So Signing Day has come and gone and teams hopes and dreams now have a face and names.
Signing Day in the FCS is a little different than in the FBS. You get a lot of kids that are not rated at all, and it is more about protecting your territory than getting the best from around the country.
Most experts (which I am not) think James Madison and Portland State cleaned up and won the Signing Day contests. That should make the Big Sky a little more competitive. But let us take a look at some of the other signing day classes that were interesting.
We ought to start with two time national champions North Dakota State, and their class, which I think was pretty impressive. They only signed two kids from ND, but some of the Minnesota players are really in NDSU's back yard too. Coach Bohl expects some to play right away, and that means they had a good class. They raided Wisconsin for 6 guys and got players from Sioux Falls, SD, which is in rival SDSU's back yard. In all probability Gee-Tucker will be one of those who plays right away. He is from the Metro St. Louis area, and chose the Bison from among 12 scholarship offers. Coach Bohl continued his work in Nebraska as well getting two more from that state including Linebacker Nick DeLuca from Omaha where some had him as the 4th best player in Nebraska. Nick may also get a shot to see time right away.
If you are judging about stealing talent right out from under your rivals nose, Appalachian State may have done the best. They signed 5 from South Carolina including one from Dorman High School in Spartanburg, literally in Wofford's house because Dorman plays in the same stadium sometimes. They also took two from York, which is not far either. They also stole 7 from Georgia which is sure to upset Georgia Southern fans. They did protect their own yard to some degree as well as Anthony Covington from Charlotte, NC signed. Rivals has him as a three star recruit.
However, it was not all great news. App State had been targeting Lincoln Stewart from Florida, who chose to go to Wofford College instead. They did get two running backs, who will forever be linked to replace the greatest running back in Wofford history, so no pressure there. It will be an interesting year to see if Wofford can keep pace in the Southern Conference.
Georgia Southern was even more interesting. They had a class of 23, and 7 of them are running backs. You read that right. Seven. Adding to the confusion they should be returning Dominique Swope, who is a back to back 1,000 yard rusher. Surely not all seven can red shirt, so it will be interesting to see which ones come in and contribute right away. It would appear that perhaps the quarterback of the future was signed as Alfred Ramsby from Cincinnati, who had 1,600 yards on the ground and in the air, signed with the Eagles.
Sam Houston State also tried to address some needs by signing 5 offensive linemen. This back to back title game team needs to replace a lot, and they protected their area as almost everyone was from Texas. Time will tell if they can remain a FCS powerhouse.
