Jamaree Salyer has reshuffled his recruiting options.
The nation’s No. 1 OG prospect for 2018 used the first month of the season as a guideline to shape the remainder of his recruiting process. Salyer told DawgNation on Thursday afternoon that:
- Clemson and Georgia are out in front as a Top 2, but he hasn’t cut down his choice to just those programs.
- Notre Dame and Stanford are no longer in the mix for official visits.
- Ohio State is still in it. It is seen as a “safety net” school for the 5-star beyond Clemson and Georgia. He still plans to take an official visit to Columbus for the Penn State game.
- Florida will now get an official visit.
That’s quite a re-mix for the nation’s top-rated offensive line prospect for this cycle.
The 6-foot-4, 340-pounder from Pace Academy in Atlanta is the highest-rated interior line prospect on the 247SportsComposite since former Alabama great Andre Smith in 2006.
Clemson and Georgia are currently the teams to beat here.
“I kind of have two that have pushed past the others on the list in Georgia and Clemson,” Salyer said. “I’m still considering Ohio State as a safety net just in case something tragic goes on with both schools but I really highly doubt that given how those two (teams) are playing right now.”
“It is really just those two. I felt like I didn’t want to just really drag the whole recruiting thing along and didn’t want to make coaches feel like they had a chance when they did not. I just kind of dropped to my two and will let it play out from there.”
Why Florida is now in it for Jamaree Salyer
He plans to take that official visit to Florida on Oct. 7 for the LSU game. The nation’s No. 8 overall prospect for 2018 sounds like he just wants to see what the Gators are all about.
“Just to kill all doubts in my mind there,” Salyer said. “To go and visit and make sure that I didn’t have a school where I said ‘Dang, what if I had looked there first.’ So I will take that official. I will make a decision after I come back from there. If I didn’t like it, then I will just tell the coaches about it. If I did, then I will just add them to my list.”
He will be able to “make sure” how he feels about Ohio State with that visit.
“I will go up for the Penn State game to make sure,” Salyer said. “Some of these official visits are to make sure this school or that school will not be the right school for me if I am saying that correctly. But for Georgia and Clemson, (those visits) will be to help me and my family decide which one I want to be a part of.”
The 5-star standout has already seen UGA play two times this season. The Bulldogs have done everything they can to impress Salyer so far this year.
“Georgia has been playing some really good football,” Salyer said. “The defense is playing like freaking Alabama almost. The offense is also looking like it is gelling pretty well without (Jacob) Eason and with (Jake) Fromm. I’m excited to how they fare in the East and if they can make it to the SEC Championship and go even further beyond that. I am excited to see the potential that this team has.”
Salyer is comfortable with Georgia. He’s visited there many times and has two former high school teammates on that roster. But he had a checklist of a few things that he needed to see that would show the program was moving forward in the second year under head coach Kirby Smart.
“They are doing a good job of winning big games,” Salyer said. “That was my big critique about them coming into the season and overall. They haven’t been able to win the big games in recent history. Beating a highly-touted Mississippi State team at home was really good. But they have a lot of good road tests on the way. They obviously play Tennessee. I’m looking forward to seeing them just beat more big teams and hopefully come out as the big team in the SEC East.”
“If they can play their cards correctly, maybe they can even notch the SEC Championship.”
Jamaree Salyer’s heartfelt tribute to his late grandfather
Salyer was set to take an official visit to Notre Dame this year for the Georgia game. He was unable to make that trip after his grandfather passed away.
That gentleman meant quite a lot to Salyer and his family. He even shared an impressive tribute to him on his Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZFB4fsHQIj/?taken-by=noluvmaree