Rivals100 Round Table: June 3, 2003

Welcome to the The Rivals100.com Round Table. The Round Table was created to give fans a unique, inside look at the opinions of the nation's best group of recruiting experts. It's a feature found exclusively on the Rivals.com network.

From your region, who do you think should be among the nation?s top five players overall:

Mike Farrell: From my area, Chad Henne, a quarterback from Pennsylvania, has it all: good size, a cannon arm, great accuracy and quick feet. He also has good straight-line speed for a quarterback, has terrific pocket awareness and is a leader. He's the real deal, a slight step above Kevin McCabe from Pennsylvania last year.

Jeff Drummond: Selecting a player to represent the southeast in the national top five is tough, but I went with WR Early Doucet of St. Martinville, La. His highlight video is the best I've seen this spring. He is electricity-on-demand and features some Houdini-like elusiveness. It only takes a handful of plays to see why the likes of LSU, Texas, Michigan, Miami, Florida State and USC have tossed scholarship offers his way.

Bill Kurelic: I suggest Ted Ginn Jr., a cover corner from Cleveland Glenville. A good case can be made for Ginn being the best of the best. As good as a defensive back Ohio State signee Donte Whitner, also from Glenville, was last season (one of the top two players in the state of Ohio), Ginn is without question even better. He has blazing speed and tremendous cover skills. He?s drawn rave reviews from everyone and is also one of the country's premier track athletes. I think he?s an impact football prospect who should step in and play in college right away.

Tim O'Halloran: I nominate Kyle Williams from Bolingbrook, Ill. What stands out for me in regards to Williams, compared to other players, are his overall physical tools and ability. In this state (Illinois), most players with the ability of Williams are shooting hoops and playing the two-guard. The difference with Williams is that he can just flat out run. Seldom will you find an elite athlete with the combination of speed and quickness that Williams has. And physically, he?s only scratched the surface of what he?s going to be able to do if he keeps working hard. He reminds me of a younger version of LaVar Arrington. He?ll grow and gain weight down the road and keep his speed and athleticism.

Brian Gates: Rhett Bomar (Grand Prairie, Texas) is one of the elite quarterback prospects in the country. He can make all the throws. He has good arm strength. And the schools that have offered him scholarships early indicate colleges agree with me in thinking he is one of the top players in America. I also love Adrian Peterson. When looking for a top-notch running back, the size of the player is one of the top items on the checklist nowadays. At 6-foot-2, 205, Peterson carries the size well. Then, when he checks in at 4.40 second time in the 40, you have the two qualities schools covet. He rushed for over 2,000 yards last year and averaged more than eight yards a carry. I just don?t know how you top stats and the physical assets like he has.

Rick Kimbrel: Randy Estes from Los Alamitos (Calif.) is a super safety who has the potential to get a lot better. He has to be considered one of the best players at any position in the nation. This is saying a lot, but I really think he has the potential to be a Kenny Easley, Ronnie Lott type of safety. He?s a difference maker. I think Thomas Herring from (Los Angeles) Fremont (TE/DL/OL) is another top five national possibility. He?s a big body who hasn't come close to reaching his full potential. Before it?s all said and done, he?ll have more than 50 offers. Not many players on any level have his combo of size and quickness.

Jeremy Crabtree: I guess for me it would be best to say why the guys that made the top five made the top five.

This year more than any other year that I've been covering recruiting was difficult to say which guy was better than the other guy. There could easily be at least six, seven or even eight guys that you could make a very strong case for the top five in the nation and even the nation's No. 1 spot.

However, here's why we went with the guys we went with.

With the No. 1 pick we went with Adrian Peterson of Palestine, Texas. At first, it was hard to think that there was a better prospect in Texas than Rhett Bomar, who is the No. 1 quarterback in the nation.

But the more we dug for film and talked to sources about Peterson, the more we were impressed.

The clincher was watching him in person run in a track meet. Guys that big and strong are not supposed to be able to run that fast - but Peterson did.

He's special and that's why we put him at No. 1 in the nation.

Randy Estes was our No. 2 selection and I think he's another guy that could have been at No. 1.

People have been talking about him for two years now and seeing him on film and hearing Rick Kimbrel and other coaches talk about him made it an easy sell. He's a flat out stud.

The No. 3 spot is where Keith Rivers, the top player in Florida ended up at.

Rivers is one of the most humble kids in the recruiting process and getting him to talk about how talented he is, is well, really tough.

Rivers showed up at the Rivals100 Junior Day at UCF and was even more impressive looking than Ernie Sims, our No. 1 player form last year. And Ernie is one of the best looking kids that we've seen in some time. So to say that Rivers looked more physically impressive than Sims sure means a lot.

Theodore Ginn Jr. is a special player that has the great combination of size, speed and attitude. All of that combines to form the nation's top cover corner and the top player in the Midwest.

Early Doucet out of Louisiana was our pick as the No. 5 player. And it just takes a few seconds of watching his highlight film to realize that he's a freakishly good player.