One is the obvious case: There's grade inflation. Coaches and programs want higher rated recruits so they can sell progress. Players want the accolades of being a higher rated recruit. Fans want players rated higher. And recruiting raters want the access and support that comes from making all those people happy.

The other possibility is that an 86 is the same as it ever was...but with specialized training and better athletes, there's more of them than ever before. There's often the argument of if Alabama could beat the Carolina Panthers...and it's dumb because they'd be destroyed.

But a better question is if the current Georgia team could beat the 1995 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And that answer is probably yes. The Cowboys of that era were renowned for an absolutely massive offensive line with everyone over a (at the time) ridiculous 300 pounds.

But the issue is that we don't compete across eras. We're not trying to beat 2003 BYU, we're trying to beat 2024 Arizona. So if this is the reason that so many recruits are rated so much higher, then it also means the bar to be quality depth, or a starter, or a star is simultaneously much much higher