re: Question - Scout vs Rivals

All of them have pluses and minuses.
Rivals is better looking and widely regarded by fans as the go to choice.Rivals has also been proven to give out higher ratings to kids based on certain coaches and if a particular scout has a very high opinion of a kid(see Barton Simmons/Floyd Raven).I'm sure every site does this but they've actually been caught numerous times.Rivals is also very high on 7 on 7 stuff which is not a real good guide as far as pure football skills unless you're a wr.All about athleticism.Also have the Army game to which they'll give the participants a higher chance of moving up at the end.(not as bad as ESPN though)
Scout is not pretty to look at but most coaches and independent evaluators actually prefer them.They give out way too many 5 stars and 4 stars but they're actual position rankings are usually more in line with what people think.You just have to not look at the *s.They also have a huge problem actually going out and scouting players.They usually do most of their evaluating a year in advance and change rankings based on SR performances by the kids they already have ranked or evaluated.Very rarely will you see a kid not already evaluated by the summer get evaluated properly.Look at the list of 3 *s and 2 *s they have and you'll see that they miss a lot of kids.
ESPN is very poor imo.They are way too biased toward FL and the southeast in general.(I believe the best and most prospects are in the south but 48 FL kids in the 150?no way)They also stick to their guns with most kids.If you're rated high or low early it's hard to move alot with them.Also they make some very head scratching rankings.It seems they are trying to pick certain kids out and hope that they make it big so they can trump up the fact that they had them ranked ahead of other services.Sylve as the #3 wr this year is a great example.Even us as LSU fans that loved the kid early would never have him #3 in the country.Probably not even top 10.They also only really evaluate the Under Armour game.If a kid is in the Army game he basically has no chance to move up based on performiong in the practices and game.
I look at all the recruiting sites and just take all of it with a grain of salt.The best thing to do is look at the film yourself and make your own opinion.Trust me you have just as much chance of being right as they do.