Now a month into the season, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney takes a look back at the five-stars in the 2019 and 2018 classes that are still in college football to see how they’re performing. This concludes a weeklong series looking at all the five-stars, by year, who are still playing college football.
THIS SERIES: Checking up on the 2023 five-stars | 2022 five-stars | 2021 five-stars | 2020 five-stars
*****
FINAL 2023 TEAM RANKINGS: Comprehensive (overall) ranking | High school/JUCO ranking | Transfer portal ranking
CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals100
TRANSFER PORTAL: Latest news | Transfer portal player ranking | Transfer portal team ranking | Transfer Tracker | Message board
*****
After a great official visit to LSU, Brooks committed to the Tigers over Alabama. He played one season in Baton Rouge before transferring to TCU, but he’s never really caught on in an impactful way.
As a sophomore he played on special teams then he moved to wide receiver for a time before going back to linebacker. He’s also dealt with injuries. He’s played in three games this season with one tackle and two QB hurries.
*****
USC beat out Michigan, Stanford and Washington for the five-star quarterback from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei who was in the same recruiting class as Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields. He was the second true freshman after Matt Barkley (2009) to start the season opener for USC, but then was injured and eventually lost his job to Kedon Slovis.
Daniels transferred to Georgia, where he started the last four games in 2020 and put up good numbers, but then Stetson Bennett was named the starter and Daniels moved on to West Virginia, where he had good numbers again but got beaten out for the job. Daniels is finishing his career at Rice, where he has thrown for 1,237 yards with 11 TDs and three picks so far this season.
*****
Florida and Alabama were involved in the race, but Miami was always the frontrunner for Lingard, and that’s where the five-star running back from Orange City (Fla.) University ended up committing to then-coach Mark Richt.
He suffered a leg injury in his first season in Coral Gables and then eventually transferred to Florida, where he was used in a reserve role. Lingard is finishing out his college career at Akron.
*****
In maybe the craziest recruitment of the Rivals era, McCoy enrolled at USC but when Kliff Kingsbury left he transferred to Texas only to never play a game there because he transferred back to USC in the summer before the season.
After playing for the Trojans for a couple seasons, he ran into some off-the-field issues and decided to transfer to Tennessee. So far this season, McCoy is second on the team with 15 catches for 196 yards and a touchdown.
*****
Ohio State beat out Florida State and many others for the Virginia Beach (Va.) Bishop Sullivan five-star linebacker who had some bright spots but injuries also hampered him. He was mainly used on special teams and saw limited action his first few seasons but then broke out in 2021 with eight starts and 45 tackles.
However, he played in just four games in 2022 and decided to transfer to Florida. So far this season, Mitchell has seven tackles and a sack for the Gators.
*****
An Auburn legacy since his father, Patrick, played quarterback for the Tigers, too, the five-star quarterback committed there over Ohio State and Clemson. It could have been a storybook ending but after three seasons of solid but uneven performances, Nix transferred to Oregon, where his career really took off.
Last season, he threw for 3,594 yards with 29 TDs and seven picks and he’s off to a phenomenal start this year with 1,169 yards, 11 touchdowns and an interception for the undefeated Ducks.
*****
Michigan and Maryland were involved in his recruitment, but Alabama was the team to beat for a while and that’s where he committed during the Early Signing Period. He’s bounced around a ton since that time, transferring from Alabama to UT-Martin to Michigan.
He's closing out his career at Charlotte, and he’s playing well for the 49ers this season with 22 tackles and two sacks, a forced fumble and five QB hurries.
*****
Alabama was the early leader and then Utah, Georgia and LSU were very involved. But Miami took center stage a few months before his commitment, and the Hurricanes were going to be tough to beat. He played with the Hurricanes for four seasons but was never elite as he caught 52 passes for 680 yards and four touchdowns during that time. He spent a short amount of time at Jackson State before transferring to UMass, where he has 10 catches for 167 yards and one TD this season.
*****
After a visit to Oklahoma, where he spent time with then-coach Lincoln Riley, Baker Mayfield and others, Oklahoma won out for Rattler in the summer before his senior season. He had also been involved with USC but the Trojans didn’t offer after a visit there. After playing for a couple seasons in Norman and having a big 2020 – 3,031 yards and 28 touchdowns – Rattler struggled in 2021 and was losing his job to Caleb Williams.
Rattler transferred to South Carolina and so far this season he’s thrown for 1,242 yards with seven touchdowns and two picks.
*****
Rated third nationally in the 2019 class behind only Derek Stingley Jr. and Nolan Smith, Sanders committed to Alabama over Georgia and Florida as both of those teams made serious late runs in his recruitment.
Sanders had been plagued by injuries throughout his Alabama career and transferred to TCU for this season. He leads the team with four rushing touchdowns.
*****
The five-star offensive lineman from Baton Rouge (La.) Southern Lab made a commitment to LSU years before his signing class and stuck with the Tigers. Thomas only played in four games in 2022 for the Tigers and has since transferred to Florida A&M. He’s played in three games so far this season.
*****
When Thomas has been on the field he’s had some major success, but he also has dealt with COVID complications during one season and a foot injury in another. Still, the former five-star defensive end has totaled 104 tackles (33 for loss) with 16.5 sacks and five forced fumbles.
Thomas’ recruitment came down to Clemson and South Carolina but Alabama, Florida and Florida State were all involved.
*****
After committing to Oklahoma and then backing off that pledge, Wease recommitted to OU and was one of three five-star receivers in the 2019 class with Jadon Haselwood and Trejan Bridges, but none of the three lived up to lofty expectations.
Wease played in 36 games for the Sooners with 64 catches for 1,044 yards and 10 touchdowns before transferring to Missouri. So far this season, Wease has 14 catches for 136 yards and two scores.
*****
Georgia beat out Alabama, Auburn and Clemson for the offensive lineman but he was used as a reserve throughout his career in Athens and then dealt with some off-field issues before transferring to Jacksonville State.
Last season, Webb started seven games and played in 10 of 11 games. So far this year, the former five-star has played in all four.
