Behind the Rankings, South Carolina Style

Aiden Manavian Aiden Manavian 5'11" | 200 lbs | QB Oceanside Collegiate Academy | 2027 State SC wasn't the first player this spring to be a little disappointed in the reading from a sophisticated (and not-so-cheap) device.

As most of you know, Prep RedZone South Carolina has a deeply involved partnership with the Carolinas Coaches Combines. Via a long-standing relationship that started even before our launch in September of 2020 - or the advent of the Combines themselves the following year - we've taken a hands-on approach with Combine director Neal Smith that has benefited both entities.

Among the most notable is I've been charged with running the metrics-gathering portion of the events. Because of the experience from some of my past jobs, I'm assigned to the height-weight-wingspan station. The data I'm calling out isn't always what the player expected or hoped to hear. 

It's not always an enviable task. Having to tell a player his tale of the tape chimed in at two to three inches shorter than what major college programs look for in a player at a specific position isn't fun - the strive for accuracy be damned.

That brings us back to Manavian. 

That aforementioned equipment at the Woodland site in March registered the Oceanside Collegiate quarterback at 5-foot-10 and one half inch tall, 200.3 pounds and a 72.75-inch wing span. The biggest issue was his height. Looking at recent recruiting tendencies, major colleges have made it clear they want taller quarterbacks who can see over the top of the ever-growing linemen in front of the quarterback. Because of that, the height mandates have filtered down incrementally to the FCS and Division-II schools.

Factor in what NIL and the transfer portal have done to further filter down the vitality of high school recruiting, and quite simply, we wanted to do our part to fight back.

Enter the Prep RedZone South Carolina rankings process. It's not only unlike any other, but like our mechanical friend at the combines, is much more truthful to the scope of the game itself.

Let's break down how we evaluate talent in the most transparent way possible. Here is our ordered methodology:

1. Live evaluations - or film when in-person isn't available

2. On-field production 

3. High school coaches' take

4. Future potential/recruiting status and college coach recommendations

5. Off-field influence - anything from body language to grades to attitude to weight room habits/increases

Each player is assigned a grade on each of those five primary components and then we can set positional rankings. From there, we's take that player's weighted factors and apply them to the overall rankings. 

What we see during a live evaluation will get a player more rankings credit than the next items down the list. That's the biggest difference between us and many of the national or state outlets. 

Their world: Top-level offers drive the bus. 

Our world: Production at this one moves the needle.

Do our two worlds often produce similar results? Of course. It's not rocket science to think the most productive players in the South Carolina prep ranks are also going to be high-level college recruits. 

However, our method is more true to the here and now, not a projection for down the road. It typically allows us to evaluate more players in advance of attracting major college attention, or, in many cases, any real college attention at all.

As of Friday, 247Sports, for instance, had 35 current players in the Class of 2027 from South Carolina included in its rankings. All but four of them are currently committed to an NCAA Division I program. The other four all have a truck load of offers.

On Monday morning, Prep RedZone South Carolina will increase its Class of 2027 charts to 594.

All of those 594 players clearly aren't all going to college football blue bloods. In fact, most of them won't even be inking with lower-tier P4s or even G6 programs. Last time we checked, though, the FCS, Division II and Division III ranks are still fielding teams, too.

This may be our own biases talking, but this is the difference between reactive and proactive player evaluation. We're not bashing how other sites conduct their business. In fact, scouts from those staffs and PRZ's frequently interact (we're not a very big state, after all), picking each other's brains to gain even more information on specific players and/or teams.

However, the models and approach to player evaluation are quite different. That often means the rankings do, too.

Manavian doesn't check all the right metrics boxes for major colleges. His biggest offers are of the G6 variety, and while he has a 247 profile, he's not ranked, nor does he have any stars. 

That doesn't mean he doesn't fulfill every other quality we want out of players when updating our rankings for each classification three times a year. On Monday, when our updated Class of 2027 rankings are published (with 102 total additions), Manavian will stand at No. 3 overall. 

Here's why. 

In 33 games as the Landsharks' starting quarterback, Manavian has thrown for 8,507 yards. 

Even using his per-game career average of 257.8 yards per game (he's gone up every season, mind you), he's on pace to reach the 10,000-yard career plateau during Oceanside's October 2 game at home against Hanahan.

According to the NFHS national record book, only 72 players in high school football history are recognized to have hit that figure. Yes, we know it's likely more, but still, the point remains. 

Manavian isn't a flash in the pan. And his numbers aren't stat-padded figures absent a microscope.

As a freshman, he took over the starting job after the beginning the playoffs when the starter went down. Manavian kept the train on the tracks that November en route to a state title before spearheading the Landsharks' repeats in 2024 and 2025. 

Manavian and Oceanside are the favorites to win another one in 2026, and even if OCA falls short, it doesn't diminish how much of an impact he's had to date. 

We're not going to ignore that because P4 schools aren't knocking down his door.