Ask Farrell: Who should have been ranked higher from 2018 class?
MORE ASK FARRELL: Is Trevor Lawrence the best QB prospect of the Rivals era? | What does the future hold for Justin Fields?
The 2018 recruiting class has now played nearly its entire freshman season and taking a look back at the rankings, there are some players that should have been higher and some who should have been lower. No. 1 Trevor Lawrence was just right, since he’s had such a great freshman season.
After a season of watching football, an argument could be made for a lot of players to have been higher in the Rivals100, since No. 2 Justin Fields had a highly limited role in Georgia’s offense this season, third-ranked Amon-Ra St. Brown has been good for USC but has not dominated and No. 4 JT Daniels posted decent numbers but is nowhere near having the season of Lawrence.
Here are some names throughout the Rivals100 that have had excellent seasons and one could make an argument that they finished too low in the rankings. Let's start with fifth-ranked Xavier Thomas, who has played in all 11 games for Clemson, with 34 tackles (9.5 for loss) and three sacks. Those are decent stats and Thomas looks like a potential first-round pick with his play this season.
Also at Clemson, receiver Justyn Ross has been one of Lawrence’s favorite targets and he has six touchdown catches, one shy of team leader Tee Higgins. Ross was No. 15 overall in the 2018 rankings and second at receiver behind St. Brown.
Texas safety Caden Sterns (No. 24 overall), Florida State safety Jaiden Woodbey (No. 29), Miami tight end Brevin Jordan (No. 49), Texas safety B.J. Foster (No. 57) and Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez (No. 98) are some other names from the Rivals100 for whom an argument could be made they should have been higher in the final rankings.
We ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell who he thinks should have been higher in the Rivals100, or if there are other players in the Rivals100 not listed above who have surprised him this season.
FARRELL'S TAKE
“There have been a lot of players that have impressed as true freshmen, led by Lawrence, but for me I think we could look at Caden Sterns from Texas in a few years and say we had him too low. No. 24 is impressive for a ranking, but he’s looked at times like a future superstar and a kid who could go down as one of the best defensive backs in the program’s history.
"Cade Mays at Georgia, who we had at No. 19, is another prospect we could look back on and wonder why he wasn’t in the top 10, and Penei Sewell from Oregon at No. 60 could be a first-rounder before all is said and done.
"Adrian Martinez from Nebraska has impressed me with his maturity and has improved each game, so I think he’s another one who is playing above his Rivals100 ranking. There are some, like Xavier Thomas from Clemson, that we expected to be this good this early, but these others are a bit of a surprise.”