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2012 College Football Recruiting Rankings: DB

Who signed the top high school defensive backs in the nation in the 2012 class?

By: Braden Gall | 3/14/12, 7:00 AM EDT

Who signed the top high school defensive backs in the nation in the 2012 class?

- by Braden Gall (@BradenGall on twitter)

The next batch of in-coming college football All-Americans have inked their respective letters of intent. Recruiting is the life blood of the greatest sport on the planet, and, while coaching stills plays the biggest role in winning a championship, having better players can go a long way to earning a trip to the BCS.

Recruiting is an inexact science by definition. It is virtually impossible to accurately peg the mental make-up of any 17-year old child -- much less high-profile, over-coddled 17-year-old athletes. But team recruiting rankings offer the best indication of which team has the best ingredients each coach has to work with each season.

Related: Athlon's Top 25 Recruiting Classes of 2012

Offensive Positional Rankings: QB | RB | WR/TE | OL
Defensive Positional Rankings: DL | LB | DB | ATH

Here are the best incoming defensive backs in the nation:

  Name HT WT Hometown AC100 College
1. Shaq Thompson 6'2" 215 Sacramento, CA No. 6 Washington
2. Tracy Howard 5'9" 170 Miramar, FL No. 18 Miami
3. Landon Collins 6' 202 Geismer, LA No. 21 Alabama
4. Ronald Darby 5'11" 176 Oxon Hill, MD No. 34 Florida State
5. Tee Shepard 6'1" 175 Fresno, CA No. 43 Notre Dame
6. Geno Smith 6' 182 Atlanta, GA No. 61 Alabama
7. Travis Blanks 6'1" 195 Tallahassee, FL No. 62 Clemson
8. Yuri Wright 6'1" 185 Ramsey, NJ No. 70 Colorado
9. Brian Poole 5'10" 202 Bradenton, FL No. 72 Florida
10. Alex Carter 6' 195 Ashburn, VA No. 76 Stanford
11. Kevon Seymour 6' 170 Pasadena, CA No. 96 USC
12. Deon Bush 6'1" 179 Miami, FL No. 102 Miami
13. DeVante Harris 5'10" 160 Mesquite, TX No. 110 Texas A&M
14. LaDarrell McNeil 6'1" 195 Dallas, TX No. 112 Tennessee
15. Elijah Shumate 6'1" 205 East Orange, NJ No. 117 Notre Dame
16. Marcus Maye 5'11" 200 Melbourne, FL No. 118 Florida
17. P.J. Williams 6'2" 190 Ocala, FL No. 124 Florida State
18. Terry Richardson 5'9" 165 Detroit, MI No. 128 Michigan
19. Bryson Echols 5'10" 165 DeSoto, TX No. 138 Texas
20. Ishmael Adams 5'10" 190 Westlake Village, CA No. 141 UCLA
21. Armani Reeves 5'10" 185 West Roxbury, MA No. 142 Ohio State
22. Joshua Hosley 5'11" 175 Fairburn, GA No. 144 Auburn
23. A.J. Leggett 6' 175 Miami, FL No. 160 Marshall
24. Duke Thomas 5'11" 170 Killeen, TX No. 163 Texas
25. Adrian Colbert 6'2" 191 Mineral Wells, TX No. 181 Texas
26. Trae Elston 6' 183 Oxford, AL No. 189 Ole Miss
27. Demetrious Cox 6'1" 192 Jeannette, PA No. 199 Michigan State
28. De'Van Bogard 6' 175 Cleveland, OH No. 215 Ohio State
29. Chaz Elder 6'2" 187 Union City, GA No. 222 South Carolina
30. Wayne Morgan 5'11" 191 Brooklyn, NY No. 225 Syracuse
31. T.J. Davis 6'1" 180 Tallahassee, FL No. 237 Auburn
32. Lucas Thompson 6'1" 190 Winter Garden, FL No. 245 East Carolina
33. Corey Thompson 6'2" 205 Missouri City, TX No. 246 LSU
34. Donaldven Manning 5'9" 155 Miami, FL No. 253 Virginia Tech
35. Dwayne Thomas 6'1" 170 New Orleans, LA No. 258 LSU
36. Brandon Beaver 6' 176 Long Beach, CA No. 260 Washington
37. Raymond Ford 5'11" 174 Gardena, CA No. 263 Cal
38. Rhaheim Ledbetter 5'11" 195 Shleby, NC No. 268 Florida

2012 Athlon Sports Positional Recruiting Rankings:

College Football 2012 Positional Recruiting Rankings: Running Backs
College Football 2012 Positional Recruiting Rankings: Linebackers
College Football 2012 Positional Recruiting Rankings: Defensive Linemen
College Football 2012 Positional Recruiting Rankings: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
College Football 2012 Positional Recruiting Rankings: Defensive Backs
College Football 2012 Positional Recruiting Rankings: Offensive Linemen
College Football 2012 Positional Recruiting Rankings: Quarterbacks
College Football 2012 Positional Recruiting Rankings: Athletes

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