MWC Recruiting Roundup 10-26-20

Another week, another recruiting roundup.

This has been the slowest recruiting week in quite some time. However, with the season so close, this isn’t surprising at all. Coaches are focused on the upcoming games over anything else. In a normal season, this usually happens in August. This year, it’s happening now.

This past week saw two new verbals in to the Mountain West, with one coming from Nevada and another from Air Force. The offers were lighter as well, although Wyoming’s work on the recruiting trail was apparent. With a slower recruiting week, the Cowboys get the nod for the cover photo this week.

Class of 2021 Cover Photo Total:

• Air Force: 6
• New Mexico: 5
• Boise State: 4
• Colorado State: 4
• UNLV: 3
• San Diego State: 3
• Nevada: 2
• Fresno State: 2
• Wyoming: 2
• Hawaii: 1
• San Jose State: 1

Recruiting Calendar:

The dead period is still alive. But based on what the NCAA is allowing, it seems more like a contact period to some degree, as coaches can have unlimited calls and video meetings during this time.

Update: The Dead Period has been extending through the end of the 2020.

Air Force Commitment Tracker:

Looks like it’s time to bring this back. Since the Air Force Academy regularly has around 100 commits in each class, it’s kind of fun to track them over the course of the year.

Number of Falcon verbal commits: 42

A Glance At New Mexico Recruiting:

Much has been made at the Lobo’s recruiting efforts this season, and deservedly so. After years of neglecting recruiting until November and bringing in JUCO players almost exclusively, Coach Gonzales and his staff are hitting the recruiting trails hard. But how does their class actually measure up?

Their class is 77th in the nation and 5th in the Mountain West per 247 composite rankings at the time of this writing. The bulk of their class, almost half, is from Texas, with 10 out of 23 verbal commits coming from that state. They’ve also invested in their backyard, with 4 pledges coming from New Mexico. While the state isn’t known for producing top-end talent, the coaching staff has been able to secure four of the top ten players, although none in the top five and they lost one to conference mate Fresno State.

The most talented players in this class appear on the offensive side of the ball at this point. Aaron Dumas is another talented running back to compliment the players they had in the last class. He joins a number of skill players in this class such as Raheem Tooms (another RB), plus Michael Murray and Keyonta Lanier (both wide receivers). Finally Joshua Atkins was a very nice get on the offensive line for the future. Defensively, much of the focus has been at defensive back, where there are currently four committed players in that group.

Moving forward, this class is pretty much full, give or take a few players due to roster size and attrition. Looking at position numbers in this class, additions could likely come on the defensive line (particularly on the interior) and at linebacker (specifically someone who is suited to play in the middle of the field).

In a refrain that will be said on this site multiple times between and February, this class should not be confused with a top tier class. However, it’s a productive class that is building depth. And for the first time in many years, it’s a Lobo class filled with potential and projection and young talent and that is immensely more important than rankings and stars this year.

Recruiting Updates:

Offers

• TE/DE Troy dela Vega was offered by Air Force
• 2022 DE Shakaun Bowser was offered by Fresno State
• RB Jacques Badolato-Birdsell was offered by Nevada
• RB Julius Loughridge was offered by Wyoming
• RB/LB Sam Scott was offered by Wyoming
• DB Wrook Brown was offered by Wyoming

Commits

• DB Michael Schneider committed to Air Force
• An unknown person committed to Nevada

Follow @Mike_SBN on Twitter for all the latest recruiting news and updates.