Rivals Top 100 of 2004: #5 – Keith Rivers

College football recruiting is one thing – a college career and eventual NFL is something completely different. Every year, Rivals.com comes up with their list of the top 100 high school recruits, but how well do these players actually do in college and beyond? Let’s take a walk down memory lane and look at the top prospects of 2004.

This year, there’s so much need for a lot of teams that the draft is somewhat up in the air, but I’d bet my money on Keith Rivers going in the top 15 – maybe even the top 10. Rivers is another 2004 recruiting success story, and with an amazing dominating senior year at USC once again, he put himself in great draft position. He reminds me a lot of Penn State’s Paul Posluszny and some are even speculating that he might end up with the Bills, playing alongside of Pos (as soon as he’s back on his feet after last season’s injury).

Last season, he dealt with a few injuries, but ended up starting in 12 games for a total of 78 tackles (5 for losses) he was a semi-finalist for the Butkus Award and Lott Trophy. He’s played on all of the Pac-10 All-American teams, and has proven himself time and time again both on and off the field.

With continued good coaching, I think Rivers will be a solid player in the NFL. He may never steal the spotlight, but linebackers rarely do. Instead, I think he could have years of above-average playing time ahead of him, and whoever drafts him will be lucky to add Rivers to the team.

And I don’t even like USC…

See more top recruits at Where are They Now? The Rivals Top 100 of 2004.