Will Rivals' No. 1 Brown start late-signing trend?

Bryce Brown is putting off signing until March in what might become a trend for elite prospects in college football, rival.com analyst Mike Farrell said Monday.

Brown, a running back from Wichita, Kan., is considered the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect by rivals.com. He has committed to Miami, but Farrell said Brown adviser Brian Butler plans to have Brown take two more official visits instead of signing Wednesday on national signing day.

Southern California, Tennessee and Auburn might be in line for those visits, though Farrell said a lot of people think Brown will end up at Miami or Oregon.

“They still remain committed to Miami,” Farrell said, “but they’re going to take a look after signing day to see which schools landed certain players that might be attractive to him playing with.”

Farrell considers this situation to be vastly different from that of quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who didn’t announce his final choice of Ohio State last year until mid-March.

According to Farrell, Pryor planned to sign on signing day but delayed his decision because his father wanted him to take an official visit to Penn State. Farrell said Brown’s delay in choosing is more calculated.

“This could lead to a little bit of a trend where kids delay the decision into February or March, whether it’s for attention, whether it’s to utilize all five of their official visits,” Farrell said. - Ken Tysiac