Arizona football recruiting: Future commitments, inflated class rankings and exciting 2017 recruits

Recruiting doesn't seem to be slowing down and neither do your questions. Answering another set of recruiting questions!

Things have been heating up for the Arizona Wildcats throughout this 2017 recruiting class cycle. The summer is typically a busy time for Arizona football recruiting, but the last two weeks have been exceptionally newsworthy. There's been a lot of buzz around this class, ranked as a top 15 recruiting class by every major recruiting service.

I've received a lot of questions since then about recruiting, which I have thoroughly enjoyed answering. Below are some reader questions that I've received in the past week. Feel free to hit me up on Twitter to submit any questions you may have.

@Gabe_Encinas random question but how does #Arizona sit with 4 ATH Kaelin Jarrell from Scottsdale Saguaro?

— Steven Armenta (@Menta_JC) June 17, 2016

Well, Arizona State was hyping this past Friday as a huge day in high school recruiting. As most figured, it turned out to be a trio of 3-star Saguaro players: linebacker Jared Poplawski, tight end Kyle Soelle and offensive guard Corey Stephens. With that being said, it didn't even include KJ Jarrell, the 4-star safety who holds over 25 strong offers including Notre Dame, TCU and USC among others.

While I figure that Jarrell has Arizona in his top five or so, I don't think they would make his top three. When I spoke to him after his junior day visit, he told me that he had been in communication with Arizona since his sophomore year, noting that he was a big fan of the defensive staff.

The commitments of his three teammates will make it even harder for Arizona to pry Jarrell out of Phoenix. For now, I'm going to say that he goes to Arizona State, but there's still a lot of time in his recruitment.

@Gabe_Encinas how many more scholarships are left to hand out for the 2017 class and can be expected to committ to Arizona?

— Alex Wilburn (@Wilbysaurusrex) June 16, 2016

I wish I knew the scholarship numbers. But judging by the 17 commits as of now, plus the other likely targets that will choose Tucson, I'm going to say that 27 commitments sounds like a safe number.

@Gabe_Encinas seeing some comments about Arizona landing a lot of guys vs that's school up north. Questioning quality vs quantity?

— Brandon Taylor (@AZWildcat4Life) June 16, 2016

Yes, Arizona has 17 commitments. That number is certainly driving their class rankings up through the roof, into the top 15. Regardless, the Wildcats are landing some extremely versatile depth in this class and that's going to be huge in a couple of years.

There are two words that describe Arizona's 2016 recruiting class, as well as this 2017 class thus far, savage and versatile. Looking at what is left from the previous classes, there wasn't a whole lot of quality depth. Of course it's hard to judge how this class projects and where guys are in two or three years, but it is filled with a lot of nice pieces that will fit in the offense and then develop under this new defensive staff.

I've said it a few times before, but I project about six 4-stars in this class to round off a top 25 class for Arizona.

@Gabe_Encinas which 5 are you most excited for?

— Clint Robison (@Clintsaucesport) June 16, 2016

This is mean, cruel question. With the 17 commitments Arizona has now, I'll go Greg Johnson, Tony Fields, Kylan Wilborn, Drew Dixon and Joshua Brown.

I like Johnson because this is going to be the great corner that Rich Rodriguez has never had at Arizona. There's just something I like about watching Fields and he has some great versatility that leads me to believe that he can play that hybrid linebacker/safety position that's becoming ever so popular.

Wilborn is a super intriguing piece. He's a hybrid defensive end/linebacker and I see him as a young Derrick Turituri filling that role of linebacker playing down on the line. It would be interesting to know his actual weight because he could be someone who ends up on the defensive line as well.

Dixon is another intriguing piece. While he's a Swiss Army Knife for Sabino, his primary position is quarterback, which won't be giving him the receiver reps he needs to prepare for Arizona. But, he's such a phenomenal athlete that I see him as an Arizona version of Braxton Miller. Obviously not the same caliber but he has that same athleticism and even bigger frame at 6-foot-4, 211 pounds.

Lastly, Brown is an incredibly strong coverage linebacker who will add to the young depth at linebacker. He also has a strong build as I saw his reported measureables at around 6-foot-2, 240 pounds.

I'm excited for a lot of guys, including Scott Young and Braxton Burmeister. I see Young as a Will Parks in the making, terrorizing the slot receivers and flat zones. Burmeister is doing a lot of recruiting for Arizona and he'll find himself in the quarterback mix sooner or later. And then thinking of Nathan Tilford, Orlando Bradford and JJ Taylor in the backfield is just scary.

What do you think are the odds we finish the recruiting cycle with a majority of these recruits as this hat goes on? @Gabe_Encinas

— Kelsen Adeni (@Kelsenadeni54) June 18, 2016

There are a lot of commitments in this class already, which is good and bad to think about. Good because this cycle is off to a great start and there is a lot of buzz, which is helping land some of these commitments. But bad, because the class is filling up extremely fast with some prospects I wasn't anticipating.

Last year we saw a whole lot of decommitments mostly for two reasons -- the coaching staff change and Arizona backing off on their commitments. This year I don't think we'll see too many Jake Burton or Devon Modster type decommitments, both opting to go to UCLA for depth and a better opportunity.

The guy who could potentially just leave for a better opportunity is Greg Johnson. That's really about it. Every one that has committed, I believe, has bought into Arizona, the new coaching staff, and this strong recruiting class. While I think guys like Tony Fields, Bryce Brand and Xavier Bell will continue to pick up strong offers, I don't think they leave.

But if Arizona's class gets too filled up, the possibility of grey shirting or backing off their recruitment comes into play. Here I would think it's a guy like Edgar Burrola, maybe Brian Casteel and then potentially another future commitment we don't currently know about.

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