Photo courtesy of Herald/MARIANNE LIJEWSKI
The No. 1 junior college running back, Akeem Judd (Georgia Military College), is announcing his college decision on Sunday after visiting Ole Miss and Tennessee the last two weekends. Judd was not expected to make a decision on his college plans until late August, but felt comfortable after his visits to the two SEC schools to get his commitment out of the way and focus on his upcoming season.
I am expecting the 6-foot, 219-pound running back to commit to Ole Miss over Tennessee in large part because of the relationship he has with Rebels stars Donte Moncrief and Denzel and Robert Nkemdiche. The other reason is the opportunity he will have in the Rebels backfield where Judd would be a nice complement to smaller tailbacks such as incoming freshmen Kailo Moore, Mark Dodson Jr. and Eugene Brazley who are all below 195-pounds. Furthermore, Rebel 2014 commit D.K. Buford (Oxford, Miss. Lafayette) is the No. 4 all-purpose back in the 2014 class, but he is expected to be a slot receiver in college.
The bigger Judd will be a short-yardage and goal line option for Hugh Freeze and pick up a lot of the dirty yards in between the tackles. Speaking of which, Ole Miss will have a powerful offensive line during Judd’s time on campus with Laremy Tunsil, Austin Golson, Andy Bauer and perhaps Rod Taylor opening holes for him. Tunsil and Golson were two of the top three offensive tackles in the class of 2013 with Bauer being one of the top tackles in this year’s class. Taylor is the top prospect in the state of Mississippi and the No. 1 guard recruit.
Tennessee should not be dismayed too much by the potential loss of Judd, because they have commitments from five-star running back Jalen Hurd (Hendersonville, Tenn. Beech) and three-star back Treyvon Paulk (Alpharetta, Ga. Milton) in addition to two more seasons from Marlin Lane. Plus, Tennessee still has a recruiting class that ranks third in the nation according to 247Sports to soften the blow of missing out on Judd.
The addition of Judd would be the third commitment for Ole Miss in as many days with the commitments from three-star prospects and twin brothers Alvin and Calvin Moore (Bassfield, Miss. Bassfield).
Judd rushed for 463 yards and five touchdowns on 71 carries in 2012.
Patrick’s a college football writer for Rant Sports and radio host on Sportstownchicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickASchmidt and add him to your Google network.
