College Football Recruiting 2012: The Top Potential No. 1 Overall Recruits

The title of being the No. 1 overall recruit has been called a gift and a curse over the past decade or so. Some players excel with the notion, while others falter under pressure. What's interesting about college football recruiting is that it doesn't seem like a quarterback has to be the No. 1 overall recruit every year like they do with the No. 1 overall pick.

Past top recruits include Adrian Peterson, Vince Young, Jadeveon Clowney, Jimmy Clausen, Terrelle Pryor and Ernie Sims. Clowney said that when he learned that he had been ranked No. 1 by just about every publication in the country, the title made him work that much harder. Although the 2012 crop is still young, I have several players who are already elite and are serious contenders for the No. 1 spot right now.

Cue the Ludacris song, "Number One Spot" while you read this. It's only fitting.

Noah Spence, DE

Spence is 6'4", 245 pounds, and already has my title of the best pure pass rusher in his class. Darius Hamilton is on his heels, but as of right now, if I needed a sack, I'm banking on Spence.

Among the most athletically gifted players in the country, Spence has amazing potential, yet he's already a very good player right now. He has great quickness off the ball, nimble feet, a burst to his movement, length to stay clean form blocks, flexibility and finishes well in the pocket.

He reacts well to the run and flashes some strength to anchor and shed. Spence will chase the ball all over the field and do what it takes to win.

He has offers from all of the major programs and is a prime time candidate for No. 1 overall recruit honors.

Mario Edwards, DE

Edwards is a notch above Spence in my rankings only due to the fact that for my board, when I have two players I love equally, I have to split hairs. With Spence and Edwards, Edwards is a bit bigger and could play end and tackle in college. Also right now, he shows only just a hair more of potential to develop into a complete end.

Again, it's splitting hairs and they're both 1 and 1A. At 6'4", 275 pounds, Edwards is as big as a tackle but as athletic as a linebacker. His athletic ability and movement skills are top notch at his size, and he has a great burst off the ball. Edwards also has long arms and can shed blocks.

In college, I expect him to be able to play the strongside end role and kick inside to tackle and rush from the middle in sub packages.

He's headed to Florida State.

Eddie Goldman, DT

As you can see, the 2012 recruiting class has some stellar defensive lineman recruits. Spence and Edwards are the two top-notch ends, and Goldman is the best interior defensive line presence in the nation.

At 6'4" and nearly 310 pounds, Goldman has the skill set, athleticism and size to play various positions on the defensive front. He can play the zero-technique/nose tackle spot or defensive end spot in a 3-4 defense, or he can play either the one-technique or three-technique/under tackle position in a 4-3 defense.

Word right now has it that Goldman feels his best position is indeed a 4-3 defensive tackle, but some 3-4 defense schools are trying to convince him that he can be a Vince Wilfork-type of nose tackle.

Wide open at the moment, Goldman has a slew of offers and will take several unofficial visits to some big-name schools this spring.

John Gray, RB

Gray is the best running back in the country. Keith Marshall and Rushel Shel are also 5-star caliber recruits, but the best back to me is Gray. The numbers don't lie. In just the past two seasons alone, Gray has rushed for over 6,000 yards and 109 scores. That's a average season of 3,000 yards and 54.5 touchdowns. There's nothing average about that at all.

At 5'11", 195 pounds, Gray has it all. On tape, it's easy to see that Gray understands how to read front seven alignments, knows his linemen's assignments and has a great feel for the game. He knows when to attack downhill and when to be patient and has great explosiveness. Supreme vision, breakaway speed, run strength and lateral quickness are all also in his makeup.

He's down to Texas, TCU and Texas A&M as his main three schools.

Dorial Green-Beckham, WR

I think Green-Beckham stays as the No. 1 overall recruit wire to wire. Right now he's No. 1 on my board, and I really like the prior players I covered and many others I've seen on tape. However, "DGB" is the top recruit.

At 6'6" and 220 pounds, he has 4.43 speed and really looks like he'll be an impact player in college. Like Calvin Johnson, Andre Johnson and Plaxico Burress, Green-Beckham has a large strike zone, great catch in crowd ability, separation quickness and is very good as a RAC player.

I would like to see him get off the line a bit quicker, but that mainly may be a technique flaw in his steps as he clearly has the athletic ability and quickness to fire out.

Green-Beckham is the best 2012 player in the country right now, but look for him to try and fend off Gray, Goldman, Edwards and Spence, among many others, to stay on top of everyone's board.