Rivals recruiting site adds sixth graders to database for the first time

By Cindy Boren February 17 at 9:16 AM

(Scott Halleran / Getty Images)

The largest website devoted to the recruiting of college athletes is now monitoring the progress of two sixth-grade prospects.

Rivals.com announced Friday that it was adding two prospective members of the Class of 2021 to its database, which is either kind of creepy or a sign of apocalyptic things to come. The two to keep an eye on (because you know you want to know) are Tyson Thornton, a 5-11 running back from Springfield, Mass., and Daron Bryden from Enfield, Conn. With no trace of irony, it notes that is a 5-2 pro style quarterback. The two came to Rivals’ attention at the NextGen camp for sixth, seventh and eighth graders. They were “so impressive” that they were skipped ahead to compete against eighth graders.

Now that they’re in the database, they will be “actively monitored,” Rivals announced.

Bryden has some experience, despite his tender age. When he was all of 10, he beat Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in accuracy competition on “Kids Do the Darndest Things.” Thornton, according to Rivals, weighs 167 pounds and has “great explosiveness and surprisingly good body control for a kid his size and age.” Bryden has a big arm, is “incredibly composed and very polished.” More importantly, it did not escape Rivals’ notice that he also has a father who is 6-foot-7.

It’s tough to know whether tracking 11-year-olds is the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it or whether we’ll all be remembering this golden moment when the two are playing in Super Bowl 70. In an age of “diaper dandies,” maybe we should be happy it took this long and that these kids at least made it to middle school before being spotlighted. This much is certain, though: as the NFL scouting combine gets underway, we should all be reminded that past success is no guarantee for the future, where college success and the NFL draft are largely a crapshoot. So far, Rivals has listed 15 eighth graders from the 2019 class and none from 2020.

H/T Sporting News

After spending most of her career in traditional print sports journalism, Cindy began blogging and tweeting, first as NFL/Redskins editor, and, since August 2010, at The Early Lead. She also is the social media editor for Sports.