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We try our best but every year there are going to be a few five-star prospects who slip through the cracks for various reasons. Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney looks at the 11 five-stars from the 2019, 2020 and 2021 classes that weren’t taken in the NFL Draft.
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MORE NFL DRAFT: Winners and losers | Former five-stars selected on Day 2 | Did Rivals hit or miss on each first-round pick? | First 10 five-stars drafted
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Brooks earned his fifth star after an impressive performance during the all-star season but he never made an impact in college, not at LSU and then during most of his career at TCU. Brooks bounced around positions and even tried receiver, but he finished with 28 career tackles.
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Only Nolan Smith was ahead of Brooks in the 2019 outside linebacker rankings.
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One of the more athletic receivers in recent memory, Demas was the No. 2 receiver in the 2020 Rivals250 behind Julian Fleming. Demas played for two seasons at Texas A&M but then found himself embroiled in legal trouble and landed at Garden City (Kan.) CC for the 2023 season.
Demas talked with Nebraska but a visit there was canceled and the latest from Demas are some private workout clips on his social media from March.
A five-star receiver out of Catawissa (Pa.) Southern Columbia, Fleming was ranked as the top receiver in the 2020 Rivals250 in a group filled with busts other than Jaxon Smith-Njigba and he made a splash by picking Ohio State over Penn State. He would end up playing at both programs and not really making a significant impact in either place.
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Fleming finished with 93 career catches and had an impressive 2022 with six TDs in Columbus but never really gained traction.
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McCoy had one of the craziest recruiting journeys in Rivals’ history as he signed with USC but left after less than three weeks to transfer to Texas, only to leave after spring practice and return to USC, where he played one season before leaving and ending up at Tennessee. He showed flashes in Knoxville with 52 catches in 2022 and then leading the Vols in receptions this year but no team took him.
He was the No. 1 athlete in the 2019 Rivals250.
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Ranked as the third-best prospect in the 2019 Rivals250 behind Derek Stingley Jr. (Houston Texans) and Nolan Smith (Philadelphia Eagles), Sanders was phenomenal in high school – rocked up, physical, fast and a total playmaker.
But in his first season at Alabama, he suffered a season-ending injury and then in 2020 was involved in a serious car accident. He was never really the same and even after transferring to TCU, Sanders could never become a significant factor in the offense while batting more injuries.
The top-ranked offensive guard in the 2019 Rivals250, Thomas really never made an impact at three different stops. The Baton Rouge (La.) Southern Lab product played four seasons at LSU with only two starts.
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He then performed well at Florida A&M but transferred to Colorado for the 2024 season and appeared for only three plays with the Buffaloes.
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Arm strength was never a question with Uiagalelei, who could throw it a mile, but consistency and dialing it back never came to him consistently. In 2022, Uiagalelei threw 22 touchdown passes at Clemson but it was clear five-star Cade Klubnik would be the starter the following year so Uiagalelei transferred to Oregon State. He threw 23 TDs in 2023 but then transferred to Florida State and his performance collapsed with four touchdowns and six picks as the Seminoles went 2-10.
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The third-best receiver in the 2019 Rivals250 behind Jadon Haselwood and George Pickens (Pittsburgh Steelers), Wease had one fewer catch than second-rounder Luther Burden and led Missouri with 884 receiving yards this past season.
After four seasons at Oklahoma and two at Missouri, Wease finished his college career with more than 2,600 receiving yards but couldn’t get drafted. He’s nearly 24 years old.
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The top-ranked center and second-best player in the Alabama state rankings for the 2019 class behind only George Pickens, Webb played three seasons at Georgia and then three at Jacksonville State.
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Some projected him as a late-round pick but he was not selected. Part of that consideration could be that he’s involved in a federal bullying lawsuit from high school that involves some grotesque details.
A fringe five-star in the 2020 Rivals250, Wingo was the third-best inside linebacker in the class behind Justin Flowe and Noah Sewell and actually none of the three lived up to their billing.
Sewell is still in the NFL but was a fifth-round pick. Wingo never got it going at Florida but stayed for his entire career registering 71 tackles in five years.
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Ranked as the second-best receiver in the 2021 Rivals250 behind only first-round selection Emeka Egbuka, Williams signed with Oklahoma and while he put up promising numbers there, he lasted only one season before he and many others left to follow coach Lincoln Riley to USC.
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He had 69 catches for nearly 1,000 yards in two seasons with the Trojans and then bounced to Tulane for 2024 where he had more than 1,000 receiving yards but was still not picked.
Williams measured 5-foot-9, 170 pounds during the pre-draft process.
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