Being No. 1 in Super60 often forecasts NFL future, like Jalen Carter of Eagles
In 15 years of the Sentinel’s Central Florida Super60 college football recruiting rankings, the yearly chart has been a consistent predictor of future success for many of our area college football — and NFL — hopefuls.
In fact, in the Super60s first seven years, the No. 1-ranked player eventually went on to play in the NFL four times with Christian Jones (Lake Howell, FSU) being drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2010, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (Dr. Phillips/Alabama) to Green Bay (2011), Keanu Reaves (South Sumter/Florida) to Atlanta (2013), and Jachai Polite (Daytona Beach Mainland/Florida) to the New York Jets (2016).
We missed in 2012, when No. 1-ranked Ty Darlington, who became an All-American center at Oklahoma, failed to make the cut in Tennessee and decided to retire to coaching. He is now on the Florida coaching staff. No. 2 in 2012, however, was Mainland’s Leonard Williams, who flip-flopped in the rankgins several times during the season with Darlington. The beast of a defensive end, who had great success at USC, was drafted by the New York Jets. He’s still wreaking havoc on the defensive line with the New York Giants.
