The 2016 recruiting cycle is all but finished, however, recruiting never really stops. So now we look forward to junior days, spring football and the announcement of graduate transfers.

All of these things and more make up the recruiting storylines we’ll be following over the next few months.

Graduate transfers

As one recruitment period ends another begins. Graduate transfers have become major part of filling holes in college football and you better believe it’s gotten the NCAA’s attention.

The SEC will again be major players, and the hottest rumor is Alabama looking at a running back transfer with Stanford’s Barry Sanders Jr. being the most mentioned name. Michigan’s Derrick Green is another running back looking for a graduate school.

Former Illinois linebacker T.J. Neal is said to be visiting Auburn, and the Tigers are also in the race for Rhode Island offensive lineman Tyler Catalina. Catalina, a 6-foot-8, 300-pound transfer is also looking at Alabama and Florida.

Graduate transfers tend a be a little more under the radar, but they can make a big difference in the fall.

The race for Robertson

We broke down the Demetris Robertson situation yesterday as two SEC programs, Alabama and Georgia, continue to wait for the five-star wide receiver from Savannah, Ga.

Robertson is apparently set on an official visit to Georgia next weekend and there still isn’t word on whether he made the necessary SAT score to qualify for a visit to Stanford.

Robertson has two official visits left and it looks like his timetable for a decision will be late February-early March.

The influx of new arms

Several SEC programs signed top quarterback prospects this season and many are already on campus.

Some, like Georgia’s five-star recruit Jacob Eason, will be battling for a starting position while others like Florida’s Feleipe Franks, Tennessee’s Jarrett Guarantano and Alabama’s Jalen Hurts are good possibilities for redshirt seasons.

One of the more interesting situations will be Brandon McIlwain at South Carolina. He won’t generate the same the same spring football headlines that Eason gets, but he could be another true freshman who plays on opening day.

Upcoming junior days

Alabama already is off to a good early start on 2017’s recruiting class. Its class currently is ranked second, well behind Ohio State but with plenty of time to catch up.

The next highest-rated SEC team is Kentucky at 11.

The other programs will look to their upcoming junior days to start crafting the 2017 classes.

Auburn always makes a big jump with their Big Cat Weekend in late May. Others will look to make their first major surge of the 2017 recruiting cycle when spring football comes to a close in early-to-mid April.

The upcoming junior days will be a good indication of which targets will commit early and who will take it all the way to National Signing Day, which is only 355 days away.