Jaxson Dart, Caleb Williams headline 23 first-rounders from Class of 2021, but who remains?

New York Times

08-05-2025

Not every top-ranked recruit has their NFL Draft dreams play out the way they envisioned.
Quinn Ewers certainly did not. Texas' starting quarterback went from being a prospect with a perfect score in the 247Sports Composite to the 233rd selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, a far cry from what was expected when he graduated high school early to sign with Ohio State.
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Ewers, however, avoided becoming the second No. 1 recruit in the modern era to go undrafted. Former Georgia defensive lineman Trenton Thompson (Class of 2015) earned that distinction in 2018.
So, how have Ewers' fellow Class of 2021 recruits fared in the NFL Draft?
In all, 140 recruits in the cycle have been drafted over the last two years, including 23 first-rounders.
Others still have eligibility and are returning for their fifth year of college football (more on them shortly). Here's a closer look at where things stand with the top-100 recruits in the cycle:
In all, 70 players in the 2021 class were taken on the first or second day of the draft (first three rounds) over the last two years. Twenty-five were former top-100 recruits.
Sixteen other top-100 recruits were Day 3 selections:
Seven top-100 recruits who entered the draft were not picked:
More than half (54) of the top 100 recruits in the cycle transferred at least once in their college careers.
Of the 41 top-100 prospects who were drafted, only seven were transfers.
Four were quarterbacks:
The others:
At this point, most of the top-100 recruits in the cycle who are still playing college football have transferred at least once.
Center Bryce Foster, who has 40 career starts, including 12 last season at Kansas after transferring from Texas A&M, is the most experienced returning top-100 recruit. In all, there are 14 players with at least 15 career starts returning next season.
Here are the remaining returning standouts:
Clemson offensive tackle Tristan Leigh (five-star, No. 14): The Fairfax, Va., native has started 23 games over the last two seasons at left tackle after playing only 70 snaps his first two years in college.
Arkansas linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr. (five-star, No. 26): The Florida native started two games in three years at Georgia before leaving for Arkansas last season. He led the Razorbacks with 99 tackles, including 9.5 for loss and two sacks.
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Ole Miss defensive back Sage Ryan (five-star, No. 30): Ryan started 21 games for the Tigers — 10 at cornerback, four at safety and seven at nickel — before leaving for Ole Miss in the winter portal window. He had 24 tackles in 2024.
USC defensive lineman Keeshawn Silver (five-star, No. 31): The Rocky Mount, N.C., native signed with North Carolina but didn't start a game in two seasons. He started 23 games, including all 12 last season, in two years at Kentucky. He's now at his third school.
Arizona State edge rusher Clayton Smith (four-star, No. 38): The Texas native played in only eight games in two seasons for Oklahoma before leaving for Tempe. He started 12 games last season for the Big 12 champions and led them with 4.5 sacks and six tackles for loss.
Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson (four-star, No. 52): The Crimson Tide's second-leading tackler likely would have been drafted had he not suffered a season-ending knee injury in a loss at Oklahoma late in the 2024 season. He was a third-team All-SEC selection in 2024.
Nebraska offensive lineman Rocco Spindler (four-star, No. 60): The Michigan native started 23 games at right guard over the last two years for Notre Dame before leaving to join the Cornhuskers this winter.
SMU offensive lineman Savion Byrd (four-star, No. 64): Byrd started five games at Oklahoma before leaving to join the Mustangs last season. He started 12 games at left tackle for SMU in 2024.
Texas A&M linebacker Scooby Williams (four-star, No. 74): The Birmingham, Ala., native spent his first three years at Florida, where he started a total of 10 games. He transferred to Texas A&M last year and finished fourth on the team with 43 tackles in 10 starts.
Nebraska cornerback Ceyair Wright (four-star, No. 80): The Los Angeles native left USC for Lincoln after starting 15 games for the Trojans through the 2023 season. He started eight games last season for the Cornhuskers and is expected to be a key part of the secondary in 2025.
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Texas Tech defensive lineman Lee Hunter (four-star, No. 81): The 2024 second-team All-Big 12 selection switched league schools this winter, transferring from UCF, where he started 23 games, to Texas Tech. The Alabama native began his career at Auburn.
Michigan offensive lineman Giovanni El-Hadi (four-star, No. 88): The Michigan native started 13 games at right guard last season for the Wolverines after playing mostly on special teams in his first three seasons in Ann Arbor.
Florida defensive lineman Tyreak Sapp (four-star, No. 100): Sapp, a Fort Lauderdale native, has started 20 games in his career, and he led the Gators with seven sacks and 13 tackles for loss in 2024.
We mentioned more than half of the top 100 recruits in the 2021 cycle have changed schools at least once.
None have moved more than receiver Agiye Hall, defensive lineman Tunmise Adeleye and quarterbacks Sam Huard and Jake Garcia. They're all either at or headed to their fourth school.
Hall signed with Alabama, transferred to Texas a year later, left for UCF in 2024 and is now at Sacramento State. Adeleye signed with Texas A&M, left for Michigan State two years later, played for Texas State last season and is now at UNLV. Hall has yet to start a game in college, and Adeleye started three games for the Spartans.
Huard, a former five-star Washington signee, left Utah for USC this winter. Huard made nine of his 10 career starts for Cal Poly in 2023. Garcia, who made one start in two seasons with Miami, never saw the field at Missouri in 2023 and started six games at East Carolina last season before re-entering the portal this spring. He still hasn't found a home.
In all, eight of the top 100 recruits in the 2021 cycle have yet to start a game after four seasons in college. Here are some other notable players still looking to make a bigger impact:
Fresno State defensive lineman Korey Foreman (five-star, No. 2): It was a big deal when Foreman signed with USC over Arizona State, Clemson, Georgia and LSU. He produced 2.5 sacks in three years for the Trojans before landing at Fresno State last year. He had 24 tackles, three sacks and three forced fumbles while making one start for the Bulldogs in 2024.
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Penn State offensive lineman Nolan Rucci (five-star, No. 16): Rucci left his home state to sign with Wisconsin but played a total of 70 snaps in three seasons. He returned home to play for the Nittany Lions last season and started six games at right tackle. He's competing to be a starter in 2025.
Tulane tight end Ty Thompson (four-star, No. 40): Thompson appeared in 17 games as a backup quarterback in three years at Oregon and then departed for Tulane after the 2023 season. He finally made his first college start, in a Gasparilla Bowl loss to Florida last December, but is now angling to be Tulane's starting tight end this fall.
UNLV receiver JoJo Earle (four-star, No. 47): He spent two seasons at Alabama and two at TCU and will finish his career playing for Dan Mullen at UNLV. He has 47 career catches for 579 yards and five touchdowns.
Syracuse offensive lineman Terrence Ferguson II (four-star, No. 58): The Georgia native began his career at Alabama, where he started one game in three years. Last year at Florida State, Ferguson started seven games at left guard. He's now fighting for a role with Fran Brown and the Orange.
Arizona State cornerback Nyland Green (four-star, No. 72): He played 143 defensive snaps in three seasons at Georgia before finally getting on the field regularly for Purdue last season. Green started seven games for the Boilermakers in 2024 but departed for Arizona State in January.
Western Michigan receiver Christian Leary (four-star, No. 75): The Alabama signee spent the last two years at Georgia Tech before leaving for Kalamazoo. In four seasons, he's made three starts and has 31 career catches for 346 yards and two touchdowns.
Louisville quarterback Miller Moss (four-star, No. 76): Moss spent three years waiting for his turn at USC. He finally got it in 2024, but was benched after starting nine games. He's 5-5 as a starter with 3,469 yards passing, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
(Top photo of Jaxson Dart: Petre Thomas / Imagn Images)