National Signing Day 2017: Recruit Commitments, Comments and Twitter Reaction

College football fans remained glued to their televisions and computers Wednesday as many of the top high school players signed their national letters of intent.

For the most part, national signing day was a formality—players had already made up their minds. A few holdouts remained, however, leaving fans on the edges of their seats as they awaited the announcements.

Below are some of the top recruits who signed their national letters of intent Wednesday:

Player	Position	School	Overall Rank	Pos. Rank
Najee Harris	RB	Alabama	1	1
Foster Sarell	OT	Stanford	2	1
Walker Little	OT	Stanford	4	2
Davis Mills	QB	Stanford	6	1
Devon Hunter	S	Virginia Tech	7	1
Alex Leatherwood	OT	Alabama	9	3
Marvin Wilson	DT	Florida State	10	1
Aubrey Solomon	DT	Michigan	11	2
Chase Young	DE	Ohio State	12	2
Dylan Moses	ILB	Alabama	14	1
Wyatt Davis	OG	Ohio State	16	1
Anthony Hines	ILB	Texas A&M	19	2
A.J. Epenesa	DE	Iowa	21	4
Donovan Peoples-Jones	WR	Michigan	22	1
Devonta Smith	WR	Alabama	26	3
Austin Jackson	OT	USC	30	5
Tedarrell Slaton	OG	Florida	32	2
K'Lavon Chaisson	DE	LSU	33	5
Calvin Ashley	OT	Auburn	34	6
VanDarius Cowan	OLB	Alabama	35	2
Jay Tufele	DT	USC	36	3
D'Andre Swift	RB	Georgia	37	4
Tua Tagovailoa	QB	Alabama	38	4
Bubba Bolden	S	USC	39	3
Tee Higgins	WR	Clemson	40	4

The Alabama Crimson Tide have assembled the best class in the country, sitting first on Scout. The Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes and USC Trojans round out the top five.

There wasn't any drama to his decision, but Alabama fans were surely happy to see Najee Harris finally put pen to paper and join the Crimson Tide. Harris is the No. 1 recruit in the country, having posted astronomical numbers for Antioch High School in California.

In his final three years of high school, Harris ran for 7,783 yards and 93 touchdowns. He also averaged 9.7 yards per carry, according to MaxPreps.

Harris joins the top-ranked recruiting class in the country. Alabama signed three players in the top 14—Harris, offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood and inside linebacker Dylan Moses—as well as 5-star outside linebacker VanDarius Cowan and 4-star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Alabama made sure the new recruits will feel at home by taking out billboards for each player in Tuscaloosa:

Jarez Parks is the No. 7 defensive end and No. 68 player overall in the country. According to ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough, the Crimson Tide's 2017 class is full, so the school doesn't have a scholarship available for Parks, who had previously committed to Alabama.

Rather than committing to another school, Parks is considering grayshirting, per Scarborough, so he wouldn't even officially become a member of the team until the spring.

SB Nation's Matt Brown marveled at the depth of talent head coach Nick Saban attracted to Alabama:

"

Alabama is out here GRAYSHIRTING top 100 dudes and why is anybody else even trying today

— Matt Brown (@MattSBN) February 1, 2017"

The Crimson Tide did suffer one big disappointment Wednesday, though, when Aubrey Solomon signed with Michigan. The Big Ten Network shared a brief scouting report of Solomon and a clip from his announcement:

Solomon is the second-best defensive tackle and 11th-best player overall in the 2017 class. The Detroit News' Bob Wojnowski saw his decision as further validation of Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh's recruiting tactics:

Drew Hallett of SB Nation's Maize n Brew noted why Solomon was a big addition for Michigan:

The Wolverines also added a pair of wide receivers, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black, who should help offset the loss of Amara Darboh, Jake Butt and Jehu Chesson, the team's top three pass-catchers.

Few FBS teams have a more top-heavy class than Stanford, which secured signatures from the two best offensive linemen, Foster Sarell and Walker Little, in addition to Davis Mills, the No. 1 quarterback.

It's the second year in a row the Cardinal have nabbed one of the best passers in the country. K.J. Costello was No. 6 in 2016, and he'll provide stiff competition for Mills, who threw for 2,732 yards and 34 touchdowns in his senior year of high school, per MaxPreps.

Stanford could've headed for a free fall after Harbaugh left to coach the San Francisco 49ers in 2011. Instead, head coach David Shaw has had the Cardinal consistently among the Pac-12's best. The team has won at least 11 games in four of his six seasons.

The success Shaw enjoyed on the recruiting trail this year should ensure that trend continues.

Stanford will have plenty of competition from USC. Clay Helton's first full season in charge started off badly as the Trojans lost three of their first four games. Then they won their next nine games, culminating with a Rose Bowl victory over Penn State.

Helton couldn't have asked for a better national signing day, either. The Trojans added a pair of 5-star recruits, offensive tackle Austin Jackson and defensive tackle Jay Tufele.

Fox Sports 1's Colin Cowherd is looking forward to what Jackson and Tufele can do for USC:

Outside linebacker Levi Jones showed a flair for the dramatic Wednesday, so he should fit in at school in Los Angeles. The 4-star recruit took off his sweatshirt to reveal Florida and Florida State shirts before ultimately announcing he'd be signing with USC.

ESPNU shared a replay of his decision:

While he wasn't a blue-chip recruit, Kobe Buffalomeat, a 6'7" offensive lineman who signed with Illinois State, had social media buzzing:

As Comedy Central tweeted, Kobe Buffalomeat is a name straight out of a Key & Peele sketch:

The SEC Network's Peter Burns, Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer and Sports on Earth's Matt Brown all had fun with the newest Redbirds offensive lineman:

Buffalomeat's arrival in Normal, Illinois, ensures that a small section of college football fans will ardently follow Illinois State's exploits over the next few years.

No matter what Buffalomeat delivers in terms of on-field returns, the Redbirds walked away as big winners on national signing day.

Note: Recruit rankings and information are courtesy of Scout unless otherwise noted.