Top Schools for Each Uncommitted 2016 5-Star Defensive Recruit

Last week, 5-star defensive tackle Ed Oliver sent shock waves through the recruiting world by announcing his commitment to his hometown Houston Cougars. 

Oliver's pledge to Houston leaves only 13 high school defensive recruits with a 5-star rating from 247Sports' composite rankings without a commitment to a program.

From the nation's No. 1 overall player to a trio of stars from Alabama, these remaining players are the targets of fierce nationwide battles among college football's best.

This summer will be an extremely crucial time in the recruitments of each of these 13 stars. Important visits are scheduled for these upcoming months, and a few of them might join Oliver in selecting their schools before hitting the field this fall.

Here is a look at which schools are currently near the top of each uncommitted 5-star defensive player's lists and where the recruiting experts that make up 247Sports' Crystal Ball predictions expect to see them next season.

DE Marlon Davidson

Top Schools: Alabama, Auburn and Georgia

Crystal Ball Leader: Auburn (100 percent)

Auburn is the projected leader for one of the state of Alabama's three 5-star defensive players—talented defensive end Marlon Davidson, who is the younger brother of former Tiger defensive end Kenneth Carter.

While the vast majority of recruiting analysts think Davidson will follow in his title-winning brother's footsteps to the Plains, he says he is keeping his options wide-open. Alabama and Georgia are also major contenders for Davidson, along with Clemson and Florida State.

"Everybody thinks that [I'm going to Auburn]," Davidson told AL.com's Drew Champlin in February. "I'm looking to go anywhere in the country. If it's all the way in Washington D.C., I'll be ready to go."

S Brandon Jones

Top Schools: Texas A&M, Texas, Alabama, Baylor, LSU and Oregon

Crystal Ball Leader: Texas A&M (95 percent)

The battle for the nation's No. 1 defensive back looks like it will stay in the Lone Star State. Texas A&M, Texas and now Baylor are in the hunt for Jones, a native of Nacogdoches.

SEC recruiting powers Alabama and LSU have joined in the race for the speedy Jones, who has offers from 37 different schools. But the biggest shake-up in his recruitment came from the other side of the country, when Oregon offered the safety a scholarship in March.

"I really plan to dropping my top six soon so I can focus on those six schools and tell those other schools how much I appreciated the opportunity," Jones told 247Sports' Taylor Hamm last month. "I wanted to make it five, but I’m not going to lie, when Oregon offered they are a very high school on my list. It was hard to take one out of my list and replace them with Oregon so I just made it six for right now."

OLB Ben Davis

Top Schools: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and USC

Crystal Ball Leader: Alabama (100 percent)

Like Davidson, Davis is another Alabama 5-star prospect with a family tie to an in-state powerhouse. Davis' father, Wayne, is Alabama's all-time leader in career tackles. 

But Davis is also trying to keep his options open to a wide variety of schools. While his top-seven list includes a handful of SEC teams and USC, a recent visit to Florida State and offers from Michigan and Notre Dame make the race for Davis' signature one of the biggest in the country.

"It's a whole new ballgame right now," Davis told Bleacher Report's Tyler Donohue last month. "I'm ready to consider everybody that's interested in me. That top-seven list was how I felt at that point, but with all the offers coming in, I'm wide-open."

OLB Caleb Kelly

Top Schools: Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, TCU, UCLA and Washington

Crystal Ball Leader: Oklahoma (100 percent)

Oklahoma's pipeline to the Fresno, California, area has given the Sooners a commanding lead for Kelly in 247Sports' Crystal Ball predictions. While Oklahoma was just one of the schools in Kelly's unordered list, the relationships he already has with coaches and players in Norman made for a great head start. 

UCLA is the only in-state school on Kelly's list, and Bleacher Report's Damon Sayles said that bodes well for the Bruins. Oregon, the other West Coast powerhouse on the list, has recruited well in the state of the California these past few cycles.

The rest of Kelly's top schools read like a who's who of established recruiting powers—ones that you would expect to see going after one of the nation's best defenders. Of the remaining schools in the top 10, Kelly visited Michigan in March and is planning to visit Notre Dame next month.

DT Dexter Lawrence

Top Schools: 17 schools, including favorites Florida and Florida State

Crystal Ball Leader: Florida (65 percent)

When Lawrence says he is keeping everything open in his recruitment, he really means it. The Wake Forest, North Carolina, native told SB Nation's Bud Elliott earlier this month that he likes 17 schools and isn't leaning to any specific program.

Bleacher Report's Damon Sayles highlighted five schools to watch in Lawrence's recruitment after his performance at the Charlotte regional of Nike's The Opening: Florida, Florida State, Clemson, Georgia and North Carolina.

Lawrence also told Sayles he wanted to take visits to the rest of the schools on his list: North Carolina State, Alabama, Ohio State, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Stanford, Tennessee, USC and Auburn. Everyone seems to truly be a contender for this 6'5", 310-pound beast at defensive tackle.

DT Rashard Lawrence

Top Schools: Alabama and LSU

Crystal Ball Leader: LSU (100 percent)

Getting 5-star talent to leave the state of Louisiana is not easy, and that's why LSU has a commanding lead in the predictions for Lawrence.

LSU's biggest competition for Lawrence is Alabama, which has been able to snag several blue-chip stars from Louisiana during Nick Saban's tenure in Tuscaloosa. Lawrence made an unofficial visit to Alabama in April and followed it up with a trip to LSU earlier this month.

Lawrence's recruitment has all the makings of another head-to-head battle between the Crimson Tide and the Tigers. Whoever wins will get a highly athletic defensive tackle and one of the fastest-rising players in the class of 2016.

OLB Keion Joyner

Top Schools: Florida State, LSU, North Carolina, Auburn and Texas A&M

Crystal Ball Leader: LSU (79 percent)

In March, Joyner revealed his top-four list of the Seminoles, Tar Heels and both Tigers from the SEC West. But, last month, Joyner swapped Auburn for Texas A&M in a first-person blog he posted at USA Today.

"I don’t really know what my plan is as far as deciding, but, for now, I’m just focusing on getting better and taking visits," Joyner wrote. "I would have to say that the two coaches I talk to the most are Coach [Kevin] Steele at LSU and Coach [Brad] Lawing at Florida State. It’s important to me to have close relationships with the coaches that I could be coming to play for."

LSU is the projected leader at this point for Joyner, but the trio of Florida State, North Carolina and Texas A&M is said to be close behind in the battle for his commitment.

DT Julian Rochester

Top Schools: Georgia, Auburn, Clemson and Louisville

Crystal Ball Leader: Georgia (57 percent)

Rochester could be the next 5-star player on this list to make his commitment. The Georgia native put the in-state Bulldogs on the top of his list earlier this month, and he sounds close to making a decision.

"Maybe late May," Rochester told Dawgs247's Kipp Adams. "I have a good idea where I want to go. I have kind of seen enough on my visits to make a decision. More yes than no."

If Rochester makes a decision before the end of the month, Georgia seems like a lock at this point. If he doesn't, that would give more time for Auburn, Clemson and Louisville to try to take away some of Georgia's grip on another star defensive tackle from the Peach State.

OLB Lyndell Wilson

Top Schools: Alabama and Auburn

Crystal Ball Leader: Alabama (87 percent)

A former teammate of Marlon Davidson at Carver High in Montgomery, Wilson is currently the highest-rated recruit from the state of Alabama. The race for Wilson looks like another in-state battle between Alabama and Auburn, with the Crimson Tide currently in the driver's seat.

In the above video, Bleacher Report's Michael Felder calls Wilson the ideal linebacker for Will Muschamp's defensive system at Auburn and someone the Tigers must try to keep away from Alabama. He visited both campuses on back-to-back days in April.

If any school outside of Alabama has a chance to break into the race, it would most likely be Florida State. The Seminoles hosted Wilson during their Garnet and Gold game last month and is making progress with both Wilson and fellow in-state linebacker Ben Davis.

DE Nick Bosa

Top Schools: Ohio State, Florida and Florida State

Crystal Ball Leader: Ohio State (100 percent)

Ohio State is the overwhelming leader for Bosa, who is the younger brother of Joey Bosa, the Buckeyes' All-American defensive end. All 53 of his Crystal Ball predictions—one of the highest numbers of picks for a single player—at 247Sports have him heading to the defending national champions.

The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native told 247Sports' Ryan Bartow that he has narrowed his choices down to Ohio State and the top two schools from his home state, Florida and Florida State.

Despite a hard push from USC, college football fans will see the younger Bosa either follow his brother's footsteps or blaze a new trail closer to home.

DE Shavar Manuel

Top Schools: Florida State, Alabama and Florida

Crystal Ball Leader: Florida State (94 percent)

The No. 1 defensive end in the country named Florida State his leader last month, shortly after visiting the Seminoles for their annual spring game.

While coaches from Miami and Ohio State have visited Manuel at IMG Academy in Florida, the top two schools outside of Florida State in his recruitment are Alabama and Florida. Manuel visited Florida after his trip to Tallahassee and has a growing relationship with Gators assistant Chris Rumph.

As always, the Crimson Tide are never out of the question when it comes to a 5-star player from the South. But, as of right now, Manuel is leaning toward Florida State in a growing battle between the two Sunshine State rivals.

DT Derrick Brown

Top Schools: Georgia, Auburn, Alabama and Tennessee

Crystal Ball Leader: Georgia (100 percent)

Trent Thompson started a trend last year—one that looks like it could continue with Brown and Julian Rochester. Brown, another 5-star defensive tackle from Georgia, currently has the Bulldogs as his favorites, and all his Crystal Ball predictions have him going to Athens.

"I love the atmosphere there," Brown told Bleacher Report's Sanjay Kirpalani in March. "When I go there, it feels like home."

Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee are the top candidates to get Brown to leave the state of Georgia for his college career. Brown visited all three schools last month and is an expected visitor for Auburn this weekend, during the Tigers' signature "Big Cat Weekend" recruiting event. 

DT Rashan Gary

Top Schools: Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Rutgers and Virginia Tech

Crystal Ball Leader: Alabama (48 percent)

The top-rated player in the country continues to keep his options open, and his Crystal Ball predictions reflect that sense of mystery around where Gary will land.

Alabama leads with 48 percent, followed by Michigan at 32 percent, in-state Rutgers at 10 percent, and the trio of Clemson, Ohio State and Penn State all receiving one prediction for Gary's commitment. He told Bleacher Report's Tyler Donohue last month that a handful of additional SEC schools, including Georgia and Tennessee, have also grabbed his attention.

While the No. 1 recruiting school in the country looks to be the leader for the No. 1 player in the country, Gary's recruitment seems to be anyone's ballgame as we enter the summer months.

Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Justin Ferguson is an on-call college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.