Looking back at the former five-stars playing in the UFL

The 2025 UFL season kicks off Friday night and there are a whole bunch of former five-stars in the league this year. Here are our memories of those players from their high school days.

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Ranked as the second-best offensive tackle in the 2012 class and behind only DJ Humphries, Banner was massive at 6-foot-8 and 335 pounds and the biological son of Lincoln Kennedy. He eventually chose USC over Oklahoma and Washington and then played both right and left tackle for the Trojans.

Banner ended up as a fourth-round NFL Draft pick but bounded around the league for a couple years before finding a role with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2022, Banner was released by the Steelers but has now made his return in the UFL.

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In the spring prior to his senior season, the Tampa (Fla.) Tampa Bay Tech five-star receiver chose Clemson over Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Miami. Florida did not stop recruiting Cain and he also visited Auburn among others but stuck with Clemson.

The five-star had 130 catches with more than 2,000 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns in three seasons in Clemson but also missed time because of a failed drug test and then went in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

But Cain only had nine career receptions in the NFL and is now in the UFL again.

There were a lot of players who didn’t pan out at the top of the 2016 rankings but Davis might be the biggest surprise because he was spectacular as a high school prospect coming out of Gordo, Ala.

The top-ranked inside linebacker and No. 5 overall behind only Rashan Gary, Dexter Lawrence, Shea Patterson and Greg Little, Davis was an Alabama legacy and then went to the Crimson Tide, but hardly saw the field. He then went to Texas and made a little better impact but went undrafted.

The five-star cornerback from Wellington (Fla.) Palm Beach Central flipped from Miami to Florida State and started all five seasons in Tallahassee, finishing with 185 tackles and 18 pass deflections in his career but was never considered a realistic NFL Draft pick.

Ranked as the No. 13 overall prospect and the second-best running back in the 2018 class behind only Zamir White, Lingard started his career at Miami, transferred to Florida and then finished at Akron.

The former Orange City (Fla.) University standout never really caught on anywhere but totaled 641 yards and four touchdowns on 143 carries for the Zips.

Ranked as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback and No. 21 prospect overall in the 2017 class, Mond was originally committed to Baylor but in the wake of the Art Briles scandal, the five-star quarterback backed off his pledge. Auburn and Texas A&M became the finalists and he committed to the Aggies in the summer before his senior season.

Mond finished his Texas A&M career as one of only three SEC quarterbacks that threw for 9,000 yards and rushed for 1,500 along with Dak Prescott and Tim Tebow. He was a third-round NFL Draft pick but didn’t last more than one season with any NFL team and is now back in his hometown playing in the UFL.

Stanford beat USC and others for the five-star offensive tackle from Mission Viejo, Calif., and everything lined up for a tremendous career since Murphy was an outstanding football prospect and also a shotput champion. Murphy had a stellar career from Day 1 at Stanford and started for four years there but speed rushers were a concern in the NFL and he ended up as a sixth-round pick.

He bounced around the league for a handful of years before heading to the UFL this season.

When we saw Ngata in his senior season, Folsom, Calif., came down to West Hills (Calif.) Chaminade and his first two catches went for long touchdowns. He was a Tee Higgins clone in high school – the same height and weight as Higgins and the length to make flash plays all over the field.

Ever since visiting Clemson, the Tigers were considered the front-runner in his recruitment and he committed in the summer prior to his senior season. But he never really clicked in that offense or he might not have been utilized appropriately as Ngata, who had no problems making highlight-reel plays in high school, finished his college career with 88 catches for 1,287 yards but only six touchdowns.

He went undrafted and was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad and is now in the UFL.

There might not have been a prospect in Rivals history at the five-star level who bounced around more than Okie-Anoma and really missed opportunity after opportunity to find success at the college level.

Ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the 2019 class out of Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances, Okie-Anoma signed with Alabama but was dismissed from the team and landed at Houston, where he was kicked off the team as well. He then went to Tennessee-Martin where he was for a couple of years (including the COVID year) before transferring to Michigan, where he played the 2022 season before finishing his college career at Charlotte. He went undrafted.

LSU and Ole Miss were legitimate contenders until the end but the five-star defensive end from Nashville (Tenn.) Hillsboro decided to stay home and pick Tennessee.

Phillips was primarily a reserve until midway through his junior season and had a breakout senior year where he finished with 56 tackles and five sacks. He went undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft and caught on with the New York Jets for a few seasons before bouncing to the UFL.

Following an early commitment to Oregon, Steele backed off that pledge and signed with Florida but the Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco five-star cornerback never played a game there and left after spring football.

Steele landed at USC where he played for three seasons, totaled 94 tackles and three interceptions but too often was beaten on the outside. Five-stars Derek Stingley, Jr., and Andrew Booth were the only corners ranked ahead of him in the 2019 class.

Only two Florida State players that year – running back Cam Akers and defensive back Stanford Samuels – were invited to the combine and without pro days or workouts possible because of the COVID epidemic, Taylor had a tough time getting drafted.

The top-rated cornerback and No. 10 prospect overall in the 2016 class, Taylor finished with 90 tackles and four interceptions over 35 games in his four-year career. Virginia was the main contender in Taylor’s recruitment, but after a visit to Tallahassee, the five-star decided to pick the Seminoles in the spring before his senior season.

Ranked as the second-best receiver in the 2016 class behind only N’Keal Harry, Vaughns picked USC over Alabama, Georgia, Washington and others although it always felt the Trojans were going to land him. The five-star had an incredibly productive career at USC, finishing with 222 catches for 2,801 yards and 20 touchdowns but then was surprisingly undrafted.

Ranked as the second-best player in the 2017 class behind only Najee Harris, Wilson chose Florida State over LSU, Ohio State and others.

The five-star built up to an excellent junior season where he totaled 44 tackles and five sacks in just nine games and was pegged as an early-round NFL Draft pick. But instead of leaving FSU, Wilson decided to return for the 2020 season which was shortened by COVID and Wilson dramatically dropped in draft status. He went undrafted.