National signing day is today as the top rated high school players all over the country sign with their favorite school. It is one of the most important days of the year for each college team as usually the teams with the best recruiting classes year in and year out usually find themselves in the Top 25.

Covering college football as I do takes 52 weeks a year as it is and while I personally do not scout the high school games and rate each player I do compile my rankings based on the many different recruiting services across the country that follow and scout HS football year round. I not only like to use all of the biggest and best services, but I also use regional reports as well. The colleges themselves use many of these services to get the latest information on recruits.

One very important part of my College Football Preview Magazine is an individual player’s “PS#”. You will see them on almost every page and I find them vital in my analysis of a team.  A simple definition for a PS# is my ranking of the players at their positions coming out of high school.

When I receive a recruiting magazine, I translate each player’s ranking into a point system from 1-100.  Each and every player is then logged into the computer and give them a point total from each source. This is a very time-consuming process. Many players are listed by just one or two sources. The higher ranked recruits are mentioned by almost every source. The more they are mentioned and the higher they are rated in each publication, the more total points they accrue. After months of entering all of this information, I sort the list by each position and by total points. Naturally, the QB with the most total points then becomes PS#1QB for that year. If a player is PS#99QB, that means he ranks 99th in total points of all QB’s coming out of high school that year.

While my final recruiting rankings for this year will not be completed for another month, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back on how some of my top players did from the class of 2007, which most of them are finishing up their college careers to see how accurate my rankings were and what type of careers those players had.

Quarterbacks:

In 2007, Ryan Mallett got my PS#1QB and he did play right away at Michigan getting some time filling in for Chad Henne that year. Mallett then transferred to Arkansas and sat out the 2008 season. In 2009, Mallett threw for more than 3,500 yds and 30 TD’s and this year went 242 passes without throwing a interception which is an Arkansas record while leading the Razorbacks to their first BCS Bowl game in school history. Mallett is one of the top QB’s for the upcoming draft and should be drafted in the first round.

PS#3QB Tyrod Taylor- After splitting time early in his career, Taylor now holds many of Va Tech’s school records while leading the Hokies to multiple ACC championships and was named the ACC POY this year.

PS#5QB Jimmy Clausen-Clausen enrolled early at Notre Dame and was the starter by Week 2 of his frosh season. He improved each year and after having a 28-4 ratio in 2009 was named an All-American. He was drafted in the 2nd round last year by the Carolina Panthers.

Running backs:

Marc Tyler got my PS#1RB tag in 07 but he had a lot of competition and RS his frosh year and dealt with a lot of injuries throughout his career. Last year he did lead the Trojans in rushing with 913 yds and 9 TD’s and will be drafted in the mid-rounds.

PS#2RB Noel Devine-Devine had B2B 1,200+ yd season in his soph and junior years and after deciding to come back for his senior season ran for 886 yds . While his draft stock might not be as high as last year, Devine will still go in the 3rd-4th round and no one could argue his fabulous college career.

PS#3RB John Clay-Clay ran for 884 yds as a rFr in 2008 then ran for 1,517 yds in 09. Last year he dealt with injuries but still was one of 3 Badgers to run for 860+ yds.

Wide Receivers:

Arrelious Benn got my PS#1WR tag and was a major impact player right away garnering Big 10 Frosh of the year honors in 2007 and was named 1st-Tm Big 10 in 2008. His numbers dropped his junior season due to the unsettled QB position and left a year early getting drafted in the 2nd round last year.

PS#2WR Terrance Toliver-Toliver played significantly all four years at LSU and put up good numbers despite not having an ideal passing QB throwing him the ball. Toliver will be drafted in the mid-rounds.

PS#5WR Dez Bryant-Bryant was a major contributor right away being the #2 rec as a frosh in 07. Then in 08 he was named an All-American after catching 19 TD passes. However, he ran into some off the field problems in 09 and was suspended for much of the year. He was drafted in the first round by the Cowboys last year.

Tight Ends:

Aaron Hernandez was my PS#1TE and clearly lived up to his billing. As a junior in 2009, he led the Gators in receptions with 68 and was 2nd in rec yds. He went on to win the John Mackey Award as a 1st-tm All-American and was drafted by the Patriots last year.

Offensive Line:

Ryan Miller was my PS#1OL and went on to start 7 gms as a true frosh in 07 earning frosh All-American honors. In 2008 he broke his fibula and was awarded a med RS but did start all 12 gms the last two years.

PS#2OL Lee Ziemba-Ziemba started every single game of his college career and was a multiple All-SEC performer. He is expected to be drafted somewhere in the 3rd-4th round in the upcoming draft.

Defensive Line:

Everson Griffen was my PS#1DL in 07 and was the first Trojan to start a opener on the DL since 1986. He was named the P10 Def Fosh of yr and finished his career with 18 sacks. He will probably be a 3rd-4th round pick in the draft.

PS#3DL Marvin Austin-Austin played in every game as a frosh started 11 as a soph and had a great junior season leading many to project him as a clear 1st round pick. Austin decided to come back for his senior year but was ruled ineligible and will now be a 2nd round selection most likely.

Linebackers:

Ben Martin was my PS#1LB in 07 and his career has been a bit of a disappointment. After breaking thru in the starting lineup in 2009, he missed all of LY with a Achilles injury.

PS#2LB Chris Galippo-Galippo RS his frosh season but had an outstanding 2009 season being named a Butkus Sem-Finalist however he did have a disappointing 2010 season with only 29 tkls.

Defensive Backs:

Eric Berry was my PS#1DB and had a great college career. He first earned the SEC Def Frosh of the year, finished his career with 14 int’s and won the Jim Thorpe award as a junior and was drafted #5 by the Chiefs last year.

National signing day was yesterday as the top rated high school players all over the country signed with their favorite school. It is one of the most important days of the year for each college team as usually the teams with the best recruiting classes year in and year out usually find themsevles in the Top 25.

Covering college football as I do takes 52 weeks a year as it is and while I personally do not scout the high school games and rate each player I do compile my rankings based on the many different recruiting services across the country that follow and scout HS football year round. I not only like to use all of the biggest and best services, but I also use regional reports as well. The colleges themselves use many of these services to get the latest information on recruits.

While my final recruiting rankings will not be completed for another month, several recruiting sources that I use have released their Top 10 ratings for 2010.

Top 10 Classes By Recruiting Sources

Nearly five weeks after Urban Meyer resigned/unresigned the Gators signed what many sources feel is the #1 class in the country. Led by DE Ronald Powell and DT Sharriff Floyd, Florida signed more top defensive prospects than anybody with Dominique Easley, Darrin Kitchens and Matt Elam just to name a few. On offense the Gators signed 4 WRs in Chris Dunkley, Adrian Coxson, Quinton Dunbar, and Solomon Patton to reload a position hit hard by graduation/NFL Draft losses.

Year in and year HC Mack Brown signs some of the top players in the country and most of the time he doesn’t even have to recruit outside the home state of Texas. This year the Longhorns shored up their front 7 which suffers several losses to graduation and the NFL draft with LB Jordan Hicks and DE Jackson Jeffcoat.

Lane Kiffin has been known as a great recruiter from his time as an assistant at USC and last year signed my #10 class in his 1st year at Tennessee. This year he has been the HC at USC for just 3 weeks and signed one of the best classes with a strong finish on Signing Day. Kiffin and his assistants did a great job keeping together the class that was already assembled by Pete Carrol which included WR Kyle Prater and RB Dillon Baxter. The Trojans also added Seantrel Henderson, Markeith Ambles, Nickell Robey, and Hayes Pullard in recent days to elevate themselves in the Top 10.

Auburn was one of the surprises this year in recruiting and despite having to go up against in-state rival Alabama who is coming of a national title season, HC Gene Chizik was able to sign one of the top RBs in the country in Michael Dyer and possibly the #1 JUCO player in QB Cameron Newton. When my recruiting rankings come out in the magazine, Auburn will probably have their highest ranking ever!

Alabama had my #1 class last year and #3 class in 2008. This year Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide fresh off their national title, signed one of the top classes with one of the nations top QBs in Phillip Sims. Alabama returns only 2 starters back on defense this year so getting some top prospects on D was a top priority. The Tide fulfilled their needs especially in the secondary with CBs Demarcus Milliner, Dequan Menzie, and John Fulton plus S Jarrick Williams.

Top Impact Freshman

1. DE Ronald Powell, Florida (6-4 230) The Gators lose DEs Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham to the NFL however, Powell who many recruiting services have as the #1 overall player in the country has the size and the speed (4.52) to get significant playing time right away on the opposite side of Justin Trattou. Powell was also named the MVP of the Army All-American game which is one of the top HS all-star games.

2. DT Sharriff Floyd, Florida (6-3 310) While the Gators have plenty of experience coming back at DT in Omar Hunter (11 sts), Terron Sanders (8 sts) and Jaye Howard (4 sts), Floyd will probably see early playing time. Sharriff already benches 400+ lbs and squats 500+. Many recruiting services ranked Floyd as the top DT in the country.

3. WR Kyle Prater, USC (6-5 205) Prater will get a chance make an early impact for the Trojans at the WR position similar to what Julio Jones (Alabama), AJ Green (Georgia) and Michael Floyd (Notre Dame) did for their teams in their freshman seasons. Prater has decent speed (4.5) to go along with his size and also has great leaping ability with a 41′ vertical. With Damian Williams leaving early for the NFL, don’t be surprised to see Prater starting right away.

4. DB Keenan Allen, California (6-3 195) California went all the way to North Carolina to get Allen who will get a chance to start right away for the Bears with limited experience back at the Safety position. With his size Allen could develop into a Safety/OLB hybrid that the Bears call their Rover.

5. WR Da’Rick Rogers, Tennessee (6-3 206) New HC Dooley got Rogers to rethink his commitment to Georgia and was able to sign him with the Volunteers yesterday. Rogers has all the tools to be a big time WR at the college level with his size and speed (4.4). Rogers finished his senior season with 1641 rec yds (19.1) and 22 TDs. Even with Moore, Jones and Teague back with starting experience Rogers will have an opportunity to play right away.

6. RB Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina (6-0 210) Lattimore earned Mr. Football in South Carolina and will compete right away with returning RB Kenny Miles for the starting job. Lattimore has good speed (4.46) and many recruiting experts feel he will gain at least 10 lbs and be similar to a Knowshon Moreno/Carnell Williams type RB.

7. RB Michael Dyer, Auburn (5-8 201) Dyer was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Arkansas after rushing for 2,484 yds avg 207 rush ypg. Dyer is strong for his size with a 320 lb bench and a 450 lb squat. Even with 3 players with starting experience back at RB for the Tigers, Dyer will probably get some early carries.

8. OT Robert Crisp, NC State (6-7 299) Most OL do not see playing time as Freshman, however Crisp has a chance to start right away for the Wolfpack at OT opposite of Vermiglio. Most recruiting analysts love Crisp’s athletic ability for his size.

9. DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa, UCLA (6-3 234) Despite weighing only 234 lbs most recruiting analysts love his strength. The Bruins have only 2 full time starters back on their front 7 and Owamagbe could play right away at DE or OLB.

10. DE Chris Martin, California (6-4 240) Martin will get the chance to play right away with DE Cameron Jordan the only player back for the Bears with starting experience at DE. Many experts feel that Martin could probably add 30 lbs to his frame which would make him a great fit in a 3-4 scheme which Cal currently runs.