If we were healthy our top 3 corners for this past year would have been:
Keivarae Russell: top247 composite #122 Offers from USC, UW, Oregon, Stanford
Cody Riggs: top247 composite #111 Former UF transfer, Offers from FSU, Georgia, etc
Cole Luke: top247 composite #147 Offers from OU, Texas, Michigan, USC, etc
Not elite. Yup. shit even Devin Butler while not elite was a composite 4 star. And we know how highly regarded Watkins was.
Extremely valid point.
But if you argue that you can also argue this.
Trae Waynes, #1 CB in the 2015 NFL Draft, 2-star Rivals.
Jalen Collins, #2 CB in the 2015 NFL Draft, 3-star on ESPN/Scout, 4-star Rivals.
Kevin Johnson, #3 CB in the 2015 NFL Draft, 2-star on Rivals.
Collins was rated the #22 CB on Rivals and was a 4-star. Campbell is rated the 28th best and Love is rated the 30th best CB on Rivals.
I dont find much stock in the rankings, but you made your arguement on them, so I personally do not see a huge drop off from 22 to 28 to 30. I don't find stock in that ratings, bc each class is different. So taking your points into account for debates sake....say that Collins class was a weak CB class and the 2016 is a deep CB class. Who is to say that Love or Campbell wouldnt be "ranked" higher in a weak class of CB's? There just isnt much substance in that.
If in February 2016 Campbell and Love were ranked as 4-stars you would feel better, yet now youre mad that ND is jumping the gun on "3-star" players. I would trust the staff, the people that evaluate talent and the people they hire to evaluate talent.