Two-Star Checkup: Stepping up for top 10 teams

Every Thursday during the college football season we look back on some two-star prospects who are outplaying their high school ranking and helping their teams win games. This week we look at a trio of two-star prospects playing big roles on teams in the top 10 of the latest College Football Rankings.

RELATED: Five-Star Checkup (LBs) | Four-Star Checkup (RBs) | Three-Star Checkup

As a recruit: A Florida native who was viewed as a wide receiver during his recruitment, Jamerson had mostly FCS and Group of Five offers before he was spotted by Wisconsin during his senior season. After an official visit to Madison, he quickly jumped on the chance to join the school’s commitment list.

What he did this week: Jamerson has done it all in his career with the Badgers. He started off playing as a true freshman at wide receiver before moving to cornerback while also serving as the team’s primary kick returner during his sophomore season. After playing as a defensive reserve in 2016, Jamerson has taken a big step forward in 2017. In Saturday’s victory over Michigan, Jamerson started his 11th consecutive game and recorded six total tackles. It was another excellent showing for the jack-of-all trades, who is having a career year in tackles (39), tackles for loss (3.5) and interceptions (two).

As a recruit: Hastings was a very productive high school player who also impressed at his share of offseason camps. But listed at just 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds, Hastings never could do quite enough to get an FBS school to pull the trigger on an offer. Rather than play at a lower level, Hastings elected to walk on at Auburn as a kicker and he joined the team prior to the start of the 2015 season.

What he did this week: Hastings started his career as a kicker, even appearing in two games and kicking as a true freshman in 2015. Following that season he moved to wide receiver and in 2016 he played in 11 games, catching 11 passes. This year Hastings has become an even bigger part of the Auburn offense, developing nice chemistry with quarterback Jarrett Stidham. In Saturday’s victory over Louisiana-Monroe he caught one pass for 17 yards, making it 10 of 11 games in which he had at least one reception this season. On the season Hastings has 388 yards receiving with three touchdowns and is averaging 20 yards per catch.

As a recruit: Beal took the long way to Norman, Okla., playing his first two years at Lakawanna Community College in Scranton, Pa. During his JUCO recruitment he received just two Power Five offers, one from Oklahoma and one from Arizona, and he committed to the Sooners shortly after an official visit in January 2016.

What he did this week: Beal came into Norman in 2016 to provide much-needed depth and he did more than that, emerging as a vital cog in the Sooners' defense and starting 10 games in his first year on campus. This season Beal picked up where he left off and once again he came up big for the Sooners in a win over Kansas on Saturday. He finished the game with two tackles but had a key interception before Oklahoma built a big enough lead to put in the backups. Beal’s play this season has been impressive and he will likely get a shot at the NFL.