Top 30 Most Overlooked High School Recruits to Go Pro Since 2000

Recruiting is an inexact science. Which unheralded high school recruits blossomed into stars at the college level and made the NFL?

Every February, thousands of high school seniors around the country sign National Letters of Intent to play scholarship football at an FBS institution. Hundreds of recruits matriculate at powerhouses after having been highly rated by the scouting services. Others, however, are not nearly as highly touted.

Sometimes that is because of untimely injuries. Sometimes it is because they are undersized. It could be a matter of weak statistical production, or it could be the result of being rated at a position outside their best fit. One way or another, though, plenty of players slip through the cracks.

Recruits can have a decent college career despite a low rating. Rarer, though, is the case when one of these diamonds in the rough manage to break through and win a job in the NFL. Click through to see our choices of the 30 best players who have played professionally despite failing to garner much interest coming out of high school.