Recruiting picture comes into focus, but there is more to do
From A to Z — Erin Austin to David Zavala — the New Mexico Lobos are closing in on their 2018 football recruiting class.
Two commitments announced Monday night, those of Naperville, Ill., kicker Stephen Ruiz and Frisco, Texas, safety Dylan Horton, brought the number of known UNM signings or scholarship commitments to 19 on Tuesday, the eve of the next signing period. The annual maximum is 25. The breakdown thus far: Signed athletes: 14. Non-binding commitments: 5. Players already enrolled for the spring semester: 8. Junior college players: 13. High school players: 6. Offensive linemen: 4. Wide receivers: 1. Quarterbacks: 2. This does not include Moorpark College QB Tanner Darling, whose status — scholarship athlete or walk-on — is unclear. Running backs: 2. Defensive linemen: 3. Linebackers: 1. Defensive backs: 4. Kickers: 1. Punters: 1. The emphasis on the junior colleges is no surprise and makes sense, given that the Lobos went 3-9 last year and need immediate help. A clear message has been sent to UNM’s returning offensive linemen, in that all four of the incoming O-linemen are junior college athletes.
The same might apply to the returning scholarship quarterbacks — sophomore and presumptive 2018 starter Tevaka Tuioti, senior Coltin Gerhart, sophomore Bryson Carroll. One would expect junior college QB Sheriron Jones, a “bounceback” from Tennessee and probably the most highly regarded player among the 19, to challenge for the starting job.
It would have helped Jones to be one of the spring-semester enrollees who will be able to participate in spring practice, but he is not among them.
Head coach Bob Davie and his staff, though, have always sought to improve depth and promote competition at quarterback. Last year, they went after two of the top-rated juco QBs in the 2017 class as well as Kansas graduate transfer Montell Cozart, who opted for Boise State.
A high priority, perhaps next to the offensive line, was the need to replace punter Corey Bojorquez and kicker Jason Sanders.
Though this might be a sad commentary on the 2017 season, the case can be made that Bojorquez (47.3 yards per punt, ranking fourth in the nation) was the team’s most valuable player.
Sanders wasn’t as accurate in 2017 as he’d been the year before, but he won the Tulsa game with a 53-yard field goal at the final gun and put 39 of 48 kickoffs into or through the end zone for touchbacks.
No season statistics were available for Ruiz, the kicker from Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville. News reports, though, reflect that twice last fall he kicked three field goals in a single game. His 50-yarder against Naperville North in October was a school record.
Tyson Dyer, a punter from Palomar College in San Marcos, Calif., averaged a modest 39.9 yards per attempt last fall. But the Australia native boomed one punt 70 yards and put 23 punts inside the opposition’s 20-yard line.
What will UNM do with the scholarships still to be awarded? Chances are, not all of the allowable 25 annual slots will be filled today — either by choice or because recruiting battles were lost.
It seems likely the Lobos are looking for another running back. Three 2017 seniors, Richard McQuarley, Daryl Chestnut and Romell Jordan, rushed for a combined 1,199 yards last fall.
Ahmari Davis, who rushed for 1,359 yards for Laney College in Oakland, Calif., and Wisconsin prep sprint champion Lawrence “L.O.” Johnson signed in December. The Lobos then got a commitment from Isaiah Floyd, who led all California junior college rushers — but lost him two days later to Arizona State.
Cagan Campbell, a 5-10, 170-pound cornerback from Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala., made an official visit to UNM last weekend. He’s believed to be deciding between New Mexico and Jacksonville (Ala.) State.