I’m sorry to post again, but I think the improvements are significant enough – thanks to some intelligent feedback – to warrant a new posting.

Below is my attempt to aggregate the Rivals, Scout, 247, and ESPN rankings into a universal list.  The goal is to draw from all of the data available to create a single list that eliminates the need to juggle rankings, ratings, and stars from four different sites when comparing prospects.

First, though, I’ll describe the logic and process.

 

The Process

There are countless ways to do this, and none of them is perfect.  Importantly, even though I’m a Michigan fan, I never considered how this would look for Michigan before deciding how to do it.  I’m trying to make this as objective and sensible as possible given time and data constraints.

The first decision one has to make is whom to include.  In my first draft, I included only those who appeared in the top X lists for all four sites.  Others thought that requirement was too rigid, so I’ve relaxed it here.  The players appearing on this list appear in at least three of the four following lists: Rivals’ top 250, Scout’s top 300, 247’s top 247, and ESPN’s top 300.  This eliminates the “veto power” nature of the first rankings (and the related outlier worries), since two sites would have to leave out a prospect for him to be excluded. 

The next decision is how to rank those who make it.  The most straightforward way to do this is to take the average ranking for each prospect across the four sites.  In an ideal world, each site would rank every prospect so there would be no missing data.  That isn’t reality.  Therefore, I imputed rankings where they were missing.  Here’s how I did in for each site (this is boring if you aren't interested):

• ESPN – ESPN actually makes this the easiest, because they just rank thousands of prospects.   Every ESPN ranking here reflects ESPN’s actual ranking.
• Rivals – Rivals ranks its top 250 prospects and then gives elite prospects a star rating and a “Rivals rating” of 4.9 to 6.1.  Using those ratings – and especially the Rivals rating – I found the range within which a recruit must fall (rankings-wise) and gave him the middle value.  For example, Rivals has 222 guys rated a 5.8.  Of them, 163 appear in the Rivals 250 (and 59 do not).  That means that a prospect who receives a rating of 5.8 from Rivals but does not appear in the Rivals 250 must rank somewhere between 251 and 309.  For this prospect, I would impute a ranking of 280.
• 247 – Exactly the same logic as with Rivals except that I had to trust them when they said, for example, that about 300 prospects are rated 90 or higher.  (They don’t let you sort by prospect rating.)
• Scout – This one might seem unusual, but I think it’s actually pretty accurate.  Scout doesn’t have anything like a Rivals rating, but it ranks prospects at their positions.  For those outside of the top 300, I took their position ranking and imputed based on where ESPN had that ranked overall.  For example, Scout has Amos Leggett as its #22 cornerback.  ESPN has its #22 CB ranked #404 overall, so this is Leggett’s imputed Scout ranking. (There was an exception to this with two TEs that I can explain if anyone's interested.)

I hope that makes sense, and I’m happy to answer questions in the comments.  Please feel free to share feedback or point out errors.

Also, if one of these sites significantly changes its rankings in the next few days I’m going to kill someone.

 

The Product

rank	name	pos	mean	Rivals	Scout	247	ESPN	college
1	Dorial Green-Beckham	WR	2	1	2	2	3
2	Eddie Goldman	DT	6	4	15	3	2
3	Mario Edwards	DE	6.25	2	8	14	1	Florida State
4	Stefon Diggs	S	9.25	8	12	8	9
5	D.J. Humphries	OT	10.25	3	18	13	7
6	Arik Armstead	OT	10.5	23	1	1	17	USC
7	Andrus Peat	OT	11	15	3	4	22
7	John Theus	OT	11	7	4	6	27
9	Johnathan Gray	RB	11.5	14	9	15	8	Texas
10	Shaq Thompson	S	11.75	10	11	5	21
11	Noah Spence	DE	13.75	13	6	32	4
12	Gunner Kiel	QB	14.25	19	16	10	12
13	Eddie Williams	S	18	20	36	11	5	Alabama
14	Keith Marshall	RB	18.25	55	5	7	6
15	Malcom Brown	DT	22.75	26	26	26	13	Texas
16	Kyle Murphy	OT	23.5	28	27	9	30
17	Rushel Shell	RB	26.25	33	10	39	23
18	Jessamen Dunker	OT	27.5	49	22	25	14	Florida
19	Jameis Winston	QB	28.25	52	30	16	15
20	Ellis McCarthy	DT	29	6	29	28	53
21	Darius Hamilton	DE	29.25	5	25	20	67
22	Nelson Agholor	S	31.25	9	53	22	41
23	Joshua Garnett	OG	32.25	22	24	40	43
24	Cayleb Jones	WR	39.25	21	23	93	20	Texas
24	Tracy Howard	CB	39.25	25	55	58	19
26	Noor Davis	OLB	39.75	30	77	34	18	Stanford
27	Geno Smith	CB	40.25	47	54	29	31
28	Dante Fowler	DE	41.75	11	39	43	74	Florida State
29	Yuri Wright	CB	42	41	75	12	40
30	Shaq Roland	WR	43.5	63	17	48	46
31	Chris Black	WR	44	57	71	19	29
32	Landon Collins	S	45	17	59	53	51
33	Aziz Shittu	DT	47.5	12	41	49	88
33	Jordan Jenkins	DE	47.5	56	44	27	63
35	Kennedy Estelle	OT	47.75	35	43	65	48	Texas
36	Jonathan Taylor	DT	48	36	66	46	44	Georgia
37	Ifeadi Odenigbo	OLB	48.75	48	60	37	50
38	Kwon Alexander	OLB	49	77	34	69	16
39	Jarron Jones	DT	49.75	67	14	21	97	Penn State
40	Josh Harvey-Clemons	OLB	50.5	39	78	61	24
40	Trey Williams	RB	50.5	24	20	24	134	Texas A&M
42	Thomas Johnson	WR	56.5	50	87	54	35	Texas
43	Jabari Ruffin	OLB	57.25	46	104	45	34	USC
44	Ronald Darby	CB	57.5	64	32	64	70	Notre Dame
45	Jordan Simmons	OG	57.75	45	31	70	85
45	Kyle Kalis	OT	57.75	18	21	52	140
47	Dominique Wheeler	WR	59.25	66	48	78	45
48	Devin Fuller	QB	60.75	37	150	17	39
49	Chris Casher	DE	61.5	83	57	96	10	Florida State
50	Durron Neal	WR	65	32	61	105	62	Oklahoma
51	Tommy Schutt	DT	65.5	29	47	51	135
52	Eli Harold	OLB	71.25	59	58	38	130
53	Channing Ward	DE	73	120	37	41	94
54	Adolphus Washington	DE	74.75	86	19	98	96
54	Barry Sanders	RB	74.75	121	50	50	78
56	Ricky Parks	TE	77.75	92	80	66	73	Auburn
57	Zach Banner	OT	79.75	31	46	117	125
58	Connor Brewer	QB	80.5	123	117	56	26	Texas
59	Avery Johnson	WR	80.75	43	83	155	42	LSU
60	Tee Shepard	CB	83.5	51	49	145	89	Notre Dame
61	Carlos Watkins	DT	84.5	76	91	30	141
62	Jonathan Bullard	DE	84.75	16	106	136	81
63	Alex Ross	RB	86.5	183	89	36	38	Oklahoma
64	Quay Evans	DT	87.5	169	7	141	33
65	Joel Caleb	WR	89.5	44	210	55	49
66	Davonte Neal	WR	91	136	114	86	28
67	Brock Stadnik	OT	91.25	165	69	72	59	South Carolina
68	Torshiro Davis	OLB	93.75	97	136	71	71	LSU
69	Travis Blanks	S	94.25	27	124	215	11	Clemson
70	Erik Magnuson	OT	96	34	96	85	169	Michigan
71	Zach Kline	QB	96.25	40	128	157	60	California
72	Mario Pender	RB	98	53	88	204	47	Florida State
73	T.J. Yeldon	RB	98.5	58	105	110	121	Auburn
74	Brian Poole	CB	99	75	42	143	136	Florida
75	Reggie Ragland	MLB	102.75	217	35	47	112	Alabama
76	Jordan Diamond	OT	103	209	40	60	103
77	LaDarrell McNeil	S	105.25	107	51	83	180
78	Peter Jinkens	OLB	106	101	101	166	56	Texas
79	Byron Marshall	RB	108.25	90	118	135	90
80	Se'von Pittman	DE	109.25	61	79	196	101	Michigan State
81	Germone Hopper	WR	109.75	102	172	101	64	Clemson
82	Javonte Magee	DT	110	127	81	44	188
83	Terry Richardson	CB	110.75	195	149	31	68	Michigan
84	Tyriq McCord	DE	111	60	181	103	100
85	Brian Nance	OLB	113.75	73	125	67	190
86	Avery Young	OT	114.25	38	13	287*	119
87	Dan Voltz	OG	115	154	99	23	184	Wisconsin
87	Kendall Sanders	CB	115	54	94	142	170	Oklahoma State
89	Devonte Fields	DE	115.75	147	145	102	69	TCU
89	Kent Taylor	TE	115.75	68	63	185	147
91	Michael Starts	OG	116.5	148	70	119	129	Texas Tech
92	Anthony Alford	QB	117.25	105	230	35	99
93	Justin Shanks	DT	118.75	111	84	162	118
94	Angelo Jean-Louis	WR	119	113	223	88	52	Miami (FL)
95	Evan Boehm	C	122	130	100	203	55	Missouri
96	Royce Jenkins-Stone	MLB	123.25	87	115	174	117	Michigan
97	James Ross	MLB	123.5	143	73	84	194	Michigan
98	Jordan Payton	WR	124.25	96	56	199	146	USC
99	Derrick Woods	WR	124.5	81	180	109	128
100	Elijah Shumate	S	124.75	112	93	76	218
101	Brian Kimbrow	RB	128.75	80	153	128	154
102	Sterling Shepard	WR	129.25	220	108	131	58	Oklahoma
103	Matt Davis	QB	131.25	144	38	187	156	Texas A&M
104	Brionte Dunn	RB	131.75	124	28	154	221	Ohio State-ish
105	Colin Thompson	TE	133.75	197	95	160	83	Florida
105	Zeke Pike	QB	133.75	72	33	18	412*	Auburn
107	P.J. Williams	S	134.5	173	127	124	114	Florida State
108	Dwayne Stanford	WR	134.75	93	107	228	111
109	Isaac Seumalo	OG	135.5	175	168	134	65
109	Jaquay Williams	WR	135.5	94	116	173	159	Auburn
111	Bralon Addison	WR	137	155	119	137	137	Texas A&M
112	Ronnie Stanley	OT	140	149	76	62	273
113	Sheldon Day	DT	142.25	280*	65	80	144
114	Deon Bush	S	142.5	65	264	175	66
114	Matt Jones	RB	142.5	157	82	178	153	Florida
116	Kevon Seymour	CB	143.75	85	193	132	165
117	Jelani Hamilton	DE	145	79	62	92	347*	Miami (FL)
118	Alex Carter	S	145.5	62	287	118	115	Stanford
119	Dillon Lee	MLB	148	232	207	81	72	Alabama
120	Lorenzo Phillips	OLB	149.5	146	199	111	142
121	Vadal Alexander	OG	151.25	280*	126	108	91
122	Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick	TE	152	180	123	183	122
123	Wayne Morgan	S	155.75	139	270	33	181
124	Paul Thurston	OT	159.5	137	112	231	158	Nebraska
124	Timothy Cole	OLB	159.5	99	151	129	259	Texas
126	Scott Starr	MLB	160.75	110	186	106	241	USC
127	Korren Kirven	DT	161.5	280*	194	63	109
128	Marcus Maye	S	162.75	128	195	120	208
129	Cyrus Jones	RB	165.25	224	250	150	37
130	Denzel Devall	DE	165.75	125	232	91	215
131	Eugene Lewis	WR	166.25	162	67	219	217
132	Leonard Floyd	DE	166.75	159	121	94	293	Georgia
133	Justin Thomas	WR	168.75	205	217	82	171	Alabama
134	Reginald Davis	WR	169.25	214	120	261*	82	Texas Tech
135	Amos Leggett	CB	169.5	104	404*	75	95	Miami (FL)
136	Troy Hinds	DE	170.75	215	72	114	282
137	Greg Garmon	RB	172.25	184	68	232	205
138	Max Tuerk	OT	172.5	103	243	287*	57	USC
139	Drae Bowles	WR	173.25	109	300	182	102
139	Leonard Williams	DE	173.25	71	228	287*	107
139	Vince Biegel	OLB	173.25	95	218	214	166	Wisconsin
142	Faith Ekakitie	DT	173.5	100	216	104	274
142	J.J. Denman	OT	173.5	242	111	181	160	Penn State
144	John Michael McGee	C	173.75	82	169	210	234
145	Camrhon Hughes	OT	174.75	89	74	261*	275	Texas
146	Brandon Beaver	CB	175.25	114	166	77	344*
147	Quanzell Lambert	MLB	178	117	204	127	264
148	Kenyan Drake	RB	180.5	280*	139	73	230	Alabama
149	Chris Muller	OT	183.75	69	324*	100	242	Rutgers
150	Patrick Miller	OT	184	199	222	113	202
151	Keivarae Russell	RB	185	106	152	42	440*
151	Orlando Thomas	CB	185	119	269	133	219	Texas
153	Camren Williams	OLB	185.25	243	138	116	244	Penn State
154	Ty Darlington	C	186	118	241	287*	98
155	D.J. Foster	RB	186.5	74	200	287*	185
156	Aaron Burbridge	WR	189.25	134	90	229	304*
156	Ken Ekanem	DE	189.25	185	191	159	222
158	Ishmael Adams	CB	191.5	98	253	201	214
159	Curtis Riser	OG	192.5	244	220	123	183	Texas
159	Marvin Bracy	WR	192.5	245	177	238	110
161	Joshua Perry	OLB	194.75	131	231	235	182	Ohio State
162	Taylor McNamara	TE	196.5	84	302*	144	256	Arizona
163	Chris Wormley	DE	198.75	452*	113	57	173
164	Raphael Kirby	OLB	199	126	233	287*	150	Miami (FL)
165	Greg McMullen	DE	202	88	183	140	397*	Nebraska
166	Tyler Hayes	OLB	203.75	452*	122	115	126	Alabama
167	Cyler Miles	QB	204	160	272	138	246	Washington
168	Deaysean Rippy	OLB	205.5	247	103	146	326*
169	Dalvon Stuckey	DT	207.25	207	171	184	267	Florida State
169	Omari Phillips	OT	207.25	225	258	233	113	Florida
171	Jordan Watkins	DE	207.75	171	142	163	355*
172	Joe Bolden	OLB	211	167	238	287*	152	Michigan
173	Ronnie Feist	OLB	211.75	204	251	261*	131	LSU
174	Sean Price	TE	219.75	190	301*	164	224
175	Freddie Tagaloa	OT	220.25	206	219	188	268
176	Mike Davis	RB	220.75	122	234	198	329*	Florida
177	Kaiwan Lewis	MLB	221	280*	158	240	206
178	Jaleel Johnson	DT	223.25	140	203	261*	289
179	Nick James	DT	223.75	452*	110	107	226
180	Michael Barton	OLB	226	280*	182	205	237	California
181	Beniquez Brown	OLB	227	452*	134	195	127
182	Martin Aiken	DE	227.5	189	97	243	381*
183	Paul Boyette	DT	227.75	168	224	323*	196	Texas
184	Michael Moore	DE	229.25	176	286	125	330*	Virginia
185	Jeremi Powell	OLB	229.5	218	275	170	255	Florida
186	Warren Ball	RB	230	212	52	206	450*	Ohio State
187	Reggie Daniels	S	231.5	280*	154	208	284
188	Adam Bisnowaty	OT	234.75	177	302*	202	258
189	Shane Callahan	OT	235.25	191	173	323*	254	Auburn
190	Jonathan Williams	RB	238	170	209	246	327*	Missouri
191	Chad Voytik	QB	242.5	153	277	368*	172
191	Deontay McManus	WR	242.5	108	247	139	476*
191	Mike Madaras	OT	242.5	230	260	287*	193	Maryland
194	Evan Baylis	TE	242.75	280*	189	225	277	Oregon
195	Bart Houston	QB	246.25	452*	160	197	176	Wisconsin
196	Jordan Diggs	S	248.25	280*	268	158	287
197	Deion Bonner	S	252.5	452*	176	153	229
198	Lacy Westbrook	OG	255.75	213	137	186	487*
199	Trevor Knight	QB	264.75	228	274	261*	296	Texas A&M
200	Amara Darboh	WR	268.75	194	161	148	572*
201	Jody Fuller	WR	272.75	210	543*	152	186
202	Malcolm Lewis	WR	274	164	596*	193	143
203	Armani Reeves	CB	274.25	187	144	59	707*
204	Darreus Rogers	WR	280.75	172	135	74	742*	USC
205	Zac Brooks	WR	282.5	174	278	126	552*
206	Tom Strobel	DE	284	231	211	169	525*	Michigan
207	Quinteze Williams	DE	285.25	452*	279	190	220	Florida
208	Bryce Treggs	WR	288	133	102	230	687*
209	Gabriel Marks	CB	289.5	166	239	172	581*
210	Ondre Pipkins	DT	295	246	175	149	610*
211	Kyle Dodson	OT	302.25	152	187	192	678*	Wisconsin
212	Brandon Fanaika	OG	308.5	202	257	213	562*
213	Edward Pope	S	319.5	193	280	218	587*	TCU
214	Quinshad Davis	WR	321	250	292	234	508*
215	Leonte Carroo	WR	326.25	211	86	245	763*
216	Deontay Greenberry	WR	331.5	115	244	209	758*	Notre Dame
217	Michael Richardson	DE	371.25	756*	294	226	209	Texas A&M
218	Kwontie Moore	MLB	383.25	116	1054*	97	266	Virginia
219	Germain Ifedi	OG	384	756*	285	242	253	Missouri
*imputed

A final note about ESPN

Several commenters in my previous diary expressed that they’d like to see these rankings without ESPN.  I don’t think there’s enough reason or evidence to dismiss ESPN entirely.  However, for those who are interested, here’s how some recruits would rank among the above prospects if ESPN were excluded:  Kalis (23), Washington (55), Magnuson (57), Ross (76), Dunn (79), Diamond (82), Richardson (104), Jenkins-Stone (106), Stanford (123), Burbridge (131), Pipkins (169), Strobel (181), Wormley (183), Bolden (201).  Of course, the list of prospects included would change if ESPN were ignored altogether.