Rivals Rankings Week: Breaking down the state rankings
CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team
CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position
After a number of major changes in the Rivals.com 2019 rankings, it’s time to take a look at the Rivals.com State Rankings and some of the biggest storylines heading into the final few weeks of the 2019 cycle.
RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK
Monday: Top 10 revealed
Tuesday: Rivals100 released | Mind of Mike | New Five-Stars
Wednesday: Rivals250 released | Roundtable
Thursday: Position rankings released
Aggies beat Longhorns for in-state talent
Tom Herman and the Texas Longhorns are putting together a top 10 class, but when you look at the Texas state rankings, it is odd to see that they don’t have a commitment from a prospect in the top five, only two in the top 10 and four in the top 35.
Read that again: Texas has the No. 6-ranked class in the country today, and out of their 23 commitments, 12 are from their home state, but only four of those are ranked in the top 35 and none are in the top five. It seems a little odd for a class this strong
The Longhorns' top in-state commitment is Jordan Whittington, the No. 8 prospect in the state.
On the flip side, when looking at Texas A&M, Jimbo Fisher and his staff have really done a nice job in the state. They have signed nine of the top 25 in Texas, including No. 1 prospect Demarvin Leal, a new five-star defensive end.
Out of the 26 prospects committed to the Aggies, 18 are from the Lone Star State.
Both the Aggies and Longhorns are on track to finish with top 10 classes, but when grading who’s done better in its home state this cycle, the edge goes to the class in College State.
Haselwood goes the distance
As always, there is a lot of talent in Georgia. Well over 200 players in Georgia will sign Power 5 scholarships this cycle, and there is always movement at the top because of the level of talent in the Peach State. This time though, one prospect remained atop of the Georgia State Rankings: Jadon Haselwood.
The five-star wide receiver out of Cedar Grove High School was named a five-star in March 2017 by Rivals, and he was never in the discussion to lose that star. He played up to that level and he was never ranked lower than No. 6 in the Rivals100. He finished ranked No. 4 and the No. 1 receiver in the country.
He was an interesting follow. Haselwood committed to Georgia in March of his sophomore year. He stayed committed to the Bulldogs until October 2018. Georgia tried to hold on to him, but he signed with Oklahoma in December. The Sooners signed three five-star receivers, the first time that has been done in Rivals history.
There ended up being three five-stars from Georgia in this class, but none challenged Haselwood for that top spot at any time.
Best in Alabama is still unsigned
In every state but two, the No. 1 prospect signed in December. Alabama is the only state to have its top prospect committed, but unsigned, and that prospect is George Pickens.
The five-star wide receiver out of Hoover High School committed to Auburn in July of 2017, over 18 months ago. He was the first 2019 commit for the Tigers, but he did not sign early, so there is still a lot of work to be done by Gus Malzahn and his staff.
Auburn is trying to hold off Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and a few others, such as Florida and Florida State. Pickens has not been considered a hard commitment for some time. He looked to be favoring LSU late in November and into early December.
Now, could it be that Georgia and Tennessee are the biggest threats to Auburn? He visited Georgia this weekend and the Vols are likely to host him one of the next two weekends. This one is definitely far from over, even though Pickens is committed and signing day is only two and a half weeks away.
A lot of eyes will be on Alabama’s best.
Surprising finish in Mississippi
From the beginning, it looked like Nakobe Dean would be the No. 1 prospect in the state of Mississippi, but at the end, there is a new name on top. It is Charles Cross.
The offensive tackle out of Laurel High School did not get out to a lot of camps or events to be seen, so based on his junior film Rivals had him as a three-star with a 5.6 rivals rating. That changed quickly after he was scouted on a Thursday night during the season. He went from a mid three-star to a Rivals100 prospect with a 5.8 rivals rating.
Basically, the more we saw Cross, the more we liked. After seeing him compete for almost a week at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Cross was named a new five-star and continued to ascend up the rankings to finish as the No. 17-ranked prospect in the country.
Mississippi State flipped Cross from Florida State late in November, and Cross is Joe Moorhead’s top signee to date in Starkville. Cross is someone the Bulldogs staff will be able to build around up front. He has a great frame, elite athleticism, long arms, good bend and the tools to be a first-round pick down the road.
Wright is West Virginia’s top uncommitted prospect
Darnell Wright really took his time with recruiting. The five-star offensive tackle has a long list of offers, as he is one of the more sought-after prospects in this class. But he was not one that got out too much and there was talk that he could sign without ever taking one official visit.
He is the only top prospect in any state that is not committed or signed. At least he is not committed publicly.
Wright finally took his first official visit this weekend to West Virginia. New head coach Neal Brown has come in and made a push for Wright, but it still looks like the Mountaineers are not a true contender. It is still hard seeing anyone contending with Tennessee in this race. Jeremy Pruitt and his staff have done an excellent job recruiting Wright, and the Vols are the clear favorite.
Still, although some have already put the Power T next to Wright’s name, there will be a lot of buzz around him and he is a major storyline heading up to signing say.