Updated 2020 Rivals250: Analysts discuss toughest decisions
The updated Rivals250 for the class of 2020 has been released. A few weeks back, the analysts met and ranked the top players from the junior class after evaluating high school games across the country. They discuss the process here.
MORE: Five teams that should be pleased | New five-stars in Rivals100 | Highlights of the top 10 | Farrell's thoughts
1. Who did personally go to bat for in the latest rankings that will make you look very wise down the road?
Rob Cassidy (Southeast): I really like Lakeland (Fla.) High School running back Demarkcus Bowman. He had a monster junior season and deserves his lofty ranking. There’s a chance we may still have him under-ranked, even in the top half of the Rivals100. Bowman is a back with a five-star ceiling.
Mike Farrell (National): I like John Humphreys a lot out of California and am glad he made a big jump into the Rivals250. It’s a loaded year at wide receiver out west, so he gets overlooked a bit, but he has great size, good speed and he catches most everything thrown his way.
Adam Friedman (Mid-Atlantic): I pushed for for wide receivers Rakim Jarrett and Julian Fleming to be made five-stars and wasn’t met with much resistance. Both are elite talents with well-rounded skill sets. Having seen both of them this season, moving both to five-star status was a complete no-brainer.
Adam Gorney (West/National): For some time, I was considering moving up Kendall Milton to five-stars because he has been phenomenal for so long even though he’s just a junior in high school. I can remember Milton years back when he was at a camp with Najee Harris and Stephen Carr and Milton was not that far behind those guys in terms of drill work and overall performance. He opted not to participate in the Rivals Camp in Northern California in the spring, which could have given him a five-star ranking, but after his junior season, it was impossible not to move him up. He rushed for 1,337 yards and 27 touchdowns averaging 7.7 yards per carry this season and everybody knew he was getting the ball. Milton is special and I’m happy we made him a five-star.
Josh Helmholdt (Midwest): We started Kansas offensive tackle Turner Corcoran off in the Rivals100 right off the bat, but he moved up even further in this update after rising from a 5.9 to a 6.0 Rivals Rating. The state of Kansas is getting its respect on the national scene, with quarterback Graham Mertz receiving a Rivals100 nod in the 2019 class, and Corcoran is going to continue to further the state's reputation.
Chad Simmons (Southeast): EJ Williams is a prospect who was evaluated some last season and over the summer, but after moving into the starting line-up this season, he really emerged as one of the top receivers in the south. He played behind five-star Justyn Ross in 2017, but this was his breakout season, and he helped his team win a state title. Most of the schools in the south have offered, including Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida and Georgia. He will have a real chance to crack the Rivals100 in the future.
2. What was the most interesting/difficult debate to sort out in this rankings update?
Rob Cassidy (Southeast): The conversation between Elias Ricks and Kelee Ringo at the top of the cornerback rankings was nuanced. Ricks is probably the more developed prospect and makes more plays as things stand now. Ringo, however, has a higher upside and his size-speed combination is truly rare. Personally, I wanted to give Ringo the edge, but both are truly elite prospects that deserve this lofty ranking.
Mike Farrell (National): There aren’t that many debates when you get down into the 101-250 range, at least not heated debates, but defensive end Tyler Baron slid a bit and some people felt he should and some felt he shouldn’t. Thirty-eight spots isn’t a catastrophic fall, but he fell out of the Rivals100 and he could have been a kid who could have stayed in.
Adam Friedman (Mid-Atlantic): It has been and probably will continue to be which player should be No. 1 in the Rivals100. D.J. Uiagalelei, Zachary Evans, and Justin Flowe all have the skill sets to be No. 1 overall, but the only thing that is really giving Uiagalelei right now is the fact that quarterbacks are more valuable than running backs or linebackers. All three are exceptional players and I expect the debate between the three to continue.
Adam Gorney (West/National): We had long discussions about where to place certain wide receivers, who would lead the rankings, where some would fall and whether some of them who didn’t necessarily have huge junior seasons should remain five-stars. The wide receiver position is always one that takes a long time because so many of them are ranked and there are always numerous changes, but this took longer than usual. Leonard Manuel was discussed a lot and so was Johnny Wilson. It was tough figuring out which player should be No. 1 at the position. I suspect as we go through this 2020 class that we’re going to be moving around receivers often and someone new could claim the top spot.
Josh Helmholdt (Midwest): With Kelee Ringo moving to cornerback in this update, we have a really interesting question before us with who should be No. 1 at the position. Ringo is such a unique athlete for the position having the size of safety, but possibly being the fastest prospect in this class. Elias Ricks, meanwhile, is one of the best, pure cover corners I have seen at his age and he has great size as well. This debate will rage on into the off-season.
Chad Simmons (Southeast): We had some talks about the top offensive tackle this cycle. Paris Johnson made the move up to five-stars, and he took over the No. 1 spot at that position. Myles Hinton was the other prospect in that discussion. Johnson had a strong season, while Hinton missed a few games with a minor injury. This will be a battle to the end. Johnson is committed to Ohio State and Michigan and Stanford lead for Hinton.
3. Who do you think we might have too high?
Rob Cassidy (Southeast): We may have gotten a little carried away with running back MarShawn Lloyd. He’s a fine player with a bright future, but jetting him to five-star status so early seems risky. There are players ranked below him that had much better seasons against similar competition and more impressive games against common opponents.
Mike Farrell (National): Linebacker Derek Wingo fell in our latest rankings, but I still think he might be too high. He’s a good player, don’t get me wrong, but he’s not very long and I’d like to see a bit more from him when it comes to consistency and work in space.
Adam Friedman (Mid-Atlantic): He should be a Rivals250 prospect but No. 141 is a bit high for linebacker Martavius French. During the camp season he didn't look quick enough in open space to warrant such a lofty ranking. I expected him to come in closer to No. 200 or so.
Adam Gorney (West/National): McKinnley Jackson is a phenomenal talent and could be the best interior defensive lineman in this class, but from all reports he has great showings and less-than-stellar showings, so consistency could be an issue moving forward. Rated No. 20 nationally, Jackson is not exactly playing elite-level competition every week in rural Mississippi, so he should be dominating and doing whatever he pleases on every play. He’s still a very talented player and he could be one of the best defensive tackles in the last few years, but I’d like to see him consistently take over to back up his ranking.
Josh Helmholdt (Midwest): The top-ranked prospect in Illinois, A.J. Henning, stays in the Rivals100 after this update, but there was some thought about dropping him out. Henning struggled through injuries this season and even when he was playing did not look as sharp as we had come to expect from the versatile athlete. We will need to see a return to form quickly for him to remain at that lofty level.
Chad Simmons (Southeast): McKinnley Jackson is a prospect in my own region that I feel is a tad too high. Maybe it is because I have seen him more than the rest of the team, but I want to see a little more from Jackson. He is a five-star, and he does make some five-star type plays, but I want to see more of those. He plays a premium position, and that definitely plays into his ranking, but for me, he could be a little on the high side.
4. Who do you think we might have too low?
Rob Cassidy (Southeast): It’s too early for me to answer this one, as I haven’t seen enough players outside of my region. That will change. Give me time.
Mike Farrell (National): Defensive tackle Tre Williams is a big kid with athleticism at the defensive tackle position and he could work his way up the rankings as the cycles progress.
Adam Friedman (Mid-Atlantic): I'm very high on this class as a whole, so there are a few players I could list here. The one that I'll point out is offensive lineman Zak Zinter. He's an absolute monster on the offensive line, moves well, plays with solid technique, and has that aggressive nature on the field that every coach wants.
Adam Gorney (West/National): It might be absurd to say someone ranked No. 40 nationally is too low, but then you put on Andrew Gentry’s junior film and he’s the closest thing to remind me of Alabama offensive tackle Jonah Williams in recent years. Except Gentry is even bigger at 6-foot-8 and 290 pounds. He is a physical, tough mauler who moves people wherever he wants them to go. He can get to the second level and block. He has good feet, never reaches and cannot be pushed back. I’d like to see more of Gentry in person, but he’s someone who could move even higher because he looks on film to be a really special player.
Josh Helmholdt (Midwest): This is a bold statement, but I think Parker McQuarrie is as good of a dropback quarterback not named Uiagalelei as there is in this class. He is not mobile and he plays in New Hampshire, but if you can get past those two facts then McQuarrie gets the ball from point A to point B as well as anyone I have seen in 2020. Give him an offense where he can sit and sling it, and he will pick apart defenses at the next level.
Chad Simmons (Southeast): Jalen Rivers is a prospect outside my region, but I had a chance to see him in Orlando last camp season. I am not sure what type of season he had, but in camp, he was very impressive. He had a great frame, long reach and he moved well for a young offensive tackle. He is not in the 200 range, but going off what I saw last spring, he looked more in the Rivals100 range.