Star Rewind: Miami Dolphins' 2015 Draft Class as College Recruits
Although every player drafted this past weekend is a true unknown until proven otherwise, Miami Dolphins fans and draft pundits alike generally appear to be initially pleased with the handiwork of Dennis Hickey and Mike Tannenbaum.
They were able to pry away one of the draft's consensus top-three wideouts in DeVante Parker without trading up, draft one of the most physically gifted defensive tackles in Jordan Phillips and snag one of the best running backs in the nation last season in fifth-rounder Jay Ajayi.
Let's rewind the hype to three to five years ago and take a look at these baby NFLers when they were high school seniors.
Recruiting stars were pulled from Rivals.
Round 1: DeVante Parker, WR
Round 2: Jordan Phillips, DL
Round 4: Jamil Douglas, OL
Round 5: Bobby McCain, DB
Round 5: Jay Ajayi, RB
Round 5: Ced Thompson, DB
Round 5: Tony Lippett, DB/WR
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So five of the seven players Miami drafted drew a mere three stars (out of five) as college football prospects. These are seven of 256 players selected from Thursday to Saturday, the creme of the college crop when looking at the big picture. The highest rated future Dolphin was Phillips, who carried a four-star rating back in 2011. The lowest was two-star defensive back Ced Thompson, one of Miami's four fifth-rounders.
The player transformed the most by college football has to be Ajayi. The nation's No. 41 running back coming out of Frisco, Texas weighed just 175 pounds out of high school. He checked in at 221 pounds at the NFL Combine, adding 45 pounds to his 6-foot frame during his time at Boise State.
The lesson here, as always, is stars go through the shredder the moment a player hits the college practice field for the first time. It's also notable 86 percent of the Dolphins' draft class were considered middling prospects coming out of high school.
Most jarring of all was Rivals assessing DeVante Parker as the No. 77 wide receiver nationally. Drafted 14th overall, as the third wideout off the board, Parker is a glowing example of just how unpolished an 18-year-old can be.
Always take your stars with a swig of salt.
Follow Josh on Twitter (@JoshBaumgard)
