Hit or Miss: Are these players living up to their rankings?
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
Did we get it right or did we get it wrong? Each week during the college football season we will pick five players who had outstanding weeks and look at their careers so far and determine if our rankings were a hit or a miss. Here are this week’s standouts.
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*****
The skinny: Despite claiming that USC was his “dream school,” Tagovailoa committed to Alabama after a trip that saw him also visit Auburn and Ole Miss during the spring after his junior season. Both USC and UCLA continued to pursue Tagovailoa, but neither were able to beat out the Tide. At Alabama, Tagovailoa continues to churn out jaw-dropping performances. At South Carolina on Saturday afternoon, he completed 28 of 36 passes for 444 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions during the smooth victory.
Farrell's take: HIT. He wasn't a five-star, but as a national top 60 player I can't say we missed on him. Has he played better than expected? Yes. But as a high four-star the talented lefty we saw in high school is certainly not shocking the world.
We liked his accuracy and his arm strength was solid. The weapons he has at Alabama certainly help, as his receiving group is ridiculous. Some could argue he should have been a five-star, but I'm not disappointed in his ranking at all.
*****
The skinny: Simmons took official visits to Clemson, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska and Illinois before committing to the Tigers on National Signing Day. His final official visit was to Clemson, which helped put the Tigers over the top. Despite an impressive 2018 season, Simmons never truly received the attention he deserved due to the star-studded defensive line in Death Valley. Now with all those players in the NFL, Simmons has started off 2019 the way he finished 2018. Against Syracuse on Saturday night, he was the best player on the field, finishing with 11 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
Farrell's take: MISS. A high three-star ranking is nothing to sneeze at and we liked Simmons out of Kansas, but he's projecting as a first-round talent and is one of the best linebackers in the country. He was a big safety coming out of high school who was solid in coverage but the fact that he could grow into a linebacker and bring a different skill set to the table was one of the difficulties in ranking him. You'd think that would be a positive, but it led to more questions than answers.
*****
The skinny: Hurts named a top four of Alabama, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Florida before committing to the Crimson Tide less than a week later in June.
Despite his impressive accomplishments at Alabama, Hurts eventually lost the starting job to Tua Tagovailoa. This led to his much-publicized transfer to Oklahoma. Some wondered how Hurts would perform away from Tuscaloosa, and through three games he has excelled. Dominating on Saturday night at UCLA, Hurts finished with 289 yards and three touchdowns through the air, completing 15 of 20 passes while adding 150 yards and one touchdown on the ground on 14 carries.
Farrell's take: MISS. Hurts was a four-star out of high school and in our Rivals250, so it's hard to say he's a miss, but based on his play at Alabama and how he's doing at Oklahoma, he should have been rated higher. He was always a very good runner and a calm, collected kid in the pocket out of high school, but he had some accuracy issues. Those flaws showed up early in his career, but he looks like a much better passer now at Oklahoma and is putting it all together.
*****
The skinny: Gabriel initially committed to Army, but then reopened his process during his senior season. He then committed to UCF during the Early Signing Period, after taking official visits to UCF, USC and Georgia.
The initial thought was that grad-transfer Brandon Wimbush would be the starting quarterback for the Golden Knights this season, but Gabriel has quickly taken control of the offense. He further solidified his status by completing 22 of 30 passes for 347 yards and four touchdowns during a surprisingly easy home victory against Stanford.
Farrell's take: HIT. It's too early to say this is a miss for us, as Gabriel is just starting to show his talents and we did have him as a high three-star despite not being heavily recruited out of Hawaii. In time, this could be considered a miss, but based on his lack of size and accuracy issues in high school, this is a good ranking.
*****
The skinny: Dobbins also considered Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Texas, but when Ohio State offered in mid-February it only took him a couple of weeks before deciding to commit to the Buckeyes.
After a somewhat disappointing sophomore season in Columbus, Dobbins has responded very well in the early stages of 2019. That continued at Indiana on Saturday, with 193 yards and one touchdown on the ground, plus a receiving touchdown during the victory.
Farrell's take: HIT. Dobbins was injured his senior year of high school, and we had every chance to drop him in a strong running backs class but we didn't - and I'm glad we stuck firm. He was so dynamic in space coming out that we felt he would be a home run hitter if he recovered well, and he did just that. He's living up to that national top 75 player ranking we gave him.