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As the final wave of high school football players lock in their college selections on National Signing Day, it’s worth noting one NFL MVP candidate had no college scholarship offers his senior year.
Recruiting rankings sometimes forecast elite pro football careers, but lots of players with fewer stars become NFL starters. Here’s a look at where top Super Bowl-bound Rams were ranked on their respective signing days.
Kupp had no scholarship offers and didn’t connect with Eastern Washington until after signing day passed.
“It was tough,” Kupp told The Times. “There’s no feeling like that thought. I believed I could play at the next level, but there’s that voice in the back of your head saying, ‘Well, right now no one else thinks that you can.’ But that didn’t change my idea. My thoughts were, ‘I can do this. I know I can play at the next level. ’”
Weddle generated little fanfare when he signed with Utah in 2003, but the Southern California safety made an immediate impact. “It was apparent from Day 1,” Kyle Whittingham, then Utah’s defensive coordinator, said in a book about Weddle, “No Excuses, No Regrets.” “He was head and shoulders above everyone else in that class in our agility tests and practices. He was the best safety, best wide receiver, the best everything.”
Donald was lightly recruited, but then-Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt pursued Donald because he was a strong high school wrestler. “In our scheme, any guy who was a wrestler I always thought that was a nice intangible for a football player,” Wannstedt told the Post-Gazette.com. “You saw his quickness and stuff, but it wasn’t off the charts. He was perfect physically for what we were looking for as far as an inside tackle. We recruited him, and it all worked out.”
Beckham chose LSU over Miami, committing to the Tigers a month before his signing ceremony. “It’s definitely a whole new level,” Beckham told SportsNola.com on signing day in 2011. “But I’m going to work hard and make sure I’m ready.”
Ramsey was a highly coveted recruit who spurned USC and Florida when he signed with Florida State in 2013. “Everything played into it — place, people, trust, stability, academics, family,” he told USA Today Sports after his signing ceremony. “I feel like Florida State has everything I’m looking for. I’m so excited to be there. I’m not going to look back. I want to go forward.”
Stafford was the No. 1 pro-style quarterback prospect in the country in 2006 ahead of Tim Tebow, but he didn’t look like an elite athlete. All he had to do to change coaches’ minds was throw a football. Georgia lead recruiter Mike Bobo told ESPN.com, “It didn’t take long to see his natural arm strength and arm talent that he had. It was something I’ve never seen before.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.