Our college football recruiting experts have seen the best high school prospects over the years. They have seen players go from highly touted recruits to Heisman Trophy winners and NFL All-Pro teams.
They have also seen some recruits who didn't pan out at the college level, and others who exceeded expectations tremendously.
Tom VanHaaren, Craig Haubert, Gerry Hamilton and Tom Luginbill reflect on the best prospects they have ever seen, those they overrated and those they undervalued over the years.
The best recruits we've ever seen
Craig Haubert: DE Jadeveon Clowney
South Carolina Gamecocks
ESPN 150 ranking (2011): 1
Having seen so many incredibly talented players early in their careers, this list could get quite extensive, but the first name that regularly comes to mind is Clowney. From the initial moment I saw him, he was one of those 'wow' type prospects with his impressive blend of height, length and explosiveness. At the time, I lived only 20 minutes from South Pointe High School, so I was able to see Clowney often, but the first time I did still resonates. I knew he was promising since I had seen him on tape, but watching him play very early in his junior season, he sailed past my expectations.
He was a disruptive force defensively, but also blocked a punt and caught a TD pass. As soon as the game ended, I went to talk to the head coach, Bobby Carroll, to get more insight and immediately extend an invitation for him to play in the Under Armour All-America game, which at that time was the earliest we had ever extended an invite to a prospect. I ultimately was not the only one impressed by Clowney's talents, as he would finish as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2011 class as well as end up a No. 1 selection in the 2014 NFL draft.
Tom VanHaaren: RB Leonard Fournette
LSU Tigers
ESPN 300 ranking (2014): 1
I wasn't able to see Clowney in person as a recruit, so I can't go with him. I saw linebacker Jaylon Smith chase down Jourdan Lewis in a one-on-one drill after Lewis got about 5 yards ahead of him on a route while playing receiver. Smith somehow caught up to him and tipped the pass with one hand. It was incredible. That always stood out to me, but the recruit who really made a big impression was Fournette. When I saw him in person at the Under Armour All-America game, I was taken aback by his size. His legs were about as big as my waist; he was an adult as a senior in high school. What he was able to do as a recruit and the size he had, that always sticks out.
Gerry Hamilton: Clowney
To this day, Clowney easily has the quickest first step and most explosive initial movements of any player I have seen at his size in high school. A truly rare prospect at his size, Clowney possessed more than just explosiveness. He had long arms, 10-inch hands, flexibility and exceptional change-of-direction and sideline-to-sideline pursuit abilities.
Clowney didn't disappoint at South Carolina despite coming in with unrealistic expectations. All of his physical gifts immediately transitioned to the college game with 35.5 tackles for loss, 21 sacks and eight forced fumbles in his first two seasons. Clowney retained his special athleticism after adding more than 25 pounds of muscle in college, running a jaw-dropping 4.53 40-yard dash, 4.43 20-yard shuttle, 7.27 three-cone drill, 37.5-inch vertical jump and 10-foot-4-inch broad jump at the NFL combine at 266 pounds.
Tom Luginbill: Clowney
It's almost unanimous. We can debate his motor and motivation to achieve at the highest level, but there is no debating his measurables, elite physical traits and pure talent. In fact, I haven't seen someone close to his ability level since. In high school, he was a man amongst boys. When he wants to be, he is the most dominant player on the field, even now at the NFL level. One thing that hasn't changed with him is that his production and motor can be inconsistent.
The recruits who didn't pan out
Tom VanHaaren: QB Malik Henry
Florida State Seminoles
ESPN 300 ranking (2016): 17
Quarterbacks are tough to figure out when it comes to transitioning from high school to college. Many of them enter the transfer portal because it's a difficult position to evaluate. I thought Henry was going to be special at Florida State. He was in the 2016 class, and I remember seeing him at a camp that college coaches were allowed to attend. The second he started throwing, he had a group of coaches around him, watching what he was doing. He could sling it; he looked like a great fit for the Seminoles. It didn't work out that way, though; Henry ended up transferring from Florida State, spending two seasons at Independence Community College, then transferring to Nevada and is now reportedly no longer enrolled at Nevada.
Tom Luginbill: DE Byron Cowart
Auburn Tigers
ESPN 150 ranking (2015): 1
This is a prime example of a player with immense talent who couldn't handle being coached hard. For whatever reason, being in a competitive setting with other good players and high expectations was difficult for him. I have had conversations with multiple college coaches who coached him or were on staff asking them what the issue was, and they all gave similar answers. Maturity, dealing with the spotlight, expectations, handling criticism and coaching were hard for him.
Craig Haubert: OT Willie Allen
LSU Tigers
ESPN 150 ranking (2016): 16
Scouting is not an exact science, and sometimes for various reasons you get evaluations wrong. Allen came out of John Curtis Christian in Louisiana, a program that has produced its fair share of touted FBS talent, and it seemed Allen would fall in that line. An OT with tremendous measurables who also moved well for his size and displayed finishing toughness, his ceiling seemed high. Because he was coming from a system that utilized the split-back veer, we figured some developmental time would be needed -- especially in pass-protection -- but felt he could grow into an excellent Power 5 tackle.
We severely underestimated the learning curve and time needed to develop and mature, though. He signed with LSU and transferred a year later to junior college. He is now at Louisiana Tech, where he started 13 games at left tackle, He still has another season ahead to further develop and match expectations that in hindsight were set too high.
Gerry Hamilton: CB Greg Reid
Florida State Seminoles
ESPN 150 ranking (2009): 15
To this day, one could make the argument that Reid put together the most impressive Under Armour All-America Game and practices. He picked off numerous passes, displayed exceptional natural coverage skills and was a momentum-changing threat in the return game. The cornerback and punt return dynamo made a splash at Florida State as a freshman, picking off a pair of passes and displaying his elite talent as a punt return threat.
But repeated off-the-field issues, including one arrest for driving with a suspended license, a seatbelt violation and misdemeanor possession of marijuana, plagued him, leading to his dismissal from Florida State prior to his senior season despite a productive first three seasons. A subsequent ACL injury after transferring to his hometown Valdosta State only added to his slide. Reid successfully played a number of years in the Arena League, but with his talent he was expected to play for a number of years in the NFL. He didn't go on to have the career in football many imagined due to off-the-field decisions.
The recruits we underrated
Tom VanHaaren: WR Justin Jefferson
LSU Tigers
ESPN ranking (2017): Unranked
Jefferson is the ultimate answer. Barely anyone knew who he was in high school. He wasn't undersold; he was ignored. All he did was go from unranked to a first-round draft pick. His high school teammate, Michael Young, was also a wide receiver and was committed to Notre Dame, which makes it even more baffling as to why so many people missed Jefferson. Some will say Jefferson didn't garner many offers because everyone thought he would end up at LSU since his brothers played there, but he should have received way more offers than he did. This was the 2017 class, so it wasn't like there was no internet or film online to find him.
Craig Haubert: DT Aaron Donald
Pittsburgh Panthers
ESPN ranking (2010): Four stars
Looking back at Donald's evaluation, we felt he was a sleeper four-star prospect among that year's defensive tackle class. Despite being an explosive and physical player who even at that stage was disruptive, he lacked ideal measurables, which raised some concerns and ultimately prevented him from ranking higher.
Time would show he was deserving of becoming an All-American at Pitt, and he developed into one of the NFL's most dominant players today. A major lesson learned: Despite his promising skill set, we put too much emphasis on his size. That has since been factored in for prospects similar to Donald.
Gerry Hamilton: WR Phillip Dorsett II
Miami Hurricanes
ESPN ranking (2011): Three stars
Dorsett played on absolutely loaded Saint Thomas Aquinas teams that included Lamarcus Joyner, Rashad Greene, Marcus Roberson, Jake Rudock, Corey Holmes, Bobby Hart, Anthony Moten and Jelani Hamilton, among others. While other prospects on the South Florida powerhouse had more impressive measurables and were more heavily recruited on the national stage, Dorsett possessed the most explosive speed.
We made a mistake by focusing on his frame -- which was then 5-foot-9, around 165 pounds -- instead of his 10.51 100-meter speed. Add in the fact that Dorsett also showed explosive ability with a 24-foot-7-inch long jump and 36.5-inch vertical, and this was a bad miss. Dorsett was a high-ranking three-star due to size concerns with five-star explosive athletic ability. That explosive speed and quickness ended up earning Dorsett a first-round NFL draft selection in 2015.
Tom Luginbill: QB Marcus Mariota
Oregon Ducks
ESPN ranking (2011): Two stars
To be honest, I'm shocked we even had him evaluated and graded. His lack of interest on the recruiting trail, underdeveloped physical traits and limited exposure usually would lead us not to evaluate him, as there wasn't much reason to. Chip Kelly saw something in him that no one else did at the time, and four years later he won the Heisman Trophy, only the sixth player to do so from the West Coast in the past 25 years. He was a prime example of a player who developed late, didn't have to play right away and was afforded the luxury of being brought along slowly.