Five 2024 recruits from the Midwest with five-star potential

There are currently six recruits in the 2024 class who have been minted five-star players. The lone Midwest representative who carries the honor of Rivals highest ranking is Saint Louis University High School (Mo.) WR Ryan Wingo.

The number of five-star players varies from grad class to grad class, but Rivals typically ends up with around 32 in total. That means that there will likely be another 26 players from the 2024 class who earn five-star status by the time our final rankings are released.

While there are surely more than five players from the region who could end up with the nation's most elite rating, here is a look at five players from the 2024 class that currently standout as having five-star potential.

As the No. 3 QB in the nation and No. 22 player overall, Saline (MI) quarterback CJ Carr is already rated as one of the nation's elite. He is currently a four-star player with a Rivals Rating of 6.0 which is just shy of the 6.1 rating that gives a player five-star status. Carr is an elite talent who can make every level of throw. He's mechanically sound, extremely accurate and it is hard to find a glaring weakness when you take a deep dive into evaluating his game. While those are all reasons Carr is a five-star candidate, his current ranking at a position of high value is what stands out most when looking at his five-star candidacy. The 2022 class had 2 quarterbacks with such a ranking and the 2021 class ended up with 5. Unless something drastic causes him to drop in the rankings, Carr appears to be right in that threshold and should be in the five-star conversation sooner than later.

Justin Scott debuted as the nation's No. 3 DT and No. 24 ranked player overall when the initial Rivals250 for the 2024 class was released. When evaluating Scott in person, It doesn't take long to realize that he is as physically and athletically gifted as they come, and because of that I only see his ranking going up as he continues to develop and dominate. Scott grew up playing soccer and basketball, so football is relatively new to him, and he is only scratching the surface of what he can potentially be as a player. Measuring in at 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds, Scott is incredibly athletic and moves a lot more like a skill player than he does a player who weighs over 300 pounds. With only one year of varsity football under his belt, Scott is raw from an experience and fundamentals standpoint but still found a way to be a force on the field. He is naturally twitched up, explosive off the ball and has great straight-line speed. Scott's ceiling is truly limitless and he will definitely be in the five-star conversation during our next rankings meeting.

Nicholas Marsh currently carries our "lowest" four-star Rivals Rating of 5.8 which means he would have to jump a lot of players rated ahead of him to get that coveted fifth star. All of that being said, I certainly wouldn't put said rankings jump past Marsh after witnessing his standout performance at a recent camp. The camp had barely begun when it became evident that Marsh has the potential to be an elite caliber player. He seems to get better with every rep, and as long as he continues to develop like he has up to this point, I would honestly be surprised if he is not in the five-star conversation when it is all said and done. The first thing that stands out when evaluating Marsh is his phenomenal combination of size and athleticism. He is a crisp route runner, knows how to manipulate opposing DB's, has incredible ball-skills and brings a high level of physicality to the position. In rare situations that DB's are able to stay in tight coverage with him, Marsh uses his frame and strength to overpower defenders. He truly is a champion when it comes to catching 50/50 balls and is a load to bring down after the catch on top of it. He has great body control for a young prospect with his size and he is smooth to the point where things begin to look effortless. Marsh will likely make a jump in our next rankings and should eventually put himself in the five-star conversation.

Rivals saw Brandon Davis-Swain's potential early in his career by making him one of only 100 players that were initially awarded four-stars in the 2024 class. Davis-Swain was listed as an ATH recruit at that time as we didn't know if he would be a linebacker, defensive end or something else. After seeing him at a camp recently it became evident that he is a true edge rusher and a potentially dominant one at that. The defensive end position carries a lot of value in both rankings and the NFL draft and that is just one of the many reasons the WDE from West Bloomfield (MI) could eventually be in the five-star conversation. At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Davis-Swain is muscled up and has a frame to carry plenty of additional weight. He is a matchup nightmare for offensive tackles that end up in 1-on-1 situations against him, as he is explosive off the ball and can win with speed or a number of other tools in his pass rush arsenal. Davis-Swain has all of the tools to be a dominant pass rusher at the next level and look for him to make moves in upcoming rankings releases.

There were a number of other players considered for this list that may have better odds at becoming a five-star than Tayvion Galloway, but after a recent in-person evaluation I had no choice but to put him on the list. The odds that I am referring to are based off of Galloway's position value and current ranking. When it comes to the value of a TE in terms of rankings, you just don't see a lot of five-star players at the position. In fact, there hasn't been a five-star TE since the 2020 class when both Arik Gilbert and Darnell Washington were awarded the coveted status. The second hurdle for Galloway is his current ranking. Although the 2024 rankings won't be finalized for almost two years, the averages say that he would have to leap around 215 players to become a five-star. I wouldn't put it past Galloway however, as he is an elite talent with a ton of versatility. Galloway is one of few TE's in the 2024 class that have both the size and athleticism to lineup as an in-line guy, or split out as a receiver type, and he can do both of those roles at an equally elite level. He has an incredible frame at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds and still has two more years of growth and development at the high school level in front of him. Galloway has the speed to stretch the field, will be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses and can put his hand in the dirt to battle with the big boys on the line. There is just too much to like here for Galloway to not eventually become a part of the five-star discussion.