Midwest Spotlight: Comparing top prospects to NFL stars
Parker Thune
Prospect comparisons always generate a lot of conversation and – with rankings meetings for the 2025 and 2026 classes set to begin this week – now is a great time to take a step back and compare some of the current standout prospects with some college or NFL stars.
Up next are five comparisons for some of the best recruits in the Midwest region.
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LINKON CURE - GEORGE KITTLE
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Tight end these days is still a very sexy position where super athletes that can split out wide reign supreme. However, that's not what Cure and Kittle are necessarily about. Both can hurt you in the pass game and are good athletes. Kittle is extremely productive for San Francisco in the passing game.
Cure stars in 7-on-7 for California Power so he’s comfortable running routes. But its really his blocking that sets him apart from his peers. That’s what really makes this player comp for me.
Kittle is a complete tight end that is a devastating blocker. Cure is on track to be the same thing at whichever school he selects.
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CARTER LOWE - TRISTAN WIRFS
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Big, powerful, athletic. That's how you’d describe both Lowe and Wirfs. Lowe has burst onto the scene as a prospect that is pretty new to focusing on football.
You can tell that both players have a basketball background and just continued getting bigger. That footwork helps keep up with powerful edge rushers at tackle.
Wirfs, the former Iowa superstar, has a rare blend of size, flexibility and power. I see a lot of similarities with the future Ohio State Buckeye.
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NATHANIEL MARSHALL - MYLES GARRETT
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It’s a tough comparison for any high school player to be in the same sentence with one of the best players in the NFL. However, there are some real similarities between Marshall and Garrett.
First, both are very athletic and have tremendous size. Marshall and Garrett have almost identical measurables. The thing that makes Marshall so unique in high school is that he’s able to play the run and rush the passer equally well. That’s the calling card of Garrett who has been giving opponents nightmares his entire career.
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TREY MCNUTT - JESSIE BATES III
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Ball hawks with speed. It is easy to see the similarities between the Ohio native McNutt and the Falcons star Bates. There are few players with better instincts than Bates which help him play deep safety with great success.
McNutt is a very twitchy athlete that could end up a lot like Bates if he keeps developing. The high schooler is also not afraid to come up and help in run support. He looks to strike offensive players and not simply dive at their legs.
Bates has a thicker frame than McNutt but the additional weight could come in college. There aren’t many better playmakers at safety than Bates. McNutt is a big-time prospect that has a very high ceiling.
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BRYCE UNDERWOOD - JORDAN LOVE
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Underwood makes for interesting comparisons but Love is the first player to come to mind with Underwood. Both can make all the throws to stress defenses at all levels. Underwood has shown flashes of advanced processing.
But what I certainly see in both is that both like to scramble to buy time in order to make plays in the passing game. However, both quarterbacks can move the chains with their legs if needed.
