Ask Farrell: Should Fields have been ranked ahead of Lawrence?

MORE ASK FARRELL: Should Notre Dame dump Kelly and pursue Meyer? | Biggest surprise at top of team recruiting ranks?

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals100 | Position | Team | State

In the 2018 recruiting class, Trevor Lawrence grabbed the top spot early and never relinquished it.

He was a five-star quarterback with tremendous ability, a special prospect who could arguably be a once-in-a-generation talent who didn’t have drama in his recruitment, picked Clemson, never wavered, and he won a national championship in his freshman season.

That kind of performance and notoriety made people wonder just how special Lawrence would be in his college career and there has already been talk of him being the No. 1 NFL Draft pick in two years.

But Lawrence has come back down to Earth a little bit this season, still leading the Tigers to an undefeated record but he’s thrown eight interceptions this year, fourth-most among all Power Five quarterbacks.

Still, his other stats have been strong as Lawrence has thrown for 1,809 yards and 17 touchdowns and he’s rushed for five more scores.

The career of the No. 2 prospect in the 2018 class - five-star quarterback Justin Fields - did not start so hot. He was Jake Fromm’s backup at Georgia and largely only saw the field in running situations.

It wasn’t working. So Fields transferred to Ohio State, gained immediate eligibility, won the starting job and he’s been fantastic for the Buckeyes.

So far this season, Fields has thrown for 1,659 yards with 24 touchdowns and one interception and he’s also rushed for nine more scores. There is significant talk of the former five-star being squarely in the Heisman Trophy discussion.

Considering the college careers of Lawrence and Fields so far - and how they could be drafted into the NFL after next season - we ask Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell if he believes Lawrence and Fields should have flip-flopped in the final 2018 rankings or if he feels we got it right.

“We got it right, but I’ve gone on record saying that the gap between Lawrence, at No 1, and Fields at No 2 was a big one. And it appears as if it’s not as big as I thought.

"I still liked Lawrence much better out of high school, but right now anyone would have a hard time picking between the two quarterbacks if they were starting a team. Fields has been so impressive in Ryan Day’s offense at Ohio State that he is having a better year than Lawrence and I never would have thought that to be the case coming in. The 2021 NFL Draft is going to be fun to watch and these guys will go 1-2 overall.”