NFL Draft 2019: How the 1st-round picks were rated as high school recruits
Do recruiting rankings matter?
That’s the question that gets debated every single recruiting cycle, and yet, the NFL Draft and college football as a whole continue to prove they do matter.
It’s always fun to look back at the first-round draft picks to see how they were rated as high school recruits. Every year, we see several 5-stars, 4-stars, 3-stars and unranked recruits become first-round picks.
Here’s the breakdown of all 32 picks in the first round of Thursday night’s draft (247Sports Composite):
- 5-stars: 8
- 4-stars: 10
- 3-stars: 11
- 2-stars: 1
- UR: 2
Those compare very favorably to last year’s numbers — 7 5-stars, 10 4-stars, 12 3-stars, 1 2-star and 2 UR.
RELATED: SEC stars who were 1st round picks are very rich
Of the SEC’s nine first-round picks, Alabama’s Jonah Williams and Mississippi State’s Jeffery Simmons were rated 5-star prospects. Alabama’s Quinnen Williams and LSU’s Devin White were rated 4-stars. Alabama’s Josh Jacobs, Mississippi State’s Montez Sweat and Johnathan Abram and Georgia’s Deandre Baker were all 3-star prospects. Kentucky’s Josh Allen was the SEC’s lone 2-star prospect to be a first-round pick at No. 7 overall to the Jaguars.
Two first-round picks were unranked by evaluators — Duke QB Daniel Jones and Alabama State OT Tytus Howard. Jones was developed by David Cutcliffe, while Howard was a walk-on at Alabama State who wanted to play QB. Really. Thankfully for him, he gained a bunch of weight and blew into a first-round pick at tackle.
Here’s the full first round and star ranking:
Pick | Team | Player | School | Stars |
1 | Cardinals | QB Kyler Murray | Oklahoma | 5 |
2 | 49ers | DE Nick Bosa | Ohio State | 5 |
3 | Jets | DT Quinnen Williams | Alabama | 4 |
4 | Raiders | DE Clelin Ferrell | Clemson | 4 |
5 | Buccaneers | LB Devin White | LSU | 4 |
6 | Giants | QB Daniel Jones | Duke | UR |
7 | Jaguars | EDGE Josh Allen | Kentucky | 2 |
8 | Lions | TE TJ Hockerson | Iowa | 3 |
9 | Bills | DT Ed Oliver | Houston | 5 |
10 | Steelers | LB Devin Bush | Michigan | 4 |
11 | Bengals | OT Jonah Williams | Alabama | 5 |
12 | Packers | DE Rashan Gary | Michigan | 5 |
13 | Dolphins | DT Christian Wilkins | Clemson | 5 |
14 | Falcons | OG Chris Lindstrom | Boston College | 3 |
15 | Redskins | QB Dwayne Haskins | Ohio State | 4 |
16 | Panthers | EDGE Brian Burns | FSU | 4 |
17 | Giants | DT Dexter Lawrence | Clemson | 5 |
18 | Vikings | C Garrett Bradbury | NC State | 3 |
19 | Titans | DT Jeffery Simmons | Miss State | 5 |
20 | Broncos | TE Noah Fant | Iowa | 3 |
21 | Packers | DB Darnell Savage | Maryland | 3 |
22 | Eagles | OT Andre Dillard | Washington State | 3 |
23 | Texans | OT Tytus Howard | Alabama State | UR |
24 | Raiders | RB Josh Jacobs | Alabama | 3 |
25 | Ravens | WR Marquise Brown | Oklahoma | 4 |
26 | Redskins | EDGE Montez Sweat | Miss State | 3 |
27 | Raiders | S Johnathan Abram | Miss State | 3 |
28 | Chargers | DT Jerry Tillery | Notre Dame | 4 |
29 | Seahawks | DE LJ Collier | TCU | 3 |
30 | Giants | CB Deandre Baker | Georgia | 3 |
31 | Falcons | OT Kaleb McGary | Washington | 4 |
32 | Patriots | WR N’Keal Harry | Arizona State | 4 |