Somehow, April became Deep Dive month for me here at the Scoop. In 2021, I revolutionized how to evaluate college performance in the NFL Draft by debuting the Selection Points formula. Last April, I identified the best player ever taken at each spot in the NFL Draft.
This year, I took a different spin on the same idea: who is the highest-ranked recruit in the history of all 50 states?
Within, you'll find some of the highest-wattage future stars in college and professional football. You'll also find lots of blasts from the past and "Wait, who?". Such is the beauty of recruiting. Some of these names were easy to find. Others required so much digging, I had to rent a fleet of backhoes.
Before we dive in, a few notes:
-- Twelve different states have produced a No. 1 recruit, Texas's six and Georgia's five. Five states have never developed a top-250 recruit.
-- To get in front of the #WellActually crowd, we purposefully went with highest-ranked instead of highest-rated, which is why there are ties in some states. We used the 247Sports composite rankings, from 2000 to 2027.
-- Within, I think we've identified the top prospect in the modern history of football.
ALABAMA
OL Andre Smith -- No. 1 overall prospect, class of 2006 (Alabama)
Smith signed with Mike Shula, but blossomed under Nick Saban. A 2-time First Team All-SEC selection, Smith won the Outland Trophy on Saban's first title-contending Tide team in 2008, then went sixth to the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2009 draft. He played 13 seasons for the Bengals, Vikings, Cardinals, and Ravens.
ALASKA
C Thomas Sio -- unranked 3-star, 2019 (Oregon State)
The state of Alaska has never had a player earn a numerical ranking -- 247 has ranked over 25,000 kids -- but Sio was the 31st-ranked center in the class of 2019, so that's enough to put him here. He moved to defensive tackle at Oregon State.
ARIZONA
CB Kelee Ringo -- No. 4, 2020 (Georgia)
Ringo, slotted 11 spots ahead of Bijan Robinson in the same class, hand-delivered Georgia's first national championship in 41 years by taking an interception back for a touchdown to beat Alabama in the 2021 CFP title game. He went in the fourth round to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023 and is still with the club.
ARKANSAS
RB Michael Dyer -- No. 8, 2010 (Auburn)
Dyer edged out Mitch Mustain, who ranked ninth in 2006. (Darren McFadden was 32nd in 2005.) Dyer is best remembered for producing the most anti-climatic title-clinching play in the history of championship games -- don't stop 'til the whistle blows, kids -- but finished his career at Louisville. He was a training camp invitee of the Oakland Raiders in 2015 before finishing his career in Canadian and arena football.
CALIFORNIA
DE Jaelen Phillips -- No. 1, 2017 (UCLA)
DE Ronald Powell -- No. 1, 2010 (Florida)
QB Matt Barkley -- No. 1, 2009 (USC)
LB DJ Williams -- No. 1, 2000 (Miami)
With all due respect to Phillips and Powell, Barkley and Williams are the most revered Californians in the modern recruiting era.
Proclaimed as a future No. 1 pick by Mel Kiper, Jr., before he even began his college career, Barkley ultimately went 98th. The Mater Dei golden boy's career was mostly swallowed by USC's dysfunction -- his freshman year was Pete Carroll's final season at SC, and his sophomore and junior years were played under sanctions from the Reggie Bush era. He won the Wuerffel Trophy as college football's top community servant in 2012 and was a Third Team All-American in 2011.
Playing for national power De La Salle, Williams won a national championship as a true freshman at Miami and was a 2-time First Team All-Big East selection before going 17th to the Broncos in 2004.
Phillips was a first-round pick, while Powell went in the fifth round.
COLORADO
RB Marcus Houston -- No. 5, 2000 (Colorado)
Houston opened his true freshman season as Colorado's starting running back but battled injuries throughout his career and ultimately finished at Colorado State.
CONNECTICUT
DT Christian Wilkins -- No. 24, 2015 (Clemson)
Wilkins was a 2-time First Team All-American, a 2-time national champion, won the William V. Campbell Trophy as the top scholar-athlete in college football, and was a first-round pick of the Dolphins in 2019.
DELAWARE
OT Kwame Harris -- No. 6, 2000 (Stanford)
In 2002 Harris became Stanford's first winner of the Morris Trophy, given to the top offensive or defensive lineman in the Pac-10. The award was established in 1980. He was a first-round pick of the 49ers the following spring and played six seasons in the league.
FLORIDA
WR Jeremiah Smith -- No. 1, 2024 (Ohio State)
LB Ernie Sims -- No. 1, 2003 (Florida State)
The second of six players to earn a perfect 1.0000 score in the 247 system, Sims was a First Team All-American as a sophomore. He was a top-10 pick after his junior season, played eight NFL seasons, and in 2018 embarked on a successful coaching career that in 2024 brought him back to his alma mater. Smith was the best player on a historically talented national championship-winning team as a true freshman, and enters his third and final season as a Buckeye this fall.
GEORGIA
CB Travis Hunter -- No. 1, 2022 (Jackson State)
DE Nolan Smith -- No. 1, 2019 (Georgia)
QB Trevor Lawrence -- No. 1, 2018 (Clemson)
DT Trenton Thompson -- No. 1, 2015 (Georgia)
DT Robert Nkemdiche -- No. 1, 2013 (Ole Miss)
Technically, Nkemdiche wins the 5-way tie with a perfect 1.000 rating in the 247Sports Composite. Lawrence and Hunter, of course, are now teammates with the Jaguars. One has a Heisman Trophy, the other a national title. Lawrence is one of two No. 1 recruits to also go first in the draft, while Hunter fell all the way to No. 2.
Elsewhere, Smith won three championships in a 4-year span: two at Georgia, and one with the Eagles, who took him in the first round in 2023. Nkemdiche also went in the first round, but lasted only six seasons in the NFL before finishing in minor league football. Thompson left Georgia after three seasons, went undrafted, and never made an NFL roster.
HAWAII
LB Manti Te'o -- No. 4, 2009 (Notre Dame)
As Brian Polian undoubtedly asked himself a trillion times as he flew back and forth from South Bend to Honolulu weekly throughout Teo's recruitment, the juice was worth the squeeze. Te'o stands as the only defensive player since 1980 to win the Maxwell Award as the national player of the year, along with the Walter Camp Award, the Lombardi, the Bednarik, the Butkus, and the Lott trophies while leading Notre Dame to the 2012 BCS title game. Nothing weird happened after that.
IDAHO
OL Kelvin Obot -- No. 21, 2026 (Utah)
The two highest-ranked recruits in Idaho history will both be true freshmen this fall. Obot is the only consensus 5-star to ever hail from Idaho, while wide receiver Gatlin Bair (the No. 43 recruit in the class of 2024) will start his career for Oregon this fall after serving a 2-year LDS mission.
ILLINOIS
WR Luther Burden -- No. 3, 2022 (Missouri)
A product of East St. Louis High School, Burden was a 2-time First Team All-SEC performer, and then a second-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2025.
INDIANA
LB Jaylon Smith -- No. 2, 2013 (Notre Dame)
A Butkus Award winner, Smith was a certain high draft pick in the 2016 NFL Draft before tearing his ACL and LCL in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. He went in the second round to the Dallas Cowboys and appeared in the 2019 Pro Bowl.
IOWA
OT Kadyn Proctor -- No. 9, 2023 (Alabama)
Proctor started as a true freshman for the Crimson Tide in 2023, transferred home to Iowa after Nick Saban's retirement, and then transferred back to Alabama. He's expected to be a first-round pick later this month.
KANSAS
RB Bryce Brown -- No. 2, 2009 (Tennessee)
Bryce Brown supplanted his older brother Arthur, the No. 8 player in 2008, as the highest-ranked recruit in Kansas history and originally planned to join big brother at Miami, but his recruitment was -- how should we say this? -- eventful. Brown's trainer tried to cut the recruiting services out of the process and profit off of his client's recruitment by selling updates online. Brown signed six weeks after signing day, naming five finalists despite being committed to Miami. He signed with Lane Kiffin for his one season at Tennessee, but transferred alongside Arthur to Kansas State, sitting out the 2010 season as was required at the time. He played only one season at K-State, entered the NFL draft early, was taken in the seventh round, and totaled 251 carries across four seasons.
KENTUCKY
ATH Michael Bush -- No. 11, 2003 (Louisville)
Bush played quarterback, defensive back, defensive end, linebacker, running back and wide receiver at Louisville Male High School, but settled at running back for the hometown team. Paired with another golden-boy recruit from the city of Louisville (quarterback Brian Brohm), Bobby Petrino's Cardinals teams won Conference USA and Big East championships, posted two No. 6 rankings in the year-end AP poll, and won a combined 32 games from 2004-06. Unfortunately for Bush, a possible Heisman campaign was cut short when he broke his leg early in his senior year, pushing him to the fourth round of the 2007 NFL draft. He played eight seasons for the Raiders, Bears, and Cardinals.
LOUISIANA
QB Arch Manning -- No. 1, 2023 (Texas)
RB Leonard Fournette -- No. 1, 2014 (LSU)
RB Joe McKnight -- No. 1, 2007 (USC)
Technically, McKnight edged Fournette and Manning with a .9997 rating to Fournette's .9996 and Manning's .9995. Fournette is assuredly the most beloved Louisiana recruit given that he's the only No. 1 recruit to stay home. Fournette was an All-American as a sophomore, which was an especially notable accomplishment given Les Miles's Tiger teams were chronically challenged on offense. He ultimately went fourth to the Jaguars and won a Super Bowl with the Bucs.
McKnight spurned LSU to become the heir apparent to Reggie Bush at USC; he went in the fourth round after three seasons as a Trojan and played four NFL seasons. He was tragically murdered at 28 in a road rage incident in 2016.
Manning will attempt to become the third No. 1 recruit to go first in the draft at this time next year, and also the third member of his own family to go first in the draft. (For the record, Grandpa went second.)
MAINE
TE Alexander Marshall -- No. 496, 2017 (Florida State)
A little bit of an asterisk here, given that Marshall played at Maine's Bridgton Academy but his 247 and FSU bios list his hometown as Andover, Mass. We'll take it, given that he's the only* top 500 prospect from Maine, ever. This state somehow produced the best American-born basketball player since LeBron, which officially makes Cooper Flagg the real-life Anakin Skywalker, without the horrific backstory.
* The 247 database lists a James Nixon as the No. 348 prospect in 2007, also playing for Bridgton Academy and signing with UConn. UConn has no record of a James Nixon on any roster, and a Google search for "James Nixon UConn" brings up a Wikipedia page for a James Nixon from Massachusetts as having played for California University of Pennsylvania. I can find no record of this person's existence outside of Wikipedia. I believe this is the first time Wikipedia has ever been incorrect about anything.
MARYLAND
DT Bryan Bresee -- No. 1, 2020 (Clemson)
It's hard to call Bresee a disappointment given that he was the ACC Rookie of the Year and a first round pick, but his only First Team All-ACC selection came as a freshman. The Tigers' third-ranked 2020 class, recruited on the heels of the team's second national title in three years, was supposed to maintain Clemson's place at the top, but instead oversaw its downfall.
MASSACHUSETTS
OT Samson Okunlola -- No. 24, 2023 (Miami)
The top recruit in Massachusetts is usually an offensive lineman, and Okunlola is the best of the bunch. Recruited as a tackle, Okunlola found a starting role at right guard for the national runners-up.
MICHIGAN
QB Bryce Underwood -- No. 1, 2025 (Michigan)
The highest-paid recruit on this list, Underwood was FBS's 94th-rated passer as a true freshman for an underwhelming Michigan offense. We'll see what Kyle Whittingham and co. have in store for Underwood's sophomore season.
MINNESOTA
OT Seantrel Henderson -- No. 2, 2010 (Miami)
Henderson initially signed with USC, but had that marriage annulled when the NCAA put USC on a bowl ban for the Reggie Bush improper benefits scandal -- a full four and a half years after Bush left Los Angeles. He was a Freshman All-American in 2010 but injuries and suspensions yo-yoed him and and out of the lineup for the rest of Henderson's time as a Hurricane. He was taken in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft and played six years in the league.
MISSISSIPPI
RB Cam Akers -- No. 3, 2017 (Florida State)
Success is often about timing, and Akers's timing at Florida State was not good. He never won more than five games in a season as a Seminole, arriving for Jimbo Fisher's checked-out finale and remaining through Willie Taggart's 21-game tenure. Akers has enjoyed a better career as a pro than he experienced as a collegian: the second-round pick has won Super Bowls as a Ram and a Seahawk.
MISSOURI
WR Dorial Green-Beckham -- No. 1, 2012 (Missouri)
Green-Beckham chose Missouri over Arkansas, but played only two seasons for the Tigers before finishing his career at Oklahoma. A second-round pick in 2015, he lasted two seasons in the NFL.
MONTANA
DL Mark Anderson -- No. 65, 2001 (Stanford)
Anderson redshirted in 2001 and suffered a major knee injury somewhere after that, which forced a transfer to Montana State in 2003. The trail goes cold after that.
NEBRASKA
OT Baker Steinkuhler -- No. 34, 2008 (Nebraska)
The son and younger brother of two former Huskers, Steinkuhler moved to defensive tackle and played in 40 games with 27 starts, but injured his knee in his final regular season game and did not have an NFL career.
NEVADA
WR Zachariah Branch -- No. 4, 2023 (USC)
Branch won the Jet Award as college football's top returner as a true freshman, but transferred to Georgia after his sophomore season. He is an early entrant to the 2026 NFL Draft via Georgia.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
OT Richard Lapham -- No. 254, 2006 (Boston College)
Not only does Lapham definitively exist, he played at a New Hampshire public school. That that, Maine! Lapham started 33 games at right tackle for some pretty good Eagles teams under Tom O'Brien, Jeff Jagodzinski and Frank Spaziani, but a knee injury his senior year appeared to shush out any shot at a pro career. According to LinkedIn, Lapham returned to Amherst, N.H., and went pro in tech recruiting.
NEW JERSEY
DT Rashan Gary -- No. 1, 2016 (Michigan)
OT Eugene Monroe -- No. 1, 2005 (Virginia)
Monroe won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the top offensive lineman in the ACC in 2008, and was the eighth pick of the 2009 draft. Gary was a 2-time First Team All-Big Ten honoree before going 12th to the Green Bay Packers in 2019, and is about to begin his eighth NFL season.
NEW MEXICO
OT Matt Hegarty -- No. 57, 2011 (Notre Dame)
Hegarty joined the Notre Dame starting lineup as a fourth-year player, then finished his career as a graduate transfer at Oregon in 2015.
NEW YORK
DT Dominique Easley -- No. 4, 2010 (Florida)
Easley was 50 years ahead of when most people flee Staten Island for Florida, only his version of Del Boca Vista Phase II was Will Muschamp's football program. He was so talented that he tore his ACL in September of his senior year and still went in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
NORTH CAROLINA
DT Dexter Lawrence -- No. 2, 2016 (Clemson)
Lawrence enjoyed the career Bresee was supposed to have. The ACC Rookie of the Year in 2016, Lawrence collected two First Team All-ACC nods and two national championship rings, and has since become a 2-time All-Pro after going 17th to the New York Giants in 2019.
NORTH DAKOTA
TE Brooks Bakko -- No. 120, 2027 (uncommitted)
It's a bumper crop in the Great Plains. Through last year, North Dakota had one top-500 recruit in its entire history. This year, there are three. If Bakko's ranking slips over the next year, he could be passed by his own Kindred High School teammate, athlete Luke Starcevic, who currently ranks 216th. Behind them, Stanley tight end Ben Hynek is No. 417.
OHIO
WR Ted Ginn, Jr. -- No. 2, 2004 (Ohio State)
The Chosen One of Ohio high school football, Ginn was USA Today's national defensive player of the year while playing for his father, Ted Ginn, Sr., at powerhouse Glenville High School in the Cleveland area before starring for the Buckeyes as a returner and wide receiver. He led the nation in punt returns as a freshman and was a First Team All-American returner all three years in college, and infamously took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown of the 2006 title game before a teammate injured Ginn's left foot while celebrating that touchdown, portending a blowout loss for Ohio State as a heavy favorite. Nevertheless, Ginn was the ninth pick of the 2007 NFL Draft and played 14 seasons in the league.
OKLAHOMA
DT Gerald McCoy -- No. 13, 2006 (Oklahoma)
A stud at every level, McCoy took a redshirt in 2006, then won the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2007. He was a 2-time First Team All-American, turned pro after his redshirt junior year and went third in the 2010 draft. In 11 NFL seasons, McCoy was a 3-time All-Pro and played in six Pro Bowls.
OREGON
DE Owa Odighizuwa -- No. 17, 2010 (UCLA)
Though they've fashioned themselves into a national recruiting power over the course of this century, the University of Oregon has missed on all five of the top-50 recruits produced by the state of Oregon.
Odighizuwa was a Second Team All-Pac-12 player as a senior and played two seasons for the Giants.
PENNSYLVANIA
RB Kevin Jones -- No. 1, 2001 (Virginia Tech)
Jones was in many ways the first blue-chip prospect of recruiting's modern era. The inaugural winner of the now-defunct US Army All-American Bowl Player of the Year, Jones was also a trail-blazer in the Signing Day Fake Out -- initially acting like he was going to sign with Penn State before ripping off his sweater to reveal a Michael Vick Hokies jersey underneath. "The entire room was flabbergasted," he later recalled. He played four seasons for Virginia Tech and six for the Lions and Bears.
RHODE ISLAND
RB Will Blackmon -- No. 123, 2002 (Boston College)
One of two top-600 prospects in Rhode Island's history -- former Georgia offensive lineman Xavier Truss is the other -- Blackmon was a running back out of high school, but started his career as a cornerback and return man, then added wide receiver duties as a senior and immediately led the team in catches and yards. Blackmon set virtually every BC kick return record and finished in the top-5 in most punt return marks. A fourth-round pick at safety, he played 10 seasons for the Packers, Giants, Jaguars and Seahawks.
SOUTH CAROLINA
DE Jadeveon Clowney -- No. 1, 2011 (South Carolina)
DE Da'Quan Bowers -- No. 1, 2008 (Clemson)
Clowney has a great argument as the top prospect in the near 30-year history of modern recruiting. Six individuals have earned a perfect 1.0000 score in the 247 system, and two No. 1 recruits have gone on to become the No. 1 pick in the draft. Clowney is the only player to do both.
SOUTH DAKOTA
OT Ryan Schuler -- No. 133, 2003 (Nebraska)
After going multiple years without producing a single ranked recruit, South Dakota now regularly produces a handful of top 1,000-ish kids per year. But they're all looking up at Ryan Schuler, whose career unfortunately never materialized after a persistent blood clot issue developed in his legs as a senior in high school.
TENNESSEE
DT Walter Nolen -- No. 2, 2022 (Texas A&M)
WR Patrick Turner -- No. 2, 2005 (USC)
Nolen edged out Turner by .0005, and easily cleared him afterward. Nolen was a consensus All-American in 2024 and a first-round pick of the Cardinals; Turner peaked as a Second Team All-Pac-10er and played four NFL seasons as a second-round pick.
TEXAS
DT Jalen Brewster -- No. 1, 2027 (Texas Tech commit)
QB Keisean Henderson -- No. 1, 2026 (Houston)
QB Quinn Ewers -- No. 1, 2021 (Ohio State)
DT Mario Edwards -- No. 1, 2012 (Florida State)
RB Adrian Peterson -- No. 1, 2004 (Oklahoma)
QB Vince Young -- No. 1, 2002 (Texas)
Texas unsurprisingly leads the country with six No. 1 recruits -- including two of the six perfect 1.0000s in Young and Ewers, though I'd argue Peterson and Myles Garrett (rated behind Leonard Fournette in the class of 2014) are the best pure football players the Lone Star State has produced in this era.
UTAH
DT Haloti Ngata -- No. 10, 2002 (Oregon)
The 2005 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, Ngata won the Morris Trophy as the league's top offensive or defensive lineman. He went 12th to the Ravens in 2006, played 13 seasons for three teams, won a Super Bowl, and made five All-Pro teams.
VERMONT
WR Anthony Davis -- No. 389, 2013 (Unsigned)
Unlike Maine, Vermont's best high school prospect ever actually existed, but details are similarly murky beyond that. He even created his own YouTube channel to post his highlights. According to a blog post from ESPN Boston, Davis was injured his senior year in high school and spent a post-grad season at Vermont Academy, but I can find no record of him playing college football.
VIRGINIA
WR Percy Harvin -- No. 2, 2006 (Florida)
A 3-time high school state champion and the first Virginian in 70 years to win five gold medals at the state track meet, Harvin committed to Florida over Florida State a day before the Gators landed Tim Tebow -- and Urban Meyer was off and running in Gainesville, pun intended. Harvin was the SEC Freshman of the Year, a 2-time First Team All-American, a 2-time national champion, a first-round pick, and the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
WASHINGTON
DE JT Tuimoloau -- No. 4, 2021 (Ohio State)
WR Reggie Williams -- No. 4, 2001 (Washington)
Tuimoloau edged out Williams by percentage points, and was a 3-time All-Big Ten player and a national champion for Ohio State. Williams was a consensus All-American and the No. 9 pick of the Jaguars in 2004.
WASHINGTON, DC
DT Marvin Austin -- No. 4, 2007 (North Carolina)
Austin edged out Caleb Williams (No. 7 in 2021) as the highest-ranked recruit in the history of the District. Part of a 2010 North Carolina team expected to contend for the national title, Austin was part of a group of Tar Heels suspended for the entire season for benefits that are standard today.
WEST VIRGINIA
OT Darnell Wright -- No. 10, 2019 (Tennessee)
With the obvious caveat that DuPont's Randy Moss pre-dates the internet era, Wright was an outstanding prospect in his own right. The No. 10 prospect in the country, Wright started three seasons for Tennessee and was the No. 10 pick by the Bears in the 2023 draft.
WISCONSIN
OT Josh Oglesby -- No. 13, 2007 (Wisconsin)
It took until his fifth season, but Oglesby developed into a First Team All-Big Ten right tackle in 2011, then entered coaching in 2013. He's currently the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Arizona.
WYOMING
OT Taven Bryan -- No. 526, 2014 (Florida)
The 53rd-ranked offensive tackle in the class of 2014 became the first defensive tackle taken in the 2018 NFL Draft. Bryan switched sides of the line of scrimmage at Florida, where he redshirted as a freshman and became a Second Team All-SEC selection in his third year on defense. He went No. 29 in the 2018 draft and is currently working toward his 10th NFL season after spending last season with the Ravens.