Arizona’s recent loss of five players from its football recruiting Class of 2017 doesn’t just look bad, it is potentially as damaging as losing a regular-season game or two.
Twenty years ago, and especially in the 1980s, no one would’ve known about the five players who jumped Arizona’s ship and will play elsewhere. But with the proliferation of recruiting websites, every move is tracked. It works both ways; the social media exclamations when a player commits draw premature cries of joy.
It’s possible that the top recruit left on Rich Rodriguez’s board is Sabino High School receiver-slash-all purpose player Drew Dixon. The Rivals.com recruiting service lists Dixon as a four-star (out of five) prospect.
Most would say La Jolla Country Day School quarterback Braxton Burmeister is Arizona’s top recruit, but there uncertainties remain there.
His team is ranked No. 2,208 nationally by Maxpreps. It played in small-school 5A in the San Diego section, with opponents such as Francis Parker and Maranatha Christian. By comparison, Catalina Foothills was ranked No. 519 nationally this season; Cienega was No. 409.
Arizona freshman QB Khalil Tate played for Gardena Serra in California, which was ranked No. 92 nationally in his 2015 senior season. UA redshirt sophomore Brandon Dawkins played at Los Angeles’ Oaks Christian, which was ranked No. 63 nationally in his 2013 senior season.
Washington’s star quarterback, Jake Browning, who played at Folsom High in Northern California and started as a true freshman for the Huskies, played on a team ranked No. 4 nationally as a high school senior.
Burmeister is expected to enroll at Arizona in mid-January and be available for spring practice and perhaps challenge Tate and Dawkins for playing time in 2017.
But he might not be as game-ready as former Arizona QBs who played against the heavyweights of high school football.
