NFL Draft: Will Levis, Tyree Wilson among round 1 prospects overlooked by high school recruiting evaluators

The star rating system for college football prospects isn’t a perfect science, and every year there will be some surprises that no longer match their old rating. A player’s rating coming out of high school can be a sign of how they will fare in the future, but sometimes the rest of their career is different than their original ranking suggests.

The system becomes more accurate and historically the former five star and four star outlooks are the ones taken early in the design. However, there have been outliers in the past and this year is no different.

According to CBS Sports’ prospect rankings for the 2023 NFL Draft, these are the nine top 32 players who were ranked lower by the industry-generated 247Sports Composite than four stars who came out of high school.

Check out our latest for more draft content prospect rankings And mock designs, as well as our new weekly podcast, “With the first choice,” with former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman. (Watch the latest episode blow.)

QB Will Levis, Kentucky

CBS Sports Rank: No. 5 (QB3) | 247Sport Composite: 3 Stars (No. 28 Professional QB) in Class of 2018

Levis came out of Xavier High School (Middletown, Connecticut) in 2018 as a three-star recruit (ranked No. 652 in the country). The 6-foot-4 quarterback started out at Penn State before moving to Kentucky in 2021. He played here and there at Penn State and became a player to watch while at Kentucky. Levis has impressive size, arm strength and mobility. (Full NFL Draft Scouting Report)

EDGE Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech

CBS Sports Rank: No. 6 (EDGE2) | 247Sport Composite: 3 stars (No. 23 weak side DE) in class of 2018

Wilson was ranked No. 471 nationally and No. 68 in Texas when he graduated from high school in 2018. The scouting report notes that Wilson was named the Texas District 9-3A-II Overall MVP as a senior and was an all-district first-team selection at OLB as a junior. (Full NFL Draft Scouting Report)

CB Devon Witherspoon, Illinois

CBS Sports Rank: No. 8 (CB2) | 247Sport Composite: 0 stars in Class of 2019

In the span of four years, Witherspoon went from a zero-star high school recruit to one of the top projected picks. He has the biggest jump from high school of CBS Sports’ top eight prospects. He had no Florida or national rating when he graduated in 2019; now he is a projected top-12 selection in the NFL Draft. In 2022, he was named a first-team All-American (AP) and had the fewest yards/attempt allowed (3.0) in the FBS (50 minimum attempts). Witherspoon has a high football IQ, is extremely competitive and plays football. (Full NFL Draft Scouting Report)

RAND Lukas Van Ness, Iowa

CBS Sports Rank: No. 15 (EDGE3) | 247Sport Composite: 3 stars (No. 52 strong side DE) in Class of 2020

Van Ness graduated from Barrington High School in Illinois in 2020 and was ranked #1063 in the national rating for his class. However, he became an NFL prospect in Iowa. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound player was named second-team All-Big Ten in 2022 and tied for second-most sacks in the Big Ten for the past two seasons, with a score of 14.0 . (Full NFL Draft scouting report)

W. R. Zay Flowers, Boston College

CBS Sports Rank: No. 20 (WR2) | 247Sport Composite: 3 stars (No. 135 WR) in Class of 2019

The 2019 graduate is No. 20 in CBS Sports’ prospect rankings, but when he left high school, he was just a three-star recruit, ranked No. 1,188 nationally. In 2022, he recorded 78 receptions for 1,077 yards and 12 touchdowns. He left Boston College as the all-time leader in receptions with 200, receiving yards with 3,056 and receiving touchdowns with 29. He’s certainly not the tallest on the field, but what he lacks in size he makes up for in solid route-running, explosiveness and strength. (Full NFL Draft scouting report)

TE Dalton Kincaid, Utah

CBS Sports Rank: No. 26 (TE1) | 247Sport Composite: 0 stars in Class of 2018

Kincaid was unranked when he graduated high school in Las Vegas. The 6-foot-4 tight end began his college career at San Diego State in 2018, then transferred to Utah in 2020. In 2022, he had 70 receptions, the most by an FBS tight end, for 890 yards (with an average of 12 .7 yards per catch) and eight touchdowns. He is ranked the highest by his position on CBS Sports’ prospect rankings, largely due to his ability to catch passes. (Full NFL Draft scouting report)

IOL O’Cyrus Torrence, Florida

CBS Sports Rank: No. 27 (IOL1) | 247Sports Composite: 3 Stars (No. 140 OT) in Class of 2019

Torrence was number 1,617 nationally when he graduated in 2019. In 2017, he earned first-team all-state honors at Louisiana Class 2A defensive tackle. He went to Louisiana and transferred to Florida in 2022. He allowed zero sacks in 1,427 pass block snaps and in 2022 was an AP first team All-American. (Full NFL Draft scouting report)

D. L. Calijah Kancey, Pittsburgh

CBS Sports Rank: No. 31 (DL3) | 247Sport Composite: 3 stars (No. 64 DT) in Class of 2019

This three-star recruit graduated from high school in 2019 and went on to play for Pittsburgh. Out of high school, he was ranked No. 837 nationally and No. 110 in Florida. He became Pitt’s first unanimous All-American since Aaron Donald, who isn’t a bad player to be in the same category. Kancey’s 18% pressure percentage last season was the second highest in the ACC. (Full NFL Draft scouting report)

CB Deonte Banks, Maryland

CBS Sports Rank: No. 32 (CB5) | 247Sports Composite: 3 Stars (No. 76 CB) in Class of 2019

Banks is a 6-foot-1, 197-pound cornerback who ranked 854th in 2019 coming out of high school. In Maryland, he had the third-lowest completion percentage in the Big Ten at 39%. He had only one missed tackle in 2022 and excels at man marking thanks to his height. (Full NFL Draft scouting report)