Florida is 12th in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite rankings and Miami is 14th ahead of their game in the season opener on Saturday for both teams. Miami was 12th and Florida was 15th in the 2023 247Sports Team Talent composite rankings. There are flaws in the rankings, especially with transfers.
Florida signed the sixth best transfer class and Miami was 10th. The 247Sports Team Talent Composite rankings use a transfer's high school ranking and not their ranking as a transfer. That can be complicated. Players develop differently. Some players will always exceed their ranking and others will not live up to their's.
If 247Sports used the ranking for transfers they would also have to revaluate players who didn't transfer and develop differently. The Team Talent Composite ranking provides a baseline of where players were ranked coming out of high school. The rankings provide a general idea of
Florida has four five-star players on its roster, 48 four-stars and 32 three-stars. The Gators added six four-star transfers and nine three-stars. Miami has five-star signees on its roster, 34 four-stars and 43 three-stars. Like Florida, Miami signed six four-star transfers and nine three-stars.
The 2024 Team Talent Composite is here 🚨
— 247Sports (@247Sports) August 22, 2024
Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State take the top 3⃣ spots.
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The stars referenced above are the players' rankings as transfers. Quarterback Cam Ward and running back Damien Martinez are the perfect examples of the fragility of the rankings. Ward was not ranked as a high school prospect. Martinez was a three-star signee with Oregon State in the 2022 class.
Martinez quickly proved he was underrated entering college. Martinez won the 2022 Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and was named first-team All-Conference twice. Ward was the most sought after experienced transfer quarterback. The ACC chose Ward as the preseason Player of the Year and first-team All-Conference.
Running back Montrell Johnson Jr. is the only second-team preseason All-SEC selection for Florida. Cornerback Jason Marshall, punter Jeremy Crawshaw and kicker Trey Smack were all named third-team preseason All-SEC from Florida. The Gators have talent beyond being picked 12th in the SEC.
Miami at Florida is one of the marquee games of week one. Clemson at Georgia is the only other week-one game with two teams ranked higher in the Team Talent Composite than Miami at Florida. Georgia has the second most talented roster behind Alabama and Clemson is fifth.