BREAKING NEWS: Recruiting buzz from Day 2 of Battle Vegas…

The 247Sports scouting team updated our class of 2024 rankings one last time on Monday after completing our

Top247. They did this by introducing 21 new prospects who were rated as four-stars ahead of Wednesday’s National

Signing Day. Think of it as a kind of afterword.

While most people are aware of every high-profile recruit in the 2024 cycle, the majority of the names listed below

are not so well-known. That’s the concept, too. Players that went unnoticed during the high school recruiting process

are chosen each and every year at the NFL Draft. Some leave as soon as the initial round.

Will we now pursue each of these fresh four-star prospects? No. Not at all. Football talent evaluation and projection

are difficult tasks (as NFL front offices attest to), but there’s a reason each of these recruits was selected: we think

they have a ton of room for growth in the long run.

With this exercise, we aimed to draw attention to a few Group of Five signees that often receive little love from the

recruiting community. The goal was achieved. We signed three players from the Mountain West Conference, two

from the American Athletic Conference, and one from the Mid-American Conference, in addition to the group of

prospects bound for Power Five institutions. Three FCS signees now have a fourth star next to their names as well!

Invest in Western Michigan and perhaps win a MAC title in the upcoming years if you enjoy playing futures. One

thing has become more and more obvious after analyzing senior footage over the past several months: the Broncos

are assembling a roster full of players with Power Five ability.

Although Najiib Anderson may not now be the top football player in Western Michigan’s class, it’s understandable

why people in Kalamazoo tend to think he has the biggest ceiling of all of them. For the past few years, Anderson has

been a three-phase playmaker at Conyers (Ga.) Rockdale County. He is tall and has good speed. The 6-foot-2 player

was our first pick to see some action on offense, but his range on the back end will probably be too much to ignore.

Our confidence in Anderson is further bolstered by his track and field accomplishments, as he nearly broke the 47-

foot mark in the triple jump last spring and finished fourth in the Peach State’s top division in the state competition.

Two more Western Michigan signees we adore are teammates Carlos Mitchell Jr. and Jameson Young of Lakeland,

Fla. “It was better to sign with a Power Five.”

About Yannick Smith, who first drew our attention in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas in December, this is what one

SEC staff member said. Having averaged 18.5 points per game for Summerville as a junior, Smith—a gifted

basketball player—was awarded the Class 5A Basketball Player of the Year in South Carolina.

He’s got good football production as well. Smith ran for 405 yards and five additional touchdowns as a senior, in

addition to catching 69 catches for 1,528 yards and 19 touchdowns. Smith was tested in the last stretch by Kentucky

and a few other SEC teams, but he stuck to his word and appears to have the potential to become the center of the

Pirates’ offense in the upcoming seasons given how he consumes cushion with his release and finds ways to get into

the end zone.

After a string of defections, Billy Napier’s early signing period with the Gators didn’t exactly go as planned. The

signature of Gregory Smith III, however, was a late addition that hasn’t received enough attention.

The large-framed athlete from Sumner, Florida, initially caught our attention in the summer of last year due to his

40-yard sprint time of 4.57 seconds at a weight of about 192 pounds and 6 feet 3 1/2 inches. Although Smith first

marketed himself as more of a quarterback, colleges rejected the notion of having him start at defensive back on the

varsity level. Eventually, as a senior, he accepted the suggested position shift and saw his first prolonged action at

safety. Smith was a shockingly physical open-field tackler who moved from hash to hash with ease, making the

defensive tape literally explode. Though it will probably take him some time to be ready for the SEC, as a back-seven

defense, he might be quite effective for the Gators. After all, not many high school athletes are taller than 6-foot-3,

and the few who are are capable of producing on both sides of the ball in one of the Sunshine State’s highest classes

with a nearly 48-foot triple leap on file.

Bravo to the people in Nashville who saw Brycen Coleman’s bigger picture. Current patterns in the NFL Draft

indicate that tight ends selected early in the draft typically excelled in a wide range of activities during their high

school careers. Coleman accomplishes the task in a classy manner.

As a three-sport athlete who nearly double-doubled in the basketball court as an 11th grader, Coleman is the first

player in Maryland history to have over 1,000 yards in throwing, rushing, and receiving combined throughout their

career. He played quarterback for the majority of his senior year, helping Stephen Decatur to a 14-0 record and a 2A

state title. With his developing foundation and smooth motions, the 6-foot-5 Coleman seems to be just getting

started. He may need a redshirt year or two to adjust to life as a pass catcher (and blocker) in the SEC.Trevor Penning, a recent first-round pick in the NFL Draft from UNI, and 2024 signee Sam Thomas have remarkably

comparable high school profiles. Thomas, who stands 6 feet 4 inches and weighs 275 pounds, can play inside

linebacker or tackle; we think the latter is where his better long-term ceiling is.

Thomas possesses exceptional track and field statistics, such as a 59-foot-8 1/4 shot put rep and a 171-foot-3 discus PR, in addition to substantial two-way snaps and all-state honors on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Thomas’s

violent point-of-attack style and block-finishing prowess on the football field are examples of this strength in action.

Northern Iowa has demonstrated that it can produce players who can play at a high level, and Thomas is among the

finest underappreciated FCS signings of the 2024 cycle. Since 2021, the Panthers have produced Penning and

Spencer Brown, two top 100 O-line draft selections.

Deep two-way snaps are arguably the most pervasive similarity among linebacker picks in the NFL Draft during the

last few years. Of course, instincts are a prerequisite for success at linebacker, but if you have the necessary physical

attributes and athleticism, you can master the position. Clay Martineau, a “backer” headed to Boise State, possesses

those attributes.

At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, Martineau was a standout receiver for Oregon City (Ore.), being selected for both sides

of the ball’s conference for the Oregon 6A Three Rivers League team. Martineau has amassed over 100 tackles and

close to 1,000 receiving yards over the last two seasons.