How are Rival stars decided... what all goes into it and how often do they update their star roster??
Stars
- Thread starter DMVmonster
- Start date
They quite literally make it up as they go. Updates are usually in summer after the camp circuit and in winter after the season and all-star games. Where the kid goes affects their rating more than anything, these websites have to pander for subscriptions.
Rivals rankings are based on the NFL Draft. 5-stars are projected 1st round draft picks. Example for 2025 they graded 17 players as 1st round ability (5-stars)
https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2025?position=ALL POSITIONS
The Top 32 are projected 1st round draft picks in the 2029 NFL draft.
4-stars are players projected to be drafted somewhere in the draft. That is why they have approx 250 4-star players (Rounds 1-7 times 32 teams plus supplemental)
3-stars are projected FBS Starters/potential All Conference
2-stars are FCS players and players not projected to start at a Power 4
Camps do factor as well as well as college offers. Multiple Power 4 offers of course will project better to the NFL
Here is the Rivals rankings from 2014 during when Woodbridge senior Dashawn Hand was the #1 ranked player and committed to Alabama.it's interesting to go back and see a prospects development from high school trhu college.
https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2025?position=ALL POSITIONS
The Top 32 are projected 1st round draft picks in the 2029 NFL draft.
4-stars are players projected to be drafted somewhere in the draft. That is why they have approx 250 4-star players (Rounds 1-7 times 32 teams plus supplemental)
3-stars are projected FBS Starters/potential All Conference
2-stars are FCS players and players not projected to start at a Power 4
Camps do factor as well as well as college offers. Multiple Power 4 offers of course will project better to the NFL
Here is the Rivals rankings from 2014 during when Woodbridge senior Dashawn Hand was the #1 ranked player and committed to Alabama.it's interesting to go back and see a prospects development from high school trhu college.
Here's a good example of the star system in action
in 2019, Kei'trel Clark had multiple FCS offers out of Manchester High School in Richmond.
He commited to Liberty University (FCS) and was given 2-stars. Clark transferred to Power 5 Louisville and was drafted in the 6th round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2023.
So was Rivals wrong in 2019? No, he was assigned his ranking out of high school based on his commitment. However, he continued to developed and eventully was drafted by the NFL.
So coming out of High School he was correctly given 2-stars based on his FCS commitment. Developing into a staarting cornerback at Louisville was equivalent to 3-stars. Finally, getting drafted by the Arizona cardinals was equivalent to 4-stars.
But when he graduated in 2019 he was assigned 2-stars because of Liberty University.
A good way to compare is the NBA draft. High School players get drafted based on projection. Some turn out to be elite like Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Kein Garnett. However there were dozens of prospect who got drafted and did not pan out. So much so that the NBA stopped high schools from going straight to the NBA at one point.
in 2019, Kei'trel Clark had multiple FCS offers out of Manchester High School in Richmond.
He commited to Liberty University (FCS) and was given 2-stars. Clark transferred to Power 5 Louisville and was drafted in the 6th round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2023.
So was Rivals wrong in 2019? No, he was assigned his ranking out of high school based on his commitment. However, he continued to developed and eventully was drafted by the NFL.
So coming out of High School he was correctly given 2-stars based on his FCS commitment. Developing into a staarting cornerback at Louisville was equivalent to 3-stars. Finally, getting drafted by the Arizona cardinals was equivalent to 4-stars.
But when he graduated in 2019 he was assigned 2-stars because of Liberty University.
A good way to compare is the NBA draft. High School players get drafted based on projection. Some turn out to be elite like Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Kein Garnett. However there were dozens of prospect who got drafted and did not pan out. So much so that the NBA stopped high schools from going straight to the NBA at one point.
Two great answers above. I think the reality is somewhere in-between. I think after the 5-Stars who pretty much stand out [ and maybe the top half of 4-Stars] it's a crap shoot. So many things involved. Did the kid go to the right camp or did he camp at all? Was he possibly dinged up during camp and have a bad 40-time? Was he at a school where he was 'actively promoted'? Was he playing out of position? My kid, a 0-star who will play at least on the FCS level, wasted his Freshman yr playing DE on JV, and he's a natural RB
The kid had a choice of playing DE [where he started and dominated despite his size,] or play with 9 other RB because they don't cut players.
Having followed college football for a long time, I've seen many players drop in ranking when deciding to go to VT so there is a school bias built in. In my opinion.
The kid had a choice of playing DE [where he started and dominated despite his size,] or play with 9 other RB because they don't cut players.
Having followed college football for a long time, I've seen many players drop in ranking when deciding to go to VT so there is a school bias built in. In my opinion.
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Yup. You can practically set your watch to it. Happens now, happened twenty years ago when Beamer had them rolling. If you want to sell me on a kid going UGA and getting a bump because "B2B champs, kid must be good" then I might buy that but watching a kid, especially a borderline 4*, go somewhere like VT and get predictably dropped for no actual reason is a joke. Unsurprisingly, when the break happened between Rivals and 247 and a new site started on 247, one of the head national guys at 247 helped run the site its first year or so to get it off the ground. Know what happened? VT kids got a lot of ratings bumps and very few fell. Then an odd thing happened, the national guy headed off once the site got on steady ground and VT kids started falling again. Must have been a coinki-dink.
It's ultimately whatever, it's a business and I understand why they need to pander to the larger sites, but I think some people think these things are more on the up-and-up than they really are and get annoyed at the lack of logic or objective reasoning.
Can only speak to Rivals but it is not catering to the larger sites. Each site is their own business owner The National analysts have nothing to do with the individual sites.
The Rivals rnkings are based on the NFL draft. The SEC has more NFL draft picks (especially in the early roundss) than the other conferences.
So yes a 4-star who commits to an ACC school during their High School career will likely get jumped by a comparable 4-star who commits to Florida while in high school. Just like the NFL, players at
That process happened several times this week. Darius Gray was #2 in the Virginia 2026 class. Carter Scruggs received an offer for Clemson and moved to #2 ahead of Gray, Later, that week Gray then got offered by Ohio State and moved back to #2 in the Virginia 2026 rankings. Gray didnt get better than Scruggs in a week. Only thing that changed is the school that offered him.
It's like a pre-draft board where potential draftees move up/down depending on injuries, perception, Combines, workouts ect. It is the same with the rankings.
In the most recent 2025 rankings, TWO players were added to the Top 10 that had ZERO rankings a few months ago. One of them was Matt Henderson from Powhatan is now a 4-star and commited to Penn State in May.
The mistake most people make (besides caring about the rankings) is using it as a comparison between players. It is not a judgement that says Player A is better than Player B.
If they look at it as if it was a Mock NFL Draft then I think it would make more sense.
The Rivals rnkings are based on the NFL draft. The SEC has more NFL draft picks (especially in the early roundss) than the other conferences.
2024 NFL Draft picks by conference
- SEC -- 59
- Pac-12 -- 43
- Big Ten -- 42
- ACC -- 41
- Big 12 -- 31
- Independent -- 8
- Sun Belt -- 6
- American -- 5
- Conference USA -- 3
- Mountain West -- 2
- MAC -- 2
So yes a 4-star who commits to an ACC school during their High School career will likely get jumped by a comparable 4-star who commits to Florida while in high school. Just like the NFL, players at
That process happened several times this week. Darius Gray was #2 in the Virginia 2026 class. Carter Scruggs received an offer for Clemson and moved to #2 ahead of Gray, Later, that week Gray then got offered by Ohio State and moved back to #2 in the Virginia 2026 rankings. Gray didnt get better than Scruggs in a week. Only thing that changed is the school that offered him.
It's like a pre-draft board where potential draftees move up/down depending on injuries, perception, Combines, workouts ect. It is the same with the rankings.
In the most recent 2025 rankings, TWO players were added to the Top 10 that had ZERO rankings a few months ago. One of them was Matt Henderson from Powhatan is now a 4-star and commited to Penn State in May.
The mistake most people make (besides caring about the rankings) is using it as a comparison between players. It is not a judgement that says Player A is better than Player B.
If they look at it as if it was a Mock NFL Draft then I think it would make more sense.
Here are two articles about Shannon Terry the genius who founded Rivals as well as 247 and On3. I was at the Rivals Conference in Nashville when they annouced Yahoo was taking over Rivals. I read that he had a non-compete aggreement so he had to wait to start 247. He has created the same business model three times. Genius.
Really proud of the coverage Virginiapreps.com has provided for almost 25 years from Zirkle Blakey to Matt Hatfield. The High School sites on Rivals are sometimes an after thought but most of the info on prospects the National guys get start here.
www.nashvillepost.com
Really proud of the coverage Virginiapreps.com has provided for almost 25 years from Zirkle Blakey to Matt Hatfield. The High School sites on Rivals are sometimes an after thought but most of the info on prospects the National guys get start here.
How Shannon Terry Built A Fortune Behind College Recruiting Ranking Websites - College Athlete Insight
How this athlete turned entrepreneur made millions of dollars building college recruiting ranking websites. Here's the wild story.
collegeathleteinsight.com
Sports recruiting website On3.com latest venture for Shannon Terry
Entrepreneur sold both of his previous sports media sites in separate multi-million dollar deals
Okay, so the young man out of Huguenot Cohen is currently a 3-star with 17 D1 offers. Will he be dropped to a 2-star because of his commitment to Liberty? If so, that wouldn't be fair, seeing as though he had multiple Power 4 offers and chose his school for fit and the staff.
No, 3* to 2* is ultra-rare if it happens at all. They'll drop a 4* like nobody's business though if they commit to the wrong schools.
2* anymore tends to just mean "FCS or below" player. If you can talk, chew gum, and garner FBS offers you'll be a 3* most of the time unless you just have absolutely no film and they don't know enough about you or unless they consider you an extremely big reach by the FBS school who landed you.
They used to be more liberal with using 2* (Kam Chancellor was one) but not anymore.
I don't know what Rivals will do; just wanted to highlight the process as I have known since 2007. But I wouldn't be surprised because Liberty has had five players drafted to the NFL since 2009. If the system is based off of that (NFL Draft) then it would not be a surprise. Right or wrong the NFL puts a higher premium on FBS players. A comparable DE (out of High School) is going to get looked at as more of an NFL player then someone who commits to Liberty (again out of High School).
BTW, there are Power 4 committed recruits with 2-stars. Wake Forest had four from this recent 2024 class including two from Virginia
I agree with your comment. Would like to add that 4-stars get dropped because other players are added. The Rivals 250 (5 and 4 stars) is limited to 250 (based on the NFL draft). So, when players like Matt Henderson (new 4-star from Powhatan) and Christian Evans (new 4-star from Stone Bridge) were added, two players across the US were dropped since there are only 250 total.
I had to look up the Top-Rated quarterback from 2006 (Brent Schaeffer). Wikipedia says he started the 1st game for Tennessee as a true freshman but never made it to the NFL.
Rivals 2006 Quarterbacks
Rivals 2006 Quarterbacks
I also know that the numerical rating on rivals means a little more in terms of analysis — the ( 5.4) 2 stars are literally on the cusp on being a (5.5) 3 star recruit. There’s a cap on specific numbers such as 5 star and 4 stars generally are players they know based on the metrics they use and historical analysis will either make it to the NFL or be an early contributor or a major contributor within their collegiate career. There’s always a handful that are ranked incorrectly or players who over achieve, due to the intangibles that allow a player to make it to Sundays. It is a who you know business though, the more you get out and get seen (if you’re a solid performer) will garner you some interest and make the recruiting services fall in love with you (think of the prospects you always see/hear) but because they push you up or into the rankings doesn’t mean you are who they think you project to be.
