ESPN College Football Recruiting

With members of the ESPNU 150 like quarterbacks Matt Barkley (Southern California) and Tate Forcier (Michigan) making headlines during the young 2009 football season as true freshmen, here's a look at the top 10 committed Class of 2010 ESPNU150 prospects who could make an impact as early as next season.

Most of these players are skill position players and a good portion play receiver. It's more common to see receivers, running backs (most of the top players are not committed) and defensive backs play early than most other positions.

Robert Woods, WR, Gardena, Calif./Serra (Southern California)
Woods is physically ready to step in and play, and the Trojans have a recent history of letting their freshman playmakers at the wideout position see the field early, regardless of the depth chart. So, look for the local standout to take advantage of the fuel that fires the USC program -- competition -- to earn some early opportunities.

Antonio Goodwin, WR, Atlanta, Ga./Booker T. Washington (Auburn)
The Tigers' offense under new coordinator Gus Malzahn has been impressive in their first two games this season, but Goodwin is the type of talented playmaker that Auburn needs to help its passing game. People just don't understand how good Goodwin really is.

Ahmad Dixon, S, Waco, Texas/Midway (Baylor)
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Dixon, whom Scouts Inc. calls a "very special weapon on the gridiron," has the size and skill to step in right away and help Art Briles' improving Bears program. Dixon was committed to Texas early in the process.

Xavier Grimble, TE, Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman (Southern California)
It may be a surprise that Grimble is on this list considering the young talent USC has at tight end, but again the Trojans throw all of the talent in there at practice and let competition sort things out. The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder is simply good enough to move up the Trojans' depth chart, provided he gets to campus and works as all freshmen have to.

Da'Rick Rogers, WR, Calhoun, Ga./Calhoun (Georgia)
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Rogers is physically ready to step in and take punishment from defensive backs in the Southeastern Conference and the Bulldogs still are in need of a second receiving threat to step up opposite A.J. Green. Rogers should get that opportunity when he arrives in Athens.

Markeith Ambles, WR, McDonough, Ga./Henry County (Tennessee)
Tennessee needs playmakers at receiver and Ambles certainly is that. As soon as he steps on campus, he will compete for playing time. He has a high enough skill level to be on the field from his first game as a Vol to his last.

Tai-ler Jones, WR, Gainesville, Ga./Gainesville (Stanford)
Jones runs excellent routes, has good hands and boasts above-average speed. He is one of the crown jewels of this recruiting class for the Cardinal and has the football IQ to step in and learn the offense early enough to see playing time. Look for Jones to become a favorite target for Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, an emerging star, as early as next season.

C.J. Fiedorowicz, TE, Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg (Illinois)
The Illini coaches love Fiedorowicz and believe the 6-foot-6, 230-pounder is ready to step in and help them right away. Good hands and route-running ability set him apart from your average freshman tight end. Strength is always a question for a young player when you are talking about the blocking aspect of playing tight end. Therefore Fiedorowicz will have to work hard the summer before his first season, but he has the skill set.

Aramide Olaniyan, LB, Woodberry Forest, Va./Woodberry Forest (Duke)
There will be somewhat of a transition for Olaniyan to make; he will have to go from a high school defensive end to a collegiate linebacker. However, he's been seeing snaps at linebacker early in his high school season and should be too talented to keep off the field at Duke. That, of course, is provided he stays with the Blue Devils -- Michigan and other programs have been knocking. He visited Ann Arbor last weekend unofficially.

Corey Brown, ATH, Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara (Ohio State)
Brown, one of the Buckeyes' most recent commitments, could see the field early because of his versatility. He's the type of player who can really complement quarterback Terrelle Pryor and the other backs that the Buckeyes have in the run game. He can also be a vertical threat in the passing game. Brown will need to get stronger like a lot of high school players, but he could be another instant impact player from Pennsylvania (a la Pryor) in Columbus.

The Leaderboard

Most college programs do a good job of getting their talented freshmen on the field. You can find examples of this around the country at programs like Tennessee, with multiple true freshmen in the two-deep, or UCLA, which starts a true freshman on the offensive line. Also worth noting is Alabama in 2008, when running back Mark Ingram, receiver Julio Jones and linebacker Donte Hightower all made an immediate impact. Nearly every program will play freshmen when it's needed at some point.

That being said, Southern California does the job better than anyone else as far as getting its most talented players on the field, regardless of class, and still signs most of the country's best players (Barkley and running back Joe McKnight were both ranked as the nation's top prospect in their respective classes).

The Trojans' program is all about competition. If a true freshman steps in and is the best, he will play. Though he benefited from contender Aaron Corp being sidelined during a chunk of the preseason with an injury, Barkley was given every opportunity to win the job.

Prior to the rise of the Trojans this decade and the growing national popularity of recruiting, freshmen still played, but not as much attention was paid to it. This is yet another reason Pete Carroll has been a trendsetter in college football.

But the one thing all those freshmen receiving early playing time have in common is they earned their jobs. Nothing was handed to them. While USC is about competition, it's also all about hard work as much as being talented. Those are important elements to any true freshman stepping on the field.

Hot sell: Tennessee

The Vols lost a tough 19-15 home game to UCLA this past weekend, but they added three ESPNU 150 prospects on Sunday to soften the blow. Teammates Corey Miller and Brandon Willis (Duncan, S.C./James F. Byrnes), both defensive linemen, jumped on board. Miller, an Under Armour All-American, decommitted from Florida State to join the Vols and Willis was considered a lean to the Seminoles prior to deciding on Knoxville. "It's just a good fit for me," Willis said. The Vols also landed Under Armour All-American athlete DeMarco Cobbs (Tulsa, Okla./Central) Sunday evening.

Coast-to-coast notes

Talent on tap
A pair of Under Armour All-American defensive backs, John Fulton (Manning, S.C./Manning) and Joshua Shaw (Palmdale, Calif./Palmdale), is expected to highlight the official visitors to Florida this coming weekend. Also expected in are ESPNU150 defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington), four-star kicker Will Hagerup (Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish Bay) and UF defensive back commit Jordan Haden (Fort Washington, Md./Friendly).

Decision coming for Fortt?
The nation's No. 2 inside linebacker, Khairi Fortt (Stamford, Conn./Stamford), has said recently that he plans to make a decision next month. Penn State, Georgia, Southern California, North Carolina and Tennessee are the finalists. Most believe he is State College-bound.

Back in the game
Florida State and Georgia, both considered at one time to be major players for five-star running back Marcus Lattimore (Duncan, S.C./James F. Byrnes), are now back in the mix. The Seminoles will receive an official visit on the weekend of Oct. 10, when they play host to Georgia Tech. Florida State offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher has done an excellent job of building a relationship with Lattimore, which is why it was a surprise he eliminated the Noles back when he trimmed his list to five schools (Auburn, North Carolina, Oregon, Penn State and South Carolina). The Bulldogs had been out of the picture for a while, but he made an unofficial visit to Athens this past Saturday for Georgia's 41-37 win against South Carolina and the Dawgs came out of that visit with at least a puncher's chance.

First look
Washington fans in the Seattle area will get a chance to take a look at future quarterback Nick Montana (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian) in person Friday night when his high school team travels to Sammamish (in the Seattle suburbs) to face Skyline (ESPNU, 10 p.m. ET).

His teammate, offensive lineman Erik Kohler, is another future Husky.

Of course, the game will be of interest to BYU fans as well. ESPNU 150 quarterback Jake Heaps, a Cougars commit, is the quarterback at Skyline. Oaks Christian defensive end Alani Fua and linebacker Zac Stout will play college football in Provo as well.

Class of 2011 ESPNU150 watch list receiver Kasen Williams is one of Heaps' favorite targets. He has already picked up multiple scholarship offers.

Oaks Christian also features four-star running back Malcolm Jones and three-star defensive tackle Cassius Marsh; both are uncommitted prospects.

Jersey juniors
Here's a look at the early stages of the recruitment of two Class of 2011 ESPNU 150 watch list prospects from New Jersey.

Offensive lineman Keith Lumpkin (Jersey City, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) says that he is open to all schools at this time and that he hopes to attend a game at Rutgers later this season.

"I am going to be looking at the history of a school and stuff like that (when I am looking at different colleges.)" Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame, North Carolina State, Oklahoma and Florida are just some of the schools the 6-foot-9, 265-pounder is interested in.

Another Jersey junior, athlete Miles Shuler (Long Branch, N.J.), also is a watch list member. He had nearly 1,000 yards of total offense as a sophomore and holds a 3.888 grade-point average. The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder also ran a 10.7 100-meter dash in track and says that Oklahoma is his favorite college football team. Rutgers, Connecticut, Penn State, West Virginia, Michigan, Georgia, Boston College and Oregon also stand out to the two-year varsity letter winner.

Short stuff
LSU, Florida State, Tennessee and Florida are the early top four for Class of 2011 ESPNU150 watch list offensive tackle La'El Collins (Baton Rouge, La./Redemptorist). His teammate, running back Jeremy Hill, holds several offers (LSU is one of them) and most recently picked one up from Nebraska. & Class of 2011 ESPNU150 watch list linebacker A.J. Johnson (Gainesville, Ga./Gainesville) holds early scholarship offers from Tennessee, Clemson, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Auburn and Georgia Tech and is getting interest from Florida and others. & Tennessee, Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina and Florida are among the early offers for athlete Brian Randolph (Marietta, Ga./Kell). The 6-foot, 195-pounder could play receiver, running back or in the secondary (the most likely spot as he had 117 tackles as a sophomore) in college. He attends the same high school that current Yellow Jackets star running back Jonathan Dwyer did.

JC Shurburtt covers recruiting for ESPN.com. He can be reached at jcsespn@aol.com.