TikTok content creator MrLightwork48, who has more than 200,000 followers, has some questions about the ranking system when it comes to high school sports.
In a medium viral TikTok video from May, his speculation surrounding recruiting involved one of the top Greater Cincinnati quarterbacks in Western Brown senior signal-caller Drew Novak.
He showed a picture of Novak, followed by his stats from the 2021 season, one where Novak led Western Brown to the regional finals for the first time in program history.
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Novak, who was named Ohio's Division III Offensive Player of the Year, led the nation in passing yards (5,269), throwing for 56 touchdowns against just 11 interceptions. He also ran for 1,202 yards and 21 scores. Novak engineered a Western Brown offense that was the 20th in Ohio High School Athletic Association history to average 50 or more points per game. Western Brown scored 700 total points, the ninth-most in OHSAA history for a single season.
"He has no stars! Where are his stars? Why?," the TikTokker said in the video. "Just tell me why he doesn’t get any stars?”
The video, which was posted on May 21, has over 140,000 likes and has been viewed over a million times.
The video compared Novak to Arch Manning, the No. 1 overall recruit and quarterback in the nation for the Class of 2023 by 247Sports.
Manning, who recently committed to Texas but had several high Division I offers, did not put up the numbers Novak produced at Western Brown. Manning finished the 2021 season with 1,947 passing yards and 26 touchdowns.
For his high school career, according to MaxPreps, Manning has thrown for 5,731 yards, 72 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He's run for 671 yards and 17 scores. By comparison, Novak has thrown for 9,924 yards (10th all-time in OHSAA history), 96 touchdowns (13th all-time) and 28 interceptions while running for over 1,600 yards and 26 scores in the same time span (2019-2021).
Of course, more goes into recruiting than just statistics.
As the TikTok video explains, this is not a knock on Manning, who is the nephew of former NFL quarterbacks and two-time Super Bowl champions Eli and Peyton Manning and the grandson of longtime quarterback Archie Manning, the No. 2 overall pick in the 1971 NFL Draft.
"This is a huge gripe against the ranking system," the TikTokker said.
Novak, despite the stellar numbers, does not have any stars in the 247Sports composite rankings. According to The Enquirer's Scott Springer, Novak has received interest from several Division I programs and holds offers from Stetson, Glenville State and Notre Dame College.
Sharpe Sports, a verified YouTube account with over 200,000 followers, called Novak "the most disrespected recruit ever" in a video in April. That video, which shows some of Novak's highlights, has over 12,000 views.
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