NFL Draft: Players whose stock has risen or fallen over the years

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

Some players have performed better than their high school recruiting rankings and others have not lived up to their billing.

Here is a look at four players who were not ranked highly in high school but could be first-round selections on Thursday night in the NFL Draft, along with four of the best, five-star recruits who have not met expectations.

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Recruiting: Adderley was an unranked athlete in the 2015 class whose only listed Power Five offer was from Wake Forest. He picked Delaware over Central Connecticut State, Delaware State, Maine, New Hampshire and others. Power Five schools showed interest, but there were reportedly academic hurdles.

Buzz: Adderley could be the first safety selected in the NFL Draft, although he’s not a guaranteed first-round selection. He had 87 tackles and four interceptions this past season and opinions greatly vary on him heading into Thursday night.

Farrell’s take: Because he never popped up as an FBS-level recruit and never came to any camps or combines, we didn’t evaluate or rate him out of high school.

Recruiting: Jones put up impressive numbers at Charlotte Latin, but received little to no recruiting interest and decided to walk on at Duke. His Rivals profile shows interest from NC State, but that is all – with no offers.

Buzz: An unranked pro-style quarterback in the 2015 class, Jones finished his Duke career with 8,201 passing yards and 52 touchdowns. Gil Brandt, a Hall of Famer and former executive for the Dallas Cowboys, said recently that Jones and Peyton Manning are the “same guy,” and there are some rumors that Jones could go much earlier in the first round than previously expected.

Farrell’s take: He was never evaluated or ranked by Rivals.com because he was considered an FCS-level talent.

Recruiting: After playing at Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson, Sweat played at Michigan State before transferring to junior college at Wesson (Miss.) Copiah-Lincoln and eventually ending up at Mississippi State.

Buzz: Sweat had an outstanding combine highlighted by his 4.41-second 40-yard dash. He has looked excellent throughout the pre-draft process but some teams might be concerned that Sweat was diagnosed with a pre-existing heart condition. Ranked as a two-star tight end out of high school, Sweat went to Michigan State and then junior college where he was re-ranked as a mid-level three-star defensive end before finishing his career in Starkville.

Farrell’s take: Way back in 2014 Sweat was a raw tight end/defensive end who had given up football his junior year only to return his senior season. He was more of a basketball player than a football player in high school and missing his junior year, a year crucial in the recruiting world, left him underranked and underrecruited. He was committed to Vanderbilt at one point but decided on Michigan State out of high school. Things didn’t work out at Michigan State so he went to JUCO, focused on defense and was a three-star coming out when he signed with Mississippi State. This is one of those situations where a great athlete was playing the wrong sport and decided to focus on football late in the process and it affected his recruiting.

Recruiting: Listed as Abdurrahman Yasin in the Rivals.com database, Ya-Sin signed with Presbyterian over offers from Florida A&M, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Hampton and Tennessee State. He was ranked as a two-star cornerback.

Buzz: Ya-Sin played for three seasons at Presbyterian before the program decided to move from FCS to Division II, so he transferred to Temple as a mid-year player. He totaled 47 tackles, two interceptions and a team-high 12 pass breakups this past season. Where cornerbacks will be drafted remains highly fluid heading into Thursday.

Farrell’s take: Ya-Sin had a little local interest although the Georgia Tech offer was not committable and was regarded as an FCS prospect at best. As a result, he was scouted solely on film and was deemed as a two-star prospect overall.

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Recruiting: The No. 1 player in the 2015 class committed to Auburn over Florida on signing day, but then the drama continued when the Tigers did not receive his letter of intent throughout the day. It finally landed in the Auburn football offices. He also took official visits to Maryland and Alabama and canceled a trip to Florida State.

Buzz: As a high school senior, Cowart was listed at 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds, and at the NFL combine he weighed in at 298, moving from defensive end to defensive tackle during his college career. After not being able to make an impact at Auburn, Cowart went to Hillsborough CC before heading to Maryland, where he had 38 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions this past season. NFL.com lists him as someone who is an “NFL backup or special teams potential.”

Farrell’s take: This one is puzzling because Cowart had so much upside coming out of high school. He was big, strong, explosive off the line of scrimmage and his work ethic was unquestioned. He dominated every chance we had to scout him and finished his high school career with a great week at the Under Armour All-America Game. He got caught up in the depth at Auburn and didn’t have the maturity to work through it, but he had a solid season at Maryland last year. He has upside for sure, and should be a mid-rounder.

Recruiting: Shortly prior to National Signing Day, Gustin committed to USC over Arizona State, Ohio State and Utah. January visits to his other three finalists could not sway Gustin, who visited USC often during the recruiting process.

Buzz: Everything looked to be coming together in Gustin’s sophomore season, when he finished with 68 tackles and 5.5 sacks. But the following two seasons were marred with a variety of injuries that could put his draft stock in decline. In four seasons at USC, Gustin still finished with 21.5 sacks and he was productive in other ways when on the field but injuries have plagued him over the last couple years.

Farrell’s take: Gustin was a beast out of high school, a 240-pounder who could play inside or outside linebacker or move down to defensive end with his long frame. He was very good in space and so powerful and fast he just destroyed competition in his home state of Utah. This is a situation where he showed flashes of five-star talent at USC, but injuries derailed him a bit. I pictured him as a Brian Cushing-type in college, but it never worked out that way. He’s still very intriguing and some NFL team will take him earlier than expected.

Recruiting: At the Army All-American Bowl, Nauta announced his commitment to Georgia over Alabama and Michigan. Upon being hired, Kirby Smart made Nauta a priority in Georgia’s recruiting class and the Bulldogs landed him.

Buzz: Nauta was only targeted 35 times in Georgia’s offense this past season and his career stats of 68 catches for 905 yards and eight touchdowns definitely do not live up to his five-star billing, although the Bulldogs did not really implement him much in the offense. But Nauta also didn’t do himself any more favors at the combine, where he went 4.91 in the 40-yard dash. In a deep group of tight ends, that’s not going to cut it.

Farrell’s take: To be a five-star tight end at Rivals.com, you have to be special and we thought Nauta was that guy. At first glance he was special, but there was a time before he headed off to IMG Academy where he put on too much weight and it affected his speed and ability to separate. However, he whipped himself back into shape and was as fast and dynamic as he was initially and we tagged him as a five-star and a player who would have a great career. I expected him to be a potential first- or second-round NFL Draft pick, but his 40 time and lack of production has killed those chances.

Recruiting: In October of his senior season, Patrick committed to Florida State over his other finalists: Florida, Alabama, Ohio State and Texas A&M. The five-star was offered by then-FSU coach Jimbo Fisher as a freshman in high school.

Buzz: The two running backs ahead of Patrick in the 2015 recruiting class were Damien Harris, who had a huge career at Alabama and should be an early-round selection, and Derrius Guice, who was a second-round pick of the Washington Redskins. Patrick was not even invited to the NFL Combine and only finished with only 378 yards and one touchdown this past season. Patrick is a big-bodied back who reportedly looked good at FSU’s pro day, but other running backs have performed better so far.

Farrell’s take: Patrick was a tall, upright running back who was very athletic and could work on third down with solid hands. In fact, we saw him play wide receiver in camp settings as well and he dominated. His running style never really improved in college and he was too big a target, so instead of becoming the next Derrick Henry, he flopped out. It’s unclear whether he’ll be drafted at all, although is testing numbers are solid.