Kayvon Thibodeaux (left) is the No. 1 college prospect in the state among incoming seniors according to two national recruiting networks. Bru McCoy (right) is in the same position for a different one. Photos: YouTube.com & Hudl.com.
As the 2018 football season is now less than two months from being here, we are kick-starting our exclusive statewide preseason coverage of the state’s best teams and top players. We begin by updating our Class of 2019 top 100 player rankings, which seems to be a battle at the No. 1 position between Oaks Christian’s Kayvon Thibodeaux and Mater Dei’s Bru McCoy as the top college prospect from California. Whether it’s a good thing or bad thing for high school football in the state, it’s up for debate but we also counted almost one-fourth of the top 100 from three private schools in the same league.
Note: All player ranking charts in football and boys basketball are for Gold Club members only. We will have a first ranking of the Class of 2020 players coming within two weeks and that one also will be for Gold Club members only. This is a great time to sign up and you can get it for just $9.99 for three months. For details, CLICK HERE.
These player rankings are based on a consensus combination of those rankings compiled by the three major national recruiting networks — 247/Scout, Rivals and ESPN. We also have seen many of the players in person last season and have added those evaluations, but if a player was in the top 80 or top 100 or close to it by all three networks that player is going to be ranked highest.
RB/LB Henry To’oto’o was an all-state sophomore two years ago at De La Salle and was arguably the top player in the Bay Area as a junior. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Some of the national network player rankings are all over the place. Mission Viejo quarterback Joey Yellen, for example, was No. 15 in the state by ESPN but was No. 118 by 247. In one sense, it’s just educated guesswork but we do have a long history dating back to our Student Sports days in the early 2000s with Greg Biggins of 247/Scout so we will tend to favor his evaluations over others.
This is the class that at the end of the 2017 season still had Mater Dei of Santa Ana quarterback J.T. Daniels as the overwhelming No. 1 player. It was only a few days after the Monarchs won the CIF Open Division state title and ended No. 1 in the nation that Daniels reclassified and he’s now getting ready to play as a freshman at USC.
It’s still a class, however, that many believe still has a Mater Dei player at the top. Bru McCoy, a versatile talent who can play receiver, strong safety, linebacker or pretty much anything, is the No. 1 prospect in the state according to 247/Scout. The other two national networks have McCoy lower and instead both list Oaks Christian of Westlake Village pass rushing phenom Kayvon Thibodeaux as the No. 1 California prospect.
For these updated rankings, we put Thibodeux first with McCoy right behind at second. We placed our 2017 State Junior of the Year, Folsom’s Joe Ngata, in the top six, which is higher than any of the other networks but only by a few positions.
Mater Dei’s arch-rival from the CIF Southern Section’s Trinity League, St. John Bosco of Bellflower, has the most players in the state top 100 with 10. The Monarchs are second with seven and fellow Trinity League member Orange Lutheran wasn’t far behind Mater Dei with five. And we’re pretty sure there are other analysts that would have even higher numbers than 10, 7 and 5 in the top 100 of the state from those three schools. That’s just how high school football has evolved in the last few years with more and more parents maneuvering their kids into playing for one of the vastly shrinking number of super elite programs.
Please follow the tables below for the updated top 100 players ranked for the Class of 2019.
