Published Jun 24, 2018
New 2020 State Rankings: Mid-Atlantic Region
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Adam Friedman  •  Rivals.com
Rankings Director and National Transfer Portal Analyst
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NEW 2020 STATE RANKINGS: Connecticut | Maryland | Massachusetts | New Jersey | New York | North Carolina | Pennsylvania | Virginia | Washington D.C.

The 2020 class could be historic on a national level but the Mid-Atlantic could follow the same trend. Today we finish unveiling the new 2020 rankings with a closer look at the state rankings. First up is the Mid-Atlantic region.

NEW 2020 STATE RANKINGS

2019 STATE RANKINGS: Mid-Atlantic states rankings | Southeast states | Midwest states | Texas | Florida | West

1. PENNSYLVANIA SET TO HAVE ITS NEXT FIVE-STAR

There have been 16 five-star prospects to come out of Pennsylvania over the years with the two most recent being Penn State's Lamont Wade (2017) and Micah Parsons (2018). It doesn't look like there will be one in 2019 but 2020 stud wide receiver Julian Fleming has a very good chance at moving into that elite club. Fleming has a great size-speed combination and but his quickness and suddenness is what really makes him special. Other than his reliable hands and knack for making acrobatic catches, Fleming can take a short pass over the middle the distance by making defenders miss in the open field, a very impressive skill for a player of his stature.

2. CRABCAKES AND FOOTBALL - THAT'S WHAT MARYLAND DOES

With 12 players in the 2020 Rivals250, there is an outstanding group of prospects in Maryland's 2020 class. In fact, there have never been this many prospects from Maryland in the Rivals250. The second most was in 2006 when 10 prospects, highlighted by Auburn's Benjamin Tate and Penn State stars Aaron Maybin and Navorro Bowman, were in the Rivals250. Maryland's elite 2020 prospects are led by five-star Bryan Bresee, the No. 3 player in the country. He is only the 16th five-star to come out of the state of Maryland and he is the fourth since the 2015 recruiting class. Jordan Toles (No. 33), MarShawn Lloyd (No. 41), Chris Braswell (No. 49) and Demon Clowney (No. 51) give Maryland five players in the top 60 of the Rivals100, another first for the state of Maryland.

3. NORTH CAROLINA IS A HOT BED FOR ... WIDE RECEIVERS?

The state of North Carolina is known for producing elite defensive linemen like Mario Williams, Harold Landry, Dexter Lawrence and many others but the top 10 of the 2020 state rankings are dominated by wide receivers. Granted, there have been some very good wide receivers that played their high school football in North Carolina but there has never been four four-star wide receivers in North Carolina in one year. Porter Rooks, Michael Wyman, Ray Grier and Muhsin Muhammad make up this exceptional group. Some are more technicians and others are athletic freaks but much is expected out of this group.

4. D.C. SURPLUS

Putting politics aside, there are plenty of reasons to turn your attention to Washington D.C. High school football in the nation's capital is on the rise and the 2020 class has a chance to be historic. Until this 2020 class, never has there been more than four prospects rated at least four-stars from Washington D.C. in a single year. The 2016 and 2017 classes each had four players with at least four-stars but there are six already in the 2020 class and there could be more. Five-star linebacker Mekhail Sherman is the highest-ranked followed by Rivals100 prospects Rakim Jarrett and Luke Hill. Rivals250 prospects Anton Harrison, Greg Hudgins and Tre' Williams round out the top six in the Washington D.C. 2020 rankings.

5. BIG PYNES IN THE NORTHEAST

Everybody has been talking about how good this 2020 recruiting class is and one of the things that makes it so special is the major talent coming from unusual places like New England. The region to the east of New York has produced some very good players over the years and there have been some solid classes but, even counting the post-grad players, there hasn't been a group as talented or as deep as the 2020 class. Thanks to Rivals100 prospects Kevin Pyne and Drew Pyne, New England is in line to put out their best class ever. The Pyne cousins are the highest rated prospects in Connecticut (Drew) and Massachusetts (Kevin) but they are also the highest rated players in New England since five-star Christian Wilkins in 2015.

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