The Michigan Wolverines' football program hasn't exactly had much luck with several of the five-star recruits it has signed in recent years, seeing big names out of high school such as defensive tackle Ondre Pipkins in 2012, running back Derrick Green in 2013 and linebacker Jordan Anthony in 2017, for example, all fail to pan out during their collegiate days.
The aforementioned trio are just a few of numerous five-stars that haven't lived up to the hype at U-M, with fans hoping that trend is bucked with Grosse Pointe (Mich.) South five-star cornerback Will Johnson, who pledged to the Maize and Blue this past weekend.
Fortunately, Johnson has recent history on his side … in a big way. Over the last five years, five-star cornerbacks have not only not been busts, but have consistently performed at an extremely high level from early onsets in their respective careers.
A glance back at the collegiate career trajectory of each five-star cornerback since the 2016 recruiting class displays incredible consistency and production. Rivals.com's assessments at the position have been spot on, with every five-star cornerback since 2016 who has been in college for more than a year having turned into a high-level contributor.
Several of them turned into one of, if not, the best player in the nation at their position during that span.
Since the 2016 recruiting class, there have been 20 five-star cornerbacks (not counting the 2021 haul). The most successful of the bunch have been Alabama's Patrick Surtain and Clemson's A.J. Terrell, and though this past season was only his sophomore year, LSU's Derek Stingley could probably be thrown into the mix as well.
Surtain made the SEC All-Freshman Team (as voted on by the coaches) in 2018, was an AP first-team All-American in 2020 and made 38 straight starts to conclude his Alabama career.
Terrell started all 30 of Clemson's games from 2018 through 2019 and earned first-team All-ACC honors in the latter, before becoming the 16th overall pick of the Atlanta Falcons in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Stingley started all 15 outings as a freshman for LSU in 2019 and was named a first-team AP All-American, before earning first-team All-SEC honors from the coaches during an injury-plagued 2020 campaign.
