re: Class of 2015 Recruiting MEGATHREAD - Twilight Edition

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Per the HZT Cager told Bone that the staff told him there are four guys who want one spot and he isn't one of them.

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Seffner (Fla.) Armwood defensive end Byron Cowart finished the 2015 cycle as the nation's No. 1 player, the first to do so after being No. 1, losing that honor and then regaining it. Heading into the Under Armour All-America Game, it was supposed to be a battle between Cowart, Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco quarterback Josh Rosen, Haines City (Fla.) safety Derwin James and Long Beach (Calif.) Poly cornerback Iman Marshall. Over at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, Apopka, Fla. offensive tackle Martez Ivey was expected to make a pitch to become the first offensive lineman to finish No. 1, while defensive tackles Kahlil McKenzie from Concord (Calif.) Clayton Valley Charter and Trenton Thompson from Albany (Ga.) Westover School were in good position to make a run as well.

In the end, it was unanimous that Cowart was the No. 1 player overall and that Rosen is right there as 1A despite missing Under Armour week. Honestly, any of our top eight, including Berea (Ky.) Madison Southern running back Damien Harris, could make a case for No. 1, there is that much parity this year. Thompson started off as our No. 1, Cowart took that over for a while, and then Rosen held the top spot for a month until Cowart took it back. That's a lot of movement when you consider so many years where No. 1 never changed and players such as Vince Young, Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, Terrelle Pryor, Jadeveon Clowney went bell-to-bell with ease. With last year's heated debate between Da'Shawn Hand and Myles Garrett at the end and all the changes this year, the battle for No. 1 is becoming more and more exciting as players are simply getting better and better.

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It's been an interesting year across the industry when it comes to No. 1 as I can recall the following players holding that title at one point or another: Thompson, Cowart, Rosen, Ivey, McKenzie, defensive end Terry Beckner Jr. from East St. Louis, Ill., Canton Kaumatule from Honolulu (Hawaii) Punahou and defensive end Josh Sweat from Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith were all at least deserving candidates. And there were a few ridiculous ones as well, including defensive end Jashon Cornell from Saint Paul (Minn.) Cretin-Durham Hall (No. 123 in our final rankings) Ventura (Calif.) St. Bonaventure quarterback Ricky Town (No. 127) and Manassas (Va.) Stonewall Jackson defensive tackle Tim Settle (No. 174). I think there is a tendency to reach to find a No. 1 that no one else has, which can lead to some head-scratching choices. There are also more rankings cycles than ever, players are being ranked earlier and earlier and the development curve is much longer when it comes to rankings. It's certainly been a fun year in that respect.

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Speaking of a tendency to reach, this year was better overall than last year when it came to five-stars who simply had no business earning such a lofty ranking. Essentially, I don't see too many Matt Elam's this year in the industry. Our biggest reach by far was Bluffton (S.C.) defensive end Shameik Blackshear, who started off as a five-star in our initial Rivals250 and ended up as a four-star outside the Rivals250 due to constant and numerous injuries and missed time. Columbus (Ga.) Carver defensive end Mekhi Brown is another who started off as a five-star and ended up far from it at No. 210 nationally as he simply never got bigger, stronger or faster as we projected. Settle is a head-scratcher to me as a five-star elsewhere, as are Stephenville, Texas, quarterback Jarrett Stidham (No. 97 for us), Stockbridge (Ga.) Faith Baptist Christian North offensive tackle Chidi Valentine-Okeke (three-star for us), Allen, Texas, quarterback Kyler Murray (No. 71 for us), Cedar Hill, Texas, wide receiver Damarkus Lodge (No. 61), Avon (Conn.) Avon Old Farms tight end Chris Clark (No. 79), Honolulu (Hawaii) Farrington defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko (No. 122), Mechanicsville (Va.) Atlee linebacker Ricky DeBerry (No. 143), Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman tight end Alize Jones (No. 133), Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage quarterback Torrance Gibson (four-star outside the Rivals250), Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier linebacker Justin Hilliard (No. 55), Jefferson (La.) Riverdale cornerback Donte Jackson (No. 58) and Petal (Miss.) offensive guard Javon Patterson (No. 74). These are all terrific players, but just not five-stars to us for many different reasons.

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The most controversial players left off of our final five-star listing by far are Gladewater (Texas) defensive tackle Daylon Mack (No. 54 for us, five-star everywhere else) and Hampton (Ga.) Lovejoy wide receiver Preston Williams (No. 158 for us, five-star two other places). Mack had a great Under Armour All-America Game, but in reviewing the tape, he went unblocked numerous times, and we have concern over his height. He's either the next Warren Sapp, based on his rankings elsewhere, or he will be a bit of a disappointment; and we don't see Sapp-like ability. Do we like Mack? Of course we do. We have him ranked in the national top 60; but his dominant performance in the UA Game was due more to confusion from the opposing offensive line. As for Williams, we were never super high on him as others were based on his top-end speed. He has the size and hands, but he's not a burner and with a serious knee injury that will take a long time to recover from, we don't see five stars there. We could be wrong on both counts. Time will always tell.

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Irwin is probably the biggest outlier of our five-stars as his highest ranking is No. 89 elsewhere, which I find a bit ridiculous (we have him No. 31). I'm also puzzled by the rankings of Harris, whose highest ranking elsewhere is No. 36 overall (we have him No. 8); not sure what else he has to prove, and I see him as a potential Heisman candidate (no I'm not doing a Beano Cook here) for Alabama in a few years. Guice is also puzzling as his highest ranking elsewhere is No. 45 despite his size and speed. Yes, Leonard Fournette is at LSU, but he won't be for long. Guice has a high bust factor for a five-star for many different reasons, but his talent is too much to overlook. Richmond is also not highly coveted by other websites with No. 58 being his highest ranking (we have him No. 12), and McCloud isn't popular either with his highest ranking being No. 87 elsewhere (we have him No. 23).

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So which players almost made five-star status on Rivals.com? You could easily just look at the player ranked right behind Sweat at No. 34, but there's more to it than that. Sure the players that lost their fifth-stars were discussed as five-stars -- that's how it works. Does Edoga deserve to keep that fifth star now that we have seen so many offensive linemen against the best in the country in pads? That's the kind of question he faced as did Hyatt, Barnett, Orange (Texas) West Orange-Stark safety Deionte Thompson and Evans (Ga.) Lakeside safety Rashad Roundtree, and all came out on the wrong end.

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