SAN ANTONIO – With the All-American Bowl in the rearview mirror and the final rankings update coming later this month, many of the important rankings discussions are about to play out.
Take a look at the biggest rankings questions that arose from our latest evaluations at the All-American Bowl and the week of practices leading up to the game itself.
IS THERE A FIVE-STAR RUNNING BACK IN THE 2023 CLASS?
There will likely be a heated debate about whether there should be a five-star running back in the 2023 class come the next rankings meetings. The analyst team was divided on this question heading into the All-American Bowl week with some analysts believing that there should rarely be a five-star running back as the position is rarely drafted in the first round these days.
We were able to get a close look at the two highest-ranked running backs in the class this week with both Rueben Owens II and Justice Haynes making their case for a fifth star.
Owens II is a special athlete with the size and skill-set to be a star at the college level and beyond, but followed his standout showing at practices throughout the week with a game performance that left more to be desired.
Haynes has a phenomenal skill-set with few if any weaknesses to his game. He was lights out during practice all week and took it even one step further with a performance to remember on game day.
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WHO IS THE TOP RECEIVER IN THE CLASS?
The top two receivers in class were in San Antonio this week in Brandon Inniss and Carnell Tate. Both were phenomenal from start to finish this week and both did more than enough to back up their argument that they should be the No. 1 prospect at the position.
This will likely come down to the personal preference among the analysts and you really can’t go wrong with either at No. 1 based on what we saw this week. Inniss is the ultimate gamer, is always open and is probably the safer bet of the two when it comes to success at the next level and beyond. Tate is the prototypical future first-round draft pick with the size, speed and overall skill-set to be better should he reach his max potential.
A third part of the No. 1 wide receiver debate will be the performance of Zachariah Branch at the Under Armour Next All-America game. Branch also made his case for being the top prospect at the position and it will be interesting to hear the thoughts of those on the analyst team who made it to both the UA game and the All-American Bowl.
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WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE WEAKSIDE DEFENSIVE END RANKINGS?
The weakside defensive end group was impressive as a whole with five-star Alabama signee Keon Keeley stealing the show at the position. Keeley arrived in San Antonio as the No. 3 prospect at the position, but by the end of the week he had done enough on the field to make his case for the top weakside spot.
Four-star weakside defensive ends Yhonzae Pierre, Bai Jobe and Joshua Mickens all showed flashes of greatness throughout the week as well. Especially Pierre and Jobe who each did enough to warrant an upward move in the position rankings.
This all comes on the heels of the UA game week where Samuel M’Pemba, Adepoju Adebawore, Chandavian Bradley and others at the position had varying levels of success. This will surely lead to plenty of debates during the final rankings meetings.
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WHAT TO DO WITH THE QUARTERBACKS?
Dante Moore is currently the No. 3 quarterback and No. 4 prospect overall and while there isn’t much room for movement in his rankings, he certainly gave food for thought with his All-American Bowl performance. After an up-and-down week of practice, Moore proved to be the ultimate gamer with a nearly flawless performance during the game (four passing touchdowns). With Arch Manning not participating in any of the all-star events and Nico Iamaleava playing in the Polynesian Bowl, it will be interesting to see if the analyst team thinks Moore’s play is worthy of a bump in the rankings.
Four-star dual-threat quarterback Aidan Chiles is probably the only other quarterback who did enough during the week to warrant a move up in the rankings. Chiles currently sits outside the Rivals250 but after a strong showing on the week, it will be interesting to see if he cracks the Rivals250.
Christopher Vizzina, Pierce Clarkson, Austin Novosad and Lincoln Kienholz all had their moments throughout the week, but as a whole left plenty up for a debate when it comes to the order in which they should be ranked.
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WHICH FOUR-STAR WILL DEVELOP INTO A FIRST-ROUND PICK?
There were some spectacular showings from the current four-stars and multiple prospects in this group have first-round upside. This ultimately brings up two questions. The first being, will any of the current four-stars get a five-star bump? The second being, who will we wrongly keep as a four-star?
As previously stated, both Haynes and Owens made a case for a fifth star and should they not be awarded an extra star, they both possess future first-round upside. Additional players who fall into this category include Monroe Freeling, Malachi Coleman, Yhonzae Pierre, Aidan Chiles, Brenan Vernon, Jordan Hall, Bai Jobe, Malik Elzy and numerous others.
There were future pros all over the field with numerous players having the ability to be future first-round draft picks. I would probably have to go with Freeling or Coleman as things stand today, because they have the physical and athletic gifts to become first-rounders should they reach their max potential.
