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West Spotlight: Path from HS to draft star for five prospects

The 2020 NFL Draft was completed over the weekend, and the Monday morning quarterbacking began quickly. At Rivals, we’ve covered most of those players selected since high school, and recall the recruitments of several of the weekend’s top picks.

Below, we take a look at some of the West region’s top draft picks and which 2021 prospect they most resemble.

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NFL DRAFT: The path for five Midwest prospects | Southeast prospects | What We Learned | Biggest winners of the weekend | Five storylines | Did we hit or miss on HS rankings of 32 first-rounders? | First-round grades | Why did Rivals miss on Burrow's, Herbert's rankings? | Day Two thoughts | Looking ahead to top 10 players for 2021 draft

CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

CLASS OF 2022: Top 100

TUA TAGOVAILOA, Alabama

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Tua Tagovailoa
Tua Tagovailoa

Drafted: First Round, No. 5 overall to Miami

Recruit comparison: Sam Huard

Recap: After all kinds of rumors and discussion leading up to the draft regarding Tagovailoa’s health status, there was little drama in Round 1 as the lefty quarterback from Alabama went fifth overall, ahead of all quarterbacks except LSU’s Joe Burrow. Tagovailoa was not a physical specimen by any means in high school but he always threw really nice passes that were accurate and on time with his receivers, whether in high school, at 7-on-7 events, in camps or at the Army All-American Bowl. By no means was Tagovailoa a miss at No. 53 overall, but in hindsight he should have finished as the top-rated dual-threat quarterback in that class.

JUSTIN HERBERT, Oregon

Justin Herbert
Justin Herbert (USA Today Sports)

Drafted: First Round, No. 6 overall to Los Angeles Chargers

Recruit comparison: Brady Allen

Recap: The chatter that Herbert would leapfrog Tagovailoa and be picked earlier in the first round and that the Alabama quarterback would fall never materialized on draft night as the Chargers happily grabbed the Oregon QB one spot after Tagovailoa. Herbert certainly can make all the throws and he has the size and arm strength to be a star in the NFL. Herbert’s ranking was definitely a miss and reflective of the fact that he missed time in his junior season with injury, didn’t do any events in the offseason and we just never saw him enough to confidently rank him much higher.

BRANDON AIYUK, Arizona State

Brandon Aiyuk
Brandon Aiyuk

Drafted: First Round, No. 25 to San Francisco

Recruit comparison: Mario Williams

Recap: Aiyuk was hardly on the radar as a high school prospect and then he went the junior college route and ended up as only a two-star prospect, a clear miss by those who were doing the junior college rankings at the time. But it was really unclear where Aiyuk would end up playing as Arizona State wanted him for receiver but others were saying defense or as a return specialist. Some think it was a reach to take Aiyuk in round one, but he’s dynamic with the ball in his hands, really fast and he has that great wingspan. I liked that pick a lot.

JORDAN LOVE, Utah State

Jordan Love
Jordan Love (AP)

Drafted: First Round, No. 26 to Green Bay

Recruit comparison: Christian Veilleux

Recap: If I said I clearly remembered Love from Rivals Camp, I would be lying. He was super lean and just blended into the quarterback group, so he was definitely not a huge standout on the high school scene. He had limited varsity tape heading into his senior year and wound up with no Power Five offers.

He also had only one phenomenal season at Utah State so this pick by the Packers could go one of two ways: It could be a brilliant move or it could end up being a wild stretch in an attempt to find Aaron Rodgers’ successor.

MICHAEL PITTMAN, USC

Michael Pittman
Michael Pittman (AP)

Drafted: Second Round, No. 34 to Indianapolis

Recruit comparison: Beaux Collins

Recap: I loved Pittman in high school and I thought he was dominant at receiver and in the return game, a guy who had a knack for getting open and making big plays look easy. Earlier in his high school career, there was some talk that he could play defense long term but I thought receiver was his best position and he used his physical abilities to his advantage.

I toyed with him being a five-star and I wish he would’ve been even higher among the four-stars but his ranking was almost a dead-on hit with his draft position. In a loaded group of USC receivers, Pittman was the best one and he could have a really bright career ahead.

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