‘Edgy’ Tim: Busy week for local prep football recruits

Here is the latest football recruiting news from around the Daily Herald readership area over the past week.

Palatine senior defensive end Jaylen Williams (6-foot-6, 250 pounds), who is a four-star ranked recruit by Rivals.com in the class of 2025, last week flipped his verbal commitment from Michigan to Wisconsin and announced his decision via his X account. Williams, who had been verbally committed to Michigan since mid-June, switched to Wisconsin after making a recent official visit to Madison for the game against Oregon. Williams, despite being committed at the time to Michigan, made other official visits to Texas A&M, Tennessee and Nebraska.

“Physically, he's going to fill out when he gets into a college weight program,” Palatine coach Corey Olson recently told Rivals.com about Williams. “There's no doubt about it that he could be 290 pounds. He was 280 pounds when he was a freshman. And he's leaned out since then, he's about 245 now.

“It's nice to be able to have a piece like him that you can move around and do so many different things, and not have to sub him out in run situations,” Olson said. “He should be a four down guy that can do it all.”

Carmel Catholic sophomore four-star quarterback Trae Taylor (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) late last week announced his top 12 schools of interest via his X account. Taylor’s list includes (in no order) Michigan. Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ole Miss, North Carolina State, Iowa, West Virginia, Illinois and LSU. Taylor is ranked as the 33rd top recruit in the nation in the Class of 2027, also by Rivals.com.

Fremd senior wide receiver Brennan Saxe (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) recently gave the Northwestern Wildcats his verbal commitment. Northwestern offered Saxe a preferred walk-on roster spot while he was taking in the Northwestern game against Ohio State at Wrigley Field. Saxe, who was recently named as a first team all state selection by the IHSFCA, caught 93 passes for 1409 yards and 17 total touchdowns while also nabbing two interceptions at defensive back this fall for the Vikings. Saxe will look to play with his current Fremd teammate, junior quarterback Johnny O'Brien, who is already committed to Northwestern.

Barrington sophomore tight end prospect Austin Coles (6-foot-4, 190 pounds) is another name to watch in the growing class of 2027. Coles, who played wide receiver and tight end for the Broncos this fall, has made recent game day visits to the University of Florida and Ohio State. Coles also recently called Ohio State his “dream school” since he was born in Ohio and still has family there. Coles continues to draw increased looks and attention this fall and plans to play travel this winter and spring for the South Florida Express, one of the nation’s top 7-on-7 programs.