Block U 2017 National Signing Day Predictions

With National Signing Day tomorrow, we thought a good way to preview the day was to make some predictions about some of Utah’s top targets that are announcing tomorrow. Griffin Adams (gadams12), Brian Flach (MNUte), and myself all made predictions on the following 10 players:

Jhavonte Dean four-star CB Blinn College

Kevaughn Dingle three-star wide receiver Opa Locka (Fla.) Miami Carol City

Nick Ford three-star offensive tackle San Pedro (Calif.) San Pedro Senior

Daniel Green three-star inside linebacker Portland (Ore.) Madison

Jordan Lolohea three-star defensive end Salt Lake City (Utah) East

George Moore three-star offensive tackle College of San Mateo

B.J. Thompson three-star athlete England (Ark.) England

Bryan Thompson three-star wide receiver Moreno Valley (Calif.) Rancho Verde

Alden Tofa three-star defensive end West Jordan (Utah) West Jordan

Jay Tufele four-star defensive tackle South Jordan (Utah) Bingham

Griffin also laid out some reasons for his predictions, which you can read below:

Jhavonte Dean -- Miami

Kevaughn Dingle -- Utah -- This is more of a wishful thinking type of commit for the Utes, but with Reggie Roberson committing elsewhere, Dingle will take advantage and commit to be a Ute. Additionally, among his current offers, Utah gives him the best opportunity to play for a good team on a big stage.

Nick Ford -- Cal -- As great as this would be for Utah, Ford will stick with the in-state team of Cal.

Daniel Green -- Oregon State

Jordan Lolohea -- Washington -- Originally, the in-state recruit probably would have stayed home, but after being wooed by the Washington staff and seeing the Huskies make the CFP this last season, it'll be tough for Lolohea to turn them down.

George Moore -- Oregon -- This would be another big get for the Utes on the OL, but his most recent trip to Eugene will seal the deal for the Ducks.

BJ Thompson -- Utah -- Like Dingle, Thompson would be a most-welcomed addition to this Utah receiving group. He's getting attention from all over the place, but the Utes seemed to make a big impact.

Bryan Thompson -- Utah -- Another big recruit at the receiver position, Utah would love to have Thompson & Thompson be a formidable duo down the road.

Alden Tofa -- BYU

Jay Tufele -- USC -- This one is going to hurt for Ute fans. Ever since Tufele busted onto the scene, everyone in Salt Lake City has been hoping he remains a hometown hero. But the continued rise of USC back to its former glory, along with the sunny LA weather, will be too much for Tufele to say no to.

I do not have any inside information on any of these players. My picks are based on what I found on the 247Sports Crystal Ball and some guessing on my part. For Tufele, I think he would have chosen Utah before his USC visit, but he was wowed on that trip. Utah got the last visit with him, but that does not always work if a prospect was blown away by an earlier visit (like what happened with Tayler Katoa for example choosing USC even though Utah got the last visit, or Javelin Guidry, who chose Utah after visiting Texas last).

Now let’s do some calculations using the 247Sports Class Calculator. First, let’s do the best case scenario where Utah gets every player that at least one of us predicted them to get, and there are no decommitments from currently committed players. All of these players and a few others that Utah has a good shot at were totaled up, and Utah’s hypothetical class got a score of 219.64, which would put them in the top 25 nationally and the top half of the Pac-12. It would also be the highest rated class ever for Utah.

Now, let’s look at the worst case scenario and base their score on Utah only getting Bryan Thompson, the player all three of us think ends up at Utah. Let’s also assume for this that Utah’s two soft verbal commits, four-star cornerback Jaylon Johnson and three-star cornerback Tareke Lewis both do not sign with Utah. We will also assume Utah does not get any other new commits on National Signing Day besides Thompson (which is highly unlikely, but this is the worst case scenario). If all of that happened, Utah’s class score would be 170.95, which would be Utah’s second-lowest rated class in the Pac-12 era behind only the 2014 class. It would put Utah No. 11 in the Pac-12 and outside of the top 50 nationally.

In reality, the results will likely be somewhere in the middle. Utah likely will not get all of the guys in the best case scenario, but I would also be shocked if they lost both Johnson and Lewis, in addition to missing out on every player except Thompson. I like that Utah really swung for the fences with high profile recruits this year; it just means that the class is much more up in the air on National Signing Day than in years past, and how they close down the stretch will determine how this class shapes up.