Recruit ratings in football can be wildly unpredictable.

Here's a review of five long shots who turned out to be among the best college players in the nation.

NEWARK, N.J. — While Newark and much of northern New Jersey are going to unusual lengths to make college basketball fans feel welcome and at home for the weekend NCAA games, the pros still rule sports in this area.

That was evident Thursday and Friday when news leaked that former N.C. State star and current New York Jets cornerstone Jerricho Cotchery had recently undergone a hush-hush back operation.

Former N.C. State star wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery needed two series to benefit from the New York Jets’ acquisition of quarterback Brett Favre.

Only 7 minutes into the Jets’ NFL opener Sunday at Miami, Cotchery hauled in a 56-yard touchdown strike from Favre on an up-and-out pattern that caught the Dolphins’ secondary flat-footed. The play gave the Jets a 7-0 lead en route to an eventual 20-14 win.