Rating some recent recruiting classes

Rating some recent recruiting classes

As you would expect, there were plenty of hits and misses for Rivals.com and Scout.com in the recruiting classes of 2002 through 2004. Here are a few nuggets:

• Bonus babies: Six of the top 10 players in Rivals' 2002 rankings are on NFL rosters (Vince Young, Haloti Ngata, Reggie McNeal, Marcus Vick, Leon Washington and Ciatrick Fason). Not a bad percentage.

• Who knew? Maurice Clarett was ranked No. 37 by Rivals in the 2002 class. That looked low when the running back led Ohio State to a national title, but it probably doesn't impress his cell mates when they gather for some touch football in the prison yard.

• Difference of opinion: Reggie Bush was No. 2 (behind Florida State's Ernie Sims) in Rivals' 2003 rankings but only No. 35 in Scout's listings. He wasn't even the highest-rated Bush, according to Scout. That honor belonged to "quarterback" Michael Bush, who developed into a star running back at Louisville.

• Stiff competition: Florida State quarterback Xavier Lee was ranked 78 spots ahead of the man he backs up, Drew Weatherford, by Rivals in 2004.

• Linebacker Who? Check out this past season's three All-America first-team linebackers. Scout saw 44 linebackers in 2005 it thought were better than Ohio State's James Laurinaitis and 19 in 2003 it felt were better than Penn State's Paul Posluszny, the 2005 Butkus Award winner. Then there's 2006 Butkus winner Patrick Willis of Ole Miss, who didn't even earn a ranking from Scout in 2003 and was given only two stars. Bet the Rebels are glad they took a chance.

• Solid nucleus: Four players who signed with Georgia were among Rivals' top 100 in 2003 (Paul Oliver, Kregg Lumpkin, Sean Bailey and Des Williams). All four have made contributions in their careers, although Williams, stuck as a backup at fullback, decided to give up football this past season.

• Underrated Calvin: In Rivals' 2004 rankings, five wide receivers were rated ahead of Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson (LSU's Early Doucet, Oregon's Cameron Colvin, Southern Cal's Fred Davis, Miami's Lance Leggett and LSU's Xavier Carter). And that list doesn't include Georgia's A.J. Bryant, who was listed as an "athlete."

• This spells trouble: Rivals' 2004 rankings had two future stars at the top — Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson and Ohio State's Ted Ginn Jr. — but two of the other spots were occupied by Rhett Bomar, who was dismissed at Oklahoma, and Willie Williams, who didn't last long at Miami. Guess you can't predict behavior, just talent.

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