Rival Rankings Week: Storylines from the Top Athletes of 2025

DJ Pickett was already rated as a five-star prospect after being moved from safety to athlete in the February update earlier this year. Since then, he has hovered between 9th and 10th in the Rivals250 rankings, and is the only athlete to receive a five-star rating. In the latest update, Pickett once again finds himself the only athlete to hold this distinction.

In fact, there are no other athletes in the top 100 of Rivals250. This isn’t a big surprise, though. Looking at the rankings over the past 10 cycles, there are only three years in which more than one athlete has received a five-star rating. This is largely due to the fact that the positions are mostly addressed before signing day outside of true multi-positional players.

As the 2025 cycle continues, some prospects who were once listed as athletes have either chosen to focus on a certain position at the next level or simply performed better at a single position. This can lead to position-specific rankings that are more reflective of their future, such as athletes being moved to the wide receiver position. Later in the cycle, there are occasional transitions from a specific position to an athlete, but much more happens when out of an athlete position.

As a result, the number of people in this position is decreasing. In the previous Rivals250 update, 17 potential athletes were rated four stars or better. As of this week’s update, there are now only 12 rated four stars or better. This tells us that there was a net loss of 5 positions due to position change or ranking drop. Some examples in this update include Jontae Gilbert and Marcus Wimberly moving from the jock position to the safety position.

I expect this trend to continue, as some prospects may start to develop a pattern of being better suited for one position than another. With several big updates still coming, keep an eye out to see who of the 12 remaining blue-chip prospects at this position stays or goes.

As the 2025 cycle continues, the pool of athletes has dwindled, with just three prospects now ranked inside the Rivals250: Pickett at No. 10, Derrick Smith at No. 110, and Cameron Sparks at No. 112 .

Three candidates for the position make it the lowest number of candidates for a position in Rivals250. It matches the numbers at versatile guard and center, two positions typically offered to niche prospects.

What will be curious is whether the nine non-Rivals250 four-star prospects will make a case for a move up the national rankings this fall. This also applies to prospects who are currently viewed as three-stars, who could surge as their senior seasons progress and see a star join them in the rankings.

Two candidates to watch are the top two four-star prospects outside of Rivals250, Illinois commit JaSean Newton and uncommitted Jaden Nix.

There are currently only three athletes in Rivals250 and only one is in the top 100, so finding another five-star athlete will be a difficult task.

Auburn commit Derrick Smith might be the best option, although the likelihood of that happening is still slim. But judging from Smith’s ranking trend, his ranking in Rivals250 is indeed rising. In the last two updates, his overall ranking rose from 155th to 134th, and now from 134th to 110th. If he continues this trend, there’s a good chance we’ll see him crack the top 100 as he once did in the early stages of his prep career.

Outside of Smith, it’s hard to make the case for anyone else. I doubt we’ll see this kind of surge later in the cycle from anyone outside of Rivals250, looking at Cameron Sparks who just dropped out of the top 100, it’ll be hard to get him back Such a high position.