4-star EDGE Jacob Smith announces top six schools
Cheshire (Conn.) Cheshire Academy four-star EDGE Jacob Smith has announced his top six schools. They are Notre Dame, Michigan, Kentucky, Nebraska, Georgia and Alabama.
Smith is the No. 226 overall prospect and No. 17 EDGE in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 3 player in Connecticut.
According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, the Fighting Irish have a commanding lead for Smith’s commitment at 79.9%. He was last in South Bend on March 30.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound pass rusher previously announced the same top 10 schools as his brother: Cheshire (Conn.) Cheshire Academy four-star defensive lineman Jerod Smith, the No. 316 overall prospect and No. 28 defensive lineman in the On3 Industry Ranking. Per the RPM, the Wolverines are leading for Jerod’s pledge at 72.4%.
“I feel we’ll probably end up going to the same school, just because we have similar interests and the same goals,” Jacob told On3’s Chad Simmons on Oct. 7.
“We’re brothers, we already have that built-in connection,” he added. “We just build off each other and especially during the games, I know he’ll have his stuff and I’ll do my job. It’s build-in trust.”
Smith has recently visited some of his finalists
Smith saw Nebraska on April 15. He told Bryan Munson of Husker Online that the Cornhuskers would be one of his finalists.
“Honestly, I like the coaching staff,” Smith said on April 15. “I feel like they can do what they need to do to get me to the next level. I have seen that they can do it coming from Baylor. They hit me up late, but then they showed me that this was worth my while.”
Meanwhile, the four-star made his fourth visit to Alabama on March 22. He got to observe the Crimson Tide during spring practice, and was impressed.
“It was our first practice that we got to watch, so that was good,” Smith told Joseph Hastings of BamaInsider on March 26. “It was a fast tempo practice. What I was expecting, especially for it to be their second practice… it was fast paced, but also good football.”
Notre Dame also has the attention of both Smith brothers.
“They both said that they love how practice was ran,” Jerod Smith Sr., their father, told Mike Singer of Blue and Gold on April 1. “We got there at 6:30 a.m. and went through the whole day. They saw how Coach (Marcus) Freeman does his introduction. He came in very serious but very relaxed and comical at the same time. He had a joke about keeping his hands off the quarterback but also got his point across.
“We saw how the pre-practice meetings go. They saw Coach (Al) Washington break down some film with the defensive linemen, and they thought that was pretty cool. It was an exciting day.”