Don’t panic yet over CSU’s ugly recruiting rankings for Class of 2022, experts advise

When the new 247Sports.com football recruiting rankings for the Class of 2022 came out this past Wednesday, it was easy to spot the usual suspects. Georgia? No. 1. Alabama? No. 2. Ohio State? No. 4. Oregon?

No. 7.

Finding the CSU Rams? That … took a little more work.

With eight weeks until the early signing period begins on Dec. 15, the Rams checked in at No. 117 on 247’s national rankings, with eight commitments. That nestled them between New Mexico at No. 116 and Eastern Michigan at No. 118.

If that ranking held, it would be the lowest for an incoming Rams class since 2015, which landed at No. 119 nationally and 10th in the Mountain

West.

Still, Brandon Huffman, national recruiting editor for the site, wants to share two words with CSU faithful before blood pressures start climbing:

Don’t. Panic.

“I think the Mountain West as a whole has had a sharp decline in commitments,” Huffman said. “With the exception of Air Force, and two schools that have new coaches (Boise State and Utah State), only (four) other schools have more commitments than Colorado State. I think, like much of the Mountain West, (the Rams) have to wait for ‘their tier’ to start to become more clear.”

For one, Huffman said, he expects the 3-stars-orfewer prospects who typically make up the bulk of Group of 5 classes to wait longer before making their collegiate decisions. For another, more FBS coaches are leaving scholarship slots free for experienced players to sign via the transfer portal.

Of the 22 players who started for CSU (3-4, 2-1 Mountain West) at Utah State this past Friday night, seven were transfers — and five of those transfers were on the offensive side of the ball.

“Unless you’re a top-tier program, you’re probably not signing big classes anymore,” noted Blair Angulo, 247Sports’ West Coast recruiting analyst. “(It’s a) safer bet to take a college-ready transfer than a low-to-mid-3-star (prospect) that will need a couple years of development.

“Unless you’re rooting for a big Power 5 program, you probably won’t see many commitments until closer to the early signing period … schools are waiting to see how rosters will shake out and coaches are strategically leaving some spots open for additions via the transfer portal. Recruits, meanwhile, are also being a bit methodical in their approach, especially within that pool of players that CSU is in on.”

The Rams headed into the weekend ranked No. 11 out of 12 MW schools in 247Sports’ composite ranking. According to the 247Sports.com database, CSU’s last commit was July 6, via a verbal pledge from John Locke, a

6-foot-4 tight end out of Helotes, Texas.

“No school had more buzz in the Mountain

West going into this year than San Jose State, coming off the MW title in 2020, and they have fewer commitments than CSU,” Huffman said. “So I think much of it is based on the screwy evaluation period and still after-effects of COVID.”

After an 0-2 start to the season, the Rams won three of their next five and lost narrowly against the Aggies Friday, 26-24.

“Reaching a bowl game would be a great step for the (CSU) staff and signal a positive trajectory to recruits,” Angulo said. “Last year, CSU and other new staffs didn’t have the opportunity to recruit inperson, so it’s taken some time to establish connections with some of these recruits outside of the virtual, video meeting that became prevalent.”

In other words, don’t panic. Yet.