Four years after the fact, nearly all of the top wide receiver recruits from the 2011 class have played their final games in college. A big percentage of the top 25 receivers from the class have already turned pro, and several others will follow this spring.

How did the 2011 class pan out? SDS takes a look as we continue to look at the position groups.

Revisiting 2011 recruiting

Note: Recruiting rankings are in reference to 247sports’ industry composite from 2011. 

SEC Spin

The SEC claimed 10 of the top 25 receivers in the 2011 class coming out of high school, including five-star prospect Jarvis Landry, one of four five-stars in the class. The results up and down the rankings are a bit of a mixed bag.

Three of the SEC’s four top-ranked players from this class — DeAnthony Arnett (Tennessee), Marvin Shinn (Alabama) and Nickolas Brassell (Ole Miss) — can certainly be considered busts, as none of the three finished their college careers at the school where they started.

Others, like the lower-ranked Sammie Coates (Auburn), out-produced what could have been reasonably expected of them. Landy didn’t quite live up to his No. 2 ranking in the receiver class, but was still a star player good enough to leave school a year early, while others like Odell Beckham Jr. flashed star quality in their college careers.

Biggest Bust

The top 10 of the rankings are dotted with players that failed to live up to their lofty high school rankings. George Farmer at Southern California, the No. 1 receiver from 2011, recently declared for the draft. Farmer’s career was dotted with injuries that prevented him from fulfilling his potential, but his career looks worse for the Trojans considering he’s leaving school after his first healthy year on campus. Farmer set career highs across the board with 25 catches, 314 yards and four touchdowns and finished his career with just 30 catches to his name.

Biggest Overachiever

Coming out of high school, Nelson Spruce wasn’t even rated among the top 1,000 players in his class. Players like that aren’t expected to finish in the top 15 in the nation in receiving or compete for national awards, yet that’s exactly what Spruce did this year at Colorado. The No. 126 receiver in 2011, Spruce was 13th in the country in receiving yards in 2014 with 1,198 and finished tied for seventh with 13 touchdowns. Returning for his final year of eligibility in 2015 after some NFL draft buzz, Spruce will have a chance to push himself farther up the rankings with another big year.

Re-Grading the Top 10

2011 No. 1: George Farmer, Southern California
New No. 1: Sammy Watkins, Clemson

Watkins absolutely lived up to five-star hype at Clemson, putting up staggering numbers in his three years on campus for the Tigers. Watkins was down as a sophomore, with just 57 catches, 708 yards and three touchdowns, but his freshman and junior years were earth-shaking. As a rookie in college, Watkins went for 82/1,219/12, then as a junior posted 101/1,464/12, pushing him into the top five of the 2014 NFL draft.

2011 No. 2: Jarvis Landry, LSU
New No. 2: Brandin Cooks, Oregon State

Cooks wasn’t highly regarded coming out of high school, a three-star prospect ranked No. 56 among receivers who received offers from just a few Power Five programs. He exploded as a junior, winning the Biletnikoff Award with a monster 128/1,730/16 season. Cooks finished his career with two 1,000-yard seasons and over 3,200 receiving yards and was chosen in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft.

2011 No. 3: Watkins
New No. 3: Mike Evans, Texas A&M

Evans played just two years for the Aggies, but paired with Johnny Manziel he was absolutely deadly. He went over 1,000 yards in both years, piled up 17 receiving touchdowns and earned first-team SEC and consensus All-America honors in his redshirt sophomore year. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made him the seventh overall pick in 2014, just three spots behind Watkins.

2011 No. 4: Trey Metoyer, Oklahoma
New No. 4: Rashad Greene, Florida State

Greene was a big-time contributor all four years in Tallahassee, improving his numbers every year. He had 76/1,128/9 in FSU’s national championship year playing across from Kelvin Benjamin, then emerged as Jameis Winston’s go-t0 receiver as a senior with 99/1,365/7. Over four years with the Seminoles, Greene set school receptions (270) and yardage (3,830) records.

2011 No. 5: Charone Peake, Clemson
New No. 5: DeVante Parker, Louisville

If he hadn’t missed the first seven games of 2014 with a broken bone in his foot, Parker would have likely been neck-and-neck with Alabama’s Amari Cooper as the best receiver in the nation. Parker still played well enough in his shortened year (six games, 43/855/9) to show scouts he is worthy of a first round pick. Parker had double-digit touchdowns as a sophomore and junior for Louisville. An odd quirk of his career: Parker played in three different conferences (Big East, AAC, ACC).

2011 No. 6: DeAnthony Arnett, Tennessee
New No. 6: Odell Beckham Jr., LSU

As good as Beckham was in college, he’s already exceeded that performance after his rookie year in the NFL. Beckham will go down in history for his ridiculous one-handed/three-finger catch with the New York Giants, who made him a first round pick after three years at LSU. Beckham went over 1,000 yards as a junior and had a 141/2,305/12 line after three years at LSU, earning second-team All-SEC honors as a junior.

2011 No. 7: Kasen Williams, Washington
New No. 7: Kelvin Benjamin, Florida State

Benjamin was a four-star prospect who blossomed into a serious scoring threat in Tallahassee. After redshirting his first year, Benjamin was solid as a redshirt freshman and then exploded as a redshirt sophomore with 54/1,011/15, including the game-winning touchdown for the Seminoles in the BCS title game. He was yet another first round pick from this recruiting class, going 28th overall to the Carolina Panthers.

2011 No. 8: Marvin Shinn, Alabama
New No. 8:Landry

After an unproductive freshman year, Landry paired with Beckham to form one of the most talented receiving tandems in the SEC. In his final two years, Landry totaled 133/1,766/15, also topping 1,000 yards as a junior, landing him second-team All-SEC honors. The Miami Dolphins picked Landry in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft, and he went on to have a solid rookie campaign.

2011 No. 9: Jamal Turner, Nebraska
New No. 9: Sammie Coates, Auburn

Coates remains a bit of a mystery, with immense physical gifts and inconsistent performances throughout his time at Auburn, but when he was on he was nearly unstoppable. Coates missed his freshman year with a foot injury and wasn’t much of a factor in his first year on the field. In Auburn’s run to the BCS title game in 2013, Coates went for 42/902/7 as a big-play threat. He was banged up as a junior, but still earned himself a spot on the All-SEC second team. Coates looks like an early draft pick this spring after leaving his final year of eligibility on the table.

2011 No. 10: Josh Turner, Texas
New No. 10: Cody Latimer, Indiana

Indiana isn’t known as a football factory, but Latimer’s talent still caught the eyes of scouts..Latimer was a star his junior year, with 72/1,096/9 and finished his three years at Indiana with 135/2,042/17. After leaving school following his junior year, he was a Denver Broncos second round pick a year ago.