2021 college football recruiting class

The college football recruiting class of 2021 refers to the recruiting of high school athletes to play college football starting in the fall of 2021. The scope of this article covers: (a) the colleges and universities with recruiting classes ranking among the top 20 in the country as assessed by at least one of the major media companies, and (b) the individual recruits ranking among the top 20 in the country as assessed by at least one of the major media companies.

The Alabama Crimson Tide, led by head coach Nick Saban, had the top recruiting class according to Rivals.com, 247Sports, and On3. Ohio State was ranked second by all three services.

Media outlets disagreed over who was the nation's top recruit. Rivals.com and 247Sports selected quarterback Quinn Ewers as the No. 1 recruit. Ewers committed to Ohio State but later transferred to Texas. Defensive end Jack Sawyer was selected as the No. 1 recruit by ESPN and also committed to Ohio State. Defensive end Korey Foreman was selected as the No. 1 recruit by the USA Today and committed to USC.

Top ranked classes

School	Rivals [1]	247 [2]	On3 [3]
Alabama	1	1	1
Ohio State	2	2	2
Oregon	3	6	6
LSU	4	3	5
Georgia	5	4	3
Clemson	6	5	4
Texas A&M	7	8	7
USC	8	7	8
Notre Dame	9	9	11
Florida	10	12	13
Michigan	11	13	14
Miami	12	11	10
Oklahoma	13	10	9
Wisconsin	14	16	17
North Carolina	15	14	12
Texas	16	15	16
Ole Miss	17	17	19
Nebraska	18	20	24
Missouri	19	27	28
Maryland	20	18	25
Auburn	22	19	22
Penn State	25	21	18
Florida State	27	23	20
Jackson State			15

Top ranked recruits

Player	Position	School	ESPN [4]	Rivals [5]	USA Today [6]	247Sports [7]
Quinn Ewers	Quarterback	Ohio State (Texas transfer)	3	1		1
Jack Sawyer	Defensive end	Ohio State	1	12	3	5
Korey Foreman	Defensive end	USC	4	4	1	2
Tommy Brockermeyer	Offensive tackle	Alabama	2	9	4	6
Maason Smith	Defensive tackle	LSU	58	2	23	20
JT Tuimoloau	Defensive end	Ohio State	5	7	2	4
JC Latham	Offensive tackle	Alabama	6	3	7	3
Caleb Williams	Quarterback	Oklahoma (USC transfer)	17	6	5	7
Amarius Mims	Offensive tackle	Georgia	21	5	6	8
Leonard Taylor III	Defensive tackle	Miami	7	41	11	11
Jeremiah Trotter Jr.	Linebacker	Clemson	8	89		37
Brock Vandagriff	Quarterback	Georgia	38	8	12	17
Sam Huard	Quarterback	Washington (Cal Poly transfer)	16	17	8	12
Keeshawn Silver	Defensive end	North Carolina	9	88		31
Dallas Turner	Linebacker	Alabama	13	19		9
TreVeyon Henderson	Running back	Ohio State	10	81		23
Ty Thompson	Quarterback	Oregon	68	10		40
Terrence Lewis	Linebacker	Maryland	11	30	14	21
Emeka Egbuka	Wide receiver	Ohio State	31	11	9	10
Smael Mondon	Athlete	Georgia	12	97		35
Donovan Jackson	Offensive guard	Ohio State	71	13		19
Ja'Tavion Sanders	Athlete	Texas	14	14	21	13
James Williams	Safety	Miami	36	20	13	15
Tristan Leigh	Offensive tackle	Clemson	25	27	10	14
Shemar Turner	Defensive end	Texas A&M	15	32		22
Bryce Foster	Offensive guard	Texas A&M	147	15
Mario Williams Jr.	Wide receiver	Oklahoma (USC transfer)	18	16	15	43
Camar Wheaton	Running back	Alabama	44		16	34
Nolan Rucci	Offensive tackle	Wisconsin	37	18	18	16
J. J. McCarthy	Quarterback	Michigan	26		17	25
Damon Payne	Defensive tackle	Alabama	27		18	24
Kyle McCord	Quarterback	Ohio State	32		18	28
Kool-Aid McKinstry	Cornerback	Alabama	41			18
Dylan Brooks	Defensive end	Auburn	19	124
Jaxson Dart	Quarterback	USC (Ole Miss transfer)	20	107

References

1. "2021 Team Rankings". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
2. "2021 Recruit Football Team Rankings". 247Sports . Retrieved September 13, 2022.
3. "2021 Consensus Football Team Recruiting Rankings". On3.com. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
4. "2021 ESPN 300". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
5. "Rivals 250". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
6. "USA TODAY High School Sports National Signing Day Final Tracker: Where the Top 100 recruits signed". USA Today. February 26, 2021.
7. "2021 Top Football Recruits". 247Sports. Retrieved September 13, 2022.