At this moment, 2025 high school recruiting classes have zero impact on the NFL. What they can do, though, is offer insight into who a fan’s favorite franchise could be drafting in the future.
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Most times, those future NFL draft selections are among the highest-touted prospects in football. Those players land five-star rankings. Trevor Lawrence, Micah Parsons, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Patrick Surtain II were all five-star recruits.
Cam Newton also received five-star status back in high school. However, he doesn’t believe such labels matter in college football these days. On the latest episode of his 4th&1 podcast, Newton expressed that stars simply “don’t matter.”
“Stars don’t matter no more… you have real, unbiased conversations with coaches that’s recruiting these kids… when you come to my campus… you’re starless. We don’t even care about them stars.”
Part of the reason Newton feels this way is the transfer portal. He asked why a coach would “deal with knuckleheads” when they could get someone more mature from another school.
To an extent, Newton is right. In the modern age, it’s not necessary for someone to attend a premier program to get significant exposure and become an NFL draft selection.
Jacksonville Jaguars edge rusher Josh Hines-Allen was a two-star recruit. He attended Kentucky; an SEC university, but not one of the conference’s upper-echelon football destinations. However, he turned into the No. 7 pick of the 2019 NFL Draft and earned a $30 million-per-year contract last offseason.
Atlanta Falcons edge rusher Matthew Judon didn’t receive any stars when he was entering college. He went to Grand Valley State, not an FBS or FCS institution, but a Division-II school. He molded himself into a fifth-round pick (No. 146 overall in 2016) and a four-time Pro Bowler.
Is Newton fully right?
There are players like Allen and Judon in every professional draft class. Newton’s stance falls flat, however, if a player is worried about NIL and/or winning a college championship more than getting to the NFL.
Lower-level programs just don’t have the resources to pay recruits or compete the way the Alabama or Ohio State of the world can.
The NFL selects roughly 250 players in each draft. The NCAA has approximately 77,000 college football players at a time. Garnering five-star status raises the likelihood of reaching the league but guarantees nothing.
Because of this, there’s no reason for a player to fret over their recruiting profile. If they have the work ethic and talent to reach the NFL, they’ll find a way to get there.
