By Ahead of week two of the college football season and the opening weekend of the NFL, we take a look at where some of the players in the spotlight this weekend were ranked as high school recruits and whether or not their ranking was a Hit or a Miss.
RELATED: Ten biggest recruiting visits of the weekend
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MICHIGAN VS. TEXAS (Saturday)
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Banks has improved every year at Texas and now the former top 100 prospect looks like a surefire first-round pick in the NFL Draft. He’s become a cornerstone on the Texas offensive line, which shouldn’t be a huge surprise given what he was able to accomplish at the high school level. He’ll be on a big stage this weekend as Texas heads to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan.
Banks was rated as a five-star for a large portion of the 2022 rankings cycle but lost the coveted rating after struggling at the Under Armour All-America game. Despite his performance that week in Orlando, moving Banks from a five-star to a four-star will be a major regret of ours come the 2025 NFL Draft.
Verdict: Miss
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COLORADO VS. NEBRASKA (Saturday)
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Hunter is the biggest star in the college football world right now and is clearly living up to the hype as a former No. 1 prospect in the Rivals250 and as a former No. 1 transfer prospect. The Georgia native was originally committed to Florida State, his dream school, but flipped to Jackson State on National Signing Day to play for his idol, Deion Sanders. Following the 2022 season, Hunter followed Sanders by transferring to Colorado.
In his time at Colorado, Hunter has captivated the college football world with his unique ability to play receiver and cornerback at an elite level. He’s earned multiple All-American honors and is projected to be one of the first picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Watch Hunter and Colorado this weekend when they travel to play at Nebraska.
Verdict: Hit
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GREEN BAY VS. PHILADELPHIA (Friday)
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Hurts is off to an amazing start in the NFL. His college career was just as good. He started as a true freshman at Alabama and helped the Crimson Tide win two national championships before transferring to Oklahoma for his final college season. Hurts led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff that season and was then selected in the second round of the NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Hurts and the Eagles have high expectations for the season and they have plenty of firepower on offense to make a deep playoff run. Check out the Eagles on Friday night on Peacock in their highly anticipated season opening matchup against Green Bay in Brazil.
Verdict: Hit
TENNESSEE VS. NC STATE (Saturday)
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The world got another glimpse of Iamaleava last weekend and now comes a big matchup with NC State on Saturday in Charlotte. It will be the former five-star’s first major test of his career after backing up Joe Milton last season.
Iamaleava is an outstanding talent who routinely impressed as a high school prospect in various settings. He started in Tennessee’s bowl game last year against Iowa and last weekend against UT-Chattanooga so with just two starts under his belt it’s a little early to issue a legitimate verdict about his ranking.
That being said, what Iamaleava has shown so far gives us confidence in his No. 2 overall ranking in the 2023 Rivals250.
Verdict: Incomplete
