In a new series, National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney has broken down the roster of every NFL team in terms of star ratings for players in high school, which conferences have the most players on each team and which states those players come from as well. Below is a breakdown of the NFC North as National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell offers his thoughts and memories on each roster.
MORE: AFC East breakdown | AFC North | AFC South | AFC West | NFC East | NFC North
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ATLANTA FALCONS
Atlanta has two five-stars on its entire roster and, this cannot be a coincidence, both were five-star receivers who played at Alabama. Julio Jones, the No. 4 player in the 2008 class, and Calvin Ridley, No. 9 in the 2015 class, are the two-five stars for the Falcons.
Something else interesting, and this might truly be a coincidence, is that the two quarterbacks on Atlanta’s opening-day roster are both from Pennsylvania and both played in the ACC. Matt Ryan starred at Philadelphia (Pa.) William Penn before going on to Boston College and Matt Schaub was a pre-Rivals prospect from West Chester (Pa.) East before playing at Virginia.
More than any other star ranking, there are 21 three-stars on the Falcons’ roster including Ryan, tight end Austin Hooper, defensive lineman Grady Jarrett and linebacker Vic Beasley. Sixteen players from non-Power Five schools are on the team and then among Power Five conferences the ACC is most-represented with 12 players. Atlanta has three players from Alabama (Jones, Ridley and OL James Carpenter) and two from LSU (WR Russell Gage, and LB Deion Jones. There are no Big 12 players on Atlanta’s roster.
Farrell's take: Zero Big 12 players on the roster is very odd and the number of three stars is quite prominent. Ryan ran a Wing T in high school which is why he wasn’t heavily recruited and he was just a three-star. Jones was one of the most physically dominant wide receivers I’ve ever scouted and Ridley was an easy five-star evaluation as well. Some guys like Beasley obviously should have been higher ranked.
CAROLINA PANTHERS
If there is a test case for high school rankings translating to NFL teams, then the Carolina Panthers have a roster that could make a run deep into the playoffs.
Carolina has seven former five-star prospects on the roster in quarterbacks Cam Newton and Kyle Allen, receiver Ray-Ray McCloud, tight end Greg Olsen, offensive lineman Greg Little, defensive lineman Gerald McCoy and linebacker Shaq Thompson.
Not only that but the Panthers have a lot of highly-rated four-stars in RB Christian McCaffrey, WR Curtis Samuel, DL Brian Burns, LB Christian Miller, DB Donte Jackson and others. That’s not even mentioning three-star LB Luke Kuechly, who was clearly mis-ranked coming out of high school.
Five of Carolina’s offensive linemen played in non-Power Five programs and there are four two-star linemen on the team in Mario Addison, Vernon Butler, Dontari Poe and Kyle Love. There are 14 total players from non-Power Five schools playing for the Panthers and of the Power Five teams there are 12 from the SEC including three from LSU in Jackson, DB Eric Reid and OL Trai Turner.
Farrell's take: This roster is a who’s who of high school stars some who were overrated (Allen) based on college results and some who were underrated (McCaffrey). The best player on the team was a three-star safety in high school as Kuechley had a growth spurt when he hit college. Newton remains the rare double five-star as he was a five out of high school and out of Junior College. It’s fun to watch this team because there are so many elite former high school stars I covered.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
The Saints have one of the best teams in the NFL and it’s reflective by having eight five-stars on the roster in RB Alvin Kamara, WR Ted Ginn Jr., OL Andrus Peat, DL Mario Edwards Jr. and Malcom Brown, LBs Stephone Anthony and Ray-Ray Armstrong and DB Vonn Bell.
But New Orleans also has a significant amount of players who played on non-Power Five teams, leading the way with 15. The Big Ten is also well-represented from the Power Five conferences with 11 players and guys from Ohio State are especially focused on as Bell, Ginn, WR Michael Thomas and DBs Eli Apple and Marshon Lattimore all played their college ball in Columbus.
Four-star defensive backs are definitely a big focus on New Orleans’ roster as there are five of them in Apple, Lattimore, Florida State standouts Patrick Robinson and P.J. Williams, Chauncey-Gardner Johnson out of Florida and Colorado’s Ken Crawley. Low-ranked offensive linemen were also noticed with two of them as two-stars (Erik McCoy and Patrick Omameh) and four others (Ryan Ramczyk, Nick Easton, Terron Armstead and Ethan Greenidge) completely unranked.
Farrell's take: The Saints are loaded with stars as well and the best player besides Drew Brees (pre Rivals) is Michael Thomas who flat out told me we should have had him ranked as a five-star coming out of high school. Kamara was a four-star out of high school and a five-star out of JUCO. Ginn Jr. was ranked as a comer out of high school and one of the highest ranked players at that position in our history.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
The first thing that stands out about Tampa Bay’s roster is the number of SEC defensive backs. The Buccaneers have five cornerbacks or safeties from that conference in Auburn’s Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean, Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves, Kentucky’s Mike Edwards and South Carolina’s Darian Stewart.
Something else that absolutely sticks out is the number of unranked players during the Rivals era and non-Power Five players. There are 15 players who were unranked and 20 from non-Power Five schools especially at offensive line with Ryan Jensen (Colorado State-Pueblo), Alex Cappa (Humboldt State), Ali Marpet (Hobart), Earl Watford and Josh Wells (James Madison) and Demar Dotson (Southern Miss). Of the Power Five schools, the SEC has the most with 12 - three from LSU and three from Auburn.
There are four five-stars on Tampa Bay’s roster in quarterback Jameis Winston, TE O.J. Howard, DL William Gholston and Hargreaves.
Farrell's take: This is not a great team and two of their five stars — Winston and Hargreaves — have been below average in the NFL. The SEC connection in the secondary and on defense overall is impressive and you’d think would lead to better results. Mike Evans is a freak and was as raw as they come out of high school but a four-star based on his potential and ceiling.
