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Five-star cornerback Desmond Ricks reclassifies into 2023

Desmond Ricks
Desmond Ricks (Nick Lucero/Rivals.com)

Five-star cornerback Desmond Ricks announced Saturday that he would be reclassifying to the 2023 class from the 2024 group which will scramble the national and position rankings.

Here is a look and reasoning behind Ricks' ranking and what it means moving forward:

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CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals100

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CLASS OF 2023 CORNERBACK RANKINGS

The Lakeland, Fla., star remains the No. 1 cornerback and there wasn’t much of a discussion about moving Ricks to the top spot with McClain being so exceptional. Florida, Alabama and Miami are battling it out for the five-star standout and he’s expected to make his decision next week.

McClain stays No. 1 because of his length, athletic ability, unique sense of what receivers are going to do and stopping it, he played receiver earlier in his career so he’s very comfortable on an island and his competitiveness level off the charts. The Gators look like the program to beat in his recruitment.

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Ricks moves ahead of Toviano in the five-star rankings and settles in at No. 10 nationally behind Nyckoles Harbor, a high-level athlete who can play on either side of the ball, and ahead of Texas A&M offensive line commit TJ Shanahan Jr.

With his length, toughness, competitive level, playmaking ability and confidence on the outside, Ricks definitely can make an argument as a top-10 player in this class. He’s physically developed to fit right in with the 2023 class and with Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Miami and LSU standing out most, his recruitment is in strong shape.

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We really liked what we saw from Toviano on national television earlier this season but there are at least some questions about his future position. With his size and length - where he could still add significant weight to his frame - will he be a cornerback or a safety? Either is fine but Ricks is a clearer high-level cornerback and that’s why Toviano absolutely remains a five-star but gets bumped back one spot in the position rankings.

LSU looks like the team to beat with Texas A&M, Michigan and others involved but the Arlington (Texas) Martin standout is also cagey about where things might stand in his recruitment.

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When we’ve seen Harris in person, the Phenix City (Ala.) Central high four-star has been outstanding and while he doesn’t have the same length as some other cornerbacks ranked ahead of him, he’s physical, athletic, can run with any receiver out there and then he’s really competitive once the ball is coming his way.

He’s committed to Georgia - and that makes sense. The first corner outside of five-star status, Harris likes to play with a physical mindset and be tough on the outside. Alabama, Clemson and many others were in his recruitment but he’s been committed to the Dawgs since June.

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For the second-straight season, Thomas has missed time and as we factor many things in the next rankings release, we will have to figure out whether he’s worthy to stay in the top five at the cornerback spot or move down because others have been playing so well.

The unfortunate thing is when the Texas A&M commit from Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff is on the field he’s really impactful but both in his junior and senior seasons he’s been sidelined with injuries. Texas commit Malik Muhammad, fellow A&M pledge Bravion Rogers and others are pushing Thomas.

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