Hey guys, National Signing Day is coming up really soon, February 1st. To get ready for that I’ve begun to give a rundown of top unsigned recruits. If you missed my article on top defensive tackle Marvin Wilson you should go check it out. Today is my second part of the series and today I’ll be talking about another highly ranked recruit, at number 16, wide receiver Joseph Lewis.

With a class of such highly touted wide receiver recruits such as Trevon Grimes, Tee Higgins, and Donovan Peoples-Jones, it is crazy to think that Joseph Lewis is the highest rated of them all. The number 1 receiver in the class of 2017, according to ESPN, is Lewis out of Augustus F. Hawkins high school in Los Angeles, California. With perfect size for a bigger receiver Lewis stand at 6’2 and 207 pounds. Even with such tremendous size, Lewis is able to run incredibly fast clocking a 4.63 40 time. With speed like that he should be able to torch many corners on deep routs. He doesn’t quite possess such blazing speed as receivers like John Ross at Washington, but luckily for Lewis (and whatever school lands him) even if he finds a cornerback able to keep up with him, his huge size will give him the competitive advantage over those smaller guys. Due to receiver being such an important position, Lewis possesses, incredibly, over 30 offers from schools, including USC, Alabama, Florida, Michigan and Baylor. No matter where in the country a school is, or what kind of offense they run, it is clear that everybody wants Joseph Lewis on their team.

On November 8, Lewis cut his list of 30 plus schools, down to 4, maybe 5. Yet again, like Marvin Wilson, no Alabama in the final few for a top recruit. Lewis has narrowed down his list to Oregon, Arizona, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, and possibly USC, according to Lewis. USC has been considered the frontrunner in his recruitment for a while, considering the proximity to where he is from, so it is a bit off of him to not fully add USC to his top schools. Maybe like Marvin Wilson in my previous article, he is simply trying to “stir the pot” or at least make it interesting. He has taken 5 official visits to Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Arizona State, and USC. With these official visits, and my own personal experience, I would probably eliminate Arizona from his potential schools. I could see him going to Oklahoma with Oklahoma returning their starting quarterback yet losing their top receiver, Dede Westbrook. But according to 24/7 sports crystal ball predictions, he will not be going down to Norman and playing for the Sooners. All crystal ball predictions have him either choosing USC or Nebraska, but overwhelmingly USC. There have been 29 crystal ball predictions for Lewis so far, 26 of which have him going to USC, and the other 3 have him to Nebraska. On January 14, Lewis retweeted a tweet from former Ohio State commit, now Nebraka commit Tyjon Lindsey about Lindsey now being committed to Nebraska, and I’m sure it would be enjoyable for him to play alongside another freshman, and particularly, alongside a slot receiver where their playing times won’t mesh together, but to be honest, no offense meant, but Nebraska really doesn’t have an outstanding quarterback or offense in general. With Tommy Armstrong gone after graduation, they don’t have a threat at quarterback seeing as how Ryker Fyfe, Nebraska’s backup quarterback for the 2016 campaign, didn’t exactly look good in 2016 when Armstrong was out. Fyfe too graduated, so the new quarterback for Nebraska next year will be unproven and untested, and while Nebraska’s offense might be evolving, it will be tough to have too much production early against very good Big Ten secondaries. USC on the other hand has an amazing quarterback in soon to be sophomore Sam Darnold, an early dark horse for the 2017 Heisman trophy. People have different beliefs but I believe Lewis’ decisions is pretty clear cut here.

I side with most of those from 24/7 sports and I have Lewis staying home and attending USC in the fall. Not only does USC have a great quarterback but they also lost receivers Adoree Jackson and Juju Smith-Schuster to the NFL draft. Smith-Schuster in particular is 6’2 220 so it is easy to see Lewis just stepping into his spot in the USC offense. Clay Helton has shown a willingness to play freshman, like Sam Darnold, so I also believe Lewis will see that potential to play into a spot even during his freshman year. In addition to that he will be able to stay close to home and thus, close to his family. For many of these college kids, family is the most important thing in the world. Elijah Hood a couple years ago, from Charlotte, NC, was originally committed to Notre Dame but then flipped his commitment to UNC to stay closer to home. In the end, I just see too many logical reasons for Lewis to attend USC. I know many student-athletes pick with their heart as much, if not more than their head, but I believe USC has the advantage there too. USC will be lucky to get such a talented receiver to compliment Darnold next year and maybe with Lewis by Darnold’s side they can make a run at the playoff. Best of luck to Joseph Lewis and his family in whatever endeavor he decides.