‘Hopefully that’s me soon.’ UK’s Vandagriff has catching up to do with other 2021 5-stars.

In the recruiting website era, something unprecedented will take place for Kentucky football this fall.

A former five-star quarterback will start a game for the Wildcats.

But Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff is not your typical five-star quarterback. He is already three years into his college career but has attempted only 21 passes. While this is no freshman adjusting to college football for the first time, Vandagriff still lacks any significant game experience to determine if his recruiting hype was justified.

By now Kentucky fans have ample evidence that recruiting hype does not necessarily equal success for quarterbacks in college.

Andre Woodson more than matched his four-star billing at UK, but Morgan Newton, Ryan Mossakowski, Patrick Towles and Drew Barker all arrived billed as four-star quarterbacks and left without reaching that potential due to injury, struggles or both.

But none of those players reached the elusive five-star status that Vandagriff earned as a senior at Prince Avenue Christian School in Bogart, Georgia. The 247Sports Composite, which averages the ratings of the major recruiting services, ranked him as the No. 4 quarterback in the high school class of 2021, two spots behind 2024 NFL draft No. 1 pick Caleb Williams and one spot ahead of top-10 pick J.J. McCarthy.

“Really proud of them,” Vandagriff said of the more famous names in his five-star quarterback class. “Felt like just the other day we were at the Elite 11 (camp), which was when we all got to meet each other and talk and throw. Really excited for those guys, and hopefully that’s me soon.”

Since 247Sports launched in 2010, only one to six quarterbacks per class have reached five-star status in the composite rankings. Of the 25 quarterbacks rated as five-star prospects by the composite since 2010 that have exhausted their college eligibility, 16 were NFL draft picks, including 10 first-rounders.

There have been a handful of busts among that group, but the vast majority at least went on to become high-level college quarterbacks.

Being blocked by two-time national champion Stetson Bennett and possible 2025 No. 1 overall pick Carson Beck at Georgia means Vandagriff has yet to show where he belongs in the six-man 2021 five-star quarterback class. He does not need to match Williams or McCarthy to be successful for Kentucky, but the ranking still offers hope he can take the Wildcats’ offense to a new level. Of the six 2021 five-star quarterbacks, five have already transferred schools, but only Vandagriff has yet to start a game in college.

Here’s a look at how the other five-star quarterbacks in the 2021 class, as ranked by the 247Sports Composite, have fared to date in college.

No. 1 Quinn Ewers

After appearing in just one game during a redshirt season at Ohio State as a freshman, Ewers transferred to Texas where he won the starting job in 2022. In two seasons as the Longhorns’ starter, Ewers has thrown for 5,656 yards, 37 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Last season, he completed 69% of his passes for 3,479 yards. ESPN ranks him as the No. 23 player in the country entering the 2024 season and projects him as a top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

No. 2 Caleb Williams

Williams only signed with Oklahoma out of high school after a spot in the Sooners’ 2021 class opened when Vandagriff backed out of his initial pledge to play for Lincoln Riley there. Williams played in 11 games as a freshman at Oklahoma then followed Riley to USC before his sophomore season. In three college seasons, Williams completed 66.9% of his passes for 10,082 yards, 93 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He won the 2022 Heisman Trophy and was drafted first overall by the Bears in April.

No. 3 Sam Huard

Huard started just one game in two seasons at Washington before transferring to FCS Cal Poly where he played for his former high school coach in 2023. He completed 60.7% of his passes last season for 2,247 yards, 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions before reentering the transfer portal. Huard will play for Utah this fall but is expected to back up Utes starter Cam Rising.

No. 4 Brock Vandagriff

After decommitting from Oklahoma, Vandagriff signed with his hometown Georgia Bulldogs. He was a member of two national championship teams in Athens, serving as a backup quarterback to Bennett on those squads, then lost the competition for the starting job to Beck in 2023. In three years at Georgia, Vandagriff completed 12 of 21 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

No. 5 J.J. McCarthy

McCarthy did not secure the full-time starting job until his second season at Michigan, but he left a program legend after leading the Wolverines to a national championship. In three college seasons, McCarthy completed 67.6% of his passes for 6,226 yards, 49 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He was 27-1 as Michigan’s starter. The Minnesota Vikings drafted McCarthy with the No. 10 pick in April.

No. 6 Kyle McCord

One of two five-star quarterbacks to sign with Ohio State in the 2021 class, McCord served as C.J. Stroud’s backup for two seasons before taking over the starting job in 2023. Last season, he completed 65.8% of his passes for 3,170 yards 24 touchdowns and six interceptions while leading Ohio State to an 11-1 regular-season record but entered the transfer portal before the Cotton Bowl after coach Ryan Day was noncommittal about his status as the starter moving forward. McCord will play for Syracuse in 2024.

Other 2021 quarterbacks of note

While only six quarterbacks were rated as five-star prospects by the 247Sports Composite, several other quarterbacks in the class have already starred in college.

Most notably, No. 9-ranked Drake Maye threw for more than 8,000 yards at North Carolina before being drafted with the No. 3 pick by the New England Patriots in April.

Six other class of 2021 quarterbacks made the cut for ESPN’s preseason ranking of college footballs’ top 100 players: Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (22), Ole Miss’s Jaxson Dart (41), Liberty’s Kaidon Salter (71), Duke’s Riley Leonard (82), SMU’s Preston Stone (87) and USC’s Miller Moss (91). Each of those quarterbacks was ranked between 10 and 47 on the 247Sports Composite class of 2021 quarterback list.

2024 UK football schedule

(Home games in all capital letters. All times p.m. and Eastern)

Aug. 31: SOUTHERN MISS, 7:45 (SEC Network)

Sept. 7: SOUTH CAROLINA, 3:30 (ABC)

Sept. 14: GEORGIA, 7:30 (ABC)

Sept. 21: OHIO, 12:45 (SEC Network)

Sept. 28: At Ole Miss, Noon (ABC or ESPN)

Oct. 5: Off week

Oct. 12: VANDERBILT, TBA

Oct. 19: At Florida, TBA

Oct. 26: AUBURN, TBA

Nov. 2: At Tennessee, TBA

Nov. 9: Off week

Nov. 16: MURRAY STATE, 1:30 (SEC Network+, ESPN+)

Nov. 23: At Texas

Nov. 30: LOUISVILLE

This story was originally published August 21, 2024 at 10:15 AM.

Jon Hale

Lexington Herald-Leader

(859) 414-6776

Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year. Support my work with a digital subscription