This story originally appeared with The Red & Black on June 25, 2015 and can be found here.

Recruiting in college football is a nonstop endeavor that usually culminates with announcements on National Signing Day. If the quarterbacks in the class of 2016 have their say, the annual day of celebration for fans will be nothing but an afterthought next year.

Of the top 25 pocket-style quarterbacks rated by ESPN.com in the class of 2016, 22 have made verbal commitments to schools across the country. Although there are still more than seven months left before these players make their choices official, it is becoming much rarer for a quarterback to wait on a decision. It’s a pattern 247Sports.com recruiting analyst Rusty Mansell believes is a product of the competitive recruiting practice.

“The quarterback position is different than any other because most teams only take one per class,” Mansell said. “If you’re comfortable with a school that’s offered you, you do your homework and take that spot.”

This process has sped up for a number of reasons. One of the most important is the funds set aside by schools for recruiting. Cross-country flights to watch a quarterback practice are more common today than ever before. The availability of game film on the Internet also eases the recruiting burden, which cuts the time to target the right prospect. With the separation between coaching staffs and high school players shrinking, it only makes sense for earlier offers to be handed out.

Getting a scholarship offer is one thing, but giving a verbal commitment is another. The perspective from the quarterback fits the mold Mansell described: He often becomes the lone quarterback of the class and subsequently removes all recruiting drama. With a finite number of quality quarterbacks in any class, the top programs offer scholarships early with the hope of securing their future signal caller in the summertime.

Kyle Hockman thinks an early commitment is the preferred route. Hockman, who is the head coach at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, knows the process well from his seven seasons in the position.

He also saw the situation as a father thanks to his son Bailey, an upcoming high school junior quarterback who committed to Georgia on June 12.

“What’s the reason to wait?” Kyle Hockman said. “The reason for [Bailey] may be to see if coaches change, but that’s going to happen from now until he’s graduated. The whole coaching carousel can change any minute. It could happen a month before he goes to college or after he’s already there.”

The younger Hockman joins a list of several Georgia Bulldogs who pledged early on to play in Athens. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brice Ramsey announced his plans in July 2011 before he had started a game for Camden County High School. Jacob Eason, a 6-foot-5 quarterback from Lake Stevens High School in Washington, became the face of the Class of 2016 when he committed to the Bulldogs last summer.

Hockman now takes on another role that makes early commit quarterbacks popular. Like Eason, he is expected to lead his class and do his part to recruit more players via social media. With restrictions tight for college coaches, it never hurts to have another voice on Twitter and Facebook.

“There’s no doubt that’s being used throughout the country,” said longtime college football coach John L. Smith. “The way social media is today, everybody seems to know everybody and they all stay in contact with each other. Once they get a kid committed, the coaches will ask, ‘Are you working on the other guys?’”

While he sees the advantages in quarterbacks committing this early, Smith, who spent time as the head coach at Arkansas, Michigan State, Louisville, Utah State and Idaho, thinks there is more to consider. He recognizes the danger of an early agreement for both sides.

For coaches, there’s the threat of a quarterback backing out at the last minute or a player showing serious concerns on or off the field. For players, a commitment to a mid-major Football Bowl Subdivision school or a Football Championship Subdivision school can be like cashing your chips in at a casino too soon. Smith also argues the timing for schools depends on their prestige.

“Recruiting is all about where you are on the food chain,” Smith said. “If I’m in the SEC, I’m at the top and can get the early, good commits. If I’m lower on the food chain, why not wait and evaluate everybody you can?”

Today’s surge in early commitments is something that is here to stay. If the upcoming crops of quarterbacks like Eason and Hockman prove themselves worthy of the early offers, coaches may turn their attention to even younger high schoolers. It would be a strange development, but with the changes that have taken place over the last decade, it’s clear the system is rapidly evolving.

“It’s going to continue and it’s going to go even earlier,” Mansell said. “I see two years from now more and more quarterbacks who have two years left in high school that are verbally committed. Five years from now, it may be kids committing three years early. You never know.”