Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields and Amon-Ra St. Brown were the top three prospects in the 2018 Rivals250 – all three regulars at Rivals Camp Series events – and they’re getting paid.
Lawrence signed a five-year, $275-million extension with the Jacksonville Jaguars in June and St. Brown inked a four-year, $120-million extension with the Detroit Lions in April.
Fields signed this week with the New York Jets, as the former five-star quarterback agreed to a two-year, $40 million contract.
That’s $435 million in new contracts for the top three players in 2018. Not bad.
Below, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney shares memories and thoughts on each of those three players before they even headed off to college.
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Now that it’s been years since Lawrence was in high school, it was always very unlikely that we were ever going to move him off the top line.
The five-star quarterback from Cartersville, Ga., was coming to Rivals events from such a young age. He never backed down from competition and even after being named the No. 1 prospect in the 2018 Rivals250, Lawrence kept coming to compete. Every time on the field, he was the best one.
There were always rumors that Lawrence made a silent commitment to Georgia and then backed away from that once he went public with his Clemson pledge early in his high school career. We never got a straight answer on that but it was an interesting rumor for a long time throughout his recruitment.
Through the years, our comp for Lawrence was Peyton Manning – a big pocket presence, big arm, super smart and someone who made everybody around him better. Lawrence is a better athlete but hasn’t had the highest level of winning yet with Jacksonville.
Even after Lawrence was really good, but not great, at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio to close out his high school career, we never seriously considered moving him off that top line. His resume of work was way too impressive and his projection was too great to make any changes.
I’m happy we didn’t since he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
If Fields was in almost any other recruiting class other than 2018, the Kennesaw (Ga.) Harrison five-star quarterback would have probably been No. 1 overall. Other than Lawrence and Jadeveon Clowney, there might not have been any other recruiting classes where we were so locked in with the top spot so Fields would’ve had a chance against anybody.
Throughout the recruiting cycle, there were definitely people close to Fields who were pushing the narrative that he was the best quarterback in the class.
But we had seen Fields numerous times because he also attended Rivals Camps Series events since an early age and throughout his career, and we thought Fields was phenomenal, just not as good as Lawrence.
In some ways, it must have been tough on Fields since he was so dynamic and such a great passer and playmaker to sort of live a little in Lawrence’s shadow not only nationally but also in-state as the two lived just 20 miles from each other. It was an incredibly rare circumstance but one that was so intriguing.
Fields originally committed to Penn State but then backed off that pledge and picked Georgia in the middle of his senior season. He ended up in the Bulldogs’ class with James Cook and many others, making it the top-ranked class nationally.
He only played one season at Georgia and was used in some curious ways – and too sparingly some would argue – before transferring to Ohio State. He shined in Columbus and was the No. 11 pick in the 2021 draft. Lawrence, Zach Wilson and Trey Lance were the QBs taken ahead of him.
The youngest of three brothers (Equanimeous played at Notre Dame and Osiris played at Stanford), Amon-Ra was the talk of the camp and 7-on-7 circuit since he was in middle school. His dad, John Brown, former two-time Mr. Universe, always talked up the youngest brother and said he’d be the best. The dad was not wrong.
St. Brown was so physically dominant in high school that he could basically do whatever he pleased – get open against any cornerback, catch every pass, run by players, headhunt when he was blocking. The five-star receiver had such a killer’s mentality on the field as well that it was clear he’d do anything to succeed.
At the Rivals Five-Star Challenge in Indianapolis, St. Brown was unstoppable, just one of many events that he took over and never backed down from a challenge. He was also great that year at the All-American Bowl. After all his big plays, he took to punting the football which is probably regrettable now but it just proved his mindset on dominating every time he was on the field.
St. Brown chose USC over Stanford and Notre Dame and then had 178 catches in three seasons for the Trojans. But St. Brown was overlooked in the NFL Draft and not taken until the fourth round, a steal for the Detroit Lions.
To prove how focused St. Brown has always been on being great, on numerous occasions, the five-star was asked to name – on the spot – the 16 receivers drafted ahead of him. He’s never had a problem ripping off those names in order.
