Rival Views: Should there be more than one five-star TE in 2020?
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney don’t always see eye to eye. In this edition of Rival Views, the two debate whether there should be more than one five-star tight end in the 2020 class.
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FARRELL’S VIEW: NO
I’m on board with Arik Gilbert as a five-star tight end because I think he’s exactly what you want in this day and age at the position. He has good size, wide receiver skills and he can flex or even work outside.
Darnell Washington, the other five-star tight end in this cycle, is impressive physically and could be a monster target down the line, but there is also a high bust factor there. He’s not super fast and he doesn’t turn or run routes that well, so I worry he might not develop enough athletically to be special. I see him more as an Austin Sefarian-Jenkins type who will be solid and have a short NFL career.
GORNEY’S VIEW: YES
Over the years, we have not been really aggressive in naming five-star tight ends but it’s warranted in the 2020 class and an argument could be made that there are not two, but three, five-star tight ends in this class.
The only time Rivals has had two five-stars in one class was way back in 2003 when Tony Hills Jr. was No. 1 and Greg Olsen was second at the position. Hills grew into an offensive tackle, played for a decade in the NFL and was a Super Bowl Champion. He was also a fourth-round pick so maybe a five-star ranking was a little high.
Olsen was a first-round pick and has unquestionably lived up to his five-star billing through a productive NFL career that is still going.
There is no question Gilbert is a five-star as that’s roundly accepted and he’s been phenomenal every step of the way. My argument for Washington is that he’s such a physical freak, if he can develop some more athleticism over the next four or five years then he’s going to be loved by NFL teams looking for huge red-zone targets. Plus, he’s going to play on the biggest stage at Georgia in the SEC and if the Bulldogs decide to start throwing to the tight end then Washington could be special.