Every recruiting cycle, Kansas City is blessed with players that can move on to play at the highest level of college football, but some classes are deeper than others. The class of 2018 of isn’t one of those, though.

Most recruiters have flocked to St. Louis where national talent like four star defensive tackles Michael Thompson of Parkway North and Trevor Trout of Chaminade and top-20 receiver Kamryn Babb of CBC reside. But while the depth isn’t quite there in Kansas City’s senior class, it doesn’t mean there aren’t players receiving considerable recruiting attention.

With that mind, here are the 810 Varsity Dandy Dozen, the top 12 recruits in the Kansas City metro area ranked by former ESPN and Rivals.com recruiting analyst Jeremy Crabtree. Crabtree joins play-by-play announcer Tim Spoerl on 810 WHB for another season of high school football broadcasts this fall. The season kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday when No. 9 Lee’s Summit West travels to No. 10 Blue Springs South and continues all the way through state championship weekend in late November.

1. Mario Goodrich
Athlete 6-2/180
Lee’s Summit West
College list: Committed to Nebraska.
Goodrich is an electric athlete that could play either receiver or cornerback on the next level and should be an immediate impact performer on special teams. “He's a true tall kid as a corner, and that's where he is really dynamic,” West coach Vinny Careswell told HuskersOnline.com. “He can get up. He can jump. He's a basketball player, too, who had offers from Tulsa and De Paul. When you get to that level as a basketball player, you know he has some ups, some vertical, and he has all of that. He’s ball hawk out there. He had five interceptions and three or four returns for pick-sixes. He's just one of those kids that is so smart out there.”

2. Daniel Parker
OL/DL 6-4/245
Blue Springs
College list: Committed to Missouri.
Parker, an all-state selection in 2016, was recruited by schools to play on either side of the ball, but his upside at offensive line is what was most exciting to coaches. Parker made an early commitment to Missouri, but later backed away from it and landed additional scholarship offers from around 20 schools. He eventually returned to the fold for Mizzou and is one of the Tigers’ most important early gets. “He's a smart kid,” Blue Springs coach Kelly Donohoe told PowerMIzzou.com. “He's a very strong kid. He's got great feet. Physically, he's a very strong weight room kid. This year going in, we really think he has a chance to be the best offensive lineman in Missouri. He will go over and play some defense we hope, because he has a good skillset there. But, for our team, we need him at offensive tackle, because that's really his very best position. Now in college that could change, but for high school he's a very dominant offensive lineman.”

3. Miles Emery
DE 6-5/235
Blue Valley North
College list: Committed to Kansas.
Emery is another dominating defensive lineman in the metro area in the senior class. What makes Emery even more valuable as a defender is his ability to play either in a 4-3 system with his hand on the ground, or a 3-4 as an outside linebacker with pass rushing ability. Either way, Emery is a good local get for the Jayhawks, especially since he was also offered by Iowa State, Louisville and Oklahoma. Despite teams scheming to avoid him, Emery earned unanimous all-league honors in the Eastern Kansas League, the most difficult conference in entire metro area.

4. Daniel Carson
DE 6-5/270
William Chrisman
College list: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Iowa State, Miami, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, TCU and Texas have offered and are Carson’s top schools.
William Chrisman was one of the biggest surprises of the 2016 season, starting out 7-0 before finishing the season 8-2. One of the reasons why Chrisman had success was the play of Carson, a dominating defender that crushed quarterbacks last season. Carson also stars in basketball and track, and few players in the region have seen their stock shoot through the roof like Carson has. Some recruiters believe he’s still “somewhat raw,” it’s that “huge upside and potential for even more improvement” that has seen him land offers from national powers like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State that don’t normally recruit in Kansas City. He could also end up being an interior offensive lineman down the road with his potential.

5. Cartez Crook-Jones
DE 6-4/230
Grandview
College list: Committed to Kansas.
Crook-Jones has the frame to play defensive end, as well as the athleticism defensive coordinators look for in a playmaker off the edge. He has been clocked at 4.73-seconds in the 40-yard dash, 4.6-seconds in the shuttle and has a 33-inch vertical leap. A second team Suburban Small 6 selection as a sophomore, Crook-Jones established himself as one of the top defensive linemen in Kansas City in 2016 with 67 tackles and 14.5 sacks. That turned the heads of Kansas, Iowa State and Kansas State, who all offered him, but it was the Jayhawks that secured the early commitment. "I am real explosive," Crook-Jones said. “I’m a big, fast, strong, athletic kid. KU feels like, if I put on some muscle and weight, get bigger and stronger, I’ll probably be one of them freshman that comes in and plays a little."

6. Devin Haney
CB 6-2/165
Park Hill
College list: Committed to Northern Illinois.
It doesn’t matter what Haney’s offer list looked like before he committed to Northern Illinois, because he is a baller. While many Power 5 schools waited to offer Haney, Northern Illinois jumped in on him early and got the commitment. The pledge is an absolute steal for the Huskies. Haney is so under-rated nationally it’s a crime more schools didn’t come knocking on his door. Haney has the fluidity and top-end speed to stay with the top wide receiver prospects at the highest levels of the game, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see bigger schools make a push with another excellent season.

7. Jackson Heath
TE 6-4/210
Blue Valley Northwest
College list: Army, Ball State, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Eastern Michigan, Holy Cross, Illinois State, Missouri State, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon State, South Dakota State and Youngstown State have offered.
Heath is one of the most intriguing prospects in Kansas City, especially since tall, quick and athletic tight ends with good hands are en vogue in college football today. Heath turned heads earlier this summer when he landed an offer from Oregon State, and his offer list could continue to grow with another stellar season. In 2016, Heath had 36 receptions for 592 yards and five touchdowns, helping him earn first team all-EKL and Class 6A all-state honors. 

8. D.J. Frost
WR 6-2/185
Blue Springs South
College list: Committed to Air Force.
Frost is the best player in Kansas City few folks have heard of. The 6-2, 185-pounder is returning from a fracture in his right foot that sidelined him for much of the 2016 season, but that didn’t stop Air Force from recognizing his ability and earning a summer commitment from him. All you need to do is turn on the tape against Olathe North last season to see what type of impact Frost will have this season. Against the Eagles, Frost had five receptions and 125 yards receiving, including a school-record 95-yard touchdown reception. “D.J. is the total package,” South coach Jon Oyler said. “He’s a great player and even greater kid.” If Frost has the type of season the Jaguar coaching staff expects, then he could easily become one of the hottest recruits in the Show Me State.

9. Ekow Boye-Doe
DB, 6-0/165
Lawrence
College list: Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri State and Northern Iowa have offered Boye-Doe.
What happens when you run a 4.38-second 40-yard dash time at a camp in the summer? You become one of the region’s hottest prospects. That’s exactly what happened for Ekow Boye-Doe, who clocked that time at Missouri State’s camp and then quickly started to reel in the offers. “Coaches say they like my speed,” he said. “They tell me they like how long I am and athletic. They think I can play corner on the next level with my size and speed.”

10. Khristian Boyd
DT 6-4/300
Blue Springs
College list: Arkansas State and Kansas have offered Boyd.
Boyd is a 300-pound lineman that will have plenty of opportunities to increase his college attention with Blue Springs ranked as one of Missouri’s top teams. When he wants to take over a game, Boyd can do that, and that potential has coaches excited about his future. He’ll need to have a more consistent effort to garner even more offers from Power 5 coaches.

11. Jacob Sykes
DT 6-4/255
Rockhurst
College list: Northwestern, Rice, Rutgers, Northern Illinois and others have offered Sykes.
Sykes is star on and off the field. Along with a resume that saw him make an early impact in his career at Rockhurst all over the field at defensive end, defensive tackle, nose guard, fullback and even slot receiver, Sykes also has a 4.3 grade-point average and a 34 on his ACT. His academic performance has drawn attention from numerous Ivy League schools, but he’s also talented enough he could play at Power 5 program.

12. Jaylen Ivey
RB 5-10/188
Blue Springs
College list: Army and Navy have offered Ivey.
Nobody took Kansas City football by storm last season than Ivey did. But not all of the attention was positive, as Ivey was suspended two games after he kicked a defender during the final moments of a 21-20 victory over Lee’s Summit West and the video went viral. If recruiters believe Ivey’s troubles are behind him, and he returns to the form that saw him rush for seven touchdowns in a game, then he could quickly shoot up the list.

Honorable mention:

• Nick Allen, LB, 6-0/220, Blue Valley Southwest
• Milton Braasch, LB, 6-0/215, SM East (Committed to Colgate)
• Jack Burns, OL, 6-3/285, Bishop Miege
• Kobe Cummings, ATH, 5-11/185, Platte County
• Zach Elam, TE, 6-4/220, Staley
• Ikenna Enechukwu, DE, 6-4/240, Ruskin
• Derek Green, QB, 6-3/175, Rockhurst
• Isaiah Iloilo, RB, 6-2/225, Fort Osage (Committed to Illinois State)
• Billy Maples, QB, 6-3/220, Park Hill
• Caleb Marquez, RB, 6-2/225, Blue Springs
• Brody Parker, QB/TE, 6-6/220, Blue Springs South
• Carter Putz, QB, 5-11/190, Bishop Miege (Committed to Notre Dame for baseball)
• Zach Starforth, OL, 6-5/300, Raymore-Peculiar
• Ethan Swanegan, WR, 6-6/205, Blue Springs South
• Kenton Wilhoit, LB, 6-2/205, Oak Grove (Committed to Illinois State)
• Joe Watskey, LB, 6-0/225, Bishop Miege
• Shakespeare Williams, ATH, 5-11/190 Ruskin

Jeremy Crabtree is highly regarded as one of the top recruiting analysts in the nation, as a former editor and analyst for Rivals.com and ESPN.com.