A defensive back with nearly two dozen college offers, an all-around phenom who made 39 tackles for loss in high school to go with 7,188 rushing yards and a quarterback whose father played in three NFL Pro Bowls.

They are all part of Air Force football’s early signing period haul.

The Falcons cannot release details of their recruiting class or offer comment, and the number of signees is likely larger than the 36 confirmed independently by The Gazette, but the early returns suggest there will be plenty of talent coming to coach Troy Calhoun’s program.

The group, which will likely triple in size once the February signing period hits, includes six three-star recruits.

The top-rated recruit, according to 247Sports, is Franklin, Tenn., native Knight Wilson, a 6-foot, 200-pound safety ranked among his state’s top 50 recruits. Tennessee prospects ranked behind him are headed to places like Clemson, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.

A hard-hitting ball hawk who intercepted six passes and recovered four fumbles as a junior (full stats from his senior year were not available), Wilson also plays receiver and special teams and has his 13-0 team (Page High School) alive in the Tennessee playoffs.

Wilson held offers from 22 programs, including Army, multiple MAC programs, four Ivy League teams and Arkansas State among others.

Wilson’s prospect grade of .8600 from 247Sports places him second all-time among players to sign with Air Force, with the rankings dating back to at least 2010. Only Connor Vasek, from last year’s recruiting class, ranks higher.

Wes Burford’s profile is as all-encompassing. The Oakdale, Calif., native piled up 7,188 rushing yards over the past three years (8.2 yards per carry) with 96 touchdowns. He averaged 200.9 all-purpose yards in 37 high school games.

Burford – whose father, Seth, was the No. 3 quarterback for the San Diego Chargers in 2002 behind Drew Brees and Doug Flutie but did not play in a regular-season game – broke the section rushing record in the Sacramento area previously held by New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo.

On defense, where he’s slated to play for the Falcons, Burford made 169 tackles over the past two seasons with eight sacks and 39 tackles for loss.

He also placed third at state wrestling in the 215-pound division and competes in track, where he has participated in sprints, hurdles, triple jump, shot put and discus.

As impressive as Burford’s rushing numbers are, they don’t match those of Grady Kinsey, who has run for 8,607 yards with an Ohio high school record of 133 rushing touchdowns at Indian Valley High School in Gnadenhutten, Ohio.  

The Falcons also picked up a three-star quarterback in Case Vanden Bosch, whose father, Kyle, won a national championship at Nebraska and played 11 years in the NFL, making three Pro Bowls as a defensive end who had 31 sacks between 2005-07 for the Tennessee Titans.

Vanden Bosch, who played at Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, passed for 4,403 yards and 42 touchdowns in his career and ran for 1,943 yards.

“The first word that comes to mind when I describe Case Vanden Bosch is ‘tough,’” his high school coach Jason Jewell said in a release from the program that could have just as easily been describing this year’s sophomore breakout Liam Szarka. “I can’t think of another quarterback that I have coached that I would describe that way. We asked Case to do a lot and take a beating, and he never backed down, never missed a practice, and never passed up a hit … even though I would have liked him to from time to time.”

Air Force football early signing class

List compiled independently by The Gazette, as Air Force cannot release details on recruiting classes.

Ezekiel Alkire       DB   5-11  185    Pearland, Texas 

Jackson Andrews  P   6-0    180      Loganville, Ga. (Walnut Grove)

Jacob Beatty      OT   6-4    295     Columbus, Ohio (Bishop Heartley)

Tayegan Briskey   DB   6-0    180     Boca Raton, Fla. (West)

Wes Burford*        DB    6-0   210      Oakdale, Calif.

Tyson Davis WR 6-5 205 Plano, Texas

Andres DiGrigoli   DB       6-0   185   Naples, Fla.

Owen Dodson TE 6-5 205 Fort Wayne, Ind. (Snider)

Cooper Eastman  OL    6-8   300    Sunnyvale, Texas

Reed Ezell           LB      6-1   205     Cartersville, Ga.

Rakim Finch        WR   5-10   160     Charlotte, N.C. (West)

Cael Gago         OL    6-4   285      Rice Lake, Wis.

Levi Grigson        DB   6-0   190     St. Paul, Minn. (Hill-Murray)

Masyn Harvey     QB    6-2   175     Inglewood, Calif.

Will Hesse       OL         6-3   290    Austin, Texas (Westlake)

Damian Horace*  DB         6-0   170    Conroe, Texas

Braylon Johnson  WR        6-0   170     Falls City, Texas

Blaze Jones*     OLB      6-2   240    Orlando, Fla. (The First Academy)

Grady Kinsey        RB        5-9   197     Gnadenhutten, Ohio (Indian Valley)

Brady Kuhn            LB        6-4   216     Cincinnati (Anderson)

Calix Lemp             WR       6-0   185     Wadsworth, Ohio

Miles Mitchell        DB       6-1   185    Lakewood, Calif. (Mayfair)

Aiden Monigold    OLB     6-4   230    Kernersville, N.C. (Bishop McGuinness)

Mayor Morgan      WR      5-7   170     Choctaw, Okla.

Stryker Reed        ATH     6-0   195     Gordon, Texas

Mason Riddle TE 6-5 230 New Smyrna Beach, Fla.

Lane Rigby          K           6-1   170     Helotes, Texas (O’Connor)

Jayden Riley WR 5-7 165 Atlanta, Texas

Nick Rivera           LB        6-1   217     Cleveland (St. Ignatius)

Caleb Rye            OL        6-5   300     Corona, Calif. (Centennial)

Xander Shaw*    OLB      6-4      240     Steilacoom, Wash.

Aiden Stewart      WR        6-1      175     Avon Lake, Ohio

Case Vanden Bosh*  QB        6-2      200     Phoenix (Brophy College Prep)

Robby Whelan       OL         6-3      285     Draper, Utah (Corner Canyon)

Mickey Widner       LS          5-10    185     Albuquerque, N.M. (La Cueva)

Knight Wilson*       DB         6-0      200     Franklin, Tenn. (Page)

*3-star recruit according to 247Sports