The 2015 college football season is just a couple of weeks away, but that's already old hat. We've already got our sights set on next year's National Signing Day and the programs which are separating themselves from the pack and cementing their status as future Pac-12 powers. Here's our list of the 5 Best 2016 Recruiting Classes In ACC Football (So Far).
5. North Carolina Tar Heels
5-Stars: 0
4-Stars: 0
3-Stars: 16
North Carolina's steady, protracted rise out of the obscurity of being "that other major athletic program in Chapel Hill" is right on track. This is not a call-the-neighbors haul by any stretch, but the 16 three-stars that make up UNC's commitment ledger is extremely solid and should provide the Tar Heels with a diverse array of high-upside talents for which to entrust their future. Keep an eye on three-star QBs Chazz Surratt (dual-threat) and Logan Byrd (pro-style). They're both a big reason why this is a borderline top-25 class and we wouldn't be surprised if Surratt is shifted out wide down the road to work as one of the pocket-passing Byrd's best aerial weapons.
4. Louisville Cardinals
5-Stars: 0
4-Stars: 2
3-Stars: 16
If there is any doubt about just how far this program has come over the past decade or so, this uber-steady class will such a notion. Another commit sheet on the edge of top-25 status nationally, the highlights here are the future four-star pitch-and-catch combo of towering 6-5 dual-threat QB Jawon Pass and lengthy, dynamic wide receiver Desmond Fitzpatrick. Within a couple of years, Pass and Fitzpatrick could easily be the premier QB/WR combination in the ACC.
3. Clemson Tigers
5-Stars: 1
4-Stars: 5
3-Stars: 5
Clemson is just one of two ACC teams with a five-star commit to their credit at this point (our #1 team has the other). The only reason why Clemson isn't 2nd on this list is that they've been relatively patient from a depth perspective, garnering commits from just ten four- and three-star recruits at this juncture. That does nothing to diminish just how impactful five-star all-purpose back Tavien Feaster will be for the program. The kid's a shifty, fluid gem of a skill-position threat that will be lined up all over the place for the Tigers down the road. He's a keeper and a future NFL fantasy football darling. Search out the kid's YouTube highlights. It'll be well worth the effort.
2. Miami Hurricanes
5-Stars: 0
4-Stars: 9
3-Stars: 13
You gotta give it up to The U. Their combined 22 commits in the three- to four-star range is by far the best in the conference. It's a massive reloading job for sometimes-embattled Hurricanes head coach Al Golden. While the on-field production will be under a microscope this year, what we do know is that the future is in safe hands thanks to a borderline top-ten class with skill-position explosiveness (WRs Sam Bruce, Dionte Mullins, QB Jack Allison) and potential defensive stars (ILB Shaquille Quarterman, WDE Joseph Jackson) to spare.
1. Florida State Seminoles
5-Stars: 1
4-Stars: 11
3-Stars: 5
For all intents and purposes, this is a two five-star haul so far. Actual five-star cornerback Levonta Taylor is a blazing stick-like-glue cornerback who seems predestined to be a #1 lockdown guy at the next level. The other is pro-style QB Malik Henry, who finds himself on the four-star line (according to 247Sports) partly because he hasn't fully filled out his 6-foot-3 frame (180 pounds) and partly because the QB recruiting pool is heavily saturated for 2016. That's no worries for Florida State -- Henry has the naturally big arm and deft footwork to have a Jameis-like impact in Tallahassee.
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