2019 NFL Draft picks: High school recruiting star rankings for first-round selections

Eighteen of the 32 first round picks were four- or five-star prospects as recruits

By Chip Patterson

& Barrett Sallee

Apr 26, 2019 at 9:23 am ET • 2 min read

There shouldn't have been much of a surprise that Kyler Murray ended up as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Sure, when the 2018 college football season started, it was widely assumed that Murray would spend one season as Oklahoma's starting quarterback, enjoy his final year of football and then move on to a future in baseball as a top-10 pick in the MLB Draft. But rewind all the way back to his high school career and you see that Murray has long carried expectations that include the potential of having his name called on the first night of the NFL Draft.

Murray was one of eight players picked in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft that received a five-star rating from the 247Sports Composite. Six of those eight former five-star prospects were picked in the top 13, including No. 2 overall pick Nick Bosa and Ed Oliver at No. 9.

But not all of the top picks were blue-chip prospects in the recruiting process. Duke quarterback Daniel Jones, the No. 6 pick, didn't have a 247Sports Composite ranking and joined David Cutcliffe's team as a walk-on after a strong showing during his senior season at Charlotte Latin. Jones and offensive tackle Tytus Howard, the No. 23 pick out of FCS Alabama State, didn't have a star rating at all. Meanwhile, linebacker Josh Allen ranked outside the top 2,000 as a two-star prospect in his class, but after a successful career at Kentucky, was selected No. 7 overall Thursday night.

Most of the first round was made up by former four-star (10) and three-star (11) prospects with a couple junior college products, and 13 of the first 20 picks being players that ranked in the top 200 overall in their respective class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

2019 NFL Draft first round by recruiting rating

5-stars: 8
4-stars: 9
3-stars: 11
2-stars: 1
Unranked: 3

Here's a look at how each first round pick ranked as a high school prospect:

Rankings courtesy of the 247Sports Composite.

STAR-RATINGS FOR FIRST ROUND NFL DRAFT PICKS

NFL Team	Player	School	Stars	Rank (Year)
Arizona	Kyler Murray, QB	Oklahoma (via Texas A&M)	5	34 (2014)
San Francisco	Nick Bosa, DE	Ohio State	5	8 (2015)
N.Y. Jets	Quinnen Williams, DT	Alabama	4	155 (2015)
Las Vegas	Clelin Ferrell, DE	Clemson	4	115 (2014)
Tampa Bay	Devin White, LB	LSU	4	135 (2016)
N.Y. Giants	Daniel Jones, QB	Duke	0	N/A (2015)
Jacksonville	Josh Allen, EDGE	Kentucky	2	2,121 (2015)
Detroit	T.J. Hockenson, TE	Iowa	3	1,468 (2015)
Buffalo	Ed Oliver, DL	Houston	5	6 (2015)
Pittsburgh	Devin Bush, LB	Michigan	4	312 (2015)
Cincinnati	Jonah Williams, OL	Alabama	5	17 (2015)
Green Bay	Rashan Gary, DL	Michigan	5	1 (2016)
Miami	Christian Wilkins, DL	Clemson	5	24 (2015)
Atlanta	Chris Lindstrom, OL	Boston College	3	1,037 (2014)
Washington	Dwayne Haskins, QB	Ohio State	4	91 (2016)
Carolina	Brian Burns, EDGE	Florida State	4	46 (2016)
N.Y. Giants	Dexter Lawrence, DL	Clemson	5	2 (2015)
Minnesota	Garrett Bradbury, C	NC State	3	1,749 (2013)
Tennessee	Jeffery Simmons, DL	Mississippi State	5	18 (2016)
Denver	Noah Fant, TE	Iowa	3	536 (2015)
Green Bay	Darnell Savage, S	Maryland	3	1,055 (2014)
Philadelphia	Andre Dillard, OL	Washington State	3	1,505 (2013)
Houston	Tytus Howard, OL	Alabama State	0	N/A (2014)
Las Vegas	Josh Jacobs, RB	Alabama	3	469 (2016)
Baltimore	Marquise Brown, WR	Oklahoma (via College of the Canyons)	0	N/A (2016)
Washington	Montez Sweat, EDGE	Mississippi State (via Michigan State, Copiah-Lincoln C.C.)	3	N/A (2014)
Las Vegas	Johnathan Abram, S	Mississippi State (via Georgia, Jones County C.C.)	3	695 (2015)
L.A. Chargers	Jerry Tillery, DT	Notre Dame	4	156 (2013)
Seattle	L.J. Collier, DE	TCU	3	1,068 (2014)
N.Y. Giants	Deandre Baker, CB	Georgia	3	657 (2014)
Atlanta	Kaleb McGary, OL	Washington	4	285 (2014)
New England	N'Keal Harry	Arizona State	4	53 (2015)