Top 10 hyped high school football players

The hype surrounding Hillcrest (Springfield, Mo.) senior receiver Dorial Green-Beckham is already building and it's barely September.

Green-Beckham's jaw-dropping performance of 18 catches for 284 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-26 win over Seneca set the Twitter world abuzz with followers offering both compliments and put-downs of the senior's effort.

The hype will likely continue throughout the season for Green-Beckham, who is ranked No. 1 by Tom Lemming on the MaxPreps Top 100 player rankings.

Of course hype and high expectations have long been a part of high school football. While some players have overcome the hype to have successful college and pro careers, others have not quite lived up to the buildup. Here's a look at 10 former high school greats who are among the most hyped players in high school football history:

Emmitt Smith, Escambia (Pensacola, Fla.) — Plenty of hype surrounded Smith throughout his career, whether it was setting records at the high school, college or professional level. Before finishing his career as the NFL's all-time leading rusher, Smith was chasing national high school football records as a standout at Escambia. Besides leading his team to a pair of state championships, Smith also concluded his career in 1986 with a then-national record 45 games with 100 or more yards.

Video of Emmitt Smith in high school

Adrian Peterson, Palestine (Texas) — Talk of turning pro following his senior year in high school swirled around Peterson, who concluded his career at Palestine with 2,960 yards and 32 touchdowns in his senior year of 2003-04. He was named the U.S. Army National Player of the Year and went on to set an NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards while at Oklahoma. In 2007, Peterson was named the NFL Rookie of the Year. He's since been a four-time Pro Bowl selection.

John Elway, Granada Hills (Calif.) — Elway has become the benchmark against which all high school quarterbacks have been judged since he wowed college scouts in the late 1970s. He was ranked the No. 1 quarterback in the country and parlayed that talent into a scholarship at Stanford. The No. 1 pick in the NFL draft in 1983, Elway won two Super Bowls in his storied career with the Denver Broncos.

Players 4 through 10 (Continue reading)