Every year we see a new class of high school seniors come through and earn four and five-star rankings. Sometimes the kid turns out to be an NFL Pro Bowler and sometimes they end up not even playing football a year or two after college. There are so many different factors that go into making it in college and eventually the NFL and today we’re going to take a look at a few recruits who just didn’t quite pan out.
Tate Martell – Five-Star QB in 2017 – Ohio State, Miami, and UNLV
Tate Martell was widely considered to be the best high school player in his class and one of the best recruits ever. He went 45-0 in his high school career at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas and was the Gatorade National Player of the Year his senior year. He went to Ohio State, could never win the starting job, and ended up transferring to Miami after Justin Fields transferred to Ohio State. He couldn’t win the job there either and they even tried him out at wide receiver. That didn’t work out so he transferred back home to UNLV where again he couldn’t win the job and eventually retired from football in 2022 following an injury. It’s safe to say that his career didn’t go as planned and that has been very public. Many people have gotten onto him online about failing. Still, in all seriousness, I hope he has recovered from that injury, is doing well, and can successfully pursue whatever is next in his life.
Max Browne – Five-Star QB in 2013 – USC and Pittsburgh
Max Browne is another quarterback who never lived up to the hype of his five-star label. Browne committed to USC after leading his high school team to three straight Washington 4A State Titles. He was the state’s Gatorade National Player of the Year two times at Skyline High School. Browne redshirted his first year on campus after losing out on the starting job to Cody Kessler. He lost the starting quarterback battle against Kessler two more times. Once Kessler departed, Browne battled with freshman Sam Darnold and won the job. His first start was a 52-6 loss to Alabama and he was replaced by Darnold two weeks later. He then transferred to Pitt to play his final season. He did decent in his only season there, going 94 for 135 with 1,647 yards. He threw seven touchdowns and four interceptions as well. He never made it in the pros and he now works as an analyst for the Pac12 Network. He also has around 60k followers on Tik Tok where he posts regularly and is very open about his playing career.
Derrick Green – Five-Star RB in 2013 – Michigan and TCU
Derrick Green was the highest-ranked running back in his class and was expected to be a star at Michigan. He was the eighth overall player in his class, but when he got to campus, the problems started. Green was severely overweight and that caused poor performance and injuries. He never got it together in Ann Arbor and ended up in the transfer portal after three seasons. He landed at TCU and continued his lackluster play with only 38 carries and 141 yards in his last season. I tried to see what Green was up to today, but I was unable to find any information.
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Speedy Noil – Five-Star WR in 2014 – Texas A&M
Speedy Noil was a five-star and the number-one wide receiver in the 2014 class. He committed to Kevin Sumlin and the Texas A&M Aggies. He peaked during his freshman campaign putting up five touchdowns on 46 receptions and 583 yards. He only accumulated 21 receptions and two touchdowns in each of his last two seasons and had 226 and 325 yards in those seasons. He left Texas A&M after 2016 and bounced around the league before being arrested in 2019. That is the last information I could find about him, but hopefully, he’s doing well.
Byron Cowart – Five-Star DE in 2015 – Auburn and Maryland
Byron Cowart was the number one overall prospect in his class and decided to go to Auburn. He struggled to get playing time in his first two seasons there which is surprising considering his high school accolades. He decided to transfer to Maryland for the start of the 2018 season and this was his best collegiate season. He played in 12 games and had 38 total tackles and three sacks. He ended up being a fifth-round draft pick and actually still plays in the NFL. Today, he plays for the Houston Texans.
