We’re a long way from National Signing Day 2016, but many of the SEC’s top recruiters have been targeting the top players in this class for months now.

According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, the Top 10 players in the class from the state of Kentucky skew toward offense. Three of the seven highest-rated players are offensive linemen.

Mark Stoops and Kentucky are off to a great start with the 2016 recruiting class with 15 current verbal commitments, ranking the team at No. 5 in the country in 247Sports’ Composite. The team is hammering Ohio, as usual, but the Wildcats are making a bid to sign the Top 5 recruits in the Bluegrass State as well.

The only four-star players in the state, center Drake Jackson and offensive tackle Landon Young, already have committed to the Wildcats.

RELATED: Kentucky’s top recruiting targets in 2016

So has Zy’Aire Hughes. Originally recruited by Neal Brown, who since has departed to become head coach at Troy University, Hughes remained a strong UK commitment once the team replaced Brown with Shannon Dawson.

A dual-threat quarterback in high school, Brown had envisioned Hughes playing slot receiver and maybe running some Wildcat at quarterback, though it remains to be seen what he’ll do when he arrives in Lexington in ’16. Reportedly laser-timed at 4.42 seconds in the 40-yard dash, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Hughes also shattered a backboard.

Last year, Kentucky landed just two of the Top 10 players in the state. Five-star running back Damien Harris chose Alabama over Kentucky in a very disappointing decision for the Wildcats, but UK did land four-star outside linebacker Eli Brown.

This year, only six of the 10 already is committed — four to Kentucky and two to Louisville. The highest-rated player on the board, all-purpose back Quinton Baker, is an important recruit for the Wildcats, who could really use Baker’s versatility in the Air Raid offense. The 5-foot-8, 180-pound back can catch passes and is good in space.

Whereas last year’s state-of-Kentucky class finished with one five-star and one four-star player, this year’s currently features zero five-star guys and two four-star players.

Player Rating Position 247 Sports Prediction
1. Drake Jackson 4-star C Kentucky*
2. Landon Young 4-star OT Kentucky*
3. Zy’Aire Hughes 3-star ATH Kentucky*
4. Quinton Baker 3-star RB Kentucky
5. Keion Wakefield 3-star WR Kentucky
6. Rodjay Burns 3-star CB Louisville*
7. Saige Young 3-star G N/A
8. Davonte Robinson 3-star CB Kentucky*
9. Derek Dorsey 3-star DT Louisville*
10. Devon Key 3-star S N/A

*Already committed.