The Cincinnati Bearcats close National Signing Day as the 66th best class in college football and 2nd in the American Athletic Conference. UC trails only South Florida in the AAC.
The Bearcats signed 28 prospects in their 2015 recruiting class, among them a whopping 10 early enrollees. Tommy Tuberville has made it an emphasis of adding players who can fill holes on the depth chart with this class more so than the last one. As such, I’m sure he expects several of those early enrollees to contribute next season.
Among them were a pair of walk-ons, receiver Brayden Beard and JUCO kicker Josh Pasley. I’d expect Pasley to contribute right away on kickoffs with Tony Miliano graduating in a few months. Not so for Brayden Beard. Unfortunately he’s walking into position group loaded with seniors. Even the backups are seniors. There’s just no room for Beard to make an impact in his first season on campus and as such a redshirt is in his future.
16 other players signed with Cincinnati via the high school circuit with some hailing from as close to UC as Montgomery, Ohio to as far as Folsom, California. It’s a well-rounded bunch with signees from several position groups that will likely work their way up the depth chart in the coming years.
The final two players are defensive lineman Lyndon Johnson and linebacker Jaylyin Minor, both JUCOs. Even though they’re not enrolling early, their experience and Cincinnati’s simultaneous lack of depth at these positions could result in them being thrown into the fray in 2015.
Overall, I’m impressed with Tommy Tuberville’s second full recruiting class. Here’s a few other notes about it.
THE HEADLINERS
Quarterback Ross Trail, defensive end Marquise Copeland, halfback Taylor Boose, linebacker Matthew Draper, and offensive tackle Idarius Ray all intrigue me the most.
I’d expect Ray to be plugged in right away along the offensive line and as such will make the biggest immediate impact among the 28 signees. However, Trail looks to be the heir apparent to Gunner Kiel, Copeland could see time at defensive end in a few years, Boose is dynamic enough to play any of the backfield roles, and Draper might get his redshirt burned in 2015. Keep an eye on all five of these new Bearcats.
LOADING UP ON THE LINE
With depth issues on both sides of the line, Tuberville and crew made it a point to add as many offensive and defensive lineman as possible. 10 to be exact. Most impressive to me is the fact that they are plugging holes here with contributors for next season (Ray, Murray, Johnson) as well as later on down the road (McGarr, Mallory, Armagost). It’s a two pronged approach that solves several problems for Cincinnati.
ATTRITION LEVEL ZERO
For the first time in I don’t know how long, every single one of recruits who were committed to Cincinnati on Tuesday night signed with UC on Wednesday. In the past, Tuberville and crew have seen their hard earned commitments sign with other programs come National Signing Day. Not this year. Only Trevon Story, who may be working through academic issues, remains unsigned.
HUGE WINS
The first was with Marquise Copeland. As mentioned above, he’s one of my picks to make a name for himself at Cincinnati. But in the days prior to signing with UC, Copeland was flirting with the Kentucky Wildcats, they themselves were seeing commitments fly to other teams. The fact that the Bearcats hung onto him long enough to get his letter of intent is a win in itself.
But the real victory worthy of a Tommy Tuberville fist pump was flipping three star wide receiver Kahlil Lewis from West Virginia. He had been committed to the Mountaineers for a while now but it was rumored in the weeks leading up to National Signing Day that he had eyes for the red and black. Those suspicious came to fruition today when he signed with UC.