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No. 1 College Football DB Recruit in Indiana Announces Top 6 Schools

With a mostly geographically condensed list, a top Indiana DB is narrowing his recruitment.
Joe Cox|
Indiana and coach Curt Cignetti are in the heart of the race for a top in-state recruit.
Indiana and coach Curt Cignetti are in the heart of the race for a top in-state recruit. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Indiana HoosiersMissouri TigersVanderbilt CommodoresTennessee VolunteersOhio State BuckeyesOregon Ducks

Recruiting season is picking up for a bevy of top recruits, and one Indiana defensive back standout is trying to narrow his recruiting picture. Given the rise of passing attacks, top defensive backs are always a priority and a group of mostly local teams are looking to keep the top safety in the state of Indiana in or close to home.

Safety Kaleb Elkins is now the No. 166 recruit in Rivals' most recent rankings. That places Elkins No. 18 nationally among safeties and the third-best player in the state of Indiana (and top safety in the state). Elkins's recruitment remains open, but he has picked a top six schools according to Rivals' Hayes Fawcett. The 6'3", 185-pound safety is certainly in demand among the top defensive backs in the midwest.

Top Schools for Elkins

Home-state Indiana remains a major factor in Elkins's recruitment. He's also considered a bevy of top (relatively) local teams, with Ohio State, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee making up that contingent. If Elkins goes far from home, Oregon is the team in his top six that has to be the logical favorite.

Rivals had Ohio State as a slight leader in the predictions from their experts for a landing spot. In-state option Purdue is second, although the Boilermakers didn't make Elkins's list of top schools. Elkins has taken a variety of unofficial visits, including three to Ohio State and two to Purdue. He has just taken one of those Purdue visits and is set to visit Missouri this coming weekend, per Rivals.

Recruiting Overview for Elkins's Top Schools

Ohio State is currently No. 2 in the Rivals team recruiting rankings with nine verbal commitments so far, including a pair of five-star recruits. Ohio State has already taken a pair of safety commits, inlcuding four-star Eli Johnson from Texas.

Oregon ranks 10th in the current rankings with five early commits. The Ducks haven't yet taken on any commitments from safeties.

Tennessee stands 18th in the Rivals rankings, but has taken just four commitments. The Vols haven't yet nabbed any defensive backs for the 2027 class. Likewise, Indiana has just four commitments and is currently 27th in the rankings. One of the early Indiana commits, Kentucky three-star Garyon Hobbs, is a safety.

Missouri has just three commitments and is No. 30 in the Rivals rankings. The Tigers do have a safety commit from three-star recruit Jabarri Lofton of East St. Louis. Vanderbilt isn't included in the Rivals team ranking because the Commodores have just two commits. Neither of Vandy's commits is a safety.

Drinkwitz
Missouri and Eli Drinkwitz are set to host Kaleb Elkins this coming weekend. | Jay Biggerstaff-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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