UCF

The Knights made a ton of big strides during the 2017 recruiting season as they locked up local prospects like Antwan Collier and Bentavious Thompson, Collier a three-star defensive back and Thompson is a three-star running back both from Miami, as well as IMG receiver Emmanuel Greene. Those additions to the UCF team will be great but it’s clear that their biggest acquisition came from out of state.

Cordarrian Richardson is a four-star running back (the only four-star in UCF’s class) that will dominate the AAC for years to come. The Memphis product held offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan and Penn State, yet ended up with the Knights. He has an excellent frame at 5-foot-11 and 222-pounds, he possess balance and power when he runs and he will be the bell-cow for this UCF team for years to come.

Memphis

30 total commits found their way to the Memphis, Tennessee in 2017 and because of that the Tigers have a lot of new toys to play with. The always explosive offense added key future contributors like four-star tight end Nick Robinson, who held multiple power five offers, as well as four-star offensive tackle Obinna Eze. Eze is an extremely talented lineman who can handle playing the left tackle spot and can compete for playing time from day one.

The Tigers stocked up in this class, 10 out of the 30 signed players are either offensive or defensive linemen, and when they did try and add talent at the skill positions they went big with athletes like 6-foot-4 and 238-pound Tyce Daniel who can play receiver, and the other receiver in this class, 6-foot-4 Coye Fairman.

The Tigers did well in 2017 with their recruiting and because of it, they now have a ton of skilled depth in their roster.

Cincinnati

The Bearcats made out with a sneaky good group of players in the 2017 recruiting class. Cincinnati received signatures from 22 players, 11 of which were rated as a three-star level prospect, but more importantly they expanded the reach of their recruiting grasp.

Cincinnati brought in recruits from Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, Mississippi, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Georgia. That kind of reputation that the Bearcats are building with so many different schools from different states is something that SMU has to emulate if they are going to continue to bring in talent.

As for the actual players, most of them are skilled enough at their own positions that they will compete for playing time but the key name to keep and eye on is R.J. Potts. Potts is a 6-foot-3 and 195-pound beast of a cornerback who has dominated varsity high school receivers for years. He is aggressive, can run and from a sheer size standpoint, he can match up with any receiver in the AAC.

East Carolina

24 total commits with no five-stars, no four-stars and only five three-star recruits. The East Carolina Pirates weren’t able to earn the trust of prospects and it showed on signing day as many players went with other programs.

The Pirates’ signature signees of the 2017 class include Davondre Robinson, a three-star cornerback from South Carolina, Bruce Bivens, an undersized linebacker from Houston, and and Tyree Owens, a 280-pound defensive end.

Two more notable recruits include Ben Norris and Cannon Gibbs. Both prospects are three-star linebackers, both weigh-in between 215 and 220-pounds and both have a knack for stopping the run without giving up passing lanes to quarterbacks.

Houston

The departure of the always endearing Tom “I can’t seem to stop kissing my players” Herman to Texas certainly took it’s tole on the school over in Houston. The recruiting class of 2017 features only one true difference maker for the Cougars, 6-foot-5 and 240-pound defensive end Bryan Jones.

The Baton Rouge product decided on Houston very late in the recruiting process, he didn’t announce until the end of January, but there is no denying the impact he will have on this team when paired with Ed Oliver on the line. Jones is a strength of the field kind of player who can attack the running game head on without giving up speed. He does play a little high but by the time the Mustangs have to deal with him, Morris had better have a good gameplan together.

Other than Jones, the Cougars boast a couple of former SMU targets including Devodric Bynum and Noah Jones, but the last key addition for them would be three-star Pearland linebacker Derek Parish. It’s obvious that Houston will have to retool the defense if they want to stay competitive in the AAC and this class is looking to do just that.

South Florida

There will be 18 new players for the Bulls out of the 2017 class with plenty of talent sprinkled throughout the group. USF boasts nine three-star recruits, all of them come from within the state of Florida, and the talent that they have is nicely spread throughout the roster.

Of the three-star recruits on offense the Bulls brought in 6-foot-3 and 280-pound Demetris Harris and 6-foot-4 and 298-pound Jean Marcellus to play the tackle spots as well as wide receivers Kevaughn Dingle and Randall St. Felix to play on the outside.

On defense the additions of defensive ends Darrien Grant and Jabreel Stephens, Naytron Culpepper at cornerback and Keirston Johnson at linebacker shows that the Bulls are looking to retool the foundation of their defense.

Tulsa

With a strong foothold in the Oklahoma recruiting scene, it’s no wonder that Tulsa was yet again able to bring in talent from the Sooner state. Marcus Mays, one of the 22 new players for Tulsa, is a three-star cornerback who posses excellent size at 6-foot-2 but will need to get in the weight room as the incoming freshman tips the scales at just 169-pounds.

Tulsa also recruited Garrett Flavory from right in their backyard, the defensive tackle stands at 6-foot-3, weighs 273-pounds and is a great solution to any sort of interior run problem that a team might be having.

Other names of the 2017 class include Texas prospects like Malik Jackson, Dante Bivens, Daiquain Jackson and Keylon Stokes.

Navy

30 total incoming players. 30! Navy possess the largest recruiting class in the AAC yet that doesn’t mean that they brought in the most talent.

There are very skilled position players that the Midshipmen worked hard to bring to Annapolis like three-star athlete Gary Theard (who is a true threat from anywhere on the field) and three-star wide receiver Mychal Cooper and his 6-foot-5 and 195-pound frame. Navy also has players like 230-pound Diego Fagot, 220-pound Blake Holley and 223-pound Mitchell Johns to play the linebacker spots.

Navy will always have players to fill the roles that are available for their very specific team dynamic and this class was no different.

SMU

The Mustangs’ 2017 recruiting class addressed some of the needs that the team was desperate for.

The offensive line was bulked up with the additions of Matthew Huhn, Alan Ali and Hayden Howerton, and the secondary gained more depth with players like Delano Robinson and Justin Guy-Robinson. SMU was even able to add weapons on offense with the electric running style of Kayce Medlock as well as another option at quarterback in transfer D.J. Gillins.

Morris secured another solid group and has some players in this class that can contribute in 2017, not much more you can ask for.

Tulane

Defensive end Cameron Sample (game-wrecking talent), wide receiver Khalil McClain (6-foot-3 and 210-pounds) and linebacker Michael Scott (220-pound run stopping machine). Those are the important names when it comes to the 2017 recruiting class of the Tulane Green Wave.

The rest of the class is made up of of filler players, a bunch of two-star level talent that if properly developed can pay dividends on the field, but could also lead to a lot of obvious mismatches in skill level on gamedays.

Tulane won’t use this class as the bedrock of their rebuilding program, but it is a start.

Connecticut

Another year of football brings along with it another year of sub-standard recruiting for the Connecticut Huskies. In the class of 2017 the Huskies signed 19 new players, five of which surprisingly rank as three-star recruits, yet there is little excitement surrounding any of them.

The Huskies did get a nice quarterback prospect in David Pindell from Scranton, PA, he stands at only 6-foot-2 but has a good enough arm for the Huskie passing attack and has excellent mobility. They also locked down a pair of shutdown corners in three-stars Ian Swenson and Brayden Brown. Both secondary players have elite speed and will help to slow down opposing passing attacks.

Temple

Yikes!

After a fantastic 2016 class that ranked No. 60 in the country and featured four-star players like Karamo Dioubate and three-star defensive tackle Greg Webb, the Temple Owls 2017 class barley contains the potential talent that the program was bringing in just a year ago and they now have one of the worst groups in the conference.

One of the only players that could have a monumental impact on the game would be West Palm Beach quarterback Todd Centeio, a three-star prospect who is mobile in the pocket and has a talented arm. Beside Centeio, Malik Burns is a component linebacker who can play the run and cover sideline to sideline, the Owls also brought in seven recruits from the state of Pennsylvania including two-star athlete Emil Moody form Philadelphia and two-star cornerback Jeremy Jennings from Downington, PA.