2022 NFL Draft recruiting rewind: Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux to New York Giants

The highest-rated recruit in Oregon Ducks football program history, defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, out of Oaks Christian High School (California) has been in the discussion as the NFL draft's No. 1 overall pick until the final few weeks of the process.

Despite rumblings of a dramatic slide, Thibodeaux was drafted No. 5 overall to the New York Giants.

He has a sky-high ceiling, so it will be fascinating to watch his NFL career unfold. 

Here's how the three major recruiting services rated him as a high school prospect:

247Sports

Ranking: 5-star prospect; Nation's No. 6 overall prospect, No. 2 defensive end

Notable: 247Sports and Rivals tied for "lowest" ranking on Thibodeax, but both had him as the nation's No. 6 overall prospect.

247Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins compared him to Robert Quinn and projected that he'd wind up as a top-10 NFL draft pick.

Bingo! 

Rivals

Ranking: 5-star prospect; Nation's No. 6 overall prospect, No. 1 defensive end

Notable: Thibodeaux bounced around in Rivals top-10 throughout his career, climbing as highly as No. 4 but dropping no lower than 10. 

ESPN

Ranking: 5-star prospect; Nation's No. 1 overall prospect, No. 1 defensive end

Notable: Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux wasn't the consensus No. 1 defensive end, but he's clearly outperformed Nos. 2-5 in the ESPN rankings - Georgia defensive end Nolan Smith, Ohio State linebacker Zach Harrison, South Carolina's Zacch Pickens and Alabama's Justin Eboigbe.

However, the discussion gets more interesting after that.

Georgia's Travon Walker was the No. 6 defensive end, while Purdue's George Karlaftis was No. 8.  

Junior season highlights