Wake Forest Football Recruiting: Highlights of the 2017 Class

The Wake Forest football program scored a major recruiting win on Monday when defensive end Mike Allen committed to play football for the Demon Deacons. He is rated by Rivals as a 4-star recruit, and is the highest rated player in school history. Wake Forest’s recruiting class is currently ranked 41st nationally, which is good for 9th in the ACC. They are ahead of many Power 5 programs and are on pace to have the highest recruiting ranking in the school’s history. While no letters of intent have been signed, let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the 2017 class.

DE Mike Allen

Allen is definitely the most discussed player of Wake’s 2017 class. He had a multitude of Power 5 offers and ultimately chose Wake Forest over Tennessee and USC. He is a consensus top 400 player in the class, and has great size at 6’6”, 240 pounds. Wake has recruited defensive end very heavily over the past few recruiting classes, so it’s possible that Allen will redshirt, but with his size he could be a terror in the future.

QB Taylor Powell

Taylor Powell was a major land for the Wake Forest coaching staff. He’s incredibly accurate, and had six additional Power 5 offers. Powell has all of the tools to be a starting quarterback at Wake Forest, and should have some strong battles with Jamie Newman in the future.

LB Chase Monroe

Wake Forest tapped into the Davidson Day pipeline again and landed linebacker Chase Monroe. Monroe is a consensus 3-star, and chose Wake over Kentucky and West Virginia. Monroe has good quickness and should be excellent in pass coverage. Wake’s linebackers in recent years have been good at tackling, but less adept in pass coverage. Monroe’s speed will help against the spread.

CB Troy Simon

Wake Forest has several young and talented corners on the roster in Amari Henderson, Dionte Austin, and Essang Bassey. Troy Simon should help bolster the Wake secondary. He is a consensus 3-star recruit out of Alpharetta, Georgia, and ultimately chose Wake Forest over Notre Dame, California, Mississippi State, and others. His size at 6’1” should give him the length to break up more passes and force more turnovers.

LB D.J. Taylor

D.J. Taylor is an athletic linebacker out of Tennessee, who chose Wake Forest over Vanderbilt. He played both linebacker and running back in high school, and has the size/athleticism combination to play rover for Wake. He is part of a very deep linebacker unit in Wake’s 2017 class, and should be a formidable part of the Wake defense moving forward.

RB Christian Beal

Christian Beal was Wake’s first commitment in the 2017 class. He chose Wake Forest over Duke, and had an excellent junior season. He finished with 1.659 yards and 23 touchdowns. He also hauled in over 300 receiving yards. He’s had an illustrious high school career for East Forsyth and has nearly 3,600 rushing yards and 47 touchdowns through just 3 seasons. He should have a great senior season and has the versatility to be a good back for the Deacs.

I hope this was helpful. National Signing Day is still 6 months away, but Wake’s 2017 class is in very good shape and is setting up to be Clawson’s best yet. It won’t be his biggest class due to available scholarships, but it features an excellent quarterback and several impact defensive prospects.