College Football Recruiting 2012: Leaders & Wildcards for Every 5-Star Recruit

We're only going to focus on the uncommitted five-star recruits and guess a leader and a wildcard team that could be in the running to land them.

I also want to caution you that the players on this list are players I think are five-star-caliber talents right now. That could change as we move forward through the recruiting cycle.

So, let's take a stab at a leader and a wildcard for these elite-level players.

16. Jordan Jenkins, DE

The leader right now for Jenkins is Alabama, with Florida just behind. The race is pretty much down to those two programs, but a wildcard would be Georgia or Auburn.

15. Josh Garnett, OL

I wouldn't call them leaders, but right now Nebraska, Miami and Michigan have to be feeling good since Garnett knows for sure he's visiting there.

The Wildcard, to me, in his recruitment is Washington. Garnett is from the state and has taken several unofficials there.

14. Landon Collins, DB

This is also a race down to two schools: Alabama and LSU. Collins has schools like Texas, Miami, Tennessee and Florida among those after him, but he's either going to be a Tiger or roll with the Tide.

13. Darius Hamilton, DE

Hamilton is looking at a group that has Rutgers seemingly in the lead over other schools like Alabama, Florida, Cal, Oregon and Tennessee.

Rutgers is the leader, but the rest of the six are also very interesting. Watch out for Florida, Alabama and Cal.

12. Kyle Murphy, OT

It seems like the prime schools for Murphy are Stanford, Oregon, Florida, Cal and USC. He has no leader, but those five are the main group.

11. Avery Young, OT

Georgia and Florida could the top two for Young, as that's what speculation holds. However, Miami, Alabama, Oklahoma, Auburn and Virginia Tech are in the mix. 

All are wildcards, but look out for the Bulldogs and Gators.

10. Shaq Thompson, DS

Thompson has Cal and Washington on equal footing as his leaders. I think he ends up at Cal, but the Huskies are holding their own. USC, UCLA and Notre Dame are the wildcards.

9. Rushel Shell, RB

It seems like, according to various rumors along with Scout.com, that Pitt is expected to win Shell's pledge this month. However, don't sleep on Alabama, as Nick Saban made a great impression on the RB prospect earlier this year.

8. Kwon Alexander, OLB

The top five for Alexander is Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, LSU and Oregon. He's from 'Bama, so watch out for the Tide and Tigers, but also watch out for Florida State.

7. Stefon Diggs, WR

Diggs recently told Scout.com that his first visit will be to Cal, which is a mild shock as the Bears haven't been mentioned much around him. He also will visit Florida for the FSU game on November 26th.

Other schools in the race include Auburn, Florida State, Miami, Alabama and Maryland among a few more.

6. Quay Evans, DT

Evans has said MSU was his leader, but that was in the spring. Alabama has also remained extremely high on his list and the Crimson Tide are on him hard.

USC, LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State are some wildcards to mention.

5. Noah Spence, DE

Spence has a top seven that is made up of Florida, Penn State, UNC, Maryland, NC State, USC and Notre Dame.

I don't think he has a leader, but earlier in the year it may have been UNC. Look out for NC State and Penn State. Also, he likes Florida a lot and a great trip to LA could surge USC up the ranks.

4. Eddie Goldman, DT

Goldman has cut his top 15 schools down to seven. Alabama, Cal, Auburn, Miami, Clemson, Maryland and Florida State are in the final cut. 

He had an amazing trip to Florida State, where even his dad was blown away. I'm not sure about a leader, but the wildcard in this is Cal.

3. Keith Marshall, RB

By the time he's done with recruiting, Marshall likely will have visited Georgia, Notre Dame, Florida and Virginia Tech.

I think Georgia is the leader, but the wilcards are Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. Then again, he's said to be an admirer of Charlie Weis.

2. Andrus Peat, OT

Nebraska is the leader for Peat, if you ask me. They probably will be the only school he makes an in-season visit to.

However, watch out for Notre Dame, as the Irish are on him very, very hard. Michigan also impressed during an unofficial.

This is a wide open race that will be a process.

1. Dorial Green-Beckham, WR

DGB has a ton of offers from all over the nation. The rumored teams with the inside track include Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss, Auburn and Arkansas.

He likely could release a final five list this month and it seems he doesn't want to stray too far from the southern portion of the Midwest.