247 Sports Hammers UK Football Commits in Last 2020 Rankings

I think UK's 2020 football recruiting class owes the folks at 247 Sports an apology. They must have insulted their mothers. It's the only logical explanation for the dramatic changes in the recruiting site's final rankings for the future Wildcats. Just looking from afar, you could take one look at the updated Top247 and assume the company's internal conversations went something like: 'Oh, UK has a bunch of four-star? That can't be right. Here, let's give them to Tennessee.' Defensive tackle Josaih Hayes was the No. 227 player in America the last time he played a football game. Now the four-star recruit has been downgraded to a three-star, dropping 281 spots to No. 508 overall. Justin Rogers fell 22 spots to No. 75, Vito Tisdale dropped to a three-star and Sam Anaele got his fourth star pulled. The early enrollee ranked No. 208 by Rivals is now No. 532 in 247's rankings. Some of these drops in the ranking system make sense. Anaele hasn't put out tape in over a year. If they can't watch you play, they can't rate you. It's that simple. In Kalil Branham's case, 247 was previously the only service that valued him as a four-star prospect. It's reasonable to expect that he may fall. Even though football hasn't been played in a month, Tennessee's recruits transformed into the '85 Chicago Bears. Here are the Vols biggest risers in the Top247 rankings:

• No. 96, DT Omari Thomas +22
• No. 100, QB Harrison Bailey +77
• No. 112, WR Jalin Hyatt +189
• No. 129, DE Tyler Baron +1
• No. 140, OLB Morven Joseph +250
• No. 145, WR Jimmy Calloway +63

An Ohio State signee has the most obscene rise. Mitchell Melton jumped up 534 spots to No. 182 overall without playing a football game. I wish I could improve my blogging skills that much without doing anything. The hysterical adjustments to 247's ratings do not mean that rankings are meaningless. They serve as a barometer to see where one player relatively compares to another. Luckily, this only accounts for a percent of the 247 Composite Rankings where you'll still find UK in the Top 25 at No. 23. At KSR we like to say it's not personal, it's personnel. I'm afraid some of our friends at 247 may have taken some things personally.