Signing Day fun: A look back at the Dolphins’ five-, four- and even two-star recruits

Who doesn’t love National Signing Day?

It’s like the draft, except for colleges.

And Alabama always seems to have 10 first-round picks.

But these five-star recruits are soon in for a rude awakening: College coaches hardly care about their ranking once summer camp begins. And those projections are completely irrelevant to NFL general managers come draft time.

So exactly how predictive are those rankings?

Here’s a fun exercise: Let’s look back at the Rivals.com profiles for the Dolphins’ best players and their first-round picks (which have not always been the same thing, sadly).

You might notice one glaring omission: Cameron Wake (who went by Derek back then) graduated high school in 2000, long before recruiting mania boomed. There is no player profile for him on Rivals.

As for the rest?

Read on, and enjoy.

Kenyan Drake, Alabama

▪  Stars: 4.

▪  Rankings: No. 185 nationally. No. 13 running back. No. 14 player in Georgia.

▪  Offers: Alabama, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Tennessee.

Charles Harris, Missouri

▪  Stars: 2.

▪  Rankings: Unranked nationally, by position or by state.

▪  Offers: Missouri.

Ja'Wuan James, Tennessee

▪  Stars: 4.

▪  Rankings: No. 55 nationally. No. 8 offensive tackle. No. 6 player in Georgia.

▪  Offers: Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, UCLA.

Reshad Jones, Georgia

▪  Stars: 5.

▪  Rankings: No. 14 player nationally. No. 1 safety. No. 1 player in Georgia.

▪  Offers: Georgia, Auburn, Florida, Illinois, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma.

Jarvis Landry, Louisiana State

▪  Stars: 5.

▪  Rankings: No. 18 player nationally. No. 4 wide receiver. No. 3 player in Louisiana.

▪  Offers: LSU, Auburn, Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Texas A&M.

DeVante Parker, Louisville

▪  Stars: 3.

▪  Rankings: Unranked nationally. No. 77 wide receiver. No. 6 player in Kentucky

▪  Offers: Louisville, Indiana, Kentucky, Central Florida

Mike Pouncey, Florida

▪  Stars: 4.

▪  Rankings: Unranked nationally. No. 16 offensive guard. No. 36 player in Florida.

▪  Offers: Florida, Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska.

Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska

▪  Stars: 4.

▪  Rankings: No. 51 player nationally. No. 6 defensive tackle. No. 1 player in Oregon.

▪  Offers: Nebraska, California, Miami, Mississippi State, Oregon State.

Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M

▪  Stars: 3.

▪  Rankings: Unranked nationally. No. 23 quarterback. No. 88 player in Texas.

▪  Offers: Texas A&M, Houston, New Mexico State, TCU, Tulsa, UTEP.

This story was originally published February 7, 2018 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Signing Day fun: A look back at the Dolphins’ five-, four- and even two-star recruits."