MAC Football Recruiting Roundup: Entire conference has success on 'crootin trail

This past week was an extremely busy and exciting seven days for many schools within the MAC. Schools such as Ball State and Ohio went on a recruiting rampage, almost doubling their respective recruiting classes.

A bit of a disclaimer: This week was a difficult one for our recruiting team and presented a great challenge for us. We were rather short staffed all week and have fallen a little behind on commitment articles. Just so you, the reader, know we are working to get caught as quickly as humanly possible. With that said, let's dive right into the week that was.

Ball State may have been the most active team on the recruiting trail this week, landing a long list of recruits. Check out the full list here. DE Tyler Burton is a solid pass rusher out of Delaware who has the potential to turn into a solid player in the MAC while WR Tyler Kirtz is an under-the-radar receiver who will provide a big target at 6-foot-3.

3-star LB Eric Rogers committed to WMU which is a monster get for their program. Rogers was thought to be considering Toledo, Boston College, and NIU just two weeks ago, however it seems he may have had a change of heart once high school teammate OL Jordan Asbury decided to commit to WMU. Rogers is without a doubt a P5 talent which could be a double edged sword for the Broncos as he could become a target of P5 programs later in the process if they miss out on their top targets for a certain position.

Ohio had a big week landing three linebackers in Eric Popp, Jared Dorsa, and Dylan Conner respectively. Although it is unclear whether all three will play linebacker or shift to defensive end it is a nice haul for coach Solich and his staff. Another recruit that the Bobcats landed this week is someone who could really surprise some people. RB Dontez Rash is just 5-foot-8, however he has no problem bulldozing opponents that stand in his way. He has a nice mix of speed and power which should translate nicely to the collegiate level. Although he will need to add a few pounds before becoming an every down back, he is definitely a guy to watch over the next few years.

Miami continues to build yet another strong recruiting class as they landed RB/LB Nigel Adams, ATH Kobe Burse, DE TaMarion Johnson, S Myles Reid, and OL Tommy Doyle. Adams projects to be a linebacker at Miami as the RedHawks could use a hard hitting LB like him. Kobe Burse is an under-the-radar guy who seems to project well at wide receiver. The RedHawks could really use an aerial threat like Burse in their passing game.

CMU made a huge splash with the addition of 3-star DL Leon Page. Page has the ability to be an immediate impact on the Chippewas' defensive line. He is similar to Eric Rogers in that the Chips will have to fight off P5 programs until NSD 2016. With as much action as we've had on the recruiting trail, it may be easy to forget that Signing Day is still a little over eight months away.

CMU's current list of verbal commitments includes players with names that include TeeOndre Harvey and Kemehnnu Gwilly. I think it's fair to say that the Chips are winning the "Best Name" battle on the recruiting trail as of right now.

After landing 3-star QB Kato Nelson, Akron had been silent on the recruiting trail until this week when they landed WR Thomas Cole. At 6-foot-5, it's easy to envision Cole becoming a favorite target for Nelson especially with Nelson's notorious scrambling abilites.

Bowling Green landed a pair of linebackers in Andrew Armstrong and Jerry Judd. Judd also quarterback in high school, but on the defensive side of the ball seems to be a high motor guy who can make a difference down the line for the Falcons.

EMU was able to get on the board this week landing commitments from Josh Wilkes and Matthew Sexton. It's definitely nice to see the Eagles land a few commitments, however look for them to really start to gain momentum sooner rather than later. There's little doubt in my mind that coach Creighton will begin to make some serious progress with this 2016 recruiting class within the next few weeks.

NIU had a solid week landing recruits who fit in perfectly with their motto, The Hard Way. DB Daniel Isom seems like a player ready to break out and is dubbed a "rising star" by this media outlet. Find the full list of NIU commits here.

John "Baer" Hunter decided on Toledo earlier this week. The Rockets were able to beat out MAC rivals Bowling Green and Miami to land the talented defensive lineman. Toledo's recruiting class is now up to 10 commits for 2016, with a nice variety of skill players and lineman.

Unrelated to the MAC, yet still interesting. 3-star S Devin Gil flipped his commitment from Miami(FL) to Michigan this week. The Canes have had trouble maintaining recruits lately as they lead the country in de-commits at the moment despite still having 21 commits at this time per 247Sports. Some may thing that Western Michigan has a lot of turnover in their recruiting classes with de-commitments being a regularity, however it doesn't seem to be anything in comparison to the turnover of that the Canes have had over the past two years.

To conclude, I leave you all with wise words for recruits from the current Bedford(OH) Football coach Williams.

Don't Kill on the field... And then get killed in the CLASSROOM!!!! They don't want guys like that.... Sorry...

— Coach Williams (@gosw33) June 17, 2015