Ask Farrell: Best cornerback class, 2013 or 2020?
JUST RELEASED: Updated top 10 for 2020 class revealed
The discussion over the top-rated cornerback in the 2020 class rages on but one thing is certainly evident: Both Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei’s Elias Ricks and Scottsdale (Ariz.) Saguaro’s Kelee Ringo are special players.
Ricks is an extremely long and physical cornerback who had a half-dozen pick sixes in his junior season and he made an early commitment to LSU. Ringo is a big, physical and supremely athletic cornerback who shuts down one side of the field.
Last summer at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas, Ringo won the Fastest on the Field award and Ricks was phenomenal in coverage throughout the event.
Those two, along with Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian’s Fred Davis, a Clemson commit, are the five-star cornerbacks in this class so far. La Habra, Calif., recruit Clark Phillips and Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances’ Luke Hill, an Oregon pledge, round out the top five.
It is still unproven but this cornerback group could be one of the best in recent memory. In the last two recruiting cycles – 2019 and 2018 – there were five five-stars in each of those years. That might have been a little bit of overkill and arguably neither group was as good at the top as this 2020 group with Ricks and Ringo leading the way.
FARRELL'S TAKE
We ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell whether this 2020 group led by those two West players is like the group in 2013 that was led by Vernon Hargreaves III, Kendall Fuller, Jalen Ramsey and Tre’Davious White, who are all enjoying successful NFL careers?
“I like this cornerback class especially at the top but there is no way it’s close to that 2013 group, which is still the best cornerback group I’ve ever scouted at the top. Everyone who knows me knows I was a bigger fan of Fuller and Ramsey than I was of Hargreaves but there was no denying Hargreaves' talent and his Under Armour week performance solidified his No. 1 status. White entered the draft a year after the other three and could be the second-best behind Ramsey, who has become an NFL superstar.
"Ricks and Ringo can be special players for sure, especially with their size and athleticism, but I don’t think this group at the top is as special as the group in 2013 nor will they have the same success. I don’t know if I’ll ever see a better group than 2013.”