CFB Recruiting 2013: Ranking the Top 15 Most Important Commitments so Far

Hello, and here's to a happy kickoff week to all of the college football fans out there. I'm sure none of you can wait until this weekend, as it will be a combo of Labor Day along with opening games for college football. I'm excited, and you should be too!

You know what else I'm excited about? This year's college football recruiting cycle. It has been such a great and interesting cycle with many memorable moments already. Commitment announcements are always fun to cover, and today, I'm going to give you the 15 most important commitments to date for the 2013 class.

Whether it be filling a crucial need for a program, a coach's key commit, a breakthrough for a small program or anything else in between, we got you covered!

15. Wyatt Shallman to Michigan

Rich Rodriguez completely changed things around for Michigan, notably on the offensive side. His spread offense didn't really require a fullback, but Al Borges is trying to get the Wolverines back to their old ways these days.

As Michigan moves back to a more traditional offensive attack, a good fullback will be key in executing their downhill runs for lead blocking, while also being a solid receiver for check downs by the QB.

Shallman is the top fullback on my board and is a bigger and more important commitment for Michigan than given credit for. 

14. Aaron Zwahlen to Hawaii

Hawaii is going under new management, and this time Norm Chow gets his chance to finally be a head coach. Chow is a known as a QB tutor, and his offense gets signal-callers to think and play in a pro-style system.

Zwahlen is Chow's prized QB commit this year, and I think Chow will build the program around the California QB moving forward. A strong-armed 6'3" QB, look for Chow to be hands on with Zwahlen. 

13. Notre Dame's OL Class to Help Protect Golson and Kiel

Everett Golson will be the starter under center for the Irish this year, and the dual-threat star should make some plays. Waiting in the wings is Gunner Kiel, who was one of the elite QB prospects in the 2012 class.

With both QBs essentially being freshmen, the Irish are set at QB for years to come. Getting blockers to protect them was crucial this year, and Notre Dame has five commitments from five great OL prospects.

Hunter Bivin, Steve Elmer, Colin McGovern, John Montelus and Mike McGlinchey will all work hard to not let the two young Irish QBs face much stress. 

12. Cooper Bateman to Alabama

Bateman gives Alabama a top-flight QB prospect for the future. For such a defensive-minded program, getting a QB that is more than a game-manager was a huge feat for 'Bama.

Bateman probably has the most arm talent of any QB recruit in the Nick Saban era and should be the first QB that almost forces Saban to open the offense up consistently.

The 6'3", 200-pounder and Utah native will need time to adjust to the speed in the SEC, but once he gets going he should be the starter early in his career. 

11. Hunter Henry to Arkansas

Arkansas' 2013 recruiting took a huge blow when Bobby Petrino got fired, and anytime you take a blow in recruiting, that just frankly is not good for a program.

John L. Smith and his staff worked the phones and the trail, trying to convince prospects that the Hogs' long-term prognosis is still pretty good. However, many top-flight prospects were still overlooking Arkansas until TE Hunter Henry made the choice to commit.

Henry gives Arkansas a prized prospect to hang their hat on for 2013 recruiting, and he also shows everyone that it is still OK to go to Arkansas. Plus, he's an excellent football player, too. 

10. Ryan Burns to Stanford

I was not a real big fan of any of the young QBs on Stanford's roster, and I really hoped that David Shaw would go after a top-tier field general this year.

Shaw did, and Shaw landed him. Ryan Burns, a 6'5", 220-pounder from Virginia with a great skill set, is committed to Stanford.

Burns is the best high school QB prospect to commit to playing on The Farm since, ahem, Andrew Luck. Burns is a huge and very important commitment for Shaw and Stanford's future.

9. Kendall Fuller to Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech is actually no stranger to landing a 5-star player, as they have landed Kevin Smith, Logan Thomas and Tyrod Taylor, among others, over the years.

This year, the Hokies' luck struck again with Kendall Fuller, an elite CB prospect from Maryland. Fuller is an outstanding athlete and should be the No. 1 CB by his sophomore year on the Hokies squad.

8. Su'a Cravens to USC

The Trojans are trying to continue to get faster on defense, and Cravens, while not a track star, has great football speed. USC also needed safety help in this class, and Cravens gives them that, too.

Also, landing Cravens was a huge get because it showed the nation, yet again, that if you are an upper-echelon prospect from California, chances are it is almost a forgone conclusion that you go to USC.

Schools will recruit a prospect from California, but in the back of their minds, they are always very worried about USC. Cravens' decision was another staple commitment for USC to help strike recruiting fear in the hearts of many who recruit in California. 

7. Adam Breneman to Penn State

Bill O'Brien needed a prime-time recruit to carry his "new Penn State" flag for him. He needed to prove to his own school and fanbase that he could land top in-state talent, and he also needed a great TE to run his offense.

When O'Brien got Adam Breneman, the top pure TE prospect in this year's class to commit, he checked all three needs that I mentioned before.

That's a pretty important commitment, if you ask me.

6. Kevin Olsen to Miami

Sure, Stephen Morris will start this year, and Miami signed a couple QBs in the last recruiting class. However, they needed to get a bona fide stud to reset everything and rebuild around.

Kevin Olsen gives them that, while also showing other recruits that the looming sanctions should not scare them away from Miami.

Olsen's commitment may be the biggest one Al Golden has aquired in his three recruiting cycles at Miami. 

5. Ty Isaac and Justin Davis Commit to USC 48 Hours Apart

USC is known as "Tailback U", and it was a bit odd that they needed RB depth coming into this year's cycle. People wondered who would be the RB to step up and come to USC, and which RBs the coaches liked.

Well, Ty Isaac and Justin Davis are their names and running is their game. Isaac is a 6'3", 220-pounder who can do a little bit of everything plus catch the football, while Davis is 6'0", 200 pounds and reminds me a bit of Willis McGahee.

Both backs are good enough to get early carries as true freshmen. 

4. Reuben Foster to Auburn

This was a shocker to everyone, but important nonetheless. Auburn scored a double whammy, as they landed the No. 2 prospect overall on my board while taking away a prized commit from rival Alabama.

Foster fits Auburn's 4-3 scheme well and could be a day one plug-and-play prospect on The Plains. Gene Chizik already had DLs Dee Liner and Carl Lawson sewn up, so getting Foster, who's another great defender, pledged was a major coup for Auburn. 

3. Robert Nkemdiche to Clemson

Clemson started to recruit very well about two classes ago, following it up with another great class last year. But many still view the Tigers as a little brother-type of program that can't truly compete with the neighboring SEC schools.

Robert Nkemdiche, the nation's No. 1 prospect, should help Clemson break through, as his commitment to Dabo Swinney's school sent out shock waves.

From the perception of this being a major recruiting breakthrough to Nkemdiche continuing on the great recent run of Tiger DEs, this commitment was extremely important. 

2. Shane Morris to Michigan

Denard Robinson is a great football player, and Michigan loves him, as they should. Yet, he's not the traditional pocket-passer Big Blue usually has to lead their huddle, so getting a young stud was a huge need for this cycle.

Shane Morris is more than up for the task, as the Michigan commit is a 6'3", 190-pound lefty who has wonderful charisma and a powerful arm.

Morris is the face of the future of Michigan football and is the player who will lead the resurgence of the old Michigan way, moving forward.

1. Christian Hackenberg to Penn State

Now with Breneman committed, the next big recruit was an elite QB prospect to lead PSU's new offense into the future. O'Brien looked down to Virginia and got Hackenberg, who's a potential franchise type of QB.

Penn State has not really signed a sizzling QB prospect in a good while, and their offense was stale under Joe Paterno. Hackenberg gives the Nittany Lions a QB that has both the ceiling to take over games and NFL potential. 

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.