ESPN Recruiting Nation Football

With signing day 2013 having come and gone, it's time to turn our attention to 2014 recruits. Here are five players that the Ducks will be targeting for next year's class:

DL Nifae Lealao
Sacramento (Calif.) Capital Christian

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For all of his life, ESPN Watch List safety Dylan Sumner-Gardner (Mesquite, Texas/West Mesquite) knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to play college football for Clemson and follow in the footsteps of his all-time favorite football player, Brian Dawkins.

When Sumner-Gardner picked up the offer in June, he immediately gave Clemson his verbal commitment. Sumner-Gardner never expected to get an offer that could look Clemson in the eye. On Wednesday, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound safety picked up an offer from Texas A&M, a program that has been phenomenal with recruiting its 2013 class and is off to a very impressive start in 2014.

While he’s still committed to the Tigers, Sumner-Gardner now has something to think about.

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Since before Nick Saban arrived, the University of Alabama has always had the same philosophy in recruiting. Make the in-state players a priority and keep the top talent close to home. That idea hasn’t changed under Saban’s regime.

Last year, Alabama let Florida State and LSU steal some of the top in-state players, but the Crimson Tide still signed five of the state’s top 10 players, including four players ranked in the ESPN 150. Running back T.J. Yeldon (Daphne, Ala.) is already making an impact as a true freshman.

This year, the depth might not be what it has been in years past, but the top two players in the state, Reuben Foster and Dee Liner, are committed to Auburn. Still, Alabama once again has five of the top 10 players in the state committed.

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National signing day for the class of 2014 seems like a distant speck on the map, but this is already shaping up to be a textbook recruiting effort from LSU.

There's a pretty basic formula the Tigers have followed to recruiting success during the Les Miles era: Lock up the lion's share of the top talent in Louisiana, then grab a few quality prospects from talent-rich states nearby -- Texas, Mississippi, Florida or Georgia.

That appears to again be the case next year. Of the 12 Louisiana targets in the ESPN Watch List for 2014, LSU has offered 10. The two without offers, wide receiver Cameron Sims (Monroe, La./Ouachita Paris) and linebacker Kenny Young (New Orleans, La./John Curtis), are certainly on LSU's radar.

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Mark Richt is in the midst of his 12th season at the University of Georgia, and the SEC’s longest-tenured head coach has consistently brought in top-ten recruiting classes every year. It helps to be in the backyard of one of the deepest talent pools of any state in the country.

While it might be hard to match this year’s depth of top-tier prospects -– Georgia has 31 prospects in the ESPN 300 for the 2013 class –- there is no shortage of talented in-state juniors either. Twenty-five recruits from Georgia are in the initial ESPN Watch List, including three already committed to the Bulldogs in running back Stanley Williams (Monroe, Ga./George Walton Academy), wide receiver Demarre Kitt (Tyrone, Ga./Sandy Creek) and defensive back Nick Glass (Atlanta/St. Pius X).

Looking at the other 22 prospects from the Peach State on the list, the Bulldogs have already extended offers to eight of them. On offense are targets with prominent NFL bloodlines. Mammoth offensive lineman Orlando Brown Jr. (Suwanee, Ga./ Peachtree Ridge), son of the late Orlando Brown, stands at 6-foot-8, 360-pounds and adds new offers seemingly every day. Running back Adam Choice (Thomasville, Ga./Thomas County Central) the cousin of former Buffalo Bills running back Joe Burns and Bills’ starting running back Tashard Choice (Georgia Tech), received his first official offer from the Bulldogs back in June. Milan Richard (Savannah, Ga./Calvary Baptist Day) has emerged out of the shadows of his uncle, legendary running back and Heisman Trophy award winner Herschel Walker, to become an outstanding talent on his own merit, and in the process became an early top target for Georgia at tight end.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Gators are currently holding down the No. 3-ranked recruiting class in the country for the 2013 class and have just a handful of spots remaining. Florida has also given its attention to a loaded 2014 class. With the talent in Florida next year, there will be plenty of prospects to chose from.

The state of Florida has an impressive 53 players on the ESPN Watch List. The Gators already have commitments from two players, defensive tackle Travonte Valentine (Palm Bay, Fla./Bayside) and wide receiver Ryeshene Bronson (Ft. Myers, Fla./Dunbar), and are heavily involved with several other top in-state prospects.

In addition to Bronson, the Gators are hoping to add a few more wide receivers from this list, and there are several good ones to chose from. Artavis Scott (Tarpon Springs, Fla./East Lake) and Johnnie Dixon (Palm Beach, Fla./Dwyer) are two of the top prospects on Florida's wide receiver board, but Corey Holmes (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas), FSU commit Jake McCary (Miami/Coral Reef) and Trevion Thompson (Durham, N.C./Hillside) are also in the mix.

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Much like every other program in the country, Michigan has already started to focus on the 2014 recruiting class. The Wolverines have sent out approximately 49 offers to 2014 prospects, and 41 of those offered recruits are part of the first ESPN Watch List for 2014.

The Watch List includes seven prospects from the state of Michigan, including defensive back Damon Webb (Detroit/Cass Tech), defensive end Malik McDowell (Detroit/Loyola) and offensive lineman Jordan Van Dort (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland West).

The state of Ohio is also well represented with 11 prospects on the Watch List. Michigan's only 2014 commitment, linebacker Michael Ferns (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville), makes up part of the Ohio section, along with offered targets Joe Henderson (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights) and Dante Booker (Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary).

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Earning and accepting commitments of underclassmen comes with a certain degree of risk.

Coaches know more often than not how they will fill out, where they can project and what to expect of these prospects by the time they are seniors. But still, a lot can happen in a year.

Florida State has six commitments in the 2014 class. And they all come from the state of Florida.

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Where would the Nittany Lions be without their Pennsylvania commits?

Well, they might find out with the 2014 class.

Bill O'Brien and his coaching staff are venturing farther south than ever before, and they feel no obligation to focus on the Keystone state. O'Brien has offered just one in-state prospect on the ESPN Watch List, while he's targeted five players on the list from Georgia and another four from Virginia.

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New Jersey once again has several prospects with national appeal such as Kiy Hester (Wayne, N.J./De Paul Catholic), Gerald Owens (Westville, N.J./West Deptford) and Andrew Trumbetti (Demarest, N.J./Demarest). None is more coveted though than cornerback Jabrill Peppers (Paramus, N.J./Paramus Catholic).

Peppers is a true national prospect, with programs such as Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Stanford and USC setting the pace for the 6-foot, 185-pound prospect. Several SEC programs have offered as well, including Alabama and LSU.

The state of Maryland has proven to be strong in talent, mostly in the Baltimore area. Not surprisingly, Baltimore Gilman is one of the prime producers of top college football prospects with linebacker Melvin Keihn and cornerback Troy Vincent Jr.

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It has become customary for the Oregon Ducks to take their time in evaluating junior prospects, and it is much of the same with the class of 2014.

Another yearly occurrence is that a number of elite prospects from around the country that have their eyes on the Ducks early on. In typical Oregon fashion, the Ducks have yet to extend any offers for the class of 2014.

While they have no commits, the Ducks are listed among the early favorites for a large number of players in the 2014 ESPN Watch List.

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The West is again loaded with prospects for the 2014 class, and while California will always be the major supplier of recruits in the area, Arizona will receive its share of college coaches making visits next year.

The state has produced its share of big time offensive linemen over the past few seasons, and there is another in the 2014 class in USC commit Casey Tucker (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton).

He is joined along the line by Andrew Mike (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino), but arguably the most talented position in Arizona is wide receiver, as four national recruits reside in the ESPN Watch List.

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The three early commitments USC has locked up for the 2014 recruiting class figure to get their share of recognition the next two years, and their inclusion in the initial Class of 2014 ESPN Watch List on Thursday promised to be only the beginning.

Offensive linemen Toa Lobendahn (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood), Jordan Poland (La Jolla, Calif./Country Day School) and Casey Tucker (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton) -- whom all verbally committed to the Trojans before the start of their junior seasons -- represent USC in the first installment of next year's list.

The Trojans have the most Watch List members among Pac-12 Conference schools. Stanford, Utah and Washington each have one commitment on the list. Florida State leads all schools with six Watch List members, followed by Clemson and Texas, which have five commitments each.

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It is no secret Washington covets explosive playmakers.

The top of the Huskies’ 2013 recruiting class is dominated by talented skill position players, featuring a pair of receivers -- Damore’ea Stringfellow and Darrell Daniels -- in the ESPN 150 and a quarterback -- Troy Williams -- in the ESPN 300.

Washington has made a commitment to compete for the top talent in California and that won’t change based on the prospects the program is recruiting to its 2014 class. The Huskies’ lone junior commitment so far is from receiver Rahshead Johnson (Long Beach, Calif./Jordan), who is featured in the ESPN Watch List, which was unveiled Thursday.

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