow’s five-star defensive lineman David Hicks and El Campo’s five-star running back Rueben Owens have pledged to join A&M.

The Aggies’ top-rated commit from the Dallas area is South Oak Cliff’s four-star cornerback Jayvon Thomas.

TCU has the No.17 ranked recruiting class one-day before the early signing period opens, with 23 commits. Its top two committed prospects are from the Dallas area, four-star Garland Naaman Forest defensive lineman Markis Deal and four-star North Mesquite wide receiver Cordale Russell.

The rest of the area colleges have classes ranked outside the top 20. Texas Tech’s class currently checks in at No.22 per 247Sports, and Baylor’s class sits at No.24.

Oklahoma State (No.56), SMU (No.63), and North Texas (No.128) all have classes ranked well below the other area colleges. Still, the rankings will undoubtedly look different after the three-day early signing period.

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