Rivals Rankings Week: Comparing 2025 five-stars to NFL standouts
The final five-star list for the 2025 class has been released and so Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney selects 10 five-stars and makes NFL comparisons for them.
RIVALS RANKING WEEK
Monday: Who should be the No. 1 QB in the 2025 Rivals250?
Tuesday: Final Five-Star Countdown for the 2025 class | Meet the new five-stars
Wednesday: Final Rivals250 released | 2025 team champion announced | Gorney’s thoughts
Thursday: Final offensive position rankings revealed
Friday: Final defensive position rankings revealed
Saturday: Final state rankings revealed
Sunday: Rankings Roundtable
QB KEELON RUSSELL: Jayden Daniels
The Alabama signee is a tall, lean quarterback who has phenomenal accuracy and playmaking skills. He is comfortable sitting in the pocket and delivering strikes, but also has the athleticism and intelligence to know when he has to escape and make plays with his feet.
Jayden Daniels was the same way in high school and Russell is even a little ahead in accuracy and in physical stature at the same stage. With Daniels having such an incredible rookie season, if the Chicago Bears could do it over, would they take him with the first overall pick? We didn’t want to have the same regret in the final Rivals rankings, so we moved Russell to No. 1 overall.
QB TAVIEN ST. CLAIR: Justin Fields
If Trevor Lawrence wasn’t in the 2018 recruiting class then Fields would have been No. 1 overall in the Rivals250. If Russell didn’t have such a phenomenal senior season and all-star showing then St. Clair would have been No. 1 in the 2025 Rivals250.
Not only from a rankings perspective but from a physical makeup, St. Clair and Fields are very similar but we do think St. Clair is a little bit more of a dynamic passer. The Ohio State signee was awesome at the Rivals Five-Star this past summer and outperformed Russell on that day. Fields ended up as the No. 11 pick out of Ohio State in the 2021 NFL Draft. St. Clair could match or beat that based on his skills.
QB BRYCE UNDERWOOD: CJ Stroud
There isn’t a perfect comp for Underwood as we’ve seen Vince Young, Cam Newton and some others, but he isn’t as tall as either of those players but does play the position in a similar fashion to Young. We went with CJ Stroud for numerous reasons but because both have incredible pocket feel, both can run when necessary (and Underwood might even be a little more athletic) and then both throw a beautiful deep ball that almost always hits the receiver in stride.
Underwood should start from Day 1 at Michigan and he has the chance to be special.
QB JULIAN LEWIS: Bryce Young
This is a comparison I’ve liked for many years since Lewis was a young pup but he’s actually grown taller than Bryce Young even though they have similar playing styles. What was always so special about Young through his high school and college days and now with the Carolina Panthers is that he anticipated so well and seemed to know how everything was going to happen before it did.
Lewis is very similar in that sense as if he can see the chessboard pieces moving on the field and then he has the arm talent to deliver the ball where it needs to be. He could be Shedeur Sanders’ replacement on Day 1.
DT ELIJAH GRIFFIN: Derrick Brown
Griffin is 6-foot-5 and 300-plus pounds. Derrick Brown is 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds. And both defensive linemen like to play fast and hard, a bruising style that overwhelms offensive linemen as they both attack the backfield.
Griffin inched into the No. 1 overall conversation after a dominating week at the Under Armour Game where he used a mix of speed and power to take over one-on-one reps. Brown had a great career at Auburn and then was the seventh overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. He finished with 12.5 sacks in four seasons on The Plains. We think Griffin could exceed that number at Georgia.
DT JAHKEEM STEWART: Chris Jones
Coming out of Houston, Miss., Chris Jones was a 6-foot-5, 250-pound defensive end but he was so dominant and took over events that he landed among the five-stars. He’s now a three-time Super Bowl champion, one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL and he checks in at 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds.
We see a similar path for Stewart, the USC signee, as he has a phenomenal frame and one where he can continue to add weight to move across the defensive line. It’s a little concerning that Stewart hasn’t played a lot of high school football after transferring but his talent is there and it could be unleashed once he gets on the field more.
QB DEUCE KNIGHT: Michael Penix, Jr.
Knight is a slightly taller version of Michael Penix, Jr. and the similarities are almost uncanny. Both are lefty quarterbacks, both were definitely not finished products coming out of high school and while Penix needed a reboot of his career at Washington after starting out at Indiana, we think Knight could be the future at Auburn for coach Hugh Freeze.
It might not be instantaneous as Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold is the odds-on favorite to win the job but Knight over the last two years has improved his accuracy so much. He has such a beautiful, smooth release that Freeze’s offense could run great under his command.
WR DAKORIEN MOORE: Amon-Ra St. Brown
No one in recent memory had more of a dog factor to his game than Amon-Ra St. Brown but when it comes to route running, hands, the ability to run by cornerbacks and make impossible catches look easy, the two receivers are very similar.
St. Brown, who was an absolute steal for the Detroit Lions in the fourth round, is more rocked up but was the No. 1 receiver in the 2018 class. Moore was the top one this cycle as he has dominated every event he’s been to over the last couple years.
CB DEVIN SANCHEZ: Sauce Gardner
There is always a concern about falling in love with tall cornerbacks because the NFL hasn’t drafted many of them high and there is always a concern about turning and running with pro receivers, but we think Sanchez is one of two cornerbacks in this class who could be the next Sauce Gardner.
Alabama signee Dijon Lee is right there as well – and is a little leaner than Sanchez – but the Ohio State signee is so focused on being great and is crazy fluid for someone his size.
RB HARLEM BERRY: Reggie Bush
The USC coaching staff reportedly compared Berry with Reggie Bush and while it sounds like hyperbole (or maybe a recruiting tactic for the five-star to come play for the Trojans) it’s not so outlandish. Both Berry and Bush were listed at 6-foot and 180 pounds in high school. Both were incredibly fast, dynamic, used all over the field and tough to tackle.
Bush played in the NFL at 203 pounds so Berry will need to fill out a bunch once he gets to LSU but he absolutely has the frame to do it. If he can keep his speed and versatility, the comp to Bush is kind of right there in terms of playing style.
