A lot has changed in the college football landscape over the past four years, starting with the COVID outbreak that threatened sports of all forms during the peak of the pandemic. Sprinkle a healthy helping of name, image and likeness matters and one has the basic recipe for where we are today.
The Athletic’s Max Olson recently followed up his publication’s series of recruiting re-ranks with one for the 2020 campaign, back when things were seemingly simpler. Among those to make the cut are the Florida Gators, who came in at No. 21 in the re-rank after landing a No. 8 ranking at the conclusion of the cycle four years ago.
“The scoring system for grading these classes is a 0-to-5 scale inspired by the recruiting industry’s star system,” Olson explains. “We are grading scholarship players and walk-ons who earned scholarships, based on what they’ve achieved over four years, not what they might do in the future.”
5 points: All-American, award winner, top-50 NFL Draft pick
4: Multi-year starter, all-conference honors
3: One-year starter or key reserve
2: Career backup
0: Minor or no contribution
“[autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag] brought in 13 future starters in this signing class but few All-SEC performers. (Anthony) Richardson, a four-star in-state signee, had to wait his turn behind Emory Jones and flashed exciting potential as the Gators’ starter in 2022 before the Colts made him the No. 4 overall pick.
“(Gervon) Dexter and (Justin) Shorter also developed into draft picks. Georgia transfer OLB Brenton Cox made an immediate impact and earned 33 starts but ended up getting dismissed during coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s debut season.
“Proven starters (Princely) Umanmielen (Ole Miss) and OL Richie Leonard IV (Florida State) transferred this offseason, bringing the total number of departures from this class up to 20.”
The Texas A&M Aggies (then No. 6), Auburn Tigers (7), Oklahoma Sooners (12), Oregon Ducks (13), North Carolina Tar Heels (14), Washington Huskies (17), Nebraska Cornhuskers (20), Stanford Cardinals (21), Florida State Seminoles (22), Arizona State Sun Devils (24) and Kentucky Wildcats (25) were all previously ranked but fell out of the revised top 25.
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