College Football Recruiting: How last 10 Heisman winners ranked as recruits

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners looks to avoid a sack by linebacker Roquan Smith #3 of the Georgia Bulldogs in the second half in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

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CORVALLIS, OR – NOVEMBER 29: Quarterback Marcus Mariota #8 of the Oregon Ducks passes the ball during the fourth quarter of the game against the Oregon State Beavers at Reser Stadium on November 29, 2014 in Corvallis, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /

4. Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon (2014 winner)

Marcus Mariota was recruited by the majority of the major players in the Pac-12 along with Memphis, Hawaii and Notre Dame when he was coming out of St. Louis School in Honolulu. While there may have been interest, though, he only received two actual offers, one of which was obviously from the Oregon Ducks. However, his recruiting profile shows why that was the case.

Despite being an obvious athlete, the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Mariota was only No. 491 in the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. Moreover, he was just the 18th-best dual-threat quarterback in the 2011 recruiting class, and wasn’t even the top recruit coming out of Hawaii that season. It’s safe to say that evaluators ultimately missed the mark when it came to Mariota’s potential star power.

3. Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama (2015 winner)

All of the signs were there as to Derrick Henry being a stud when he was coming out of high school. Simply all you needed to do to see what he was capable of was look at the fact that he came in as a 6-foot-3, 240-pound monster of a young man that was a running back and athlete. Beyond just that, though, everyone else saw his film and what he was capable of given how he was recruited.

Henry was rated as a 5-star recruit, the best Athlete prospect in the country and the 12th best overall player being recruited. Virtually every big-time college football program was trying to land the big man before he ultimately was wooed by Jeremy Pruitt of Alabama — now the head coach at Tennessee. That worked out for the Crimson Tide as Henry not only won the Heisman Trophy, but led the way to much team success in Tuscaloosa.

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