Refresher

It’s one of the most important, if not the most important factors in truly understanding a player’s collegiate profile. Many times before we’ve thrown tomatoes at prospects due to their “low production,” but history has proven that can be a waste of good produce. This is why the Teammate Score was designed — to weigh the value of who someone played with so we can properly adjust their rating for the opportunity squeeze they encountered.

How The 2019 Class Scored

Freeze…

This article is being written as if you, the reader, already have a decent grasp on what the Teammate Score is and how it works. So if you’d like to know more about the metric, please go check out The Project tab in the navigation bar for a Mensa level education on it.

Now we can continue…

Of this 2019 group it should be no surprise that we see so many Ohio State names at the top: Curtis Samuel, Noah Brown, Michael Thomas, Braxton Miller, Nick Vannett, K.J. Hill and Binjimen Victor were all selected in recent NFL drafts. The spike for the three Ohio State wide outs (Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin, Johnnie Dixon) is pretty obvious once you look at the list of players drafted prior to them or even those slated to come after them.

But what about the other guys on this list?

THE BREAKDOWN

Hunter Renfrow, Clemson: Coming from Clemson should be indicator #1 as to why his score is as high as it is. Having played with seven NFL-drafted talents and two more potential studs in Justyn Ross (1st round projection) and Tee Higgins (2nd/3rd round projection), Hunter’s estimated score is absolutely bonkers. Yet being given opportunities in big games and coming up clutch has to count for something.

Tyron Johnson, LSU/Oklahoma State: Here lies a player whose career did not finish in the same place it started. Also interestingly enough, a bulk of Johnson’s teammate score didn’t even come from the school where he racked up nearly all of his production (Oklahoma State); it came from LSU. Having lost almost his entire freshman year getting stuffed down the depth chart by guys like Malachi Dupre, Trey Quinn, DJ Chark, and Foster Moreau, Johnson didn’t finally find room to operate until his junior season at Oklahoma State.

Damarkus Lodge, Ole Miss: Very few people had a UDFA grade on him coming out of Mississippi, but here we are. If anyone on this list had on-field competition it was without a doubt Lodge. Having spent the majority of his career battling for opportunity against guys like Laquon Treadwell (Round 1), A.J. Brown (Round 2), D.K. Metcalf (Round 2), Evan Engram (Round 1), Dawson Knox (Round 3), and Cody Core (Round 6), you can understand just how difficult his road truly was.

Terry Godwin, Georgia: Coming from the system he came from we understand the nature of the production but it was also absolutely a byproduct of the guys who shared a field with him. Godwin split time with five future NFL talents and a group that included Malcolm Mitchell, Mecole Hardman, Riley Ridley, Javon Whims, and Isaiah McKenzie. Many of these names may not come across as NFL studs in hindsight but at the college level these guys were among some of the best in the country.

AJ Brown, Ole Miss: Similar story to Lodge here except for the fact that Brown was widely considered the best of the group and the NFL selected him accordingly. The fact that Brown played with this level of talent around him and was still able to produce at the level he did speaks volumes to his upside.

Deebo Samuel, South Carolina: When you think of versatility in the 2019 wide receiver class you are immediately drawn to Deebo. Impressively, despite the competition on the field, Samuel was a standout when healthy. Over his four years at South Carolina, Deebo competed for opportunities against Hayden Hurst (Round 1), Pharoh Cooper (Round 4), Jerell Adams (Round 6), future NFL hopeful Shi Smith and future early-round selection, Bryan Edwards.

Ja’Deion High, Texas Tech: Here is a name I bet many of you are reading (or pronouncing) for the first time. A player who was very quiet until his final season at Texas Tech. High played with some names that of late have been making splashes in the league Keke Coutee (Round 4), Jakeem Grant (Round 6), Dylan Cantrell (Round 6), and future NFL prospect T.J. Vasher. Going undrafted and then ending up with the Arizona Cardinals and his old coach Kliff Kingsbury may have been a best case scenario.