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Rankings Rewind: Current NFL and college stars as recruits
Ahead of another loaded weekend of college and NFL games, take a look at where some of the biggest names in the sport were ranked as high school recruits and whether or not their ranking was a Hit or a Miss.
Keeping Burden away from Oklahoma and the other national powerhouse programs was a massive win for Missouri and head coach Eli Drinkwitz. Burden was originally committed to the Sooners and also considered Georgia and Alabama before signing with the Tigers. He finished the 2022 rankings cycle ranked as the No. 1 receiver in the Rivals250 and No. 4 overall. During his senior season he recorded 71 catches for 1,174 yards and a total of 20 touchdowns.
Burden was an instant success at Missouri. During his freshman season he made a number of highlight reel plays, including a touchdown on a punt return. Burden showed he was a premier playmaker last season, pulling in 88 catches for 1,212 yards and nine touchdown catches. He is considered a lock as a first round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Verdict: Hit
Darnold wasn’t one for drama during the recruiting process. He committed to USC in July before his senior season and Darnold, who didn’t attend any events in the offseason, didn’t blow away scouts during the Army All-American Bowl. He finished the rankings cycle as a four-star ranked No. 179 in the Rivals250 but that didn’t stop him from having a standout college career. In nearly two seasons as a starter Darnold amassed 7,221 passing yards and 57 touchdown passes. He won Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the year in 2016 and was first team All-Pac-12 in 2017.
Darnold went on to be selected third overall by the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft. His NFL career has not been the success that he’d hoped. After three years with the Jets, Darnold was traded to Carolina. He was with the Panthers for two seasons and then signed with San Francisco. He started just one game that year and signed a one year deal with Minnesota for this season. Darnold is having the best season of his professional career with the Vikings. They’re undefeated and Darnold has thrown for 11 touchdowns (something he hasn’t done since the 2019 season) and has his highest completion percentage of his career.
Now in his seventh year in the NFL, it’s fair to say the ranking Darnold received as a high school prospect was ultimately proven correct. That being said, our rankings are judged on the NFL Draft and, with that as a barometer, Darnold’s ranking was far too low.
Verdict: Miss
The battle for No. 1 in the 2018 Rivals250 was hotly contested. Fields ended up finishing No. 2, right behind Trevor Lawrence, which turned out to be correct. He was originally committed to Penn State but decommitted in June after his junior year. Fields committed to Georgia in October of his senior season but college career didn’t get off to a great start. Fields signed with Georgia but transferred to Ohio State after just one year after a player on Georgia’s baseball team directed a racial slur at him.
The fresh start at Ohio State did wonders for Fields. He was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, won a Big Ten Championship, and came within a touchdown of making it to the national title game. The following year Fields led Ohio State to an undefeated season, winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and the Big Ten Championship again. The Buckeyes, however, lost to Alabama in the national title game.
Fields was picked No. 11 overall by the Chicago Bears in the 2021 NFL Draft but has yet to really find his footing. The Bears traded Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this year. He wasn’t named the starter after the preseason but has started every game this season because of an injury to Russell Wilson. The Steelers are 3-1 so far with Fields as their starter.
Verdict: Hit
An Ohio native, Johnson wasn’t heavily pursued by the Buckeyes but that didn’t stop him from amassing a very solid offer sheet. He performed very well during the offseason after his junior year and earned Running Back MVP honors at the Rivals Camp Series in Indianapolis.
The following month, Johnson announced his commitment to Cal after taking an official visit to the Berkeley campus. He ended up flipping to Iowa in mid-October and has blossomed into one of the best running backs in college Football. In his first two seasons at Iowa, Johnson carried the ball 268 times for 1,240 yards and nine touchdowns.
Now in his third season with the Hawkeyes, Johnson has nine touchdowns on 82 carries with 685 rushing yards – the most rushing yards of any Power Four player. Johnson’s four-star rating sure is looking good right now.
Verdict: Hit
Klubnik was the top-ranked quarterback in the 2022 Rivals250 and earned in with a track record of impressive performances and high end production against top competition throughout his high school career. His college career has not gone the way he or the Clemson faithful had expected.
Klubnik played sparingly during his freshman season and then moved into the starting role for the 2023 season. He led the team to a 9-4 record but it was a dramatic season full of growing pains. This season did not start off any better. Clemson was soundly defeated by Georgia but the Tigers have looked like a different team since then – rattling off three-straight wins with an average margin of victory of 32 points.
In the most recent three games of this season Klubnik has thrown for 12 touchdowns, run for four touchdowns, and turned the ball over once. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of this season and next year go for Klubnik but right now it’s hard to call Klubnik’s high school ranking anything but a miss.
Verdict: Miss
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