Reclassification of blue-chip football prospects has become a growing trend in recruiting over the past decade. Close to 50 prospects have voluntarily skipped their final season of high school football to enter college, dating back to the 2016 recruiting cycle. The emergence of NIL has accelerated this trend in recent years, with double-digit prospects reclassifying in each of the 2024 and 2025 recruiting cycles.

We’re just now receiving the early returns from the first wave of reclassifications, which allow for initial conclusions after tracking the college careers.

Reclassifying lowers the chances of being a NFL Draft early entry

The easiest big-picture conclusion from this nascent reclassification trend is the impact on the odds of a player becoming an early entry NFL Draft prospect. Early entries are the three-and-out players who forgo college eligibility to enter the draft. This group often comprises a bulk of first-round picks annually.

Sixteen blue-chip prospects reclassified within the 2016-2022 recruiting cycles. The group accounts for all of draft-eligible reclassifications from the past 10 years. To this point, just one player who has reclassified has entered the NFL Draft early – former Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen (2021 cycle/4th round).

That sample includes five former five-star prospects: quarterback JT Daniels (2018 cycle/undrafted), cornerback Tony Grimes (2020 cycle/still in college, 4th program), quarterback Quinn Ewers (2021/7th round pick), linebacker Sonny Styles (2022/returned for senior season), and EDGE LT Overton (2022/returned for senior season). Former Georgia running back James Cook, Allen, and Ewers are the three draft picks from the group to date. Of the ones remaining in college from those cycles, Overton and Styles, both former Five-Star Plus+ prospects, are the only two who conservatively project as draft picks.

Most reclassifications result in a “hurry up and wait” situation for the player. Of the 34 reclassifications who have played in college football over the past ten years, nearly two-thirds saw the field for under 100 snaps as a true freshman. While a few made an early impact, the freshman year results in a huge adjustment period for most. In addition to being the only reclassification turned early entry draft pick, Braelon Allen was the first to be a true freshman All-American. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the second to be a true freshman All-American is Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams, the only reclassification currently in college football who safely projects as an early entry draft pick.

The lack of true freshman impacts made by reclassifications directly affects the low number of early NFL Draft entries. For every Ryan Williams or Braelon Allen, ten former reclassifications worked on the scout team as a true freshman, lessening the odds of a big impact as an underclassman, and ultimately, early entry into the NFL Draft.

Reclassification is not optimal for quarterback development

Of all positions, the track record of reclassifications is particularly spotty at quarterback. Blue-chip quarterbacks who have reclassified have struggled to live up to the expectations of being a highly-touted signal caller, with the majority struggling to find a foothold at a Power 4 program.

• 8/9 quarterback reclassifications from the 2016-2023 recruiting cycles transferred at least once
• 6/9 transferred out of the Power 4 to a Group of Five or FCS program
• 1/9 has been drafted thus far (Quinn Ewers, 7th round)

Even the few reclassifications who played significant snaps as true freshmen from this group eventually ended up in the Group of Five: Jake Bentley (South Alabama), JT Daniels (Rice), and Gavin Wimsatt (Jacksonville State). The transferring trend extends to the 2024 cycle, as two of the four quarterback reclassifications from that cycle have already transferred out after a year on campus.

Much was made about Quinn Ewers‘s draft slide last month, with the former On3 Industry No. 1 overall prospect falling to the 7th round, despite leading the blueblood Texas Longhorns to back-to-back CFP semifinal appearances. Ewers’s reclassification and enrollment at Ohio State in the middle of fall camp in 2021 was a flashpoint in the NIL era. At the time, I expressed concern about how the move could affect his long-term development in addition to making for an incredibly murky evaluation, given he had played just 22 games against varsity competition.

Before Texas’s CFP semifinal game against Ohio State, Ewers talked about skipping his senior season to enroll early and the difficult transition during his four months in Columbus.

“It was definitely tough,” Ewers said. “I’ve never really been a backup in my life. Obviously, C.J. (Stroud) was very much deserving to be playing, for sure. I’m a young kid. It’s tough whenever you’re supposed to be a senior (in high school) and you see all your buddies you grew up with still playing football and I’m just sitting obviously, because I wasn’t prepared to go play a game. I had just got (to Ohio State) in the middle of fall camp.

“It was just a shock for me, going from high school level to college level.”

While it’s impossible to truly quantify how skipping his senior season of high school football affected Quinn Ewers‘s long-term development, it’s safe to say the reclassification did him no favors in that regard. At quarterback, valuable in-game reps and production are critical for building confidence and establishing a play style that translates to the game’s highest level.

Comparing Quinn Ewers to first-round pick Jaxson Dart, a fellow five-star prospect in the 2021 cycle, can prove instructive. Dart was a late riser with a fraction of Ewers’s recruiting hype. He vaulted up recruiting boards and in the rankings on the heels of a monster senior season that saw him named Gatorade National Player of the Year. Of all the quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft, Dart had the high school profile most fitting of a future first-rounder. And compared to Ewers, he entered college with much more experience, attempting 326 more passes while totaling 4,898 more yards, and 47 more touchdowns.

No. 1 pick Cam Ward played in a Wing-T offense in high school. He attempted 109 passes as a senior and received zero FBS offers. Ward headed to Incarnate Word, where he benefited from nearly 900 confidence-building pass attempts at the FCS level before transferring to Washington State and later Miami. When the dust settled, Ward had thrown over twice as many passes as Ewers in college.

The lower-level experience allows quarterbacks to hone their on-field identity while developing confidence, learning from mistakes, and pushing boundaries before facing much tougher competition. Most importantly, the extensive reps allow for improvement, the true hallmark of top talents at the position. Players like Jaxson Dart, Cam Ward, and dozens of first-round quarterbacks before them showed steady growth. While Quinn Ewers had a strong career at Texas and led the Longhorns to a bunch of big wins, it’s safe to say his best individual season came nearly six years ago as a sophomore in high school.

Ryan Williams is a huge outlier

When most fans think about reclassification, Alabama phenom Ryan Williams is likely the first name that comes to mind. The former Five-Star Plus+ prospect burst on the national scene last fall. His true freshman season is probably taken for granted, as he’s in the same class as Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, a generational talent at the position.

Blue-chip prospects (and their parents) will likely look at Williams’ success in the SEC as a 17-year-old and yearn for similar. In the same way that Travis Hunter is a unique two-way player, Ryan Williams is a massive outlier among reclassifications.

After his reclassification, Ryan Williams was still the most productive top wide receiver prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle. In his final two years at Saraland (Ala.) High, Williams caught 160 passes while accounting for 4,660 total yards and 65 touchdowns. He was the back-to-back Mr. Football in the state of Alabama. No other prospect who has reclassified to this point comes close to his level of high school production.

Williams still has at least two years of college football left to play, but at this point, he is conservatively tracking as a 1-in-every-100 type of reclassification. He is anything but the norm when it comes to players who reclassify.

Maximizing future value starts with patience

The trend of reclassifications is still fairly young and looks to be here to stay. Five blue-chip prospects have already reclassified from the 2027 to the 2026 recruiting cycle this year.

Each prospect and most of their support systems are going through the recruiting process for the first time. The idea of beginning the earning window a year earlier is understandably enticing. That said, important context is needed to understand the dynamics of how player value is assessed and development is optimized in the current landscape.

1. The best way to maximize value in college football is to play at a high level – in college.
2. NIL deals for touted recruits who don’t produce as underclassmen are reworked every year.
3. Making an early impact increases value and earning potential.
4. Early impact is affected by how good a player is upon enrolling.
5. A player’s ability upon enrolling is maximized by dominating at the high school level for an extended period, also allowing time for continued physical development.
6. College football is increasingly less developmental, with teams adding experienced players via the Transfer Portal annually.
7. In-game experience is most easily attained at lower levels, namely high school.
8. Jumping the line, whether being held back, or reclassifying, has no discernible long-term developmental benefits for most players.

Attempting to accelerate the process unnecessarily opens the door for volatility in the developmental pace and career arc. From a developmental perspective, most blue-chip prospects are better off playing out their high school career. While every financial situation is different, the best way to optimize career earnings is to hit the ground running upon matriculating to the next level, in college football and the NFL.

Dominating high school football may not feel challenging for the best prospects, but it’s crucial for growth as a player. The game slows down, and peak confidence is established before the increased competition at the college level. Many players are still growing physically. The time also allows for multi-sport participation and breadth of skill acquisition that is harder to gain at the college level. Parents can get bored and antsy at this stage, wanting to rush the process. Despite the muddied evaluation, some college coaches and personnel staffers view reclassifications as a chance to get a prospect in their program earlier with less of a recruiting fight.

In reality, the odds of a prospect being unaffected by the leap, like Ryan Williams, while possible, are low. Unfortunately, development, which is the number one driver of long-term success and earning potential, doesn’t work that way for most prospects.

Here is the list of reclassifications to enter college football, beginning in the 2016 recruiting cycle:

2016 cycle
QB Jake Bentley – South Carolina, Utah, South Alabama (undrafted)

2018 cycle
QB JT Daniels (5-star) – USC, Georgia, Rice (undrafted)
RB James Cook – Georgia (2nd round)

2019 cycle
CB Sheridan Jones – Clemson (undrafted)

2020 cycle
CB Tony Grimes (5-star) – North Carolina, Texas A&M, UNLV, Purdue (still in college)
EDGE Donell Harris – Texas A&M, Louisiana-Monroe
WR Malcolm Johnson – Auburn, Bowling Green (undrafted)
S Kamar Wilcoxson – Florida, Temple

2021 cycle
QB Quinn Ewers (5-star) – Ohio State, Texas (7th round)
RB Braelon Allen – Wisconsin (4th round)
QB Ari Patu – Stanford, North Alabama

2022 cycle
LB Sonny Styles (5-star) – Ohio State (returned for senior season)
EDGE LT Overton (5-star) – Texas A&M, Alabama (returned for senior season)
QB Gavin Wimsatt – Rutgers, Kentucky, Jacksonville State
WR Kyler Kasper – Oregon
CB Marcus Washington – Georgia, Louisville, Syracuse
QB Cameron Edge – Maryland, Eastern Michigan

2023 cycle
CB Dezz Ricks (5-star) – Alabama, Texas A&M
QB Austin Mack – Washington, Alabama
QB Austin Simmons – Ole Miss
CB Antione Jackson – East Carolina, UCF
QB Myles Jackson – Stanford, Tulsa

2024 cycle
WR Ryan Williams (5-star) – Alabama
DL Armondo Blount (5-star) – Miami
TE Davon Mitchell – Oklahoma, Louisville
QB Cutter Boley – Kentucky
EDGE Max Granville – Penn State
CB Tarrion Grant – Purdue, Texas Tech
DL Steve Mboumoua – Alabama
QB Colin Hurley – LSU
QB EJ Colson – UCF, Purdue
OT Enoch Wangoy – Florida
RB Antwan Raymond – Rutgers
QB Davi Belfort – Virginia Tech, UCF

2025 cycle
DL Jahkeem Stewart – USC
QB Julian Lewis – Colorado
CB RJ Sermons – USC
CB J’Vari Flowers – Florida
WR Donovan Murph – South Carolina
S Demetres Samuel – Syracuse
QB Brady Hart – Texas A&M
WR Jordon Gidron – South Carolina
S Zelus Hicks – Texas
CB Dominick Kelly – Georgia
LB Zach Weeks – LSU
WR Malachi Toney – Miami
RB Raycine Guillory – Utah
IOL Kail Ellis – Auburn

Mark Pope wants to expand the college basketball season. Kentucky’s head coach has expressed the need for more games on the schedule, and the topic came up again in his one-on-one conversation with KSR’s Matt Jones. Next week, Pope plans to take the mission to the SEC’s spring meetings in Florida.

“We’ve got to expand this over 31 games,” Pope stressed to KSR. “We have got to expand the season, guys… especially with the revenue share now. Like, the revenue share should change everything in terms of our opportunity to actually go share revenue, right?”

With the immediate need for more athletics revenue, Pope suggests a 40-game college basketball schedule, adding nine more games to the regular season. He would settle for a 35-game slate to meet the many naysayers in the middle.

“Imagine if we have four extra games that we can put on our schedule, where we go play a big-time neutral game, and set up a home-and-home, and do an in-state game that people here really care about, and just give us a little more flexibility in this deal.”

Not one to shy away from competition, Pope wants more opportunities for Kentucky to play the best of the best opponents. He already booked Purdue and Georgetown for preseason exhibitions this upcoming season, leading up to November and December games against Louisville, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Indiana, St. John’s, and an ACC opponent to be named later. Still, he wants even more marquee games on UK’s schedule, including a return to the Maui Invitational.

“Come on, man, let us do a home-and-home with Kansas. Let’s go. Why am I not going to Storrs to play a game? We need some more flexibility. And also, let us get to Maui.”

Pope believes Kentucky should have a loaded basketball schedule every year, telling KSR, “You guys will hear me say this until as long as I get to be here: If you’re coming to Kentucky, don’t come here and hide. It doesn’t make sense to come here and hide.“

Add Christmas games and summer practice hours

Pope’s scheduling dreams also include holiday games, which were traditionally off-limits so student-athletes could leave campus to go home to their families. But the athletes are paid like professionals in the new age of college athletics, so they should have professional schedules, like playing on Christmas.

“Those are the greatest games,” Pope said. “Listen, every kid is aspiring to go play in the league. One year from now, they’re going to be playing a Christmas Day game, and their whole family is going to come. With NIL now, you can fly your family in for the Christmas Day game. You want to be a pro? Let’s be a pro, right?!”

While he’s at it, Pope wants to expand the summer practice schedule. Currently, the NCAA limits coaching to four hours a week for eight weeks in the summer. Pope wants more.

“Extend that a little, just to double down on this whole insanity. We’ll get our guys in the summer, and our guys–every college basketball player is making more, probably, than their parents right now–and the incredible thing is that during the summer, these guys are getting paid a significant amount of money, and they’re only allowed to work four hours a week.

“The guys are dying. They’re like, can we please get together and get some work done? The whole thing is turned upside down.”

Recruiting has become even more complex in the transfer portal era. After taking the job last year, Mark Pope put together an impressive squad in a matter of weeks. Now, with more time and an even more impressive NIL budget, Pope has assembled one of the deepest teams in recent Kentucky Basketball history, with ten total newcomers joining four core returners from the team that went to the Sweet 16 in March.

Obviously, talent is high atop Pope’s list of criteria, but equally as important is fit. During his conversation with Matt Jones on Kentucky Sports Radio, Pope talked about how he strives to find guys who will appreciate the unique culture of Kentucky Basketball, an essential first step in recruiting.

“That happens,” Pope said when Jones asked if there have been times when he’s met with a player and known immediately that it probably won’t work out. “This is a special, special place. So it happens, more often than not, that we’re a little bit in and we’re, like, ‘Ah, you know, I might love his talent but like, oh, he’s not going to survive here.’ Or I might love him as a kid, but his agenda is just different than our agenda. And so that process is really important.”

Pope used Andrija Jelavic as an example. The Croatian big man is still playing for KK Mega Superbet in Serbia and yet to visit Kentucky, but Pope could tell even on FaceTime that he was Kentucky material.

“That was one of the really important parts of the process with Andrija [Jelavic], because I liked him, but you never know. Like, we’ll see how some of the skillset translates, some of the physicality translates, some of those things translate.

“But, as we were exploring all those things, which I was so excited about, all those pieces when I started talking about on the phone, and it was one particular conversation on FaceTime where I’m talking to him, and you could see him get emotional as he started talking about the possibility of playing at the University of Kentucky. And I’m like, that’s it. This is our guy, right? Because he’s not going to miss it.”

“It” is Pope’s way of describing the breadth of the Kentucky Basketball experience. His first team definitely didn’t “miss it,” saying on multiple occasions how lucky they felt to be at Kentucky and how much they loved the experience. The feeling was mutual, which will give last year’s squad a special place in program history.

“Yeah, our guys could, for sure [feel the love from the fans]. And I think is as much as I was happy about that, I was happy that our guys didn’t miss it. Because the craziest thing is like — and this is almost incomprehensible to me — you could actually come here for a year as a player and miss it. Like, you could miss the whole thing.

“We talk to our recruits about this all the time. If you came here and you were just only dialed into yourself, you could actually miss the great uniqueness and the monstrosity that this experience can be. You could actually miss the whole thing.”

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Pope believes his second team won’t miss it either, telling a story about meeting up with Mo Dioubate’s mother in the Bronx earlier this week. Dioubate wasn’t there, but even just in talking with his mother, Pope knows that the Alabama transfer is ready to embrace everything that comes with being a Kentucky Wildcat.

“Spending some time with Mo’s family, they get it too. It’s not just the guys who were coming from a mid-major. I mean, he’s coming from a really good program, but it’s already so ingrained in him how different this is at Kentucky than anywhere else.

“And he’s going to come here with — he’s a beautiful man. He’s a beautiful human being — but he’s going to come here and he’s not going to miss it either. Like, he’s going to take it all in, too, and so I think we have the makings of another group. Hopefully, it’s a staple for us forever, of guys who really understand what this is.”

Height, length, athleticism, physicality, and shooting are all important traits; however, Pope knows better than anyone what it really takes to succeed at Kentucky. And he’s determined to find the guys who have it.

“As the head coach here, running this program, I cannot bring guys in here that are going to miss this. It would feel like I’m disrespecting this place that I love so much, and sometimes like uber-talented guys could come here and miss this, but I think the guys are going to serve us well as a community and a Commonwealth and this incredible flagship program of all of college basketball, are the guys that have come here and not miss it, and those guys could actually hang banners for us.”

Quinn Ewers’ decision to leave Texas for the NFL has already been justified, even after falling to the seventh round, with the quarterback earning a lucrative endorsement deal

Quinn Ewers has shown that his leap to the NFL can be just as profitable as earning through NIL deals in college following news of his Panini agreement.

The 22-year-old wrapped up his impressive and lucrative college career with the Texas Longhorns by declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft after the conclusion of the 2024 season. He was eventually picked by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round with the 231st overall pick.

Despite being chosen in the final round, Ewers feels he’s landed in a “good spot.”

This comes after he reportedly turned down a $6-million NIL deal to transfer from Texas after three seasons, opting instead for a less lucrative $4.3-million rookie contract with the Dolphins. However, it’s been suggested that his NIL payout could have hit $8 million in 2025 had he stayed.

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His rookie contract is still nothing to scoff at, with Ewers set to pocket $1.075 million annually over four seasons at Hard Rock Stadium. If he had any regrets about the money he left on the table by moving to the NFL, his latest endorsement deal might have eased the sting a bit.

On Friday, Ewers revealed that he had inked an exclusive autograph trading card deal with Panini for his NFL trading cards. The next day, it was disclosed that the deal is worth $3 million, according to a source with “knowledge of the arrangement”, NBC reports.

His decision to swap a more profitable NIL deal for a rookie NFL contract is already proving fruitful, as he’s landed a hefty endorsement deal on top of it — the largest payday for any seventh-round draft pick in his first season.

On the field, Ewers will have to compete with starting QB Tua Tagovailoa and Zach Wilson for a regular-season roster spot. However, his Panini deal alone, worth nearly 70% of his total on-field salary, certainly cushions the blow as he gears up for his debut professional season.

The same can’t be said for former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, whose dramatic drop in the NFL Draft significantly impacted his potential earnings.

After departing the Buffaloes with a $6.5-million NIL valuation, the second-highest in all of college sports, Deion Sanders’ son will now kick off his NFL career with a base salary of roughly $1.15 million, having seen his potential earnings drastically cut due to falling to the fifth round.

READ MORE: Jaxson Dart appears to throw shade at Shedeur Sanders – ‘You better be prepared’READ MORE: Shedeur Sanders’ feelings clear on Browns QBs as he makes alarming confidence admission

Had Sanders been selected with the first overall pick as some had forecasted months earlier, he could have raked in a staggering $48 million from his rookie contract.

While his new paycheck is still a hefty sum for the average American worker, it’s a far cry from the millions he was projected to earn if his draft predictions had held steady. Prior to being picked 144th, Sanders was the second-highest NIL earner, trailing only Texas wunderkind Arch Manning.

Despite being ranked as the second-best quarterback prospect following last season’s evaluations, five quarterbacks were selected ahead of Sanders. Dillon Gabriel of Oregon, a Heisman finalist who Sanders once outpaced, was drafted by Cleveland in the third round.

This pick secured Gabriel an estimated yearly salary of $1.2 million.

Cam Ward, the top overall pick in the same draft, landed a contract worth nearly $49 million with a staggering $32 million signing bonus after being chosen by the Tennessee Titans. Sanders’ former Colorado teammate Travis Hunter managed to snag a $46.5m contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It was an unflattering four-game stretch for Kentucky heading into Monday’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show, as it lost four consecutive games to end the regular season and SEC Tournament with a 29-24 (13-17) record. The ‘Cats however are still a consensus No. 3 seed in the latest Field of 64 Projections.

D1Baseball, Baseball America and College Baseball Central all have the ‘Cats solidly in the field as a No. 3 seed. They are not among the “Last Four In” in any projection. If selected, it would mark the third consecutive season that Kentucky would be apart of the field (first time ever) although it would be the first time since 2014 that it will not be hosting a Regional in Lexington.

Kentucky is the No. 3 seed in the Conway Regional according to D1Baseball, joined by No. 1 seed Coastal Carolina, No. 2 seed NC State and No. 4 seed USC Upstate. Both the ‘Cats and NC State made the College World Series last season, where Mitch Daly’s walk-off home run lifted Kentucky to a win over the Wolfpack in Omaha.

The ‘Cats are the No. 3 seed in the Clemson Regional according to BOTH Baseball America and College Baseball Central. Clemson is the No. 1 seed in both projections, while No. 2 Southern Miss and No. 4 Rider are projected in Baseball America. Northeastern is the No. 2 seed and George Mason is the No. 4 seed in College Baseball Central’s projections.

Northeastern is team Kentucky will definitely want to avoid, as the No. 19 ranked Huskies boast the nation’s best team earned run average (2.94 ERA).

Although it made an early exit from the 2025 SEC Tournament, Kentucky fell just one spot to No. 37 in the RPI Rankings. The ‘Cats are 8-19 against Q1 teams, 4-1 against Q2 teams, 7-3 against Q3 teams and 10-1 against Q4 teams. Teams that have beaten Kentucky this season (No. 35 RPI Xavier and No. 46 Western Kentucky) remain on the bubble.

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