Notre Dame Commit Lorenzo Styles In Five-Star Discussion
It is rankings week at Rivals.
This isn’t a major update as the spread of COVID-19 shut down the Rivals camp circuit, but there were a few held, and the Rivals team of analysts watched plenty of film over the past couple months.
“This has been very odd for obvious reasons and the 2021 class will require a lot more film evaluation than in-person evals,” Rivals national recruiting director Mike Farrell said. “It’s almost like the late ’90s when I started, and we relied on VHS tapes and travel to games and camps were very rare. I’m not used to this, and we will adjust accordingly.”
Rivals unveiled its five-star prospects in the 2021 class on Monday, and the updated top 250 will be announced on Tuesday.
There were two five-star wide receivers listed and both were once Notre Dame targets (Mario Williams and Emeka Egbuka).
Rivals reports that there are an average of 4.3 five-star wide receivers per cycle over the past decade. The analysts discussed who the next five-star wide receiver candidates are in an article on Monday.
Josh Helmholdt, who covers the Midwest for Rivals, mentioned Pickerington (Ohio) Central’s Lorenzo Styles, a Notre Dame Fighting Irish commit.
“Styles is a tremendous receiver with NFL bloodlines,” Helmholdt wrote. “He runs great routes, is a great athlete and is tough as nails, but if he is going to reach five-star status I think it will be as a cornerback. Styles has not played on the defensive side of the football as long or as often as he has played on offense, but that is not unusual. The best athletes always play offense coming up in little league and high school.
"What I have seen from the Notre Dame commit at cornerback, though, suggests his highest upside is on defense. His size and skill set are more unique at cornerback than at wide receiver. Styles is going to be an impact player no matter which position he plays in college, but if we are talking five-star status it would involve defense.”
Rivals currently ranks Styles as a 6.0 four-star prospect, which is one notch below five-star status. He is rated by Rivals as No. 2 prospect in the state of Ohio, and the No. 7 wide receiver and No. 37 overall prospect in the country.
RELATED: Meet The Notre Dame Fighting Irish Class Of 2021 Commitments
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