I'm much better at reviewing old classes to see the hits and misses. You're asking me how to recruit and that's tougher. The lists are probably good as a starting point to see which recruits to evaluate but the coaches need to do their own research on the prospects.

A common method of recruiters use is to contact coaches and sportswriters in the area to see who is a rising star. They have football camps in the Summer to get prospects to show up and be evaluated. There are lots of videos on HUDL and Youtube that show film. The lists are still helpful overall but there is no guarantee that the 4 star LB is going to be better than the 3 star LB. A lot of recruiting rankings are based on how many offers the recruit receives. I do believe it's easier with the internet to better evaluate prospects through various online videos but there are still probably some bloomers or guys who aren't on everyone's radar.

The whole national system is built on evaluations made at the state or regional level. If players are not facing the same competition, it's not possible to evaluate them with accuracy. I don't think people can accurately compare a prep defensive back in Arkansas to a similar player in Georgia. They have events where players can do various speed/strength tests but not all workout warriors are good football players.