Published Jan 20, 2020
Ask Farrell: Should Demond Demas be the top-ranked WR?
Adam Gorney and Mike Farrell
Rivals.com
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One of the hottest debates as the 2020 rankings are finishing up is whether there are too many five-stars at the wide receiver position and what the order should be after seeing all these players at various all-star events.

Ohio State signee Julian Fleming has continued to stay atop the position rankings after an impressive week at Under Armour and then heading into the last rankings cycle he was followed by Maryland signee Rakim Jarrett, Notre Dame signee Jordan Johnson, Ohio State signee Jaxon Smith-Njigba and then Texas A&M signee Demond Demas.

All are currently five-stars.

But the debate here really centers around Demas, who had a phenomenal week at the Polynesian Bowl where he showed off otherworldly athleticism, excellent playmaking ability and the dynamic look of someone who could finish much higher in the rankings.

The concerns: The Houston (Texas) Tomball prospect did not play in his senior season because of transfer rules so missing that much time could be an issue. He also did not participate in either the Under Armour game or the All-American Bowl, where the rosters were loaded with elite players across the board.

He’s not the only one as other five-stars including Elias Ricks and Justin Flowe opted not to participate as well.

But then Demas shows up in Hawaii – against very impressive competition – and looked dominant at times. He has impressive length, he’s a bouncy receiver who can make the highlight-reel catch look easy and he went viral by jumping over three players and “dunking” the football over the crossbar.

With everything to consider, and a lot at stake because these are the last rankings, we ask Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell whether he believes Demas should be the top-rated receiver in this class after his performance all week at the Poly Bowl or whether Fleming or someone else should still be higher?

FARRELL'S TAKE

“Demas is a great talent and has amazing upside and a high ceiling for sure. I’d put him right near the top of the wide receiver rankings for sure and it’s an excellent debate at the top between Demas and Fleming at least for me.

"Fleming is more of a sure thing at the next level and beyond, while Demas could be a Dez Bryant, CeeDee Lamb type but also has a high bust factor. This is a loaded wide receiver class and I can see many wideouts who didn’t earn five-stars going on to amazing careers. Remember, Mike Thomas was a four-star coming out of high school and he’s a record-breaking NFL star now.”