Farrell Postseason 50: Nos. 46-50
With the college football regular season over and bowl games underway, it’s time for the final installment of the Farrell 50, National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell's ranking of the nation's top 50 college football players for 2016.
However, as usual here at Rivals.com, we take a quick look at how each ranked out of high school and if they are exceeding or simply living up to expectations.
The countdown begins with a look at Nos. 50-46, led by two stat-stuffing running backs.
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
MORE: Farrell Freshman 15
The skinny: Wilkins took official visits to Clemson, Stanford, Penn State, Ohio State and Boston College before committing to the Tigers at the Under Armour All-American Game. Wilkins came into the 2016 season with high expectations after an impressive true freshman season. He responded by totaling 44 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, one fumble recovery and six pass breakups to form a dominant interior line with Carlos Watkins.
Farrell’s take: I remember the first time I saw Wilkins on film. It was after his freshman season, and his athletic ability was off the charts while he was waiting for his first offer. (Boston College offered days after). As a Connecticut prospect, he didn’t get the national attention of many until later in his career, but I knew how good he was from Day 1. Wilkins had already turned into one of the elite defensive tackles in the country as a freshman and showed his versatility this year playing end.
The skinny: Pumphrey committed to San Diego State prior to his senior season after also considering Colorado, Utah, Duke and Nevada. UNLV, his hometown school, also became a serious threat near Signing Day, but Pumphrey decided to not take a visit. After rushing for 1,867 yards in 2014 and 1,653 yards in 2015, Pumphrey rushed for 2,133 yards and 17 touchdowns this fall, which enabled him to break Ron Dayne's NCAA record for career-rushing yards with 6,411. He also added 231 yards receiving, which placed him tops in the country this season with 2,364 yards from scrimmage.
Farrell’s take: Pumphrey was a low three-star prospect who lacked great size but had serious speed and wiggle. Size was our main concern with him and his college level of competition is in question here, as he has put up some big numbers against some very poor teams. But how do you keep him off this list? He’d put up major numbers in numerous Power Five conferences - maybe not to the extent he has at San Diego State, but still big numbers - and he’s set some big records in college.
Visit AztecSportsReport.com for coverage of San Diego State.
The skinny: Landry surprised many with a commitment to Boston College soon after he had named Duke as his favorite. However, after visiting Boston and interacting with the coaching staff, he quickly committed to the Eagles. The coaching staff was also able to hold off numerous top programs who went after Landry until Signing Day. Landry followed up an impressive 2015 season by totaling an NCAA leading 15 sacks and seven forced fumbles, plus 46 tackles and 20.5 tackles for a loss, in 2016.
Farrell’s Take: I remember watching film of defensive tackle Lamont Gaillard, who another website inexplicably ranked as a five-star, over and over again trying to see if I was missing anything (I wasn’t), and seeing this defensive end come off the edge and make play after play. That was Landry, who we made a four-star after that and who ended up ranked much higher than his hyped up teammate. Landry was undersized but he was strong, quick and had a tremendous shoulder dip. He’s turned into an elite pass rusher in college and has lived up to his ranking.
The skinny: Ramczyk’s road to Madison took a very interesting route. When then-Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst took the Pitt job, Ramczyk was offered a scholarship by the Panthers but he chose not to take it. He signed at Winona State, but did not enroll and instead attended Mid-State Technical College. Ramczyk then went to Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he played for two seasons before transferring to Wisconsin. He quickly adjusted to the Big Ten with the Badgers and has become another in a long-line of impressive offensive linemen to come through the program in recent years.
Farrell’s take: Ramczyk was clearly not on our radar as a Winona State University signee. He went from Winona State to a technical college to become a welder to UW-Stevens Point and now Wisconsin. And now he could end up being the top offensive tackle taken in this class if he keeps improving. Think Jack Conklin with a less direct path to college football.
The skinny: McCaffrey was always considered a heavy Stanford lean - his father, Ed McCaffrey, was a star receiver for the Cardinal. Because of this, it came as no surprise that he committed to Stanford in early May of his junior year. McCaffrey has torched college defenses since he arrived in Palo Alto, and despite a lingering injury this fall he still totaled 1,913 yards from scrimmage, with 1,596 yards rushing, 317 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns.
Farrell’s take: Despite another great statistical season, McCaffrey comes in lower than expected on this list probably because this year was a step down from his amazing 2015. No one saw this coming out of high school and if they say they did, they are related to him or lying. We loved McCaffrey's versatility out of high school, but we expected him to be more of a slasher/third-down guy instead of the workhorse he has been; it would have been fun to see what numbers he would have put up if he stayed healthy all season. He's not big, but he's sneaky strong, super quick and has smarts and vision. I'm still happy with our ranking here of a kid from Colorado who played against average competition in high school.
