College Football Recruiting 2013: 9 Recent, Significant Commitments

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you...

Over the past several weeks, we have seen more top players come off the board as the trend of committing early continues in college football recruiting. Right now, most of the best players in the 2013 class are sewn up to a school and committed.

For this read, I'm going review and give you nine significant commitments that have taken place over the past few weeks from prospects who are highly touted and big-time talents.

9. DE Jason Hatcher to USC

The Trojans picked up the Kentucky native on July 27 and continue to build a great class that perhaps could be the top haul in the country.

Hatcher is a 6'3", 240-pound DE who can get after the passer with his hand down or standing up. This gives USC yet another edge defender to help stop the sophisticated Pac-12 offenses.

8. ATH Jayron Kearse to Clemson

Initially pledged to Auburn and then to Miami, Kearse committed to Clemson last week and just about vowed that he is done with recruiting.

From Florida and the cousin of Javon Kearse, Jayron is a 6'4", 200-pounder who will play safety at Clemson. His ball skills and athleticism, along with his great length, should make him a great pick-six candidate for the Tigers secondary. 

7. S Hatari Byrd to Oklahoma

Right as we were rolling into this month of August, Byrd pulled the Boomer trigger on Oklahoma. From Northern California, UCLA was thought to be the favorite, but credit the Stoops brothers for a coup.

A 6'2", 200-pound safety, Byrd figures to follow in the line of Roy Williams and Tony Jefferson in Norman. Mike Stoops knows how to coach up DBs, so this will be great development for Byrd. 

6. DE Torrodney Prevot to USC

From Houston, Prevot committed to USC at the end of July. He's one of the more explosive, yet raw pass-rushers in this year's national class.

Many schools were on Prevot's trail, as his 6'4", 205-pound frame has a ton of raw ability and a high upside. However, USC sold him on playing the traditional DE spot with his hand, to which scored the Trojans another pass-rusher for the future. 

5. TE Hunter Henry to Arkansas

This was a huge get for the Hogs, as Henry was very close to ending up at Alabama or Georgia, among other schools. However, the Arkansas native decided to stay home and catch the rock in Fayetteville.

Henry committed to Arkansas in mid-July and immediately is the face of the Razorbacks 2013 recruiting class. A 6'6", 240-pounder, Henry has soft hands on a huge body and a chance to develop into a complete TE. 

4. S Max Redfield to USC

Another huge get for the Trojans, as they landed Redfield—the talented 6'2", 195-pound athletic safety—on July 18.

Redfield will go to USC to team with fellow 2013 commit Su'a Cravens; the former will likely play a FS role and the latter a SS role. From Southern California, this was a big-time get for the Trojans, as safety depth was a need in this class. 

3. CB Kendall Fuller to Virginia Tech

Fuller was at The Opening with his hair cut into a design that showed the Clemson logo on one side of his head and the Virginia Tech logo on the other.

I guess he figured VT looked better, as pledged to be a Hokie on July 29.

A 5'11", 185-pound cover corner, look for Hunter to become an All-ACC CB in no time.

2. CB Vernon Hargreaves to Florida

July 26 saw the nation's top CB prospect make his commitment, as Hargreaves committed to Florida. Just a short time before that, USC was thought to be his leader, yet he's all Gator.

Will Muschamp and Dan Quinn scored huge here, as the Gators add an immediate contributor to their squad for 2013 and someone I think has team captain potential. 

At 5'10" and 185 pounds, Hargreaves is a super instinctive and talented technician on the perimeter. 

1. QB Christian Hackenburg Reaffirms His Commitment to Penn State

Immediately after the sanctions were announced on Penn State July 23, speculation began about stud QB commit Christian Hackenburg's recruitment.

Would he decommit from PSU and head elsewhere? What other schools could position themselves to land him? 

The answer to those questions are no and no one, as Hackenburg announced July 30 that he is staying pledged to PSU and even spoke on ESPN's College Football Live. 

Hackenburg is the No. 1 QB in the country per ESPNU and also is originally from the Keystone State, even though he plays in Virginia. 

Edwin Weathersby has worked in scouting/player personnel departments for three professional football teams, including the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena League. He spent a year evaluating prep prospects and writing specific recruiting and scouting content articles for Student Sports Football (now ESPN Rise-HS).

A syndicated scout and writer, he's also contributed to WeAreSC.com, GatorBait.net and Diamonds in the Rough Inc., a college football and NFL draft magazine.