2012 College Football Recruiting Rankings: OL
Who signed the top high school offensive linemen in the nation in the 2012 class?
By: Braden Gall | 3/13/12, 7:00 AM EDT
- 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
The position with the highest washout rate of any in football is the offensive line. This occurs for a variety of reasons. First, more offensive linemen are signed than any other position on the field — five are needed to start obviously — so the sheer numbers game means more busts. Second, raw size is more of a factor with offensive line rankings than any other position and this tends to lead to lead to more "misses" in the evaluation process. Level of competition, killer instinct, future growth and work ethic are all massive wildcards when trying to evaluate blockers.
That said, it is almost assured that the Stanford Cardinal will possess one of the best offensive lines in the nation in the coming years. They signed three of the top five blockers in the nation and seven overall. What David Shaw did along his offensive front is nearly unprecedented.
Here are the best incoming offensive linemen in the nation:
| Name | HT | WT | Hometown | AC100 | College | |
| 1. | D.J. Humphries | 6'6" | 271 | Charlotte, NC | No. 3 | Florida |
| 2. | John Theus | 6'6" | 292 | Jacksonville, FL | No. 13 | Georgia |
| 3. | Andrus Peat | 6'7" | 305 | Tempe, AZ | No. 22 | Stanford |
| 4. | Kyle Murphy | 6'7" | 278 | San Clemente, CA | No. 25 | Stanford |
| 5. | Josh Garnett | 6'3" | 305 | Puyallup, WA | No. 30 | Stanford |
| 6. | Isaac Seumalo | 6'4" | 290 | Corvallis, OR | No. 40 | Oregon State |
| 7. | Kyle Kalis | 6'5" | 305 | Lakewood, OH | No. 45 | Michigan |
| 8. | Jordan Simmons | 6'5" | 335 | Inglewood, CA | No. 47 | USC |
| 9. | Zach Banner | 6'9" | 335 | Puyallup, WA | No. 50 | USC |
| 10. | Kennedy Estelle | 6'7" | 300 | Pearland, TX | No. 51 | Texas |
| 11. | Avery Young | 6'6" | 292 | Palm Beach Gardens, FL | No. 53 | Auburn |
| 12. | Jessamen Dunker | 6'4" | 320 | Boynton Beach, FL | No. 64 | Florida |
| 13. | Erik Magnuson | 6'6" | 275 | Carlsbad, CA | No. 73 | Michigan |
| 14. | Max Tuerk | 6'6" | 295 | Trabuco Canyon, CA | No. 75 | USC |
| 15. | Curtis Riser | 6'4" | 285 | DeSoto, TX | No. 80 | Texas |
| 16. | Jordan Diamond | 6'6" | 290 | Chicago, IL | No. 88 | Auburn |
| 17. | Evan Boehm | 6'3" | 290 | Lee's Summit, MO | No. 103 | Missouri |
| 18. | Dan Voltz | 6'4" | 295 | Barrington, IL | No. 114 | Wisconsin |
| 19. | Joey O'Connor | 6'4" | 295 | Windsor, CO | No. 120 | Ohio State |
| 20. | Brandon Greene | 6'5" | 292 | Ellenwood, GA | No. 135 | Alabama |
| 21. | Camrhon Hughes | 6'7" | 320 | Harker Heights, TX | No. 139 | Texas |
| 22. | Patrick DeStefano | 6'4" | 275 | Spartanburg, SC | No. 147 | Clemson |
| 23. | J.J. Denman | 6'6" | 310 | Yardley, PA | No. 159 | Rutgers |
| 24. | Ronnie Stanley | 6'6" | 285 | Las Vegas, NV | No. 172 | Notre Dame |
| 25. | Vadal Alexander | 6'6" | 315 | Buford, GA | No. 176 | LSU |
| 26. | Ryan Ward | 6'5" | 275 | Dublin, OH | No. 177 | Iowa |
| 27. | John Michael McGee | 6'4" | 275 | Texarkana, TX | No. 178 | Oklahoma |
| 28. | Taylor Decker | 6'8" | 315 | Vandalia, OH | No. 179 | Ohio State |
| 29. | Ty Darlington | 6'3" | 275 | Apopka, FL | No. 184 | Oklahoma |
| 30. | Jay Guillermo | 6'2" | 287 | Maryville, TN | No. 190 | Clemson |
| 31. | Chris Muller | 6'6" | 315 | Perkiomenville, PA | No. 197 | Rutgers |
| 32. | Ereck Flowers | 6'6" | 312 | Miami, FL | No. 204 | Miami |
| 33. | Evan Goodman | 6'4" | 290 | Lakeland, FL | No. 211 | Arizona State |
| 34. | Issac Hayes | 6'2" | 275 | Brooklyn Park, MN | No. 212 | Minnesota |
| 35. | Brock Stadnik | 6'5" | 287 | Greensboro, NC | No. 221 | South Carolina |
| 36. | Paul Thurston | 6'5" | 275 | Arvada, CO | No. 230 | Nebraska |
| 37. | Mike Matthews | 6'3" | 260 | Missouri City, TX | No. 238 | Texas A&M |
| 38. | Patrick Miller | 6'7" | 275 | West Palm Beach, FL | No. 239 | Auburn |
| 39. | Freddie Tagaloa | 6'8" | 312 | Richmond, CA | No. 261 | Cal |
| 40. | Brandon Fanaika | 6'3" | 320 | Pleasant Grove, UT | No. 264 | Stanford |
| 41. | Caleb Peterson | 6'5" | 310 | Auburn, AL | No. 269 | North Carolina |
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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