What Happened To The Top High School Football Recruits Of The 2010s? Here’s How Every No. 1 Prospect Panned Out

More than one million people in the United States play high school football each year, so being ranked the top prospect in the entire country is no small feat. There’s no guarantee you’ll live up to the hype or go on to have a lengthy NFL career, and the future is a bit of a mixed bag based on what happened with the guys who were hyped up more than anyone else in the 2010s.

Here’s a look at what happened to every top-ranked high school football player in the country in the 2010s

As of 2024, there were 14,269 high schools in the United States that field an 11-man football team, and those squads were collectively comprised of just over a million students.

The vast majority of high school football players will abandon the sport once they get to college, but each year, thousands of the top prospects in the country get the chance to do exactly that after taking their talents to the next level.

Every program has coaches and scouts devoted to evaluating their talents, and there are a few platforms and publications that undertake the daunting task of ranking the best up-and-coming recruits while handing out the star ratings that are used to forecast their potential.

I recently decided to take a look at the players who were considered the nation’s top recruit in the 2010s to see how things ended up panning out for them before sharing those results.

I based this on how they were ranked by Rivals and 247 Sports, who are two of the biggest authorities when it comes to scouting talent. They were largely in agreement, although I will note situations where I had to pick from multiple contenders.

2010: Ronald Powell

We’re kicking things off with one of the bigger busts on this list: Ronald Powell, who served as a linebacker, defensive tackle, and tight end while making a name for himself at Rancho Verde High School in California.

Powell ended up as an LB at Florida, where he appeared in 35 games from 2010 to 2013 while racking up a total of 79 tackles and 11 sacks. Unfortunately, he suffered a major setback in 2012, as he missed the season after tearing his ACL in the team’s spring game and was ultimately sidelined for the entire campaign.

The Saints selected Powell with the 169th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and he appeared in 14 games (but had no impact on the scoresheet) before being waived ahead of the following season. He had stints with Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Seattle but never got higher than the practice squad, and while he signed with an AAF team in 2019, he never appeared in a game before the organization folded.

He sadly passed away from undisclosed causes at the age of 32 in 2024.

2011: Jadeveon Clowney

Powell is a bit of a deep cut compared to some of the more notable names on this list, and that group certainly includes Jadeveon Clowney.

The South Carolina native was a force to be reckoned with during his time at South Pointe High School, and he picked up where he left off after heading to the state’s flagship university.

Clowney was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Year in 2011, and the Gamecock followed that up by becoming a back-to-back All-American who terrorized every defense he faced and was responsible for one of the most devastating tackles you’ll ever see in the Outback Bowl in 2013.

The DE experienced a slight decline in output during his junior year before declaring for the NFL Draft, but that didn’t stop the Texans from selecting him with the top overall pick in 2014.

Clowney spent his first five seasons in Houston (he was named to the Pro Bowl three consecutive times starting in 2016), and he bounced around between six different teams before reuniting with the Texans for his 13th NFL season in 2026.

2012: Mario Edwards Jr.

Mario Edwards Jr. was raised in Texas as the son of the Cowboys player who gave him his name, and he initially enrolled at Prosper High School as a freshman before spending his final three years at Billy Ryan High School in Denton.

Florida State ended up landing the defensive tackle, and he won a national championship with the Seminoles in 2013 before earning first-team All-ACC honors the following season. Edwards declared for the draft in 2015, and he was scooped up by the Raiders in the second round with the 32nd pick.

His rookie season was arguably his best, and he spent three years with the team that drafted him before becoming a bit of a journeyman. He’s played for eight different teams and started his 12th season as a member of the Texans in 2026.

2013: Robert Nkemdiche

Robert Nkemdiche was an absolute phenom who played running back and defensive end at Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia. His brother, Denzel, was playing at Ole Miss when he was being recruited, and while he initially committed to Clemson, he eventually opted to join his older sibling in Oxford.

He focused on the defensive side of the ball in college, and he impressed enough during his three seasons with the Rebels to get scooped up by the Cardinals with the 29th overall pick in the first round in 2016.

However, Nkemdiche largely failed to live up to expectations in Arizona, and the team released him after he suffered a knee injury that brought his season to a premature end in 2018. He appeared in a couple of games for the Dolphins the following season, which marked the last time he played in the NFL.

He did sign with the Seahawks and the 49ers, but Nkemdiche was forced to settle for the USFL in 2023 before suiting up for four CFL games in 2024.

2014: Myles Garrett

I don’t know if there’s anyone on this list who’s managed to live up to the high school hype more than Myles Garrett, who was the top-ranked recruit in 2014 after establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with at Martin High School in Arlington, Texas.

Garrett continued to be an absolute beast at Texas A&M, as he was a sack machine who racked up a slew of individual honors (including the Bill Willis Trophy in 2015 and a Unanimous Consensus All-American selection in 2016) before the Browns took the defensive end with the top overall pick in 2017.

In doing so, they landed a seven-time Pro Bowler, five-time first-team All-Pro, two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, and the man who set a record for the most sacks in a single season with 23 in 2025.

Unfortunately, Garrett got tired of being subjected to the existence that comes with playing for the Browns, as he forced a trade to the Rams ahead of his 10th season in 2026.

2015: Trenton Thompson

We’ve got yet another defensive tackle in the form of Trenton Thompson, who attracted a ton of attention for his play at Westover Comprehensive High School in Georgia.

He stayed close to home, as Georgia won the recruiting sweepstakes. However, the Bulldogs had to be disappointed with how things played out; Thompson was a solid contributor, but he didn’t end up being the game-changer he was widely positioned as before heading to college.

That reality was reflected by the fact that he went undrafted in 2018, and while he signed with the Cardinals, he was waived before appearing in a regular season game. From there, he added stints with the AAF, CFL, XFL, Arena Football League, and Indoor Football League to a résumé that probably makes him the biggest bust of this group.

2016: Rashan Gary

Rashan Gary was born and raised in New Jersey, and he played at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School as an underclassman before capping things off at Paramus Catholic High School.

The linebacker basically had the pick of the litter when it came to where he wanted to play in college, and he opted to take his talents to Michigan. He had a solid freshman season and went on to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore and junior, and the Packers made him the 12th overall pick in 2019.

He spent his first seven seasons in Green Bay (earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2024), and he started his eighth as a member of the Cowboys after being traded in the offseason in 2026.

2017: Jaelan Phillips

This is the first entry where 247 Sports and Rivals didn’t see eye-to-eye. The former had Jaelan Phillips at #2 behind Walker Little (the offensive lineman who currently plays for the Jaguars), but I’m giving him the nod when you consider the latter gave him the top spot on a list where the other player was sitting at #13.

Phillips hails from California and played at Redlands East Valley High School, and he decided to remain within the confines of the Golden State when he committed to UCLA. Unfortunately, his time with the Bruins was derailed by multiple injuries, and the LB initially announced his plans to retire and pursue a career in music production after his sophomore season was cut short by a concussion.

He ultimately decided to pursue that passion at Miami while resurrecting his football career in 2020. He didn’t have to go very far after the Dolphins selected him with the 18th overall pick, and he spent four-and-a-half seasons with the team before being traded to the Eagles in November 2025.

He signed with the Panthers as a free agent, and his sixth NFL season marks the first of a four-year deal worth $120 million.

2018: Trevor Lawrence

This is another man who needs no introduction.

Trevor Lawrence beat out Justin Fields for the top spot in the rankings in 2018, and I assume most people are aware he headed to Clemson after he was positioned as a potentially generational QB talent while breaking a number of Georgia state records as a player at Cartersville High School.

Lawrence took the ACC and college football by storm and led the Tigers to a national championship as a true freshman in 2018. He was unable to win another title or secure the Heisman Trophy that many people thought would be coming his way at some point, but he left Death Valley with a 34-2 record as a starter before becoming the first overall pick in 2021 courtesy of the Jaguars.

It took him a few years to find his footing in Jacksonville (thanks in no small part to a lackluster head coaching situation), but Lawrence finally had a breakout season in 2025 and seems poised to ascend to the next level.

2019: Nolan Smith Jr.

We’re wrapping things up with a year where there was also some dissonance on the rankings front. Rivals had Nolan Smith at the top, and while 247 Sports put him at #4, he gets the nod thanks to how the rest of his fellow recruits landed in the standings.

Smith started his high school career at Calvary Day School in Savannah, Georgia but decided to head to the athlete factory that is Florida’s IMG Academy. He headed back to Georgia after accepting an offer to become a Bulldog, and he won a couple of national championships during the four years he spent in Athens.

He was also a first-rounder who was selected by the Eagles with the 30th overall pick in 2023, and his fourth season in Philadelphia marks his third as a starter.