Ranking the Contenders: Payton Page
Defensive tackle Payton Page has been a well-known prospect for the last couple years and college coaches got a good look at him very early in his career at Greensboro (N.C.) Dudley. His offer sheet quickly grew into one of the longest in the nation, but it was clear early on that Page had a good idea of where he wanted to go.
Earlier this year he announced a top 5 of North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Clemson, and LSU but, since the end of this past season it’s been fairly clear that the list of serious contenders is even shorter than that. Just last week, Page made it clear he wants to be able to commit before his senior season.
1. CLEMSON
The Tigers are the betting favorite to land Page. He came away from his last visit to campus raving about his connection with defensive line coach Todd Bates and how close he is with current Clemson commit and No. 1 prospect in the Rivals250 Korey Foreman. Page is also close with many other current and future Clemson Tigers. Dabo Swinney and his staff have been able to cherrypick almost any prospect they want out of North Carolina and the odds are pointing to them doing it again with Page.
2. NORTH CAROLINA
The last thing the Tar Heels want is for Page’s recruitment to turnout to be like Trenton Simpson’s from the 2020 recruiting class. Simpson decommitted from Auburn and North Carolina was the favorite to land his commitment, but he picked Clemson at the very last minute.
Mack Brown and his staff have a little more going for them with Page than they did with Simpson and they are hoping it’s enough to put them over the edge. Page is excited about the opportunity to play early in Chapel Hill and he’s just as close, if not closer, with the players at North Carolina than at Clemson. Former teammate and current Tar Heel Myles Murphy is one of his closest friends and their families are very close as well.
3. TENNESSEE
The Vols lost some momentum when they lost defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, but Page enjoyed getting to know his replacement in Jimmy Brumbaugh while on campus in early March. Assistant coach Jay Graham is the steadying force for Tennessee in Page’s recruitment and the longer they can keep Page from announcing a commitment, the better their chances of signing him. Vols fans should be hoping they get Page back on campus as soon as the recruiting dead period is over.