The first round of the 2023 NFL Draft has come and gone, and it revealed further proof that the premier recruiting service of 247Sports has dialed in how to rank some of the game's biggest stars before they even reach the college game. The paradigm of this claim: Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, 247Sports' No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2020, was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft by the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.
Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, was not the only former blue-chip prospect to follow through on his recruiting hype. A total of 13 players with five stars attached to their names were selected in the first round, including eight among the first 11 picks. The Houston Texas nabbed back-to-back 5-star prospects when they selected QB C.J. Stroud of Ohio State and EDGE Will Anderson Jr. of Alabama with the second and third overall picks, respectively.
There were some Cinderella stories on Thursday night in Kansas City. Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon, an unrated prospect out of high school with no stars to his name, but worked his way up to become the No. 5 overall pick by the Seattle Seahawks.
All in all, two-thirds of the 31 first-round picks were rated as 5- or 4-star prospects out of high school with just two of those 31 selections unrated before entering college.
Here's a look at the star rankings for every player selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
2023 NFL Draft by recruiting ranking
- 5 stars: 13
- 4 stars: 8
- 3 stars: 8
- 2 stars: 0
- 1 star: 0
- Unranked: 2
| NFL Team | Player | School | Stars | Rank (year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryce Young | Alabama | 5 | 1 (2020) | |
| C.J. Stroud | Ohio State | 5 | 29 (2020) | |
| Will Anderson Jr. | Alabama | 5 | 2 (2020) | |
| Anthony Richardson | Florida | 4 | 245 (2020) | |
| Devon Witherspoon | Illinois | n/a | n/a (2019) | |
| Paris Johnson | Ohio State | 5 | 8 (2020) | |
| Tyree Wilson* | Texas Tech | 3 | 471 (2018) | |
| Bijan Robinson | Texas | 5 | 21 (2020) | |
| Jalen Carter | Georgia | 5 | 9 (2020) | |
| Darnell Wright | Tennessee | 5 | 25 (2019) | |
| Peter Skoronski | Northwestern | 5 | 27 (2020) | |
| Jahmyr Gibbs | Alabama | 4 | 44 (2020) | |
| Lukas Van Ness* | Iowa | 3 | 1,063 (2020) | |
| Broderick Jones | Georgia | 5 | 30 (2020) | |
| Will McDonald IV* | Iowa State | 3 | 787 (2018) | |
| Emmanuel Forbes | Mississippi State | 4 | 132 (2020) | |
| Christian Gonzalez | Oregon | 4 | 326 (2020) | |
| Jack Campbell* | Iowa | 3 | 662 (2019) | |
| Calijah Kancey* | Pittsburgh | 3 | 837 (2019) | |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Ohio State | 5 | 15 (2020) | |
| Quinten Johnston | TCU | 4 | 113 (2020) | |
| Zay Flowers* | Boston College | 3 | 1,188 (2019) | |
| Jordan Addison | USC | 4 | 131 (2020) | |
| Deonte Banks* | Maryland | 3 | 854 (2019) | |
| Dalton Kincaid | Utah | n/a | n/a (2018) | |
| Mazi Smith | Michigan | 4 | 170 (2019) | |
| Anton Harrison | Oklahoma | 4 | 178 (2020) | |
| Myles Murphy | Clemson | 5 | 14 (2020) | |
| Bryan Bresee | Clemson | 5 | 3 (2020) | |
| Nolan Smith | Georgia | 5 | 4 (2019) | |
| Felix Anudike-Uzomah* | Kansas State | 3 | 2,421 (2020) |
*Denotes 247Sports composite ranking