Early National Signing Day 2021: Predictions, Rankings for Top Football Recruits

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For many years, the most important college football recruiting week on the calendar was in February. Many top high school players waited until national signing day to announce their college decisions, and it was a huge event that featured a large number of them sending in their national letters of intent.

That's changed in recent years, though, due to the introduction of the early signing period. Rather than having to wait until February, recruits can send in their NLIs to finalize their decisions during a three-day window in mid-December. And this year's period will open on Wednesday, so a busy week is on the horizon.

While some recruits will still wait for the traditional signing day on Feb. 2, many will sign with programs on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. That includes several players who are still not committed to a school.

Here are some predictions for where several of the top uncommitted recruits will end up signing this week.

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Domani Jackson is the top uncommitted recruit who is expected to make his decision during the early signing period.

The 5-star cornerback from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., is the No. 7 overall recruit in the 2022 class, per the 247Sports composite rankings.

From Jan. 23 to Nov. 14, Jackson was committed to USC. But he decommitted as the Trojans were having a tough season, and he did that before Lincoln Riley was hired as the program's new head coach. Now that Riley is at the helm, Jackson is considering going to USC after all.

There are only two schools in the running for Jackson, with Alabama being the other. He is a former high school teammate of Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young, who won the Heisman Trophy at the weekend. The idea of teaming back up with him could be enticing to Jackson.

However, Jackson clearly was a fan of staying close to home by attending USC, considering his previous commitment. And now that Riley has taken over the program, the Trojans have a lot of recruiting momentum that could lead to a huge boost for their class.

Expect Jackson to be a part of that, as he should recommit to USC and make it official this week.

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Daylen Everette hasn't been on the list of uncommitted recruits for long. Last week, he opted to decommit from Clemson, which he had been previously been committed to since July 17.

Now, it seems likely the 5-star cornerback from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, won't end up playing for the Tigers, as it appears to be a two-team battle between Alabama and Georgia to land the defensive back, who is the No. 29 overall recruit in the class, per the 247Sports composite rankings. So he should be going to one of the top programs in the SEC.

This past weekend, Everette visited with the Crimson Tide, so they got a final opportunity to try to sway him to their program. However, the 247Sports Crystal Ball has the Bulldogs as the favorite to land him.

While Georgia may have an edge, Alabama can never be counted out on the recruiting trail. The prediction here is that the Tide will jump ahead late and get Everette to commit this week.

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Kamari Wilson announced last week that he would be choosing a school during the early signing period, and he'd be choosing from the group of Florida State, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M. However, another program has made a late push to land the 5-star safety out of IMG Academy.

Florida hosted Wilson for a visit this past weekend, and that led him to expand his list of finalists to include the Gators. And while they've put themselves back in the running, the player still wasn't sure what he's going to do when discussing his recruitment earlier this week.

"I don't even know yet," he said on Monday, per Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports. "Today and tomorrow just pray hard and make a little sheet with the good things and bad things about the schools again and finally choose one."

While Florida has made a push, don't expect Wilson to end up there. Instead, he'll commit to Georgia (the current 247Sports Crystal Ball leader), as the No. 28 overall recruit in the 2022 class (per the 247Sports Composite rankings) will give the Bulldogs another big defensive boost.