CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals100 | Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

During rankings meetings, not everyone agrees on everything. In this version of Rivals Views, National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Analyst Adam Friedman debate the five-star status of Quavaris Crouch.

More Rivals Rankings week:

Monday: Updated Top 10 | Debating Smith vs. Thibodeaux

Tuesday: 2019 Rivals100 revealed | Mind of Mike

Wednesday: 2019 Rivals250 revealed

Thursday: 2019 position rankings revealed

We all know by now that Crouch has lost his fifth star, and I’ll admit I was the driving force behind that. While Crouch is a terrific prospect and still ranked very highly as our highest four star, I worry about his durability at the next level and what position he translates to. He could play running back or linebacker or even grow into a defensive end in college, but right now we have him as an athlete because we just don’t know where he fits best.

He missed much of the spring with an injury, and then missed most of his senior season due to a different injury, so there’s a pattern here and I worry that it has stunted his development as a player without a true position.

However, we had the same question about Dylan Moses and what position he could play for a while, and he lost and re-gained his fifth star. So Crouch could do the same with a great week at the All-American Bowl. Time will tell, but right now I’m wary.

I've been pushing for Crouch ever since I saw him as a freshman. The one-time No. 1 player in the Rivals100 is a rare athletic specimen with the ability to excel on either side of the ball. He made his name as a running back, rushing for over 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns as a junior, but it has taken a toll on his body. Crouch was out for most of this past offseason recovering from various injuries, and he played very little this season because of a nagging high-ankle sprain.

If Crouch were planning on playing running back full time in college, working through these injuries wouldn't be a big deal. But he wants to transition to linebacker. The plan was for Crouch to gain valuable experience at the position this season to reduce the learning curve once he got to college. He wasn't able to do that, but he is planning on playing at the All-American Bowl in January.

Is Crouch a five-star athlete? I believe so, but he'll have to prove he can still play like a five-star.