College Football Weekly news bites: Offseason edition, Vol. 1

Most of the offseason is spent in idle speculation as we twiddle our thumbs and wait for college football to start up again. Here is a plethora of fun stuff that I found across the web for you.

ESPN released their recruiting latest recruiting rankings. Alabama is still number one. No surprises there. What is surprising is that Clemson didn’t crack the top ten; they round out the list at 11. The rest of the top ten have shifted a bit. Florida State nabbed a top-five spot, as did Ohio State, Georgia, and Michigan. You can see the entirety of the list at ESPN.

Your way-too-early 2017 preseason rankings are out: The wise folks at SB Nation have very nicely compiled a list of all the various and sundry preseason rankings into one handy little list. Alabama and Ohio State (really? after the Fiesta Bowl?) are number one and two, respectively, with USC, Penn State, and Florida State rounding out the top 5. Oh, football pundits, please stop putting Pac-12 teams in the top five. It never works out, Washington notwithstanding. Regardless, here is the list for you.

Early NFL signing numbers at 103: The NFL announced that 95 players will get special eligibility for April’s draft. An additional eight players who have already graduated from college will also join this year’s draft. Unfortunately for Clemson, among their number is quarterback Deshaun Watson and three of their best players. That means that 103 players with remaining eligibility will leave early to join the pros.

The final 2017 5-star recruit list is out: 24/7 Sports released the final list of the 2017 recruits. There is now a new number one (tiny drumroll, please): Walker Little, OT, a Stanford commit, is now the nation’s number one recruit. The rest of the list is available for your review here.

Have a great, week, y’all. I should have more fun stuff to report as the week progresses.