Florida, Texas producing high number of five-star WRs

Over the history of Rivals dating back to 2002, certain states have produced more five-star prospects than others at certain positions. Today, we move to wide receivers, which states have been most impactful and which ones have done surprisingly well.

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The names: Lance Leggett, Trey Metoyer, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Terrance Toliver, Theo Wease, Jaylen Waddle, Demond Demas, Trejan Bridges

Overview: From the start of Rivals in 2002 until the 2018 recruiting class, there were only three five-star receivers from the state of Texas in Leggett, Metoyer and Toliver. But over the last few cycles there has been an explosion of them, although it hasn’t necessarily benefited the in-state schools.

Waddle picked Alabama and he’s a superstar there. Wease is getting going at Oklahoma and Bridges is serving a suspension. Demas is the only five-star receiver ever from Texas to pick an in-state school - Texas A&M - as the Longhorns have had a tough time keeping these elite playmakers home.

Farrell’s take: Texas has been producing more elite skill position players in recent years after a bit of a drought and wide receiver is right at the forefront. There have been some busts, but those are from long ago and the recent group shows a lot of promise. Dez Bryant should have been a five-star and the same for CeeDee Lamb and I think Garrett Wilson will make us regret only giving him four stars as well. This is a state on the come up for the position and the Longhorns and Aggies need to fend schools off.

The names: Xavier Carter, Trevon Grimes, Calvin Ridley, Ryan Moore, Mario Williams, Deon Cain, Dishon Platt, Andre Debose, Fred Rouse, George Campbell, Travis Rudolph, Jerry Jeudy, Sammy Watkins, Ermon Lane, Nelson Agholor, Andre Caldwell, Mark Pope

Overview: There seem to be three distinct issues when it comes to five-star receivers from the state of Florida: About half have left the state to play college football, many of those who stayed have not exactly panned out and the ones that ended up at Alabama became superstars. On that third point, the two five-stars from Florida who played for the Crimson Tide - Calvin Ridley and Jerry Jeudy - were both first-round NFL Draft selections.

Farrell’s take: Once again the Sunshine State is where to go for speed and athleticism and the wide receiver group has been impressive, but there are a ton of busts here as well which is puzzling. Jeudy, Ridley and Watkins all lived up to the hype while guys like Campbell and Lane fell flat. There should be more success stories here, but many have gone on to the NFL so that’s good. We just need to do a better job of picking the elite.

The names: Ben Obomanu, Chad Jackson, George Pickens, Justyn Ross, Julio Jones

Overview: Over the years, Alabama has produced more five-star receivers than many other elite football states - and especially recently that state has churned out some of the best receivers in the game. Everyone knows Jones and his accomplishments and then Ross picked Clemson over Alabama and he’s been a superstar for the Tigers before getting injured. Georgia's Pickens is one of the best receivers in the SEC, if not the country.

Farrell’s take: The successful ones have been recent led by Jones who is still a star in the NFL and Pickens and Ross, who are in college. The talent in the state of Alabama has increased exponentially since the arrival of Nick Saban and I’m not sure what kind of coincidence that is.

California and Louisiana lead the other states with seven five-star receivers each and then there is a significant drop-off to Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee and Missouri with three each. Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington, D.C., have had two five-star WRs in each state. Oklahoma, Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Mississippi, New Jersey and Washington are represented with one each.