The newly updated Rivals brand has just updated their recruiting rankings, and they have been met with plenty of criticism from USC Trojans fans.
One of the more interesting evaluations was at the quarterback position, where USC Trojans commit Jonas Williams fell out of the Top 10. He is still the 10th-ranked QB in Rivals Industry Rankings, but sits at 12 from the recruiting giant. The old Rivals brand had him at 6th, and the old On3 brand had him at 8th, while ESPN still has him ranked as the 3rd overall QB.
Now this small slide is fairly inconsequential. No one has played any real football in months, and most of these updates are based on summer 7v7 and Elite 11 camps. To me, it’s a non-story as Williams has displayed elite game tape and has his senior season to prove yet again that he is a Top 10 prospect.
However, this does indicate how much the industry values these summer showcases. This is no better emphasized than in the rise of Oregon commit Bryson Beaver.
USC Trojans QB Jonas Williams Falls, While Oregon QB Bryson Beaver Rises Massively
While Williams’ small slide is not much of a story, Beaver’s meteoric rise from a 3-star Boise State commit to 5th-ranked overall QB is quite interesting.
I’m never one to lean into ranking conspiracies, but dropping Jonas Williams (who flipped to SC from Oregon) out of the Top 10, and moving Bryson Beaver (who was a 3-star a month ago) all the way up to 5 is…well, a choice 🤦♂️✌️ https://t.co/ZUudKKEeFA
— Ryan Dyrud (@RyanDyrudLAFB) July 14, 2025
Upon decommitting from the Broncos and flipping to Oregon, it appeared that his ranking shifted from a 3-star to a 4-star. Now with the Rivals update, his QB ranking shot up from around the 40th-ranked QB to the 5th-ranked, a monster leap during a time when no real football was played.
The old Rivals brand still lists him as a 3-star, and unranked when it comes to national, state, and position rankings.
247 Sports ranked Beaver as the 17th overall QB, and ESPN ranks him at 15. 247 Composite, which we assume is still using the old On3 and Rivals data, ranks him 31st.
So, is this massive rise from Rivals warranted? Their director of scouting and rankings, Charles Power, chimed in on the situation.
Here’s missing context:
— Charles Power (@CharlesPower) July 15, 2025
Rivals currently has Jonas Williams ranked the highest of anyone.
We watched him throw for a combined 10 days over the past few months and view this as an accurate representation of where he falls in the QB group heading into the Sr. season.
Bryson… https://t.co/nCY5pmMPbk pic.twitter.com/mOcUuLk9xP
Rankings should be fluid and move up and down. Evaluations are ever changing, and player growth and development happen at different rates. That is absolutely true and should be accounted for.
However, this meteoric rise tells me one of two things.
Either, one, the initial evaluation of Beaver’s junior season was so poor, or even non-existent, that it had to be scrapped, and an entirely new evaluation process was created from scratch.
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Or, two, they put way more stock into summer camp production without pads than actual football game film.
A fantastic summer circuit should absolutely raise a player’s stock. Recruiting rankings are really just projections anyway, and so some of the inagibles of arm talent, size, and athleticism should be drawn from for improved rankings at different times. However, a 30+ ranking rise based on said summer circuit, is, well, interesting to say the least.
At the end of the day, all these players are working their tails off just trying to get into the best situation possible for their collegiate career. Jonas Williams has accomplished that with the USC Trojans, and a shift/slide from a recruiting website certainly will not deter that.
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