Fact or fiction: Kaliq Lockett should be a top-five WR

Director of rankings at Rivals and analyst at the national transfer portal Adam Friedman is accompanied by the national recruitment analyst Marshall Levensonnational recruitment analyst Greg Smith It is Paulo Strelow in TigerIllustrated. with to address three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.

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1. Kaliq Lockett should be a top-five wide receiver.

Friedman: FICTION. Count me in as a fan of Kaliq Lockettand the game. He checks the boxes from a physical perspective (6-foot-1, 175 pounds, 33.5-inch arms, 10.25-inch hands and 6-foot-7-inch wingspan) and is incredibly productive on the field (1,299 yards with 13 touchdown receptions and 59 catches).

Lockett is currently the No. 12 receiver in Rivals250 and I can see him moving up a bit in next month’s rankings update, but I’m not sure I’m ready to call him a top-five receiver in the class. His speed as a route runner and his cutting skills are not as developed as I would like to see in a top five receiver.

That being said, Lockett’s catching skills and hand-eye coordination, especially at the catch point, are phenomenal. He is a physical and aggressive receiver in jump ball situations and I expect him to have another productive season.

Levenson: FICTION. Lockett is a prospect I continue to gain confidence in, but the top five at this point looks steep. We saw a season of great production from Lockett, with 1,299 yards and 13 touchdowns on 59 receptions. However, I would like to see him have another great season like many receivers in this class have.

He has shown that he is undoubtedly a phenomenal prospect, but currently ranking as the 12th ranked wide receiver in the country, it would be a huge step up to break into the top five. I don’t think we’ve seen enough from him to justify this change, nor that enough prospects above him have done anything to see significant drops.

This season will be very important for Lockett and this ranking will certainly be achievable, but not before the season. I’ll be keeping an eye on him.

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2. JonAnthony Hall should be a Rivals250 prospect.

Friedman: FICTION. Jon Anthony HallJohn’s lack of experience against top Power Four competition hurts his case here, but he’s a no-brainer four-star receiver. Standing at about 6-foot-4 and 170 pounds, Hall is an impressive three-sport athlete. He led his team to a state basketball championship, finished second in the state in the long jump and had 1,055 yards and six touchdowns on 69 receptions last season. In the film, Hall appears to run past defenders. He shows soft hands, can make plays after the catch and is very good in jump ball situations despite his modest height.

Smith: FICTION. Hall is an explosive athlete from Indiana. He is a three-sport athlete performing on the football field, basketball court and track and field. Hall has a 23-1 long jump on his resume, which is a personal best. He also put up good stats on the football field last season, with 69 receptions for 1,055 yards and six touchdowns.

However, I haven’t seen Hall against national competition to see if his athleticism translates to high-level competition. He certainly needs improvement from where he is ranked now. But I’d like to see more before tagging him as a Rivals250 prospect.

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3. Easton Ware is the most underrated player in Clemson’s 2025 recruiting class.

Friedman: FICTION. Easton Ware He’s definitely a potential climber in the rankings as he develops physically and technically, but at the moment, he’s not the most underrated player in the world. Clemsonrecruiting class of 2025. That title belongs to Logan Anderson.

The four-star Alabama linebacker has been outstanding all off-season. Anderson got his initial four-star rating after the spring camp season ratings update, so he wasn’t included in the Rivals250 rankings, position or state, but you can bet your mortgage payment he’ll be there when the ratings are updated. next month.

At the Five-star rivals event in Jacksonville in late June, Anderson measured in at 6-foot-2 with a 78-inch wingspan and 32-inch arms. To put that in perspective, 20 linebackers picked in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft since 2018 have been at least 6-foot-10 tall, have a 78-inch wingspan and 32-inch arms. Eight of them were chosen in the first round.

Without any verified speed measurements, it’s difficult to fully explain the level of athleticism he brings to the field, but he is extremely impressive on film. He rushed for over 2,800 yards and 45 touchdowns last season, ridiculous totals regardless of the competition.

Strelow: FACT. Considering 12 of Clemson’s 15 commits are rated four-stars, it’s difficult to characterize many as prospects here.

Ware’s revenue has been fair to date, in our estimation. But after watching him train and compete at the Dabo Swinney Camp last month, Ware has substantially improved his stock in our eyes, and we bet the first-year line coach Matthew Lucas I was also pleasantly surprised.

Ware clearly worked and demonstrated more physicality and agility than we realized. He’s put himself in the conversation to be a tackle in college and is weighing in at 310 pounds — and a good 310. His arrow is trending upward.

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Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Rivals.com, the leader in college football and basketball recruiting coverage. Be the first to know and follow your teams by signing up here.