The Five-Star Challenge Five-Year Team: Cornerback
The fifth edition of the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented By Under Armour is in the books and, with such an important anniversary of an amazing event, we thought it would be cool to look back at the top five prospects that attended at each position. Today we look at the cornerbacks.
Note: The order is based on a combination of success at the event, success at the high school level and, in many cases, success in college.
MORE: Five-Star Challenge Five-Year Team: QBs | RBs | WR/TEs | OL | DL | LB |Full Five-Star Challenge Coverage
The Skinny: Despite committing to USC over Washington, Tennessee and Vanderbilt in July of 2012, Ramsey still kept his process pretty open. He ended up taking official visits to Florida, Florida State, Washington and Mississippi State, with both the Gators and Seminoles becoming major threats to USC. Despite never formally decommitting from USC, Ramsey finally did flip to Florida State on National Signing Day. After three memorable seasons in Tallahassee he entered the 2016 NFL Draft, where he was selected with the fifth overall pick by Jacksonville.
Farrell’s Take: Ramsey was at our first Five-Star Challenge and essentially earned his five-star status there by showing amazing lockdown ability as a big, tall and long corner. His one-on-one battles with players such as Laquon Treadwell and Marquez North were fun to watch. He came away from the event as the most impressive overall player short of Carl Lawson in my opinion.
The Skinny: With three older brothers who played football at Virginia Tech, the Hokies were an obvious front-runner from the start. Clemson did make a serious run at Fuller and seemed to catch his attention, but when it came time to make his decision during the summer leading up to his senior season, he committed to the Hokies. After two impressive seasons in Blacksburg, Fuller’s 2015 season was cut down to only three games due to a knee injury. He still decided to come out for the NFL Draft and was selected in the third round by Washington.
Farrell’s Take: Fuller, like Ramsey, was at our first event and was also very impressive helping lead his team to the 7-on-7 title. His instincts were off the charts and he made some huge plays down the stretch to help the defense hold onto the win. He was never as physically gifted as Ramsey and some others, but he was instinctually ahead of almost everyone coming out of high school.
The Skinny: Tabor originally made a somewhat surprising commitment to Arizona which led to a somewhat less surprising flip to Florida after he took official visits to both Gainesville and Alabama. At Florida, Tabor has been very productive, despite playing in the shadows of Vernon Hargreaves III during his first two seasons. Now with Hargreaves making his way to the NFL, Tabor will be in the spotlight this fall as he looks to prove to everyone that he is the next great cornerback to come out of Gainesville.
Farrell’s Take: Tabor was an underclassmen at the first event we held in Atlanta and more than held his own, but he really showed off his ability the next year in Chicago. He was willing to play offense and defense, and was always a kid who gave 110 percent effort. Tabor also had a knack for always being around the ball.
The Skinny: Apple had long considered Ohio State his dream school so when the Buckeyes finally offered it almost seemed a formality that he would commit. After taking a little time to consider his other options, Apple committed to the Buckeyes. He redshirted in 2013, and had a highly successful 2014 season for the national championship team. Despite being less productive statistically last fall, he still proved his abilities, which led to him being drafted 10th overall by the New York Giants.
Farrell’s Take: Apple was also at our first event in Atlanta and joined Fuller and Jourdan Lewis in the Northeast team’s secondary. Apple showed off his ability to play press and his physical strength at the event. Oddly enough it was a lack of suddenness and flat out speed that didn’t push him to the five-star status Fuller already had and Ramsey earned, but that clearly developed in college.
The Skinny: Lewis had long been waiting for an offer from Michigan, so when the Wolverines offered him after his junior season, he only waited a couple of weeks before committing. Lewis’ productivity has improved each season in Ann Arbor, with 2015 being a banner season for the junior. Now considered one of the top lockdown cornerbacks in the country, Lewis decided to return for his senior season, which should put him in line to be one of the top cornerbacks taken in next spring’s NFL Draft.
Farrell’s Take: Talk about a stacked group at the 2012 event, huh? Lewis was always undersized, but he played bigger than expected and his ball skills and ability to play the ball were very impressive. In such a great class of cornerbacks, he was not quite in that upper tier but he’s shown he belongs with the best based on his college success.
