ESPN Made a Mistake by Not Ranking Dorial Green-Beckham No. 1 in the Final 150

With just a few weeks left until National Signing Day, by this time, after almost a year of analyzing hundreds of top senior high school football recruits, everyone has pretty much come to a consensus about who the top prospects in the country for the 2012 recruiting class actually are.

Unlike last year, when DE Jadeveon Clowney was the universally agreed upon No. 1 overall recruit and cover boy of the 2011 class, this year, there is no one player who towers over the rest of the class.

Sure, there are a ton of supremely talented recruits who have obvious star potential, but there’s no one player that everyone agrees is hands down the best recruit in the country. This has triggered debates for the past few months. Fans and analysts alike have weighed in with opinions.

The two biggest recruiting services in the country, Rivals and Scout, both currently agree that WR Dorial Green-Beckham from Missouri’s Hillcrest High School is the best overall recruit in the country.

But the recruiting analysts at ESPN seem to disagree: They ranked current Florida State commit DE Mario Edwards, who played for Billy Ryan High School in Texas, as their No. 1 overall recruit in their final Top 150, which was released today.

ESPN ranked Green-Beckham behind both Edwards and standout running back Johnathan Gray, a Texas commit who broke the national high school record for total career touchdowns with 205 at Aledo high school in Texas.

It’s hard to say that Edwards and Gray aren’t deserving of being highly ranked—they’re both gifted young players who have tremendously bright futures ahead of them, but personally, I have to agree with Scout and Rivals.

Dorial Green-Beckham is the best player in the 2012 class.

Now, I don’t fancy myself to be a recruiting aficionado or expert, but I do follow college football and recruiting pretty closely, especially in the weeks leading up to National Signing Day. But I can honestly say that there hasn’t been a prospect that I’ve seen this year that can compare to Green-Beckham.

The 6’6’’, 220-pound physical specimen is the most naturally gifted receiver prospect to emerge from the high school ranks since Julio Jones, and the scary part is, he has the chance to be an even better college player than Jones was.

With the combination of size, speed, hands and route-running ability that the big receiver possesses, he’s got the chance to become an instant impact offensive playmaker wherever he goes.

Green-Beckham, who is also a terrific basketball player at Hillcrest, plays like an Andre Johnson-Marques Colston hybrid.

The star senior lived up to the summer hype by hauling in 119 passes for 2,223 yards and 24 touchdowns this past season.

His exploits on the field earned him numerous All-American honors, awards and accolades, but they apparently weren’t enough to earn him the No. 1 spot on ESPN’s final Top 150.

Why not?

I don’t know. Maybe the folks at ESPN didn’t like the fact that D.G.B. chose to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, instead of the Under Armour fashion show—I mean Under Armour All-American game—which was televised on...you guessed it, ESPN (Edwards and Gray both played in the Under Armour game).

Sure, that’s probably just a wild conspiracy theory, but when it comes to ESPN, it’s justifiable to question motives.

It also probably didn't help that Green-Beckham has been one of the biggest enigmas of this class, and hasn’t exactly been open and forthcoming about his recruitment.

I think that is actually a bit refreshing in this current “look at me” recruiting culture when big-name prospects are constantly trying to one-up each other.

Something tells me, though, that even without the No. 1 distinction from ESPN, Dorial Green-Beckham will still find a way to survive.

When major college coaches, like Missouri’s Gary Pinkel, are helicoptering to your high school to meet with you, you’re probably doing something right (via Rock M Nation).

With Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma seeming to be the final three front runners, its going to be very interesting to see where Green-Beckham ultimately ends up once National Signing Day rolls around (My guess is Arkansas).

He couldn't go wrong with any of those three schools, and if he plays up to his potential, Dorial Green-Beckham has the chance to become a bona fide superstar early on in his career.

If he lives up to the hype, D.G.B. will be the one who gets to say "I told you so" to ESPN when it's all said and done.