Take Two: Where does Jordan Johnson rank among Midwest WRs?
MORE TAKE TWO: Will five-star Jordan Burch stay in-state?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
THE STORYLINE
Jordan Johnson was phenomenal at the adidas West Coast Invitational earlier this spring and then outstanding again at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas in East St. Louis as he continues to establish himself as one of the nation’s top receivers.
In the newly-released Rivals100, Johnson moved to five-star status and up to the fourth-best receiver in the country behind Ohio State commit Julian Fleming, LSU pledge Rakim Jarrett and Texas A&M commit Demond Demas.
The St. Louis (Mo.) De Smet standout also becomes only the second five-star receiver ever from the state of Missouri along with Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest’s Dorial Green-Beckham, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2012 class who never reached his full potential in college or the pros.
With Johnson moving up to the five-star world, the question now needs to be asked where he compares with some of the highest-rated receivers in the Midwest, a list that would include NFL first-rounders Michael Floyd and Laquon Treadwell and Michigan standout Donovan Peoples-Jones.
There have been nine five-star receivers from the Midwest in Rivals history dating back to 2002. If Missouri prospects are thrown in there - that would mean Johnson and Green-Beckham are included - where would Johnson rate on that list?
FIRST TAKE: JOSH HELMHOLDT, MIDWEST RECRUITING ANALYST
“One of the reasons we made the move up to five-stars for Johnson is he’s nearly the complete package. He has size, he has that playmaking gene that you like to see in a wide receiver, a guy who makes plays other guys just don’t make like an Odell Beckham Jr. What really impressed me seeing him live was his suddenness and his ability to create separation.
“The Midwest has kicked out a lot of good wide receiver talent in the last decade with Dorial Green-Beckham, Laquon Treadwell and Donovan Peoples-Jones ranking as five-stars. Johnson is not quite the physical specimen of the other three, but he may be the best pure wide receiver of the group. If I had to put the four five-star Midwest wide receivers of the last decade in order coming out of high school, it would go Green-Beckham first followed by Treadwell, Johnson and then Peoples-Jones.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, NATIONAL RECRUITING DIRECTOR
“Dorial Green-Beckham was No. 1 in the country, so it’s going to be tough to beat that but he never really put it together. He showed flashes of it at Missouri and in the NFL, didn’t have a great college career but was still a second-round pick. As far as the talent Green-Beckham had, I don’t think will be surpassed by Johnson.
“He will be up there when you’re talking about Midwest receivers because there just aren’t a billion of them that have the combination of size and power and speed. It’s still too early. We have to see how he does this summer and how he does next season to see where he fits in with all those other guys. He’s no DGB, he’s not 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds and runs like a deer, but he’s a really good player. He could be the next Miles Boykin at Notre Dame, just not built exactly the same way.”