Army All-American Bowl 2015: Analyzing Top Commitments from All-Star Game

One of the biggest weekends in college football recruiting has come and gone with two games featuring some of the top prospects in the country. The latter was Saturday's Army All-American Bowl, which saw several programs strike gold weeks before national signing day. 

There is obviously a lot of time left for schools to make an impression on their recruits, but being able to get a commitment early certainly takes some of the anxiety away. The Army All-American Bowl also let the prospects show off their skills to those programs on the fence about how hard to keep pursuing a player. 

Given all the high school talent that's been on display in the last 48 hours, it's no wonder college football is in such a strong state. These are the commitments from the Army All-American Bowl that had a profound impact on this year's recruiting. 

Marvell Tell, DB (4-Star Recruit Commits to USC)

Saturday was a good day for USC, which got two strong commitments from 4-star defensive backs. Marvell Tell is the standout, while also taking a bite out of Pac-12 rivals like Oregon and Arizona State, who were also in on the California native. 

As you can see in the tweet from Scott Schrader of 247Sports.com, Tell and his family left no doubt about where his heart lies moving forward:

In an article by Gerard Martinez of Scout.com, Tell said that it was an unofficial visit to USC in June that wound up making the difference:

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It was just as I started coming around more often, I kind of got a feel for the school and everyone around it. I was attracted to it basically and I just kind of fell in love with it almost. (Defensive backs) coach Keith Heyward really gave me a vision for where I would play and how I would contribute too. We have a good relationship and that was when we really started to get to know each other more.

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USC head coach Steve Sarkisian is still adding his own personal touch to the roster that was built by Lane Kiffin. Tell isn't the game-changing piece to reshape the defense, but along with Ykili Ross, Coach Sark is keeping more California talent at home. 

Adding depth in the secondary is essential for the Trojans, who were burned for 381 yards and three touchdowns against Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. They also allowed 265.7 passing yards per game in 2014. per Yahoo! Sports. 

Tell is an imposing figure at 6'2", though he's slight right now at 185 pounds. His biggest strength is reading the quarterback and finding the ball. He's a heavy hitter who understands how to tackle and will get better with more muscle. 

Even though his aggressiveness makes him stand out, Tell can commit too early and get beat. It's not a huge knock right now, just an area that needs time to improve. 

Devonaire Clarington, TE (4-Star Recruit Commits to Texas)

To say that Charlie Strong had a tumultuous first year in Texas would be an understatement. His method of coaching and personality seemed to be directly at odds with what Longhorns fans wanted, or at least what they were accustomed to. 

The good news for fans in Austin is that Strong is making his mark this recruiting season and has the Longhorns headed in the right direction. His first major commitment on Saturday was 6'5", 222-pound tight end Devonaire Clarington, via Jeff Howe of 247Sports.com: 

A 4-star recruit out of Florida, Clarington instantly improves Texas' passing game. He's not a great all-around tight end yet, but there may not be a better receiving player at the position in the 2015 class. 

TJ Gaynor of SportingNews.com raved about Clarington's ability to make catches in any situation because his hands are so strong:

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Clarington owns the ball in the air so consistently the referees might as well go ahead and affix his name on the title prior to the opening kick. Superior hand-eye coordination and tremendous hand and forearm tensile strength are his calling cards. Perhaps the greatest "hands" catcher or ball snatcher in this year's class, Clarington isn't going to lose many jumpballs regardless of the caliber of defender matched up against him. 

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Texas needs all sorts of help on offense after ranking 90th or worse in passing yards, rushing yards and scoring in 2014. If the Longhorns had any kind of production on that side of the ball, they would have won at least nine games because the defense finished 32nd with 23.8 points allowed per game. 

The Longhorns need to find playmakers capable of stretching the field and making plays in traffic. Clarington solves both problems with his size, hands and awareness. He's got to get better in the running game to be an every-down player, but right now Texas has to be very happy with its future at tight end. 

Stanley Norman, Athlete (4-Star Recruit Commits to Arizona State)

In three years as head coach at Arizona State, Todd Graham has transformed the Sun Devils from a borderline bowl team into one of the Pac-12's best programs. They have won 10 games each of the last two years and 28 since 2012. 

The only Pac-12 schools with more wins over the last three years are Oregon (36), Stanford (31) and UCLA (29). In order for Arizona State to keep pace with those schools, it has to get elite athletes. 

Stanley Norman is the jewel of Graham's 2015 recruiting class so far, via Doug Haller of AZCentral.com:

Norman has the ability to play cornerback in college but expects to line up on offense at wide receiver. He's 6'0" and 180 pounds with good speed, likely playing more in the slot, where he can catch short passes and create yards in space. 

When you play in the Pac-12, you have to play fast on offense and stop the pass on defense. The Sun Devils struggled down the stretch with two losses in the final three weeks of the regular season to because the defense allowed 77 total points to Oregon State and Arizona. 

Pass defense was average, at best, allowing 19 touchdowns and 261.8 yards per game, per Yahoo! Sports. Norman doesn't directly solve that issue, but he does give Graham versatility. The California native can start in the slot as a freshman and get acclimated to the system before possibly moving into a more versatile role later in his career. 

Norman does have a gigantic red flag, tearing his ACL during the high school season and being unable to play on Saturday, but his burst when healthy is electric and he's a tremendous athlete who should have no problems regaining that explosiveness in 2015. 

Note:  Recruiting information via 247Sports.com 

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