Three-Point Stance: Stefon Diggs, Arizona's hire, rankings meetings

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Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here with thoughts on Stefon Diggs, Kevin Sumlin’s hire at Arizona and five big ranking debates after day one of our 2018 ranking meetings.

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Nothing surprises me about Stefon Diggs. In all my years of scouting high school football prospects, Diggs stands out in many ways. Not only was he one of the most talented but he was also one of the most competitive kids I’ve ever covered. From trash talking at 7-on-7 tournaments to dominating one-on-ones at camps, he never passed up an opportunity to compete. So when he caught the game-winning touchdown for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday evening, I was not surprised.

The Minnesota Miracle, as its being called, will go down as one of the most dramatic finishes to a playoff game in NFL history and the fact that Diggs was on the receiving end makes complete sense to me.

Here are a few things I remember the most about Diggs covering his recruitment.

Diggs was a lock for Florida. He had actually silently committed according to my sources but when Charlie Weis left to take the Kansas job, Diggs and his support group lost trust in the Gators and in many coaches outside of his home state. Florida’s loss was Maryland’s gain.

Diggs is one of many highly-ranked kids to take his decision beyond Signing Day. He announced for Maryland two days after NLI Day in 2012, picking the Terps in what had become a well-known secret. I rarely attend commitment announcements in person but I flew down to Maryland from Connecticut for this one because Diggs was so special.

Diggs finished as our No. 8 player overall and No. 2 wide receiver behind Dorial Green-Beckham. I was tempted to make a push for him to be No. 1. However, his lack of great size and my infatuation with DGB being the next Calvin Johnson held me back. Obviously neither receiver played like the No. 1 guy in college or beyond, but Diggs was one of the smallest receivers to be in the mix for No. 1 overall.

Diggs could have been an elite FBS cornerback. His skills were that good at the position. The best defender he faced in a game was probably Cyrus Jones from Gilman but his practice battles with fellow five-star Kendall Fuller, now with the Redskins, were epic. The two pushed each other to be great at the high school level despite being a year apart.

Diggs loyalty' was never in question and I think a big reason why he chose to stay home and play for the Terps. As part of the U.S. Army All American selection committee, I selected Diggs for the game and he stayed loyal despite playing at an Under Armour school and feeling the pressure to play in the UA Game. He could have taken the easy route (the same can be said for Fuller) and caved to the political pressure to play for his team's gear sponsor but never wavered once because he had given his word.

Despite starting its search for a coach more than a month later than their arch-rival Arizona State, the Arizona Wildcats made a much better hire in Kevin Sumlin. I ranked the Sun Devils' hire of Herm Edwards as the worst of the silly season and I’m still scratching my head at the choice. So when Rich Rodriguez was unexpectedly fired earlier this month, it would have taken a really, really bad hire by the Wildcats to do worse than Arizona State.

I think Arizona hit a home run with Sumlin. This is a guy who has an 86-43 career record, four bowl wins and a Heisman Trophy winner. Arizona held the edge over Arizona State with Rich Rod at the helm, but the Wildcats might even be better off with Sumlin, who is known as an excellent recruiter. Anything can happen, but I’d be stunned if the Wildcats aren’t light years ahead of their in-state rivals in the next few years.

The first day of rankings meetings is always an intense one as we go through each position, prospect by prospect, and argue it out as to who should be ranked where. As this is our last rankings update of the 2018 cycle, things are even more intense. Here are five guys that our group of analysts debated the most.

WR Jaylen Waddle – Waddle isn’t a huge receiver, but he’s not small, either. Should he move up from his No. 86 ranking and is he five-star worthy? If so, where does he rank among a loaded and deep group of five-stars? We went back on forth on this one.

TE Brevin Jordan – Is Jordan the top tight end in the country? He’s not very tall but he’s extremely quick. Should we go with taller, more traditional tight ends like Luke Ford and Jeremy Ruckert or do you bank on the shorter Jordan becoming the next Evan Engram?

OT Nick Petit-Frere – He came into the meeting ranked as the No. 7 offensive tackle and No. 67 prospect overall and the debate was intense about whether he was a five-star talent and where he should rank. He’s moving up after his final eval at Under Armour week, that’s not a secret, but how high will he move up?

CB Tyson Campbell – Some love him and think he’s a can’t-miss and others think he lacks consistency and gives up way too many big plays. So which thought process won out?

S Caden Sterns – Some think he’s a safety who can play corner and he could be special while others feel he’s ranked about where he belongs at No. 56 overall. Again this is a group effort and the majority wins; if there’s a deadlock, I get to make the call. What did we do with Sterns?

The 2018 final rankings will be released next week.