Rivals Rankings Week: Class of 2021 ATH rankings released
Following a long spring of camps, 7-on-7s and combines, the Rivals.com rankings for the 2021 class have been released. Athlete is next in our look at a position-by-position breakdown of the updated rankings.
Class of 2021 Rankings: Athletes
Rivals Rankings Week:
Tuesday: 2021 Rivals100 revealed | Vandagriff No. 1 | Mind of Mike
Wednesday: 2021 Offensive position rankings
Thursday: 2021 Defensive position rankings revealed
Friday: 2021 State rankings revealed
TEAM WITH THE TOP COMMITS: Oregon
Of the four prospects in the initial athlete position ranking for the 2021 class who have already made commitments, two have committed to the Oregon Ducks. That includes the No. 2 overall player in the ranking, Los Angeles-area product Seven McGee. Oregon projects McGee to an all-purpose back or slot receive type role in its offense, and plans to use him like DeAntony Thomas. McGee committed to the Ducks last November, but is likely to take additional visits, with Syracuse and USC among the programs he could see.
More recently Oregon landed the commitment of Anthony Beavers, another Los Angeles-based athlete who is a four-star and ranks as the No. 10 player at the position. Since making the commitment in April, Beavers has made additional visits, including one to local program USC, where he landed an offer.
TOP PLAYER: Ga’Quincy McKinstry
His name may be a mouthful, but his game is plentiful. Alabama native Ga’Quincy McKinstry debuts as the No. 1 ranked prospect in the athlete position rankings to kick off the 2021 class.
Even though he just finished his sophomore year of high school, McKinstry has been a heavily recruited prospect for more than a year after landing his first offer in February 2018. That offer list now tops 20 total programs, and McKinstry is trying to zero in on some favorites.
An explosive, playmaking receiver who can line up either inside or outside, McKinstry also has the frame and skill set to project to defensive back in college, and has performed impressively in that role already during his high school career. To top it off, McKinstry is a skilled return man on special teams. The home-state Alabama Crimson Tide are a popular early prediction for McKinstry, but his recruitment remains wide open for the time being.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Marquael Parks
Eventually there will be more prospects ranked at the athlete position for 2021 that do not currently have Power Five offers, but Ohio native Marquael Parks is the only one in the initial ranking for the class who starts without an offer from a Power Five school. Parks does hold offers from in-state FBS programs Cincinnati and Toledo, but the four-star prospect is a candidate to see his stock soar as a junior.
The knock on Parks is his size, but at 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds in his sophomore year he has plenty of time to grow and add weight. Size was also a knock for Purdue’s Rondale Moore and a host of others who have excelled at the college level, and Parks brings that unique combination of speed, agility and creativity that lights up the film room and fills the stat sheet. Parks has shown college potential not only as a slot receiver and all-purpose back, but also as a return man and defensive back as well.