Rivals Rankings Week: Breaking down the 2025 athletes
With the first full 2025 Rivals250 being unveiled Tuesday, it's time to look at the updated position rankings. The offensive position rankings were released Wednesday and today the defensive position rankings are in the spotlight. We conclude with the athlete position.
LATEST 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Pro-Style QBs | Dual-Threat QBs | RBs | All-Purpose RBs | WRs | TEs | OG | OT | SDE | WDE | DT | OLB | ILB | CB | ATH
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RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK
Sunday: Who should be No. 1?
Monday: Five-Star Countdown
Tuesday: New 2025 Rivals250 revealed | Gorney's thoughts | Ten players on the rise
Wednesday: New offensive position rankings | QB rankings breakdown | RB rankings breakdown | WR/TE rankings breakdown | OL rankings breakdown | Five teams that should be pleased
Thursday: New defensive position rankings | DL rankings breakdown | LB rankings breakdown
Friday: New state rankings
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NO. 1 AT THE POSITION: Phillip Bell
Listed as an athlete, the future for Bell is looking bright as a collegiate receiver. From the snap, Bell uses different releases to get off the line, and has the speed to quickly gain separation. Get him down in the red zone, and his height is a factor being able to pull down 50-50 balls. Bell is the complete package as an outside receiver.
Now nearing the 30-offer mark, Bell has been on campus at Texas, Texas A&M and Michigan this month.
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TWO PROGRAMS TO WATCH: Georgia and USC
The state of Georgia is loaded at all positions, including athlete, placing the Bulldogs in a great spot to clean house. Georgia could easily wrap a top-five or top-ranked class by locking down the elite in-state prospects and two of those talents would be Elyiss Williams and London Merritt. Williams is a defensive end and tight end with phenomenal athleticism for his height and size. Merritt is also a two-way performer hedging toward a next level defensive end. When Merritt takes the field for Woodward Academy, big plays happen.
If USC can lock in Phillip Bell and Noah Mikhail, the typical Trojans’ recruiting class just got a lot better. Bell is on the path to hauling in touchdowns and Mikhail looks like a bell ringing linebacker. For Bonita High School, Mikhail does a little bit of everything, carrying the rock out of the backfield, hauling in passes and roaming the box as a punisher. Bell is listed as the top-rated athlete with Mikhail slotted at No. 6; both would be great additions for USC.
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THREE PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Williams is a three-phase performer transforming games with his athletic ability as a receiver, return specialist and sideline-to-sideline safety. Williams snatched four passes playing defense for the Tornadoes while putting an end to 59 plays. He took back 11 punts for 306 yards, rushed for 140 yards and converted five receptions into two touchdowns.
Offord is another do-all type in the 2025 class with skills that translate on both sides of the ball. Taking on 6A Alabama squads, Offord made a bigger impact on the offensive side of the ball for Parker High School, hauling in passes and working out of the backfield as a Wildcat QB. Because of his speed and size, college programs are not wrong liking him as a corner or safety.
The St. Louis area always has great athletes, and Hill is keeping the tradition going. Besides the big plays, the thing that separates Hill from others is that second, third and fourth gear he has leaving the opposition in the dust. The coaches at Vashon High School do a great job highlighting their four-star recruit and maximizing his athletic abilities. The Wolverines use Hill in all three phases with his blazing speed being a big difference maker.