The 1998 class is the one that brought in Michael Vick, Lee Suggs, Jake Grove, Willie Pile, and Ronyell Whitaker. That didn't ring the bell on the rankings like the 2001 class did -- Rivals didn't exist back then -- but I just listed four guys with NFL careers, out of 21 guys.

The 2001 class had Bryan Randall, Jeff King, DeAngelo Hall, James Anderson, and Kevin Jones. Four NFL players out of 21 also, plus you can easily argue that BR3 was more important and productive than Ronyell, so that tips the balance.

Of course, that doesn't include any analysis of the depth of the class. There's more to it than the top 4-5 guys.