Rival Views: Which ranking do you regret the most?
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 discuss one ranking they really regret, whether it was someone ranked way too high or someone way too low:
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FARRELL’S VIEW: TODD GURLEY
There have been so many over so many years that it’s hard to choose, so I’ll go with the one that pops into my head immediately and that’s Todd Gurley. When I saw Gurley at the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas I was sure I was looking at a five-star running back and that he was better than Keith Marshall, who everyone else had ranked higher in the state and the country at running back. I even tried to get Gurley into the U.S. Army All-American Bowl but it was too late and the roster was filled.
So not seeing Gurley at one of the two big all-star games apparently affected my sense of judgement and courage and I left him outside the five-star ranks. We still had Gurley higher than anyone else, but that’s not enough for me — he should have been a five-star. I could do a list of at least 100 players I’ve ranked too low and 100 I’ve ranked too high and the reasons. Maybe I’ll do that someday in my book.
GORNEY’S VIEW: MAX BROWNE
I really went to bat for Max Browne in the 2013 class and thought he was going to have a huge career not only at USC but in the NFL as well - and I was completely and totally wrong. Browne was so smart and so savvy as a high school quarterback, a guy every time I saw him made great throws and also made intelligent decisions. He did process things a tick slower than some other quarterbacks, but I thought he would overcome that in college with better coaching. It did not happen.
What drives me even crazier about that ranking (Browne was the top-ranked pro-style quarterback in the class and No. 7 overall) is that I really didn’t go too crazy about moving Jared Goff way higher in the rankings. I saw Goff in the state championship game his junior year and he was very good, but I definitely didn’t expect him to have such a huge career at Cal and ahead of him in the NFL.
Goff ended up eighth in the pro-style rankings that recruiting cycle and he’s far surpassed every quarterback ahead of him and it’s not even close. That really annoys me that I was not perceptive enough to see Goff’s potential and his skills when he was in high school.