Published January 25, 2013 - 8:30am
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With National Signing Day just around the corner and the season in the books, let’s take a look at how the 2012 All-SEC team looked as recruits according to Rivals.com.
Astoundingly, Johnny Manziel was a three-star recruit ranked as the 14th best dual-threat quarterback in the country. Both Cobi Hamilton and Jordan Matthews were three-star recruits, with Matthews not even ranked. Chance Warmack also developed into a first round pick as a three-star recruit.
On defense, we see three stars Damontre Moore and Johnthan Banks propel and develop themselves into first-round draft picks come April. Sharrif Floyd, Sheldon Richardson and Jadeveon Clowney all lived up to the hype of being ranked as the top overall recruit at their position in their recruiting class.
Offense
| Pos. | Player | School | Stars | Pos. Rank |
| QB | Johnny Manziel | Texas A&M | *** | #14 QB |
| RB | Todd Gurley | Georgia | **** | #5 RB |
| RB | Mike Gillislee | Florida | **** | #7 APB |
| WR | Cobi Hamilton | Arkansas | *** | #63 WR |
| WR | Jordan Matthews | Vanderbilt | *** | NR |
| TE | Jordan Reed | Florida | **** | #10 QB |
| OL | Chance Warmack | Alabama | *** | #20 OG |
| OL | Gabe Jackson | Miss State | *** | #91 OT |
| OL | Barrett Jones | Alabama | **** | #1 C |
| OL | Luke Joeckel | Texas A&M | **** | #5 OT |
| AP | Cordarrelle Patterson | Tennessee | **** | NR (Juco) |
| K | Caleb Sturgis | Florida | ** | #14 K |
Defense
| DL | Sharrif Floyd | Florida | ***** | #1 DT |
| DL | Damontre Moore | Texas A&M | *** | #32 DE |
| DL | Sheldon Richardson | Missouri | ***** | #1 DT |
| DL | Jadeveon Clowney | South Carolina | ***** | #1 DE |
| LB | Jarvis Jones | Georgia | **** | #4 WDE |
| LB | CJ Mosley | Alabama | **** | #6 OLB |
| LB | Kevin Minter | LSU | **** | #17 ILB |
| CB | Johnthan Banks | Miss State | *** | #63 ATH |
| CB | Dee Milliner | Alabama | ***** | #2 CB |
| DB | Eric Reid | LSU | **** | #6 S |
| DB | Matt Elam | Florida | ***** | #2 S |
| P | Kyle Christy | Florida | *** | #3 K |
Photo Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
So there were 7 recruits that made the first team that were 3 stars and under (not including the punter and kicker).
On defense, 5 recruits were 5 stars. No 5 stars made the first team on offense.
5 out of 11 on defense is pretty accurate prediction for the recruiting services.