So far in this series we’ve looked at the best recruits since 2000 from the Big 12 and Big Ten conferences. Today we’ll look outside of the Power 5 conferences, including our own Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
As always, only 5-stars need apply. There are plenty of Power 5 teams who have never signed a 5-star so there’s a ton in the G5 and independent ranks who haven’t had that pleasure. Except the following:
The Top Recruits for the Non-Power 5
BYU – QB Ben Olson 2002-08 (0.9980)
Olson is one of 2 quarterbacks from Thousand Oaks, California to be featured in today’s article. He was the No. 4 overall player in the 2002 class and only trailed Vince Young for the top quarterback for this cycle. However, he would never play for BYU after a redshirt season in 2002 followed by a 2-year mission.
After coming back to football, Olson transferred to UCLA for the 2005 season but would never make much of an impact while dealing with a host of injuries. He was set to start for the Bruins in 2008–a full 7 years after signing with BYU–but a foot injury effectively ended his career. In total, Olson threw for just 1,873 yards with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in college.
Houston – DT Ed Oliver 2016-18 (0.9969)
Oliver was one of 5 defensive linemen among the top 9 overall players in a loaded 2016 class that saw the Houston native placed No. 6 overall while surprising some and staying home with the Cougars. There can be no doubt, Oliver was a wrecking ball in college finishing his 3-year career with 192 tackles, 53 tackles for loss, and 13.5 sacks as an interior lineman.
He raised some eyebrows and received plenty of criticism by announcing he’d leave for the NFL prior to the start of his junior season and was eventually selected 9th overall by the Buffalo Bills. He’ll be entering the final year of his rookie deal that saw him make almost $20 million to date. While not quite as dominant as a professional, Oliver has been a good player for the Bills accumulating 117 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and 21 tackles for loss as a starter for the past 2.5 seasons.
Jackson State – CB Travis Hunter 2021-Present (0.9999)
As the No. 1 player in the 2022 class, Hunter turned every head in the country when he ditched Florida State on Early Signing Day after being committed for over 21 months only to sign with FCS Jackson State. It was shocking and outside of massive NLI money (which he could’ve collected at many FBS schools, including FSU) I’m not sure this decision will pan out.
Jackson State opens up the 2022 season with the likes of Florida A&M, Tennessee State, Grambling State, and Mississippi Valley State. As a corner especially, it’s going to be really weird to see what he can prove against receivers who are extreme long shots to ever play professionally.
It’s certainly innovative and looks good for a HBCU community. Plus, Hunter will get to work closely with head coach and Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. But they play zero FBS teams in 2022 and frankly I think the odds of Hunter transferring after a year are high and transferring at some point nearly a lock.
Notre Dame – QB Jimmy Clausen 2007-09 (0.9988)
Here we are at the highest-rated Notre Dame recruit since 2000. Clausen played high school ball at Oaks Christian School just 8 miles from where the aforementioned Ben Olson played at Thousand Oaks High School. Part of a loaded high school team at a private school, Clausen would go unbeaten in his prep career and was the No. 2 overall player in the 2007 class behind USC running back Joe McKnight.
Clausen was the most hyped recruit for Notre Dame in a generation or more. Following elbow surgery, he was limited during the spring as an early enrollee then had the life beat out of him during several starts in the disastrous 2007 season. As a sophomore, Clausen developed into a good starter but still didn’t look close to the 5-star savior the Irish were promised.
He did come through with an excellent junior season finishing 2nd nationally in passer rating (tying the Notre Dame single-season record) behind only Tim Tebow. With the coaching change and Charlie Weis fired, Clausen decided to forego his senior season and entered the NFL Draft where he was picked 48th overall by the Carolina Panthers. He’d finish his college career with 8,148 passing yards, 60 touchdowns, and 27 interceptions.
Clausen’s pro career would be short-lived. He played a modest amount of as a rookie with 10 starts but it was a disastrous beginning thanks to 9 interceptions and only 3 touchdown passes. That next off-season, the Panthers drafted Cam Newton No. 1 overall and Clausen would never again throw a pass for Carolina. In 2013, Clausen was cut by the Panthers and would make a combined 4 starts with Chicago and Baltimore in 2014-15 before retiring.
Clausen was so much fun to watch his last year with those WRs. Too bad he didn’t come back for his senior year just to have another year of that.
Would have loved another year of him and Tate.
Yea if Tate would have come back too that would have been amazing. That duo one of the best to watch (from any team).
Add me to the list — I really wanted to see another year of Clausen and Tate!
Is there not a single picture remaining on the internet of Jimmy Clausen in his fur coat? The only one I found was a photoshop by Georgia fans. Disappointing.
I’ve always wondered how much Clausen’s, Tate’s and Floyd’s decisions not to come back were affected by Weis’ anger at being fired. Kelly went 8-5 his first year at ND. You wonder what that record would have been like with those three still playing.
Looking at the record for 2010, we lost narrowly to Michigan and Michigan State and I figure both of those become wins if that trio stays. Also, I doubt that the Tulsa game is even close with those three. That leaves the losses to Navy and Stanford. I figure Navy would have been a victory, but don’t know about Stanford. However, that would have put us in a more top-tier bowl than the Sun Bowl against Miami, so that could have been a loss.
Boy, our schedule that year wasn’t really loaded with toughies, was it?