College Football Recruiting 2012: The Super 7 Elite Un-Committed Recruits

As the 2012 recruiting year moves along from its opening month of February, we are now close to getting the spring evaluation period underway. This is a crucial period where coaches can visit recruits on their high school campuses and evaluate them in person, aside from just making phone calls.

The spring evaluation period also mark the start of the camp and combine circuit, giving guys like me a chance to see players perform and compete, verifying what we have all seen on tape and film. As this period rolls along, we will see more rankings, lists and firmer determinations from evaluators.

Now, for this list, we have the Super Seven Elite recruits, who are not committed at this point, as a couple elite players have already pledged to their favorite programs.

7. Travis Blanks, DB

Blanks opens up as the top defensive back in the country for 2012. He is extremely versatile, with the potential to play big corner, free safety and strong safety. He posted 104 tackles and four picks last year as a junior.

6'1", 185 pounds, Blanks is a 4.4 guy, with excellent physicality for a back end defender. He's long and strong to press at the line, can turn and run with ease and has a quick break on receivers and balls in flight.

He supports the run well, and even flashes potential to be used in the manner Charles Woodson; in any given series he could line up on the boundary, field side, as a safety and inside as a nickel back.

Blanks holds offers from all of the FBS powers including USC, Alabama, Miami, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Florida, among a host of others.

6. Mario Edwards, DE

Edwards has the top defensive end spot over Noah Spence for now, but I will look to see how Spence fares in the one on ones at some top camps across the country this summer. But Edwards is a 6'4" end who weighs around 260-270 pounds already, but has great athleticism for a big edge rusher.

He flashes the ability to bend and dip off the edge to slip under big tackles, and he has the strength to convert speed and power against lighter blockers. Edwards has solid range and play speed to chase ball carriers down from the backside, and will become a solid strong side end in college.

His top two right now are Florida State and Texas.

5. Andrus Peat, OT

Peat has the top spot among offensive linemen in the 2012 crop, and not just because he's the top prospect at the most important line position of left tackle. 6'7", 280 pounds, he is solid technician and plays the left island spot with great patience and technique. Peat understands how to mix up his sets and plays very well balanced.

He rarely overextends, panics or waist-bends, and his punch has some solid shock at the point. He's on the same level as current USC left tackle Matt Kalil was coming out of high school. Peat has good feet to slide, mirror, adjust and can recover well to counter inside moves.

He has nearly 30 offers at the moment and has not really given a list of favorites nor mentioned narrowing his choices down to date.

4. Kwon Alexander, OLB

The top outside linebacker prospect in the country at the moment, Alexander is a 6'2", 210 pound defensive play maker. He can play both flanks on the second level in a 4-3 scheme of SAM and MIKE, as he is an excellent athlete and has fantastic speed and range.

You can leave Alexander at WILL and let him chase and track running back down all night, as he can run like a deer. He beats linemen and fullbacks trying to meet and beat him on the second level with speed and angles, thus rarely gets stuck in traffic versus the run. Or you put Alexander at the SAM spot, let him jam tight ends and carry them around the field against the pass. He is a defensive weapon.

He has offers from the just about the entire SEC and every national recruiting school in college football.

3. John Gray, RB

What else can you say about Gray. I feel bad myself for even having him this low at No.3 overall, as I likely will move him up on my board in the coming weeks. He's the best and most complete back in the country, hands down. 5'11", 195 pounds with 4.4 speed, he just has an uncanny natural feel for the game as a runner.

He may be the most productive rock toter in Texas high school history and even U.S. prep football history. He has over 6,000 yards and 109 touchdowns, in just the past two seasons. Gray has Marshall Faulk like vision, feel and instincts, as he knows the assignments of all of his offensive linemen and reads a defensive front seven like a quarterback. He knows where holes will be and has great speed and quickness.

He's dangerous in the open field and flashes great run strength and tackle breaking ability. He's down to Texas, TCU & A&M.

2. Eddie Goldman, DT

6'4", 305 pounds, Goldman is the top defensive line recruit and second ranked player overall on my board for the moment. He's a special talent that has potential to be a complete interior defensive lineman. He jumps on top of guards and centers with ease at the snap, and after that its over.

Goldman understands how to play with leverage, which allows him to convert his quickness into power and strength, which shocks blockers when Goldman strikes inside their body. He's strong on his feet and is quick feel and anchor versus double teams, which allows him to make a mess inside against the run.

Goldman can walk your interior double team back into the passer as a rusher, and burst to finish on QBs. Pretty much the whole country has offered Goldman, and he will be able to pick where he plays college ball.

1. Dorial Beckham-Green, WR

The son of a coach, who happens to be his current high school head coach, Beckham Green is the top player in the country. A 6'6", 220 pound receiver with 4.43 speed, he's a physical freak and Calvin Johnson-like force on the perimeter.

Most tall receivers have problems coming out of their breaks because of their height (if you watch film on Randy Moss you'll see even he has this problem at times), but I haven't seen Beckham-Green get sticky in his cuts on tape yet. He has a sense to drop his hips and explode out of breaks, which gives him great separation quickness. His long arms allow him to snatch balls out of the air on high point throws.

He opens the year as the top player, and has offers from anybody you can name, including Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Miami, Oklahoma and Alabama.