PREVIOUS: Nos. 26-30 | 31-35 | 36-40 | 41-45 | 46-50
With the college football season nearly upon us, it’s time for another installment of the Farrell 50, the top 50 college football players in the country. However, as usual here at Rivals.com, we take a quick look at how each ranked out of high school and if they are exceeding or simply living up to expectations.
We are unveiling five per day leading into the start of the college football season.
Today we continue with Nos. 21-25, headlined by a pair of standout signal callers.
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report
The skinny: Kelly committed to Clemson in the summer of 2011, but that was just the beginning of his football journey. After redshirting in 2012 and seeing minimal playing time in 2013, Kelly was dismissed from the program due to conduct detrimental to the team in the spring of 2014. He made his way to East Mississippi Community College where he excelled. After taking official visits to Ole Miss and Indiana, Kelly committed to the Rebels in December 2014. In his first season in Oxford, Kelly passed for 4,042 yards and 31 touchdowns, while leading the Rebels to a 10-3 record.
Farrell’s take: Kelly has been a tough evaluation at two spots, out of high school and then out of JUCO, because he's had so many different off-the-field issues. His play on the field to go along with his size, mobility and accuracy make him a potentially special signal-caller and he showed a lot of that last year. His on-field skill has never been questioned and he would have been ranked higher out of high school and JUCO without the other issues. This year he could be one of the nation’s elite.
The skinny: Barkley was originally committed to Rutgers but re-opened his process as additional offers began to pile up. Soon after, Penn State began to make Barkley a recruiting priority and a flip to the Nittany Lions occurred in February after his junior season. After dealing with injuries through the first part of his true freshman season last fall, Barkley emerged to become one of the top backs in the Big Ten. Rushing for 1,007 yards and seven touchdowns on 165 carries, he became Penn State’s top offensive weapon and a major source of celebration for Nittany Lion fans.
Farrell’s take: Barkley was an upright slasher who showed good receiving skills out of high school, so it's not a huge surprise he's made a nice impact early. But to this level? That’s a bit ahead of schedule as he’s become a dominant Big Ten back already and, if he continues to progress, could be in the Heisman discussion by his junior year. His lower body strength and power to run through some arm tackles has improved greatly. A very athletic kid, Barkley was a guy who pushed for Rivals100 status but is showing early he should have been ranked higher.
The skinny: Perine committed to the Sooners almost a year prior to National Signing Day and never wavered. As a true freshman in 2014, Perine had a huge season with 1,713 yards and 21 touchdowns. Last year, while splitting some of his carries with Joe Mixon, he totaled 1,349 yards and 16 touchdowns. It should be interesting to see how the Sooners use both backs this season but, whatever their philosophy is, you can be sure that Perine will get plenty of opportunities.
Farrell’s take: Perine is and was a beast with Earl Campbell-sized legs and the power and explosion to run through piles of tacklers. Top-end speed was our biggest question coming out of high school but that hasn’t been a huge issue for him in college. Last season was a slight step down from Perine's amazing freshman year, but that’s to be expected with a talent like Mixon taking carries.
The skinny: Adams took official visits to LSU, Ole Miss, Florida, Texas and Texas A&M, but it came down to the Tigers, Gators and Rebels. Despite a strong relationship with Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss and having his godfather, Joker Phillips, as an assistant at Florida, LSU pulled away and received his commitment at the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game. After two productive seasons at LSU, Adams returns to Baton Rouge this fall as a veteran on the defense and as one of the top safeties in the country.
Farrell’s take: Many felt Adams would head to Florida even leading up to his announcement and the Tigers are thrilled they kept him closer to home. Adams was one of the most active safeties you’ll ever see on a high school football field. He was fearless in run support and loved to make receivers pay for coming into his area. Adams also had excellent ball skills at the prep level. The only thing that held him back from a fifth star was his lack of length, but he has overcome that with amazing instincts. I can still hear his constant chatter and smack talk from our Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge Presented by Under Armour in Chicago as Adams certainly doesn’t lack for confidence.
The skinny: Ward had offers from Memphis, Rice, SMU and New Mexico, but when he earned an offer from Houston after an excellent camp performance, he committed soon after. Thanks to new head coach Tom Herman’s open offense, Ward quickly became one of the top dual-threat offensive weapons in the country. While leading the Cougars to a 13-1 record, he passed for 2,828 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for 1,108 yards and 21 touchdowns, the second-most for a quarterback nationally. Now all eyes will be on Ward this fall to see if he can duplicate last season’s accomplishments.
Farrell’s take: Ward was an athlete out of high school and he's an athlete now at the quarterback position, killing teams with his run-pass deception. His size and slight frame led to minimal offers, but he was a stat-stuffer in high school as well as a leader and winner. Houston’s only loss came without him playing and it was clear he was what made that offense dangerous last season. He's still not very big and that's a knock, but he is fun to watch and sometimes toys with defenses on the college level.
