College Football Recruiting 2012: The Top Recruit at Every Position

With the 2012 recruiting cycle slowly starting to move forward, we are approaching the thick of the spring evaluation period. This is a crucial period in the process to see prospects at camps, combines and workouts to get a sense of their athletic ability, speed, quickness, agility and movement skills.

A lot of fluidity will occur on boards between now and the end of the period and we will have much more information on the class.

Before that, we want to give you a quick rundown of the top recruit in the class at each position. Again, I must emphasis, there will be movement up and down the board as we go forward, so sit tight.

Here we go.

CB: Travis Blanks

I have Blanks as the top cornerback in the country right now, but there are a slew of others right behind him. Blanks edges them out because of the combination of size, athletic ability and the physicality he plays with on the edge.

As good a cornerback prospect as Blanks is, some see him as an even better safety; it's just that having a 6'1", 180 pound corner is more in demand than those measurables at safety. Blanks is strong in press-man at the line, re-routes well and has a good feel in trail technique. He's fast enough to recover and has good ball skills to make plays like a receiver.

He has been welcomed to the entire SEC, including Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

DS: Shaq Thompson

Thompson opens the year as the top safety prospect, and, topping 1800 yards and 20 scores as a junior, the Golden Stater could also be an elite running back prospect, too.

He's 6'1", 185 pounds, with a frame that will easily tack on some girth in college, maybe even before he leaves high school. Thompson is a super athlete with great instincts and transition quickness. He's tough in the box to play the run, and can also play some corner in a pinch. In fact, do not be shocked if he ends up as a boundary corner in college.

He has offers from USC, Cal, UCLA, UNLV and Tennessee, among others.

OLB: Kwon Alexander

Alexander is a 6'2", 210-pound instinctive second-level defender who looks to be a great outside linebacker in college.

Timed in the high 4.4 range in the 40, Alexander is outstanding in pursuit. He uses great instincts, vision and speed to play the run, and also has good athletic ability to drop off in coverage. I think Alexander could even play the SAM spot in a 4-3 if he's asked to carry tight ends around the field.

He has offers to Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Auburn, UCLA, LSU, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Oregon and Clemson, among many others.

MLB: Derek David

David is a big inside/middle linebacker type who already stands at 6'2", 225 pounds. He plays with great force and instincts and is a monster against the run.

He can line up a defense from the MIKE spot, cover tight ends and back out the backfield and blitz, all in one series. He's been productive in his career, topping 100 stops on the season multiple times, and has a frame that could grow into the 245-250 pound range before he leaves college.

He's headed to Texas Tech.

DE: Mario Edwards

Edwards takes the top spot for now over Noah Spence. Spence could just as easily be here, but Edwards is bigger and a bit stronger at this point.

At 6'4", 275 pounds, Edwards has the frame, size, length, strength and athleticism to grow into a great strong-side 4-3 defensive end. He's quick off the ball at the snap, jumps on top of blockers and bends around to crash down off the edges. Edwards flashes the strength and explosion in his take-ons to anchor against the run and shed blocks.

He likely will come down to Texas and Florida State.

DT: Eddie Goldman

This was a no-brainer. Goldman is just a special, special player, and someone I like a bit more than Shariff Floyd and Dominique Easley.

At 6'5", 310 pounds, Goldman flies off the ball violently and forcefully. He's explosive at the point of attack, has the strength to toss blockers aside and makes a mess in the middle. He's a fighter to pressure in the pass game and will get after your passer in big time situations. Goldman also flashes short area range to chase ball carriers in pursuit.

Any and every school you can think of has offered.

OT: Andrus Peat

Peat and John Theus will be neck and neck all year long, but Peat starts off on top on the board. At 6'7", 280 pounds, he has the classic left tackle look and frame.

I liken him to Jordan Gross of the Carolina Panthers, as he's a natural knee bender, rarely bending at the waist. Peat is a technician who knows how to mix his sets up, short and long, and looks to routinely strike in the body with his hands in his punch. He rarely loses patience and overextends, and can wash speed out the pocket with ease.

Peat also has some finish ability as a drive blocker in the run game and can factor on the second level.

He's a national recruit with offers from just about everybody who's a somebody in college football.

OG: Jordan Simmons

Simmons can actually play tackle, but I have him as a guard in college.

At 6'5", 330 pounds, he has a huge frame and a ton of girth. Talent evaluators like myself always like their interior linemen to be big with wide base, and Simmons has that and more.

He's very strong to handle power in the middle and when he plays tackle, and he can slide and mirror with the speed of a player half his size. He drives his feet and legs to push targets away and clear space for his running backs.

While Simmons is a national level recruit, with offers from all the powers around the nation, it could come down to USC vs. UCLA.

TE: Taylor McNamara

McNamara opens the year with the top spot in the tight end category. He's a 6'5", 235-pound pass-catching threat who has the potential to kill a defense in the intermediate passing game.

He's light and quick enough to to be used flexed-out on the perimeter and in the slot. He can command a nickel back position, as he gets easy separation against linebackers. McNamara works on his footwork as an in-line run blocker and could even see some time as a fullback or h-back type as well.

Florida State, USC, Michigan, Miami, UCLA, Ohio State, Stanford and Kentucky have all offered.

WR: Dorial Green-Beckham

At 6'6", 220 pounds and 4.43 speed, with 78 receptions, 1700 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns, Green-Beckham has the size and productivity to stand out as the top receiver in the country. He could be the No. 1 overall recruit nationwide.

As a cross between Plaxico Burress and Calvin Johnson, there's pretty much nothing Green-Beckham can't do on the field. He's quick to gain separation out of his breaks, has speed to blow by deep and is strong enough to fight defenders for balls over the middle. He's a must see to watch play.

If you know a school who hasn't offered Green-Beckham or isn't at least interested in him, they'll be the first.

RB: Johnathan Gray

Gray has been uber-productive in his high school career and is already an all-time Texas prep ranks great. He topped 3,000 yards last year and has gained over 6,000 yards in the past two seasons. Toss in a couple, or should I say, 109 scores over the past two seasons and it's downright silly.

At 5'11", 195 pounds, he has tremendous run instincts, vision and natural ability to play the rock toter spot. He sees things before they happen, knows when to attack downhill and when to be patient. Gray has great agility and quickness to make you miss, and the strength to blow you up for even daring to tackle him.

He can get to the edges in a flash, turn the corner, square his shoulder and scoot past a defense with ease.

Texas, Auburn, TCU, Baylor, Arkansas, Colorado, Texas A&M and Texas Tech are all in the hunt.

QB: Jameis Winston

I like Winston to start the board off as the top QB prospect and the 6'4", 200-pounder lacks neither talent nor skills. Winston tossed for over 2,300 yards last year and can also beat a defense with his legs.

He's an athletic signal caller who has very good arm strength to attack all three levels of a defense and fit balls into tight windows. Winston has good mobility and pocket awareness, can escape the rush and is the kind of signal caller that commands a spy defender on almost every snap.

He holds offers from just about all of the SEC, Miami, Stanford, Florida State, Notre Dame, Clemson, Stanford and Ohio State, among many others.