Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
The regular season has ended so it’s time for the final Farrell 50, the top 50 players in college football and how they looked out of high school. Today, we continue the countdown with Nos. 11-15, led by the best tackler in the nation.
MORE FINAL FARRELL 50: 16-20 | 21-25 | 26-30 | 31-35 | 36-40 | 41-45 | 46-50
The skinny: Barrett committed to Ohio State in April, approximately three weeks after he spent two days on campus during a visit. His time in Columbus started off amazingly in 2014 before an injury cut his season short. That was followed by the 2015 season when he split time with Cardale Jones, and then peaked again last season as he helped the Buckeyes into the playoff. While his senior season saw a couple of letdowns, overall Barrett still excelled with 2,928 yards and 35 touchdowns through the air and 743 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
Farrell’s take: Barrett’s senior season in high school was cut short due to an ACL tear, which hurt his dual-threat QB ranking because it led to some questions about his mobility. Even then, we ranked him as the No. 7 dual-threat signal-caller, so it was clear we liked him quite a bit. I remember him at the Elite 11 the summer before his senior year and he made some amazing throws, especially on longer passes and during the more pressure-filled periods of the camp, but he also didn’t look overly comfortable as a pocket passer and has struggled in that capacity many times during his career. I expected downfield improvement under new coordinators and have seen that, for the most part, but the Oklahoma and Iowa games still stick out and my Heisman prediction looks awful.
The skinny: Rudolph trimmed his list down to Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech and LSU before committing to the Cowboys. In Stillwater, Rudolph continues to be one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country. After passing for 7,861 yards and 49 touchdowns over the last two seasons, Rudolph enjoyed his best collegiate season this fall with 4,553 yards and 35 touchdowns for the Cowboys.
Farrell’s take: Rudolph, a four-star coming out of high school, was a huge kid with a live arm who showed excellent accuracy for a signal-caller who could be tempted to just fire the ball on every throw. He chose the right offense, because he’s a quick decision-maker who is made for a spread, throwing offense where he can put up huge numbers. He’s been up and down this season, but the numbers don’t lie, as he’s been as prolific as expected.
The skinny: Joey Bosa was a star at Ohio State and many expected Nick to follow him to Columbus. And while Notre Dame, Florida and Florida State applied pressure, he did not pull any surprises with a commitment to the Buckeyes in July. Bosa showed his potential as a true freshman last fall and continued to make big plays in 2017. Currently with 32 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and one force fumble, Bosa is capable of dominating a game from the defensive end position.
Farrell’s Take: Bosa was drawing comparisons to his brother, Joey, before his ACL injury in November of his senior season. Some said he would be even better. We had him ranked higher than Joey out of high school, but we whiffed on Joey being a five-star, so there’s that. Nick was as athletic and physical as his brother and loved to hit. We knew he’d be special, and he’s emerged as one of the best defensive ends in the country.
The skinny: Hurst, the son of former Patriots cornerback Maurice Hurst, collected offers from Ohio State, Nebraska and Michigan State, but when Michigan offered in May it changed everything. An ensuing visit to Ann Arbor sealed the deal, and he committed to the Wolverines in early June. Hurst first showed his potential in 2015, but really raised his game last fall. He has continued his improved play in 2017 with a monster season that saw him total 58 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and one forced fumble in the regular season.
Farrell’s take: Hurst had an amazing year with a lot of his work never showing up in the stat sheet, and I would have never seen this one coming. While I liked Hurst enough to have him as a high three-star, I thought he was overplaying his skill level in choosing Michigan and would have been better at a middling program. He was a tad sawed off, but even with that he had a tendency to play high. He did have a great motor and light feet. But the player you see now is not close to what we saw in high school. He’s improved so much when it comes to explosion and pursuit.
The skinny: Smith, who took official visits to Georgia, Michigan, UCLA, Texas A&M and USC, initially committed to the Bruins on Signing Day, but never faxed over his letter of intent. Upon finding out that his recruiting coach, Jeff Ulbrich, was leaving the Bruins, Smith decided to take a step back and finally committed to the Bulldogs almost two weeks later. Coming off of an impressive 2016 season, plenty was expected out of Smith this fall. He answered these expectations by becoming the leader of the Bulldogs defense while totaling 113 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and one forced fumble.
Farrell’s take: The best pure tackler in the nation, Smith had an amazing year. When he decided not to head West and delayed his process, I didn’t think a ton of it because while I thought he was good and a Rivals100 prospect, he was undersized and I wasn’t sold on how effective he would be at the next level. Man, was I wrong. He’s an absolute terror, and you could argue that no linebacker in the country arrives to the football faster. He’s a quick-twitch kid, has added good size and teams will covet him highly as a terrorizing outside linebacker at the NFL level.
