6/18/2018 football Edit

Rivals Rankings Week: Who is the toughest 2020 prospect to rank?

Staff

Rivals.com

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

#RivalsRankingsWeek has arrived and the Rivals100 for the class of 2020 is being released on Tuesday, with the top 10 players in the country unveiled on Monday. The Rivals.com analyst team is weighing in every day with its thoughts on the biggest questions surrounding the latest updates.

RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK (2020) SCHEDULE:

Monday: Top 10 players

Tuesday: New Rivals100

Wednesday: New Rivals250

Thursday: New offensive position rankings

Friday: New defensive position rankings

Saturday: Team rankings breakdown

Sunday: New state rankings

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Who was the hardest prospect to rank in this update to the 2020 rankings?

Rob Cassidy (Florida): "This could be a number of players, as the sample size is extremely limited on these young prospects. You could seriously just pick any player. I guess I’ll go with offensive lineman Jovens Janvier. His upside is tremendous as he’s a massive, powerful offensive lineman but things could go south for him in a hurry if he doesn’t reshape and puts on bad weight. Ranking large, young linemen can be tricky because so much depends on how they develop physically."

Mike Farrell (National): "For me the hardest was right at the top in naming D.J. Uiagalelei our top guy because it certainly could have been one of a few other guys. But because he plays quarterback which is the premium position in football he got the slight nod but it was close."

Adam Friedman (Mid-Atlantic): "Safety Jordan Toles was a tough one to rank because this was really his first full season of football. He still has a lot to learn about the position but his physical gifts, natural abilities, and feel for the game are undeniable. Toles plays against excellent competition throughout the season so it will be good to see his progress once he hits the field again."

Adam Gorney (National/West Coast): "The player I struggled with ranking the most for the 2020 class is Andrew Gentry for a couple reasons. One, I love him on film and at 6-foot-8 and 285 pounds, Gentry looks like he could be one of the best offensive tackles in this class and one of the more special players at that position in the West in recent years. He moves well and completely obliterates his competition. To think he has two more years of high school left is unfathomable. The offers have also poured in from national programs and more could come once college coaches see more of him. But is he bullying weaker Colorado competition? Could he dominate like that against elite California, Florida and Texas talent? Level of competition is always something to consider in rankings but I think Gentry could be special and so I moved him one step away from being a five-star prospect."

Josh Helmholdt (Midwest): "Offensive line is one of those more difficult positions to project to college this early in a player's career, and one of the most difficult offensive linemen in this 2020 class to project to the college game right now is Wisconsin commit Jack Nelson. He played his sophomore season at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, but will have to play closer to 300 pounds in college. How will that added weight affect his foot speed and ability to maintain athleticism? It's not an easy question to answer without more information."

Nick Krueger (Texas): "There are two guys that immediately come to mind from my region: Jase McClellan and Demond Demas. Both were in the conversation as potential five-stars but at this point it’s still a little difficult to discern how much of the expectation with him is potential versus his ability to reach it. I think between the two, McClellan is the safer bet as a player that will maximize the potential that he has, and before Zach Evans really established himself as a bona fide five-star prospect, looked like he could be the top running back – if not overall player – in the state. Both guys are still ranked very highly and will continue on as potential five-star players over the next few seasons, but coming into the initial rankings, it wasn’t the easiest thing choosing specifically where to place them."

Chad Simmons (Southeast): "Arik Gilbert is that guy for me. He is a freak athlete. A true freak. He is a 6-foot-5, 257 pound junior being timed sub 4.6 seconds in the 40 yard dash. He made outstanding plays from all over the defensive line last season as well as tight end. Where will he play? That is the biggest question. He wants to play tight end, but if he is a tight end, is the value there at that position to keep him a five-star? Some think he could excel more at defensive end. He will play both sides of the ball again this season on one of the top teams in Georgia, so he will be closely watched and re-evaluated."

Woody Wommack (Southeast): "I always have a tough time with the first true numerical ranking, especially considering the players have yet to play their junior year of high school football. I think a guy that is tough to slot right now is Arik Gilbert. He's a freak athlete who probably projects to tight end at the next level. The question is, how high does he go in the Rivals100 considering the limited history of five-star tight ends in Rivals.com history?"

RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK SCHEDULE

Monday: Revealing the top 10 players | Making the Case: Three who could land in top 10 | Who is the toughest to rank in 2020?

Tuesday: New Rivals100 | Mind of Mike: Farrell reacts to new R100 | Who should be No. 1 in 2020? | Will No. 1 player in 2020 head to Clemson? | Godfather and Gorney Podcast

Friday: DL rankings | LB rankings | DB rankings | ATH rankings | Take Two

Saturday: Team rankings breakdown