Before they were StarsGreg Gabriel National Football Post April 22, 2015 
winstonI usually wait until after the draft to write this column, but I was having a discussion with some people about the accuracy of the college football recruiting services as to their accuracy. As many of you know, I am not a fan of these services. They sell themselves as being able to accurately predict a prospect’s future, when in reality they are throwing darts at a wall and hoping that a high percentage stick.For the purpose of this article I went back to see what players who have a legitimate shot at being a first round draft choice this year were rated when they came out of high school. There are more than 32 players on this list as we have no idea who will get drafted between 20 and 32. All of these players should be drafted in the top 45. What I found is that a high percentage of these players (over 50%) were rated 3 starts or less when they came out of high school in 2010, 2011 and 2012. While many weren’t highly rated three to five years ago, they sure as heck are now. If the recruiting services were accurate in their evaluations, a very high percentage of first round players should be 4 and 5 star players. That isn’t the case and has never been the case.QuarterbacksJameis Winston – 5 starsMarcus Mariota – 3 starsRunning BacksMelvin Gordon – 4 starsTodd Gurley – 4 starsAmeer Abdullah – 3 starsTevin Coleman – 3 starsJay Ajayi – 3 starsWide ReceiverAmari Cooper – 4 starsKevin White – 0 starsDeVante Parker – 3 starsJaelen Strong – 0 starsBreshad Perriman – 2 starsPhillip Dorsett – 3 starsTight EndMaxx Williams – 3 starsOffensive LineBrandon Scherff – 3 starsAndrus Peat – 5 starsLa’el Collins – 4 starsT.J. Cummings – 4 starsEreck Flowers – 4 starsCam Irving – 3 starsDefensive LineArik Armstead – 4 starsDanny Shelton – 4 starsLeonard Williams – 4 starsMalcom Brown – 4 starsEddie Goldman – 5 starsLinebackers Vic Beasley – 3 starsRandy Gregory – 3 starsShane Ray – 3 starsBud Dupree – 3 starsBenardrick McKinney – 3 starsEric Kendricks – 3 starsPaul Dawson – 0 starsDefensive BacksTrae Waynes – 2 starsMarcus Peters – 3 starsKevin Johnson – 2 starsLandon Collins – 5 starsFollow Greg on Twitter @greggabe
