Here's another related link, from a guy who has done lots of related studies on early ratings and where they point. Lots of his links are within. I'll paste his two summary paragraphs:
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/174883892/predicting-best-nfl-draft-prospects-talent
"In summation, five years of NFL draft data show that a higher recruiting star rating is associated with:
- A better chance of getting drafted in the first place
- Getting picked earlier in the draft
- A greater chance that a drafted player will appear in an NFL game
- Greater production once a player reaches the NFL.
If the
high number of blue chippers who become All-Americans, the
correlation between recruiting ratings and college team rankings, and the fact that in a given college football matchup
the team with the better recruits usually wins, haven't already convinced you that recruiting ratings matter, then the NFL draft should."
***
I don't like to argue this stuff. I do appreciate that the recent trend has been in my favor. When I started emphasizing early evaluation more than 30 years ago on Las Vegas radio there were few who agreed or would even listen. Now I see some of the top draft guys reverting to recruiting rankings as a hint. I knew it was heading in the proper direction in spring 2018 when Rob Staton of Seahawks Draft Blog began referencing former 5-star recruits who were further down the ratings and might be a wise investment. Previously he was subjective minded, buffeted by analytics/SPARQ. But I always sensed he was sharp enough not to reject something so blatantly logical.
Nobody is claiming this is an absolute. It is a cheat. Do it often enough and allow surprise positives in your favor. I have never been a fan of Reshad Jones due to his style of play against the pass, and a couple of wagers he blew for me at Georgia. But I always remembered he was an ultra elite 5-star recruit, considered the best player in the state and among the 15 best players period. That is how you apply this angle, when someone like that slips. The last thing you want to do is exactly the opposite, to ignore high school and fixate on college only and especially late college. I would be deflated and not be posting here now if the Dolphins identified wither Daniel Jones or Andre Dillard in the first round. Jones was a nothing recruit and Dillard a mixture of 2/3 star. Even if you hit on players like that it means you are far too willing to make exceptions. That can only burn you in the long run.
Regardless of what I think, I am thrilled that the Dolphins recently have been demonstrating more magnetism toward the 5-star guys. Three of the last four picks in the first round were 5-star, The one exception is interesting. I'll paste that below. We have acquired more 5-star players in the most recent four drafts than the prior decade combined. Including the trade for 5-star Josh Rosen, at least there is a considerable chance for sustained return on investment that is many percent above the norm, instead of at or below the norm, where we're been for so long.
In any endeavor I've ever been involved in I've always respected and sought the guys who were standouts at an early age. The last person I want to listen to is a late comer. IMO, society in general is too sappy and lauding toward late bloomers and overachievers. They are acceptable tucked in the back corner of an office. But I don't want them anywhere near my sporting teams, especially not in an early round.
Here are the star ratings of our first round picks since 2006. I used Rivals as source every time since I follow their ratings and I didn't want a mixture from service to service, which can skew things. Other sites like 247 and ESPN have recruiting star ratings also. I began at 2006 solely because I could not find anything earlier. Vernon Carey and Ronnie Brown were both in the class of 2000. Neither one was 5-star because they do not appear in the Rivals 100 from 2000. I found that list. This star rating method is relatively new, as I emphasized in the other post. That's why you don't see studies dating 20 years or more:
2006: Jason Allen…4
2007: Ted Ginn…5
2008: Jake Long…4
2009: Vontae Davis…3
2010: Jared Odrick…4
2011: Mike Pouncey…4 (guard)
2012: Ryan Tannehill…3
2013: Dion Jordan…4 (tight end)
2014: Devante Parker…3
2015: Ju’Waun James...4
2016: Laremy Tunsil…5
2017: Charles Harris…2
2018: Minkah Fitzpatrick…5
2019: Christian Wilkins…5