[Mick]

To be sure, star rankings are neither perfect nor always predictive of future success, and there will always be 2-star guys like Ben Gardner who thrive and 5-star guys who flop.  But, on balance, the more 4-star recruits you have, the more talent you have.  Nick Saban is a good coach, but surely the constant stream of 4- and 5-star recruits doesn't hurt!

You can make a team of NFL All-pros just using two or fewer star players:

QB Tony Romo
WR Ed Reed, Victor Cruz,
RB Chris Johnson (ran a 10.38 100 and a 4.2 40 in HS.  2 stars),
RB Alfred Morris (was all-FL LB)
TE Julius Thomas
OT Joe Staley, Ryan Clady
OG Josh Sitton, Mike Iupati
C Alex Mack

DE DeMarcus Ware, JJ Watt
DT BJ Raji, Dontari Poe
LB Bobby Wagner, Connor Barwin, Chad Greenway
CB Brent Grimes, Aqib Talib
S Ed Reed, Eric Weddle

[Mick]

To be sure, star rankings are neither perfect nor always predictive of future success, and there will always be 2-star guys like Ben Gardner who thrive and 5-star guys who flop.  But, on balance, the more 4-star recruits you have, the more talent you have.  Nick Saban is a good coach, but surely the constant stream of 4- and 5-star recruits doesn't hurt!

You can make a team of NFL All-pros just using two or fewer star players:

QB Tony Romo
WR Ed Reed, Victor Cruz,
RB Chris Johnson (ran a 10.38 100 and a 4.2 40 in HS.  2 stars),
RB Alfred Morris (was all-FL LB)
TE Julius Thomas
OT Joe Staley, Ryan Clady
OG Josh Sitton, Mike Iupati
C Alex Mack

DE DeMarcus Ware, JJ Watt
DT BJ Raji, Dontari Poe
LB Bobby Wagner, Connor Barwin, Chad Greenway
CB Brent Grimes, Aqib Talib
S Ed Reed, Eric Weddle