When the NFL draft rolls around, it sometimes piques my curiosity as to how perceptions of a player can change in a couple of years.
In the months leading up to the moment they sign their letters of intent, star ratings often sit so high in kids' minds. They work so hard in practice, in camps and on the playing field to accrue as many of those five-pointed icons from recruiting services as they can. And those stars, while not the end-all be-all of their evaluations, are the welcome mat for college coaches to tread. Are you a five-star? Well, then add an extra room to the house to store all the recruiting correspondence. Just a two-star? The flood of mail won't be as large.
So I grabbed the list of Thursday's first-round NFL draft picks and stepped back into history. I used the 247Sports composite ratings for each player, since that takes the star ratings of every recruiting site into account. And for the most part, those star ratings played out the way one figured they would.
Of the first four picks, three were five-star recruits. The non-five star, North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, was rated four stars. Of the 32 first-rounders, 21 of them were rated either four or five stars. But then there was pick No. 5.
The Tennessee Titans took Western Michigan receiver Corey Davis fifth overall. Davis was a two-star prospect and has said that Western Michigan was his only Football Bowl Subdivision offer. The reason was, according to the Detroit Free Press, that Davis' grades and test scores would not have made him eligible, which scared off most programs. And that is likely what knocked a couple of stars off Davis' rating.
Recruitniks can find plenty of reasons to add stars to a player's rating. He runs a blazing-fast 40-yard dash, bench-presses a semi truck or gets an offer from a marquee school like Alabama or Florida State. They can find reasons to subtract stars, too. Maybe grades are a question. Maybe he's a couple inches too short. Maybe he dominates in a state that isn't as talent rich as Florida, Texas or California.
Or, like two-star recruit Charles Harris of Missouri, he didn't start playing organized football until he was a junior in high school. That didn't stop the Tigers from signing the linebacker, nor did it stop the Miami Dolphins from drafting him 22nd overall.
Then there are the zero-star guys, the ones who came out of absolutely nowhere. Linebacker Haason Reddick came to Temple as a walk-on. He leaves as the 13th overall pick after standout performances at the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine. Offensive lineman Ryan Ramczyk was enrolled in technical colleges before resuming his football career at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, then transferring to Wisconsin. He put the bow on the first round Thursday night when the Saints drafted him 32nd overall.
From recruiting obscurity to millionaires.
And that's just the first round. The remaining six rounds of the draft will be filled with players who looked at their star ratings, immediately ignored them and worked their way into an NFL opportunity. And there will be former five-star guys who find themselves falling a lot lower in the draft, if they're even picked at all.
I saw all kinds when I covered Florida State. Linebacker Lawrence Timmons was a four-star recruit, lived up to his billing, became a first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers and remains in the NFL. Quarterback Xavier Lee was a five-star prospect and considered a once-in-a-generation talent. He was a part-time starter at FSU, left before his senior season to enter the NFL draft as a tight end and mostly bounced around indoor leagues for a few years.
Then there was offensive lineman Rodney Hudson. He earned a respectable three stars out of Mobile, Alabama, but didn't receive the fanfare of some of his contemporaries. He became one of the best Seminole players of his era and a second-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Star ratings don't mean everything. Five-stars can flame out. Two-stars can become superstars. That doesn't mean that any kid can go from off the radar to first-rounder with just gumption to fuel him.
But hard work and the proper attitude can make up for the couple of inches he doesn't have, or the tenth of a second in the 40 that he can't shave off. There are some things star ratings can't measure. And those are the things that allow football players go from unheralded to shaking hands with the NFL commissioner on draft day.
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.