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ESPN Senior Writer- College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
The first Wednesday in February doesn't carry the suspense it once did, but it still represents a milestone. This year, it's the chance to put a bow on the 2019 recruiting class.
Most of the class signed in December and most coaches spent recent weeks focusing on 2020 and even 2021 prospects. But with the final signing period for the 2019 approaching, we asked coaches to reflect on the very top of the class.
We polled head coaches, coordinators, position coaches and personnel directors to identify the top 2019 recruits and why they stood out so much. We reached out to coaches from every Power 5 conference as well as some Group of 5 coaches for input, mindful that not everyone evaluates the same set of recruits or position groups. We granted coaches anonymity as most selected recruits who signed elsewhere. We received responses from 65 people, tallied the votes and, to account for recent job changes, sorted voters according to their roles when recruiting these players.
The results were revealing. LSU should survive without Greedy Williams. Michigan's secondary also has a chance to reload. And there's a reason why Bru McCoy's post-signing switch made national news.