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Nation's No. 6 TE Delivers Bad News to Three Major College Football Programs

The second of the nation's top six 2027 tight end prospects commits and sends losing suitors on another path.
Joe Cox|
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, shown here with Bobby Petrino, got some good news on Tuesday, but a Tiger commit leaves several other schools scrambling.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, shown here with Bobby Petrino, got some good news on Tuesday, but a Tiger commit leaves several other schools scrambling. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

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Missouri TigersIllinois Fighting IlliniKansas State WildcatsArizona State Sun Devils

The zero-sum game of college football recruiting saw another chapter as the nation's No. 6 tight end prospect made a verbal commitment and left several would-be destinations behind. Of course, verbal commitments aren't binding and no 2027 prospect will be able to sign until the Early Signing Day in November. So while the apparently defeated teams may not give up, they might want to consider their respective Plan Bs.

Tight end Jack Brown verbally committed to Missouri. Brown, ranked No. 6 among tight ends nationally under Rivals' rating system and No. 119 among all players nationally, is the second major tight end to commit. No. 1 tight end recruit Seneca Driver recently committed to Oklahoma

Brown, a 6'4" athlete from just outside St. Louis, had long been linked to Missouri, with numerous unofficial visits to the school. But there were other suitors who were disappointed in the Brown recruitment saga.

Brown's Other Finalists

The disappointed finalists from Brown's recruitment were Kansas State, Illinois, and Arizona State, according to recent information from Rivals' Hayes Fawcett. Illinois was a distant second to Missouri in the Rivals expert predictions. Brown had also taken a number of unofficial visits to Illinois, as he also had at Notre Dame, despite the Irish not being one of his recruiting finalists.

The Recruiting Overview for Brown's Final Four

Brown was one of two commitments Missouri received on Tuesday, with the other being in-state wide receiver Chris Harris Jr. The Tigers now have five 2027 commitments and are standing 19th in Rivals' national team recruiting rankings.

Arizona State stands 21st in the current Rivals team rankings, despite having obtained just three 2027 commitments to date. There are no other tight ends yet in the Sun Devil recruiting class, which currently consists of a quarterback and two wide receivers.

Kansas State also has just three 2027 commitments so far in this recruiting cycle, which lands the Wildcats at 40th on the Rivals rankings. There haven't been any other tight ends committing to the Wildcats yet, as the class currently consists of two defensive players and an offensive lineman.

As for Illinois, the Illini aren't even ranked in Rivals' team rankings yet, because they've only taken two 2027 verbal commitments so far. QB Kamden Lopati was a four-star recruit who has picked the Illini, but with the other commit so far being a defensive back, the Illini are likely to still add some pass catchers in the months to come.

Bielema
Illinois and coach Bret Bielema came up short in the recruitment of Missouri TE Jack Brown. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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