- Just looking through the past 5 NFL drafts and OSU has had 34 players drafted in the top 4 rounds...which is pretty ridiculous when you think about it. But I listed all 34 below and made note of their high school recruiting ranking; like anything it’s open to interpretation.
- Nick Vannett - 4*, #192 nationally
- Doran Grant - 4*, #102 nationally
- Devin Smith - 3*, unranked
- Jeff Heuerman - 3*, unranked
- Joey Bosa - 4*, #47 overall
- Zeke Elliott - 4*, #84 overall
- Eli Apple - 4*, #89 overall
- Taylor Decker - 4*, #221
- Darron Lee - 3*, unranked
- Michael Thomas - 4*, unranked
- Von Bell - 5*, #32 overall
- Adolphis Washington - 5*, #25
- Braxton Miller - 4*, #32
- Josh Perry - 4*, #146
- Cardale Jones - 3*, unranked
- Marshon Lattimore - 4*, #132
- Malik Hooker - 3*, unranked
- Gareon Conley - 3* unranked
- Curtis Samuel 4*, #49 overall
- Raekwon McMillon - 5*, #19
- Pat Elflein - 3*, unranked
- Denzel Ward - 3*, unranked
- Billy Price - 4*, #175 overall
- Tyquan Lewis - 4*, unranked
- Jerome Baker - 4*, #50
- Sam Hubbard - 3*, unranked
- Jalyn Holmes - 4*, #55
- Nick Bossa - 5*, #21
- Dwayne Haskins - 4*, #100
- Paris Campbell - 4*, unranked
- Dremont Jones - 4*, #170
- Terry McLauren - 4*, unranked
- Kendall Sheffield - 4*,
- Michael Jordan - 4*, #99
Players drafted in the first 4 rounds:
5* - 4 (out of 7, 57%)
4* - 16 Top 250 (out of 52, 30.7%)
4* - 5 Unranked (out of 19, 26.3%)
3* - 9 (out of 33, 27.2%)
The interesting thing is that OSU is converting non-5* talent into top draft picks at relatively the same rate regardless of high school ranking. That’s impressive, and it’s a credit to their evaluation methods. If they take a 3* it’s likely because they prioritize the kid to at least some degree, and they’re hitting.
I’ll update this post later and add UM’s recruiting during the same period, knowing full well that it will mostly be made up of Hoke’s classes. At this point though, I think the ‘stars’ argument for OSU has lost a little merit, or at least you can’t use the class ratings as an argument for why their talent appears to be better and deeper. At this point it looks like it’s more about evaluation and development. But it’s obviously premature to draw any final conclusions yet.
Michigan’s total class breakdown by star rating is as follows:
5* - 5
4* Top 250 - 37
4* Unranked - 16
3* - 53
Their players from that group drafted in the first 4 rounds:
- Devin Funchess
- Frank Clark
- Jake Ryan
- Graham Glasgow
- Willie Henry
- Jabril Peppers
- Taco Charleton
- Chris Wormley
- Jourdan Lewis
- Amara Darboh
- Delano Hill
- Ben Gedeon
- Ryan Glasgow
- Jehu Chesson
- Mason Cole
- Devin Bush
- Rashan Gary
- David Long
- Chase Winovich
- 5* - 2 (out of 5, 40%)
- 4* Top 250 - 6 (out of 37, 16.2%)
- 4* unranked - 2 (out of 16, 12.5%)
- 3* - 9 (out of 53, 16.9%)
So the star ratings aren’t really what we should be concerned about, it’s the evaluation/development piece that needs to pick up. Will those numbers even out more as we see Harbaugh’s classes mature and cycle though? That’s really the crux of it all; they sign more guys and develop more of them. We won’t care as much about stars so long as we have more Mo Hurst’s and Willie Henry’s right?
And OSU’s kind of put to bed the theory that the higher the star rating the more likely the hit rate, outside of 5*’s at least. So we have a lot of problems...fewer commitments, fewer highly rated players, and fewer conversion rates.
Last edited:
