20 most hyped college football recruits of all-time
By Dustin Hull
Ranking the 20 college football recruits with the most hype in the wild world of recruiting, including four future NFL Hall of Famers and one Heisman Trophy winner.
Paramus Catholic High’s Rashan Gary has long been the unanimous decision as the nation’s number one football recruit. You can go check Rivals or ESPN, or anywhere else, and he’ll be the first name you see.
But despite all the buildup surrounding the defensive tackle’s National Signing Day announcement of which school he’ll be attending, not even his expectations have been raised as high as the ones of many high school greats before him.
To be in a top 20 list of the most hyped players in college football recruiting history, there has to be something extra to the excitement of a player. The first part of that involves the “once-in-a-generation-talent” hype the scouts and coaches serve up. The even bigger part comes from fans and media.
Since 2002, the internet has revolutionized the way we see recruiting, with all types of rankings creating publicity and endless attention around the top tier players. But even before this era, there were still plenty of prospects that caught the eye of the nation and were painted the Heisman’s of the future.
Some of the players lived up to the hype, while many others, as you’ll find out, fell distantly short of such lofty praise.
Next: Eli Manning