How former No. 1 picks were rated in high school
Former NFL running back LeSean McCoy said on FS1’s The Facility that he’s not sold on Miami quarterback Cam Ward as the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft because he was an unranked recruit coming out of high school.
McCoy’s opinion was received with pushback from some of the other guests as he was considering high school stars too much in his analysis.
“I’ve never seen in the whole draft, there have been a lot of busts in these drafts that have gotten a lot of attention,” McCoy said. “I’ve never seen a player have zero stars in high school be the No. 1 pick overall. I’ve never seen that.”
Let’s take a look at all the No. 1 NFL Draft picks dating back to the early days of Rivals and where they were ranked:
2024 – CALEB WILLIAMS
A five-star quarterback out of Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga who picked Oklahoma before transferring to USC, Williams was actually underranked at sixth nationally and the second-best quarterback behind Quinn Ewers. Williams is the starting QB of the Chicago Bears.
2023 – BRYCE YOUNG
Ranked as the second-best prospect in the 2020 Rivals250, Young was behind only five-star DL Bryan Bresee. The Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei standout backed off a pledge to USC and signed with Alabama. He is now the starting quarterback of the Carolina Panthers.
2022 – TRAVON WALKER
Just a few spots away from a five-star ranking, the Thomaston (Ga.) Upson Lee four-star defensive end was the No. 1 pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars despite having only 9.5 sacks in three years at Georgia, six in his final campaign.
Walker has become one of the better, young defensive linemen in the league with back-to-back double-digit sack seasons.
2021 – TREVOR LAWRENCE
The No. 1 player in the 2018 Rivals250, Lawrence held off Justin Fields and Amon-Ra St. Brown in that recruiting cycle, starred at Clemson and then was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
In June, Lawrence signed a five-year, $275 million deal as the starting QB of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
2020 – JOE BURROW
A mid-three-star from Athens, Ohio, who signed with Ohio State and famously was told by then-coach Urban Meyer that he threw like a girl, Burrow transferred to LSU where he won a national championship, the Heisman Trophy and was the first pick in the 2020 draft. He’s the starting QB of the Cincinnati Bengals.
2019 – KYLER MURRAY
A mid-four-star coming out of Allen, Texas, Murray was so small in high school and at that time in the recruiting evaluation business that was a major concern. Murray signed with Texas A&M but then transferred to Oklahoma where his career really blossomed as he threw 100 touchdowns in two seasons and put up insane rushing stats, too.
He’s the quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals.
2018 – BAKER MAYFIELD
The Austin (Texas) Lake Travis three-star turned down some low-level offers to walk on and play at Texas Tech before transferring to Oklahoma. Mayfield threw for 131 touchdowns in three seasons with the Sooners and then was the No. 1 pick by the Cleveland Browns.
He’s now the starter of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
2017 – MYLES GARRETT
The Arlington (Texas) Martin five-star defensive end was the No. 2 player in the 2014 class behind Da’Shawn Hand but that still felt too low after Garrett’s incredibly dominant performance at the Under Armour Game.
He finished with 32.5 sacks in three years at Texas A&M and has had double-digit sacks in every season with the Cleveland Browns except for his rookie year.
2016 – JARED GOFF
The four-star from Kentfield (Calif.) Marin Catholic was lightly recruited out of high school and picked Cal over Boise State, Washington State and others. Goff should have been higher in the rankings but always had a very laid-back vibe and he didn’t blow anyone away at Elite 11 mainly because the structure was different back then.
But he killed it at Cal, posting huge numbers in three seasons. He was drafted No. 1 by the Los Angeles Rams and is now the starter of the Detroit Lions.
2015 – JAMEIS WINSTON
The five-star quarterback from Hueytown, Ala., picked Florida State over Alabama and others and at that time he was a tall, skinny prospect with a really live arm. I’ll never forget seeing him at the Elite 11 at Pepperdine that year as the field overlooked the Pacific Ocean. There weren’t many surefire five-star QBs in his class so Winston led the way.
Winston has had an up-and-down NFL career and was just traded to the New York Giants.
2014 – JADEVEON CLOWNEY
Clowney is arguably the best high school football player I’ve ever seen, as his get-off was so incredible it looked like he was jumping offsides on every play and was around most offensive tackles before they got out of their stance.
The Rock Hill (S.C.) South Pointe standout starred at South Carolina and then was the No. 1 pick of the Houston Texans in 2014. He’s been with the Carolina Panthers the last couple seasons.
2013 – ERIC FISHER
Fisher was a two-star miss out of Rochester Hills (Mich.) Stoney Creek who signed with Central Michigan as he had no other offers. After a great career in Kalamazoo, he was the No. 1 pick of the Kansas City Chiefs where he played the majority of his career.
2012 – ANDREW LUCK
When the high four-star quarterback from Houston (Texas) Stratford chose Stanford, he acknowledged the Cardinal were down but he was excited to play for then-coach Jim Harbaugh and presciently said, “You can go places with a Stanford degree.”
Luck had a great career at Stanford and then played his entire career with the Indianapolis Colts before shockingly retiring at age 29.
2011 – CAM NEWTON
Newton was a five-star coming out of high school and a five-star coming out of junior college as he sat behind Tim Tebow at Florida and then starred at Auburn before being the No. 1 pick of the Carolina Panthers where he spent the majority of his career. He won a national title and the Heisman Trophy at Auburn in 2010.
2010 – SAM BRADFORD
A two-sport star who was also heavily recruited in basketball, Bradford pursued his childhood dream of playing at Oklahoma where in 2008 he threw for 50 touchdowns and won the Heisman Trophy. He was a three-star miss in a QB class that was led by five-stars Matthew Stafford and Mitch Mustain.
He was the No. 1 pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2010 but was out of the league after the 2018 season.
2009 – MATTHEW STAFFORD
Ranked as the top quarterback and the sixth-best prospect in the 2006 Rivals250 out of Dallas (Texas) Highland Park, Stafford went to Georgia and threw one of the prettiest footballs in Rivals history. It just came out so cleanly and quick.
In Athens he threw for more than 7,700 yards in three seasons although his TD/INT ratio of 51-to-33 wasn’t exceptional. He was the No. 1 pick of the Detroit Lions, now plays for the Los Angeles Rams and has thrown for nearly 60,000 yards and 377 TDs.
2008 – JAKE LONG
After camping at Michigan, Long earned an offer and committed to the Wolverines as they beat out Notre Dame, Northwestern, Michigan State, Penn State and others for the Lapeer, Mich., standout. He was the No. 1 pick of the Miami Dolphins and was out of the league after the 2016 season.
2007 – JAMARCUS RUSSELL
A four-star quarterback who was ranked sixth at the position in the 2003 recruiting class, Russell went to LSU and won a national championship in Baton Rouge. He was the No. 1 pick of the Oakland Raiders but famously fizzled out after just a few seasons and then never landed anywhere else in the NFL.
