Rivals.com national recruiting director Adam Gorney looks at four burning questions ahead of the next rankings update for the 2025 and 2026 recruiting cycles.
THIS SERIES: Four tough rankings questions in the Midwest | Southeast | Mid-South | Florida
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MORE: Recruiting Rumor Mill | Do Nebraska and Tennessee have a legit shot at five-star David Sanders? | NFL Top 100 players as high school recruits | Ten programs that won July recruiting
CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
TRANSFER PORTAL: Full coverage | Player ranking | Team ranking | Transfer search | Transfer Tracker
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IS JORDON DAVISON STILL A FIVE-STAR?
A five-star rating is a lot more involved than whether a prospect is just good in high school. It has more to do with his projection to college performance and then the NFL Draft. Running back is just not a premium position in the first round any longer.
Jordon Davison has also bulked up this summer and that could lead to some other questions but his performance at the Rivals Five-Star certainly can make the argument that he’s still one of the elite prospects in this class.
Rivals Five-Star running back coach Brandon Jacobs said in passing that the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei recruit is the most NFL-ready running back at the event from a physical perspective and that Davison reminds him of LeVeon Bell. That’s quite the compliment.
Running back is just not a primo position in the first round anymore. However, Davison is still an elite player there and the Oregon commit has proven time and again that he has special qualities, especially once the pads come on.
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ARE THERE ANY OTHER FIVE-STARS IN THE WEST?
At this point in the recruiting cycle there are only two five-stars in the West region with Davison and Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman offensive lineman Douglas Utu which is a low number historically in the region.
There could be other five-stars coming as Alabama defensive back commits Dijon Lee and Chuck McDonald are next up in the regional rankings and then some lower-ranked prospects could be moving up with big offseasons but right now two is the number.
Last recruiting cycle, there were four five-stars in California alone. The last time there was only one was in the 2021 class.
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WHO'S NO. 1 IN THE WEST FOR THE 2026 CLASS?
There is going to be a good debate – and one that probably won’t be finalized for a long time – over who is the No. 1 prospect in California’s 2026 class.
The nominees are five-star Ohio State receiver commit Chris Henry Jr. or five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons, who has USC, Oregon, Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn and others involved in his recruitment.
Henry has the NFL pedigree, the size and the playmaking ability to be special for years to come. But Lyons put up massive numbers in his sophomore season at Folsom, Calif., both through the air and on the ground, and should only get better from here.
Others could move up and surprise but this already looks like a two-person race for No. 1 in 2026.
RELATED: Ryder Lyons returns from SEC swing
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WHO IS STILL POSSIBLY BEING OVERLOOKED?
LSU wide receiver commit Derek Meadows missed almost the entire offseason with a hamstring injury so is his ranking right? Texas A&M quarterback commit Husan Longstreet had some impressive showings this summer including at the Elite 11. Notre Dame cornerback commit Cree Thomas has been talked about a lot.
There are always players that should have been five-stars or even higher four-stars that don’t get bumped up and others that should have been moved down. Thankfully, the season and the all-star events are ahead of us so there is still time to adjust the rankings but there are already some names on the radar to watch closely.
