Super Bowl LVI: How Los Angeles Rams starters ranked as recruits

Tinseltown is ready for Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. It should come as no surprise there are stars everywhere on the Los Angeles Rams’ roster. In fact, many of the starters for the Rams were heralded recruits in their high school days. On3 looks back at how the Los Angeles Rams’ starters ranked as high school recruits. On3 also reviewed how the Cincinnati Bengal starters ranked in high school.

The Rams’ roster includes four former five-star recruits. It also includes nine players who were four-star prospects out of high school. That means 59% of the Rams’ starters were highly coveted recruits, which is quite impressive for scouts of the four major recruiting services that evaluated the prospects coming out of high school.

QB Matthew Stafford

Class of 2006
Star ranking: 5 stars
The skinny: Before becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Georgia, Stafford was the nation’s top-ranked quarterback prospect in the 2006 recruiting cycle. All three major media companies at the time ranked him as a five-star prospect. He was the No. 1 quarterback in the cycle and a top- prospect for both Rivals.com and ESPN.

RB Cam Akers

Class of 2017
Star ranking: 5 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 5
The skinny: Akers was the No. 2 running back recruit in the 2017 class, behind Najee Harris. Both were considered Five-Star Plus+ recruits in the class. Akers also was the top overall recruit in Mississippi, and picked Florida State over Ohio State, Michigan and a host of national programs.

WR Cooper Kupp

Class of 2012
Star ranking: Unranked
The skinny: Matthew Stafford’s go-to wide receiver won the receiving triple crown, leading the NFL in receptions (145), yards (1,947), and touchdowns (16). Los Angeles would not be anywhere near the Super Bowl had it not been for Kupp. He had zero scholarship offers until three weeks after his senior season, per ESPN. Despite that both his father Craig Kupp and grandfather Jake Kupp played in the NFL, no coach responded to the tape that he had sent out. He ended up at FCS Eastern Washington before developing into a trusted weapon for the Rams.

WR Odell Beckham Jr.

Class of 2011
Star ranking: 4 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 79
The skinny: Odell Beckham Jr. ranked as the nation’s No. 14 receiver in the 2011 class, according to the On3 Consensus. He was the No. 4 player in Louisiana – right behind Jarvis Landry – and picked LSU over a host of national programs like Ole Miss, Nebraska and Mississippi State.

WR Van Jefferson

Class of 2015
Star ranking: 4 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 106
The skinny: Coming out of Brentwood (Tenn.) Ravenwood, Van Jefferson was the nation’s 13th-best receiver recruit behind names like Calvin Ridley  and Christian Kirk. He picked Ole Miss after also visiting Michigan, Oklahoma and Georgia, then finished his career at Florida.

TE Tyler Higbee

Class of 2011
Star ranking: 3 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 2283
The skinny: Even though he was the leading receiver in Pinellas County coming out of Tarpon Springs (Fla.) East Lake, in the Tampa Bay area, Tyler Higbee was lightly recruited. In fact, he was not even in the top 300 in the state rankings. He signed with Western Kentucky.

OT Andrew Whitworth

Class of 2001
Star ranking: 5 stars
The skinny: Coming out of West Monroe, La., in the 2001 class, Andrew Whitworth was one of the most coveted line prospects in the country as well as one of the top overall prospects before signing with LSU. He technically is old enough that he pre-dates most recruiting databases. But he was a five-star prospect in the original Rivals.com print publications.

G David Edwards

Class of 2015
Star ranking: 3 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 638
The skinny: Edwards was a On3 Consensus three-star prospect coming out of Downers Grove (Ill.) North in the Class of 2015. Interestingly some services – like Rivals.com – ranked him as an athlete because he was 6-6 and 225 pounds. He signed with Wisconsin over offers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Syracuse and Vanderbilt.

C Brian Allen

Class of 2014
Star ranking: 4 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 183
The skinny: Brian Allen had a lengthy offer list, from the likes of Michigan State, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, Boston College, Maryland and others. He picked Michigan State and was the third-best signee in the Spartans’ 2014 class.

G Austin Corbett

Class of 2013
Star ranking: Unranked
The skinny: Austin Corbett is the definition of a late bloomer. He was undersized in high school – in fact, some called him too skinny – so he walked-on at Nevada. It was there that he blossomed in the weight room and became a team captain during his senior season.

OT Rob Havenstein

Class of 2010
Star ranking: 3 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 626
The skinny: Rob Havenstein was heavily recruited coming out of Frederick (Md.) Linganore. He picked Wisconsin over Penn State, Maryland, Stanford, Virginia and Duke largely because he felt his style of play fit the Badgers. He also had family connections in Michigan.

DL A’Shawn Robinson

Class of 2013
Star ranking: 4 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 38
The skinny: A’Shawn Robinson was one of the most coveted defenders coming out of the Lone Star State in the Class of 2013. Both 247Sports and Rivals.com had Robinson as a five-star recruit, while ESPN had him as a four star outside of the top 100. His recruitment was a big-time victory for the Crimson Tide over in-state Texas. Robinson also visited USC and Florida State, but he wanted the chance to play for Nick Saban’s defense and the rest is history.

DL Greg Gaines

Class of 2014
Star ranking: 3 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 679
The skinny: Greg Gaines, from the Los Angeles suburbs, was set to play his college football at Boise State. But Chris Petersen left for Washington, which left Gaines looking at new options. He eventually decided to follow Petersen to Seattle, turning down attention from Iowa State, Utah State and others.

DL Aaron Donald

Class of 2010
Star ranking: 4 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 342
The skinny: Aaron Donald committed early in the recruiting process to Pitt. In fact, his April commitment likely kept his offer list down from what it probably should have been coming out of Pittsburgh Penn Hills. When he picked the Panthers, he only had offers from Akron, Rutgers, Pitt and Toledo.

LB Leonard Floyd

Class of 2012
Star ranking: 4 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 162
The skinny: Leonard Floyd was an early commitment in his recruiting process, picking UGA in April of his junior year at Eastman (Ga.) Dodge County. He did have plenty of schools after him, including offers from Alabama, Florida, Mississippi State, Purdue and South Carolina.

LB Ernest Jones

Class of 2018
Star ranking: 3 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 976
The skinny: Despite a three-star ranking from 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals.com, Ernest Jones was a hot commodity on the recruiting trail coming out of Waycross (Ga.) Ware County. But he was another who ended his recruitment early in the process, picking South Carolina over offers from Auburn, LSU, Florida, Oregon and others.

LB Troy Reeder

Class of 2014
Star ranking: 4 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 395
The skinny: Troy Reeder was ranked considerably higher by ESPN than 247Sports and Rivals.com, but he still averaged out as a four-star prospect. Reeder picked Penn State coming out of Wilmington, Del. He was also offered by Boston College, Delaware, Miami, Pitt and others. He eventually transferred to Delaware after his redshirt freshman season, and he went on to earn all-conference honors multiple times.

LB Von Miller

Class of 2007
Star ranking: 4 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 163
The skinny: The rankings on Von Miller from ESPN and Rivals.com were all over the place. ESPN had him a three-star prospect, while Rivals had him as a top-10 player in the Lone Star State. Miller was recruited like a coveted prospect, picking Texas A&M after an intense recruiting battle with Ole Miss and other top programs.

DB Jalen Ramsey

Class of 2013
Star ranking: 5 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 24
The Skinny: Jalen Ramsey was one of the most heralded recruits in the Class of 2013 coming out of Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy. The former five-star recruit was ranked by everybody in the top five at the cornerback position that year, and the list of schools after him was lengthy. He visited Florida State, USC, Washington, Mississippi State and Florida, and eventually picked the Seminoles on the eve of signing day 2013. He was actually committed to USC for quite a bit of time before making the last-minute flip to FSU.

DB Darious Williams

Class of 2013
Star ranking: Unranked
The skinny: Darious Williams, who played his high school ball at Fruit Cove (Fla.) Bartram Trail in the Jacksonville suburbs, played his freshman year at D-III Marietta College in Ohio before transferring to UAB. According to reports, Williams initially was denied a tryout opportunity to walk-on at UAB. But new coach Bill Clark gave him a second chance and he would go on to earn all-conference honors.

DB Nick Scott

Class of 2014
Star ranking: 3 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 511
The skinny: Coming out of Fairfax (Va.) High School, Scott was ranked by most services as a running back. He was a priority target for Penn State early on – grabbing an offer almost two years before he could sign. That early attention paid off as he picked the Nittany Lions and stuck with them through a coaching change with Bill O’Brien.

DB Taylor Rapp

Class of 2016
Star ranking: 4 stars
On3 Consensus ranking: No. 386
The skinny: Taylor Rapp had a lengthy offer list that included the likes of Arizona State, Boise State, Montana, Montana State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oregon, Stanford and Washington State. But he pledged in March of his junior year to Chris Petersen and Washington, deciding to stay close to his home in Bellingham, Wash. He had a great career for the Huskies before making an impact in the NFL.