It’s that time of year again, time for the Farrell 50, the ranking of the top 50 players in college football by Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell. We start today with Nos. 46-50, which includes two star quarterbacks.
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
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50. QB Jayden Daniels, Arizona State
The skinny: Daniels took his time with his recruitment, especially as a top-rated quarterback, with official visits to Arizona State, California, UCLA and Utah before giving a commitment to the Sun Devils in mid-December. In Tempe, Daniels quickly established himself as a team leader while enjoying an extremely successful true freshman season. His 2020 season only lasted four games due to COVID and injury, but expectations are high that he can regain his 2019 form this fall.
Farrell’s take: Daniels is a wiry quarterback with an arm who can also move around and extend the play. Did last season stunt his development? We will see.
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49. QB Dillon Gabriel, UCF
The skinny: Gabriel initially committed to Army, but then reopened his recruitment during his senior season. He then committed to UCF during the Early Signing Period, after taking official visits to UCF, USC and Georgia. Already with 23 starts at UCF, Gabriel has passed for 7,223 yards and 61 touchdowns during his time with the Knights.
Farrell’s take: A case can be made that Gabriel could be higher on this list and the talented lefty has plenty of weapons. Will Gus Malzahn hinder or help his development?
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48. DB Brandon Joseph, Northwestern
The skinny: Joseph initially committed to Texas Tech, but when Kliff Kingsbury was fired he eventually decided to reopen his recruitment. Northwestern immediately reached out which led to his commitment to the Wildcats approximately a week later. After redshirting during his true freshman season, Joseph became one of the top defensive backs in the Big Ten last fall with 46 tackles and six interceptions.
Farrell’s take: Joseph was a key to the dominant defense of Northwestern last season and his ball skills jump off the tape. He has a chance to show he’s a first-rounder this year.
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47. WR Marvin Mims, Oklahoma
The skinny: Mims initially committed to Stanford during the summer leading up to his senior season, but he then flipped to Oklahoma in November. He also seriously considered Notre Dame and TCU earlier in his recruitment. While the Oklahoma receiving corps is loaded with talent, Mims immediately stepped up during his true freshman season and finished with 37 receptions for 610 yards and nine touchdowns.
Farrell’s take: It wasn’t really expected for Mims to make this big of an impact so early with so many five-star wide receivers on the roster. But he’s so good at adjusting to the ball and is a tireless worker so he’s already the Sooners' No. 1 option and should be even better this year.
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46. WR Zay Flowers, Boston College
The skinny: Flowers committed to Boston College during the Early Signing Period after taking a December official visit to Chestnut Hill. He also considered Nebraska, South Carolina and NC State. After a promising true freshman season, Flowers exploded last fall with 56 receptions for 892 yards and nine touchdowns.
Farrell’s take: Flowers is an absolute dominant receiver and the No. 1 target for Phil Jurkovec in the Boston College offense. If you haven’t heard of him, you will soon.
