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Three predictions: Julian Lewis, USC in team rankings, Tyreek King

Nick Lucero/Rivals.com

Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney has three predictions on five-star quarterback Julian Lewis, where USC will finish in the team recruiting rankings and the future ranking of Tennessee commit Tyreek King.

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1. Julian Lewis will learn from Shedeur Sanders

Five-star quarterback Julian Lewis has some flash. He’s shown off some nice jewelery and accoutrement from his NIL deals. The Colorado freshman quarterback has confidence and a quiet swagger about his game.

Sounds a little like Shedeur Sanders.

But the difference here is that Lewis was an eye-witness to all the mess surrounding Sanders during the pre-draft process and on NFL Draft weekend. He is smart enough to learn from it and not replicate it.

Lewis is going to be his own person and he should be, but there are key things the five-star quarterback will remember through his career as he becomes a potential first-round pick as well.

Don’t have your father predict you as a top-five pick. Don’t have your dad say publicly there are some cities that are no-gos. Don’t treat the pre-draft process like a recruiting trip (where the coaches have to bow down to you) and instead treat it more like a job interview. Be prepared for getting on the white board and answering questions.

Lewis is smart, savvy, more than capable and could be Colorado’s quarterback this season. He’s insanely talented as well so all these things should be coming his way.

However unfortunate, the best thing that could have happened to Lewis are the learning lessons Sanders had to endure falling from one of the top picks to the fifth round. Not duplicating them will be important.

MORE CU: Deion Sanders, Buffs hosting five-stars, blue-chippers for official visits

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2. USC won’t finish with the No. 1 class in 2026

USC has the No. 1 class in the country – by far. The Trojans have 26 commitments already for 2026 and more than 1,000 points more than anybody else in the team rankings after the Friday morning pledge of five-star cornerback Elbert Hill as he picked USC over Ohio State, Oregon and others.

The new recruiting staff that USC has brought in has done wonders providing a spark, getting top players on campus, flipping elite players from teams that played in the playoff last season and so much more. It’s been an incredible run for USC.

But other teams will definitely catch the Trojans at some point. They currently don’t have any five-star commitments in the class with 16 four-stars and the potential for many of those highly ranked fours to get bumped up.

USC is also in the thick of it for five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons, five-star athlete Brandon Arrington and many others.

However, LSU has three five-star pledges in its first 10 commitments. Ohio State has two among its first 11. In terms of the very important average star ranking, USC is just inside the top 20.

USC has a chance to finish No. 1, but others will catch up soon.

MORE USC: The 2026 commitment list

3. Tyreek King will end up as a five-star receiver

Nick Lucero/Rivals.com

Five-star rankings usually wrap up at No. 32 nationally to mirror the first round of the NFL Draft and as things stand now, Tyreek King is ranked No. 28 nationally.

So either one of two things could happen: King will become a five-star receiver at some point in the rankings cycle or he’s going to move down.

I don’t see the Knoxville (Tenn.) Catholic standout dropping because the Tennessee commit has such great hands, is an excellent route runner and has so much dynamic speed that he’s going to be in five-star consideration until the end.

There are already four five-star receivers and we don’t want to over-subscribe the position but there could be a lot of movement to still come. A lot of the high NFL Draft picks at the receiver – Matthew Golden especially – remind us a lot of King and that could be a great comp moving forward, especially as he stays in the five-star discussion.

MORE KING: Top 20 slot receivers in 2026

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