National Signing Day 2018: SMU

The 2018 recruiting class has finally come to a close. The good news for SMU fans is the class does have some nice gems in here that may be able to have an effect as soon as this season. The disappointing news is the fact that they could have done better. Not really to any fault of SMU or Sonny Dykes, but the early signing period absolutely impacted this class that could have been so much better.

In the statistical department, SMU proved that they underachieved in recruiting. The class ranked 8th in the AAC and was ranked 89th overall. The talent was not necessarily bad, but signing only 18 total players will hurt a class ranking. Across Texas G5 schools, SMU did alright though. Houston (73) and UTSA (85) beat out SMU. But SMU was able to out-recruit UNT, Rice, and Texas State, despite the coaching changes.

Best rated player:

Treveon Johnson, .8777, is a wide receiver from Brenham, Texas. His measurable attributes are going to make him a formidable receiver in this conference. He is 6-1, 180lbs, with blazing speed and athleticism galore. He runs a 4.3 40 yard dash and if his 35 inch vertical jump is true, he is blowing away most college athletes who are around a 30 inch vertical jump. It appears he can be used in multiple ways. He can be used as a traditional receiver or he can be used as an extension of the running game. Meaning, he likes jet sweeps and running out of the backfield, either as the wildcat or as a traditional running back. Thus, he seems to be like he is more of an athlete than a receiver. No matter the case though, Dykes will have plenty of fun watching Johnson fly around the field this Fall.

Most likely to start player:

I am a huge believer in the early enrollees getting a chance to start right away. Having that spring practice and spring game experience really does help in the long run. Here is a chance for athletes to put on, or take off, some weight and hone in on some skills in their games that could help them move up on the depth chart come the Fall. Thus, I believe that Levon Livingston, the JUCO transfer from Navarro College, will have the best chance of starting this fall. It is great to be an early enrollee and on top of that already have experience at the college football level. I wrote a piece about him when he and his three teammates decided to come to SMU together as early enrollees. If you want to see that, click here. The offensive lineman on this team are pretty young, so Livingston has a chance to come in and make an immediate impact.

Overall analysis of the class:

Overall, I give the class a C+ or B-. I am a little disappointed that Dykes could not really draw any real attention after the early signing period. I understand that the coaching change affected this recruiting class’ standing, but I cannot feel good about 8th in the AAC. This team is ready to compete for an AAC championship, and the best they could do was 8th? While I think there are some good pieces in here, much of this class is going to need some real time to develop. At the end of the day though, this team still has enough talent to win minus Courtland Sutton and Trey Quinn. But next year’s class is going to really determine how Dykes will impact the program this upcoming season.