Rivals Vice President of Recruiting and Transfer Portal Steve Wiltfong shares the biggest news, notes and buzz from around the recruiting trail as the calendar prepares to flip to 2026.

5-star EDGE David DJ Jacobs closing in on a decision

Roswell (Ga.) Blessed Trinity Catholic five-star edge rusher David DJ Jacobs made another wave of visits this fall and with that is closing in on his college decision.

Jacobs’ father said a commitment could come before the New Year.

Programs like Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas A&M have had Jacobs’ attention.

A legacy recruit to the Bulldogs, Georgia has always been considered one of the front-runners. We’ve written a lot about that. But the family also has a close connection with Mark Richt and have spent a lot of time around Mario Cristobal, the Hurricanes and Coral Gables.

I wouldn’t sleep on The U down the stretch for Jacobs as we weighs his options with all of these programs. The family was tuned in to the playoff win at Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon.

“Man, it was crazy,” Jacobs said of Miami’s effort in College Station. Like Matthews, he also has Texas A&M in his lead group. “What a great win by Miami. Love what they are doing down there and man good job by the defense today on getting after that quarterback.”

Jacobs has spent a lot of time around Cristobal.

“He is a great person and he has great people in the building with him,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs’ father has always given Miami high marks and did so again shortly after the Hurricanes victory.

“We’re very interested in Miami,” the elder Jacobs said. He played at Georgia. “We like Texas A&M. We like Ohio State. So it was very good to see them go out and play and have fun.

“(Miami) they’re winning up front.”

David Sr. pointed to Cristobal’s culture and the identity he wants for his program as the reason.

“The fact he wants to start off with winning up front. He’s not trying to build from the back to the front. He’s trying to build the foundation, starting on the front line. Some of the top guys he’s trying to get in are offensive linemen and defensive linemen and that says a lot.”

5-star prediction in favor of the Hurricanes

After writing all fall I like Miami’s position for the nation’s No. 1 offensive tackle prospect Mark Matthews, I’ve gone ahead and logged the prediction going into the New Year.

The Hurricanes are battling the likes of Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas A&M for Matthews.

Cristobal and his staff have gotten Matthews over to campus and games several times. He’s exactly what they’re looking for from a tangibles and intangibles standpoint, and having him in the backyard, it’s hard to imagine this Hurricanes staff losing this recruitment.

Cristobal, offensive line coach Alex Mirabal and the Miami staff have the pedigree of development at the position and coming off a playoff win at Texas A&M on Saturday, are starting to get the results on the field to check every box a prospect is looking for.

A year after signing Rivals No. 1 overall recruit Jackson Cantwell, Miami is looking to follow up with Matthews and I like the way it’s trending.

New 5-star prediction for Alabama

The Rivals Industry’s No. 2 receiver Monshun Sales has a keen eye on Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Miami and Texas A&M to name a few. LSU and Tennessee are a couple others under strong consideration.

“It always comes back to Bama,” a source close to Sales told Rivals.

With that I’ve logged a prediction in favor of Alabama heading into the new year.

Sales is a native of the Yellowhammer State and continues to have the Crimson Tide atop his process. It will be up to the other programs to change the pulse of his process.

The Rivals Industry tabs the Indianapolis (Ind.) Lawrence North five-star as the No. 2 receiver in the country and No. 8 prospect overall.

Notre Dame in a good spot for elite OT prospect

Middletown (Del.) Appoquinimink blue-chipper and the Rivals Industry’s No. 6 offensive tackle Layton Von Brandt dropped his top eight schools over the weekend.

He told Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett that he’s down to Florida, Penn State, Ohio State, LSU, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Auburn.

“Will be visiting everywhere this spring,” Von Brandt said. “Then want to narrow to a top three and do officials and make a decision by start of next season.”

Heading into the next wave of visits I like where the Irish stand. He attended ND’s win over Navy.

“I really enjoyed experiencing all the tradition pregame like the player walk. Also was great listening to and meeting alumni as well. (Offensive line) Coach (Joe) Rudolph and Coach (Marcus) Freeman and all the staff were great.

“I’m excited to keep building our relationship.”

Notre Dame checks a lot of boxes for von Brandt.

“It’s early in the process for me with Notre Dame as this is my first time really getting out to meet everyone but so far it’s about the people for me,” he said. “End of the day when you have top schools the football facilities and atmosphere is pretty much great  at all of them. So for me it comes down to people and relationships. Excited to build more on that.”

Aggies add to Rivals No. 4 recruiting class

Over the weekend Texas A&M secured a commitment from four-star defensive lineman Myels Smith. The Inglewood (Calif.) High product became commit No. 9 for head coach Mike Elko and the Aggies in the 2027 recruiting cycle.

A season that ended in the College Football Playoff will give head coach Mike Elko and his coaching staff a lot of momentum on the recruiting trail heading into the 2027 cycle.

As we’ve been writing, this is a class that will have a shot to finish No. 1.

Top-ranked edge rusher Zyron Forstall has Texas A&M high on his list and is aiming to return the weekend of Jan. 24. Notre Dame is also under consideration for a visit that weekend.

Other targets I continue to feel good about the Aggies for include five-stars in cornerback John Meredith and offensive lineman Albert Simien, while hanging in there as a front-runner for offensive tackle Mark Matthews, edge rusher David DJ Jacobs and linebacker Cooper Witten.