Final 2018 state rankings produce intriguing developments

This week marked the final rankings update of the 2018 cycle, with changes impacting everything from the Rivals100 to the positional and team rankings. Today marks the release of the final batch of 2018 state rankings as well, with some major changes at the top of some of nation’s most important talent-producing states. Here were some top storylines of the final update.

FINAL 2018 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Team | Position

RELATED: Team rankings continue to evolve | Rivals Rankings Podcast

Coaches are often judged by how they do in their first full recruiting cycle, and with a full year to recruit the state of Texas as the head man in Austin, Tom Herman didn’t disappoint. The Longhorns will finish the class of 2018 with no worse than five of the state’s top six players, including new No. 1 overall prospect, safety signee Caden Sterns. Even without a haul that already includes six of the state’s top eight players, keeping Sterns close to home is noteworthy. The year 2018 will mark the first time that Texas has signed the state’s top player since Malcolm Brown in 2011. In that span, Florida State has signed the No. 1 player twice (2012, 2017), with Ohio State (2013), Texas A&M (2014), UCLA (2015) and Ole Miss (2016) all signing the Lone Star State’s top player once.

Florida is known for producing elite players on a yearly basis, and with the addition of IMG Academy, top-end talent in the state is the best it’s ever been. This year, the final Florida state rankings feature nine five-star prospects, with IMG Academy prospect and South Carolina native Xavier Thomas headlining the list. The nine five-stars are the most Florida has produced since 2015, when future college stars Derwin James, Calvin Ridley, Deon Cain, Ray-Ray McCloud and others were part of an 11-member Florida five-star class.

The Georgia Bulldogs may have missed out on the state’s No. 1 overall player, Clemson quarterback signee Trevor Lawrence, but that doesn’t do anything to lessen the historic in-state haul for the Dawgs in 2018. Georgia landed four of the state’s top five players, all of which are ranked as five-stars, and are led by the state’s No. 2 overall player, quarterback Justin Fields. The year 2018 marks the first time that Georgia has signed four in-state, five-star prospects in the Rivals.com era. The five five-stars are also tied with 2016 for the most the Peach State has had in the Rivals.com era.

Since coming off NCAA sanctions earlier in the decade, USC has been a roll on the recruiting trail, especially when it comes to prospects from California. But 2018 marks a new milestone. With the state’s No. 1 (WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) and No. 2 players (JT Daniels) committed, it’s the first time the Trojans have nabbed the state’s top two prospects since 2006, when USC actually landed the state’s top six players. That group included eventual contributors such as Allen Bradford, Stafon Johnson and C.J. Gable. It’s still possible that the Trojans land uncommitted five-stars Olaijah Griffin (No. 3) and Isaac Taylor-Stuart (No. 5), which would complete a truly historical year.

Five-star offensive lineman Jackson Carman remained the No. 1 overall player in the state of Ohio, marking just the second time since 2013 that the Buckeye State’s highest-ranked player isn’t headed to Ohio State. But Carman wasn’t alone in being a state’s No. 1 player to head to Clemson. In fact, the Tigers landed the No. 1 player in Georgia (Trevor Lawrence), Florida (Xavier Thomas), Ohio (Carman), South Carolina (Derion Kendrick) and are believed to be the front-runners to land Alabama’s No. 1 player, five-star wide receiver, Justyn Ross. The Tigers also have signatures from North Carolina’s No. 2 player, K.J. Henry, and Georgia’s No. 7 player, Kyler McMichael. It’s clear that following the team’s historic success over the past three seasons, Clemson’s reach on the recruiting trail continues to grow.

Once again, the No. 1 player in the state of Virginia is headed out of state, as five-star linebacker Teradja Mitchell is bound for Ohio State. Just three of the state’s top players are set to stay in-state, as No. 5 prospect Armani Chatman, No. 7 prospect James Mitchell and No. 10 prospect Cole Beck are all headed to Virginia Tech. Mitchell’s decision marks the seventh consecutive year that the state’s No. 1 player has left to go to school outside of the state. Class of 2012 Virginia No. 1 defensive end Eli Harold was the last top overall player to stay close to home. He signed with Virginia that year.