The History of the “20 Under 25” Rankings
Since 2012, NBC Sports Boston has asked the fans to help determine the yearly list of the top 25 New England athletes under 25 years old in New England.As you'll see below, many athletes on these lists go on to be superstars -- but not everyone. Let's take a trip down memory lane to revisit the names on "20 Under 25" lists of years past.
This is a pretty impressive group featuring a guy who became arguably the greatest tight end in the NFL (Rob Gronkowski) and Tyler Seguin, who went on to thrive with the Dallas Stars following his trade from the Boston Bruins in 2013.
Nos. 11 through 20 aren't pretty -- Anthony Ranuado? Really?? -- but Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung are diamonds in the rough.
It's no wonder the Bruins made the Stanley Cup in 2013 with four players in this year's top 10.
Gronk and Aaron Hernandez ranking No. 1 and No. 3 on this list also is a reminder of how talented and full of promise that tight end duo was in New England.
Xander Bogaerts' spot at No. 3 proved to be well-deserved. Jared Sullinger at No. 6? Not so much.
Also, shout-out to the New England Revolution for having three of the top 11 players on this year's list in Diego Fagundez, Kellyn Rowe and Andrew Farrell.
Patriots pass rusher Chandler Jones and Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton topped this year's class -- and both were on different teams by year's end.
Big swings and misses on Patriots defensive tackle Dominique Easley and center Bryan Stork, while Jimmy Garoppolo probably should be have been higher than Malcolm Subban.
The Red Sox's youth movement was in full swing this year, with Bogaerts, Mookie Betts and Eduardo Rodriguez accounting for three of the top five spots.
Meanwhile, Easley somehow rose on this list while Garoppolo fell, and Marcus Smart ranked three spots ahead of David Pastrnak. Hindsight is 20/20, folks.
This is a strong list, with Andrew Benintendi joining Betts and Bogaerts in the top five and Jaylen Brown making an appearance in the top 10.
Several players on the bottom half of this list also developed into mainstays, from James White to Shaq Mason to David Andrews to future $76 million man Charlie McAvoy.
Jayson Tatum came in hot to "20 Under 25," topping the list just months after the Celtics drafted him and joining teammates Brown, Smart and Terry Rozier.
Rafael Devers also burst into the top five in his first year of eligibility. Let's just say both he and Tatum were headed in the right direction.
Pastrnak edged Tatum for the top spot here while emerging as a legitimate goal-scoring threat for the Bruins.
Oh, and another shout-out to Fagundez for making the top 20 five years after he was first eligible.
How's this for an evenly-distributed top 10: two Celtics, two Red Sox, three Bruins and three Patriots.
Some Patriots (J.C. Jackson) turned out to be more deserving than others (N'Keal Harry, Sony Michel).
The Top 5 players are cornerstones for their respective franchises.
Last year's final rankings saw Mac Jones overtake Jayson Tatum after a solid rookie year for the Patriots.
