Recruiting: 'low profile' offensive players could make big impact
The All-No Profiles Team had a better ring to
it, but that would have inaccurately described several of the players
mentioned, and since almost none had had any articles written about them, I
went with Low Profile instead. I'm sure I reached on a few of these guys, but I
feel very good about the defensive players I've got lined up. Some are
definitely Big 12 caliber. It will likely take a few days to get part two finished.
Go to any of the major recruiting sites and you can find all manner of lists and rankings for both the state and national level. I'm not much for ranking players overall; I'll leave to others the task of deciding which left guard should be ranked ahead of which strong safety or slot receiver. Instead, I'll present a list you won't find on those other sites, because, for the most part, you won't hear anything about these athletes on those sites. I give you my Low Profile Team for the 2014 Texas class. Most of the athletes mentioned here will be ones who do not have a prospect profile on any of the major sites, and nearly all of the ones who do have little or no information included on it and have had no articles written about them. I won't be so hazardous as to claim these are the best out of all the 2014 seniors who don't have profiles (I haven't scoured the interwebs that much) and I don't believe all of these guys are necessarily D1 talents, but a lot of them are. I've made mention before of talented players who did not at the time have profiles on the major sites, and if their eventual college destinations are any indication, the players mentioned in this piece will most likely end up signing with programs in the Big 12, the Lone Star Conference, or somewhere in between. I'll list the offensive players here, and cover the defensive players and "athletes" in part two. Players are listed by position and in alphabetical rather than preference order. Here we go. Quarterback Troy Allison (McGregor) 6-2 / 185 Profiles: ESPN (no articles and little info) The talented signal-caller for Class 2A's McGregor passed for over 2,000 yards and had over 30 combined touchdowns through the air and on the ground in 2012, and was an Honorable Mention All-State pick by the Texas Sports Writers Association. He profiles as more of a pro style passer in college, but he's got some athleticism. He competed in last spring's state track meet in the high jump, finishing in 6th place with a leap of 6'4". He cleared the bar at 6'7" earlier in the season, and he also recorded a long jump of 20'10". He's not the only athlete in the family; he has an older brother who high jumps for Tarleton State's track team and his parents were both college athletes. His father played football at Tarleton and his mother played basketball at North Texas. Whether it be in football or track, Troy Allison could very well get some Division I looks, but at worst one would expect Tarleton's coaches to be very well aware of him. Troy Allison game clips: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1888719/highlights/26330246 (these are from McGregor's game vs. eventual 2A Division I state champion Cameron Yoe) Tristen Barajas (Ingleside) 6-1 / 176 Profiles: none He became Ingleside's starting QB in the latter half of his freshman year, and in his subsequent two seasons as the full-time starter he threw for over 6,000 yards and 78 touchdowns against 17 interceptions, and led Ingleside to an overall record of 18-6. If his senior year stats merely average what he did in his sophomore and junior seasons, Barajas will finish his high school career with over 10,000 passing yards and over 110 touchdowns, both of which would comfortably place him within the state's all-time top 10 performers in both categories. It is inconceivable that a QB could do that without getting some major college interest. Barajas camped at Texas State and UTSA in the summer (UTSA has a QB committed and is extremely unlikely to take another in this class), and he has also received letters from Missouri and interest from Division II program Tarleton State, but as of last week he had no offers yet. Size and arm strength might be concerns, but he gets rid of the ball quickly and shows good touch on his passes. Tristen Barajas's junior highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/397223/highlights/58151375 Cameron Candelaria (El Paso Franklin) 6-2 / 185 Profiles: Rivals (no articles or info) I've mentioned Candelaria in two previous articles. As a junior he completed 66% of his passes for over 2,400 yards and 25 TDs against just three interceptions, and ran for another 569 yards and 12 TDs. He led a Franklin team that finished 10-2 and averaged over 470 yards on offense. One El Paso coach I talked with a few months ago called Candelaria the best QB in the city, and I'm inclined to agree. Cameron Candelaria's highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m512mvycLMQ Running Back Ryan Collins (Deweyville) 6-0 / 180 Profiles: none Who is Ryan Collins? Just your average generically-named white running back from a 2A-sized high school in a town whose name sounds like it could have been used in a Frank Capra movie. At least if your idea of "average" is rushing for over 1,700 yards and 30 touchdowns and being named his district's Offensive MVP. He's not among the most physically impressive running backs you'll see, but he appears to have a good frame that could carry 10-15 more pounds easily, and when he gets the ball he shows good vision, bursts through holes quickly, and has deceptive speed to run away from defenders when he gets to the second level or around the edge and down the sideline. Deweyville's offense features a lot of power-I and wing-T type looks, and Collins gets the ball on a lot of sweeps and an occasional counter. How he would perform in a one-back or spread-based offense - and/or at a higher competition level - I can't say, but I expect he would be a productive back anywhere, and he should get a shot at playing college ball at some level. Ryan Collins's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/995159/highlights/31195309 Brandon Johnson (Newton) 5-10 / 190 Profiles: none Johnson has largely been stayed in the shadow of teammate (and UT target) Kevin Shorter, but he is a talented running back in his own right. He'll go into his senior season with nearly 2,200 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns already on his career ledger. Shorter is obviously the bigger and better athlete, but on most teams Johnson would be the star in the backfield, and he'd likely have a prospect profile or two if he went to another school, especially one at a higher level (Newton is in Class 2A) and wasn't overshadowed by a big-time FBS-level recruit. He'll be getting a scholarship somewhere. Brandon Johnson's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/538273/highlights/21413380 Fred Pitts (Fort Worth Carter-Riverside) 6-0 / 225 Profiles: none Pitts is an athlete who would have been in much higher demand back when fullbacks were more widely used. At 6 feet and around 225 pounds, he's a big guy in the backfield and is very strong. Carter-Riverside head coach Jim Jeffries says Pitts has bench-pressed 365 pounds and runs a 4.5-4.6 forty. He's a very tough runner (try counting the times he just bowls over would-be tacklers in his highlights) and Jeffries says he has very good hands as well. Carter-Riverside's was not a potent offense in 2012 (they averaged less than 230 yards/game), and Pitts finished with a pedestrian-looking 421 yards rushing and 206 yards receiving. He should get the bulk of his team's carries and improve quite a bit on those numbers this season even if his team's offense remains mediocre overall. Fred Pitts's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/610519/highlights/47234378 John Scott (West Orange-Stark) 6-0 / 185 Profiles: none Just how lightly-regarded is John Scott? Not only does he have no prospect profiles, but he wasn't even mentioned in his own team's capsule preview in this summer's DCTF magazine. He was his team's fourth-leading rusher in 2012, carrying the ball 24 times for 197 yards and two touchdowns. WO-S graduated four of last year's top five leading rushers, so presumably Scott will have a much bigger role in the offense this fall. In giving him a mention here I'm putting quite a bit of faith in his college prospects, and based on a very small statistical sample and a 3:52 highlight video that shows several plays twice. But in that video he shows bits of explosiveness, and when he runs with the ball he looks to me like a taller (but not quite as fast) version of former Granbury running back Brandon Davis, who signed with Louisiana Tech as a preferred walk-on in 2012, got 21 carries as a true freshman, then transferred to FCS program Montana State this year. If Scott is to land at either D1 level, he may have to also emulate Davis's senior season stat line: 1,800 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns. That seems like a long shot, but Scott's highlight video has, as of this writing, 233 views (nearly four times as many as the 68 views for Fred Pitts's video), so he has probably attracted somebody's interest already. John Scott's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1892842/highlights Wide Receiver Isaiah Baker (Arlington) 6-0 / 170 Profiles: ESPN (little info, no articles mentioning him) Baker has very good speed for the high school level (he ran a 4.52 forty at the Dallas area NFTC in April), and he used it to good effect as a deep threat in 2012, catching 29 passes for 607 yards (20.9 yards/catch) and five TDs. He'll be his team's top receiver this season and he'll face some speedy and athletic opponents in the secondaries of Arlington ISD's other schools, so his receiving yards - for the most part - will come with a higher degree of difficulty than the other receivers mentioned here. With a strong senior year he'll get noticed by D1 programs, if he hasn't been already. Isaiah Baker's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1613578/#highlights/22968377 Danny Huckaby (Groesbeck) 6-1 / 165 Profiles: none Huckaby stars at wide receiver and cornerback for 3A Groesbeck. I like him more at receiver, but wouldn't be surprised if others thought differently. The first two clips in his highlights show him: 1. catching a deep ball near the sideline and outrunning defenders for a 94-yard touchdown reception, and 2. taking an interception some 50 yards back to the house. To me, he's one of those sleeper prospects who could just as easily end up in Conference USA or in Division II, depending on his senior season and what kind of exposure he gets. I'm a fan of the kid, and one writer who covers high school football in central Texas named Huckaby among the top 30 senior prospects in the region. Danny Huckaby's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1927009/#highlights/29181425 Lawrence Mallet (Houston KIPP Sunnyside) 6-5 / 180 Profiles: none That Mallet isn't more widely known can partly be attributed to the school he attends. KIPP Sunnyside is a charter school in south Houston that A. fielded its first varsity football team in 2012, B. will graduate its first senior class in 2014, C. has a pronounced lack of equipment and facilities for its student-athletes to practice with, and D. competes in a Class 3A district with long-established programs that have none of those disadvantages. KIPP Sunnyside's football team has a number of athletes who could play football in college at some level, and Mallet arguably has the most upside of the group. He's a tall outside receiver who shows decent speed, a willingness to go across the middle, and promise as a blocker, though he's quite raw. A few months ago I sent his highlights to a high school coach I know who has worked with a number of talented receivers. He emailed me back this response: "Sleeeeper. He looks like he could be really good." Lawrence Mallet's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1341236/highlights/39016379 Ryan Parker (Keller Fossil Ridge) 6-2 / 185 Profiles: Scout (shown in one photo gallery, but little other info and no articles mentioning him) I can't show you any film on Parker, and neither can anyone else. He did not play football as a junior, though he was the leading scorer on Fossil Ridge's basketball team. I'm including him here because he really impressed me when I saw Fossil Ridge at a 7-on-7 tournament in June. I was talking with another school's head coach when Parker caught the second of his three touchdowns in the first half of the game I was watching, and he looked so smooth and athletic that we both thought he was (TCU commit) Nick Foster at first. If he can build on his summer success and develop good chemistry with senior quarterback Jacob Gnacinski (who was offered by UTSA during the summer), he could have a very productive season. He's an athlete who has a good chance to go from complete unknown to FBS-level recruit this fall. Clay Rhodes (Kaufman) 6-0 / 180 Profiles: none Rhodes starts at quarterback for Kaufman but won't be lining up at that position in college. He could play either wide receiver or safety at the next level, and I originally included him with the "athletes" but am putting him with the receivers instead because, well, that's where I would have him play. He's got the speed to run away from many 3A defenses and is a threat to break a long gain any time he has the ball in his hands and a seam to run through. He's a physical and strong-looking athlete who could end up being a good slot receiver for somebody. Clay Rhodes's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/320514/highlights/40317380 Eddie Sinegal (El Paso Andress) 6-2 / 170 Profiles: none I mentioned Sinegal three months ago in my article on some of El Paso's top prospects. To briefly recap, he's an outside receiver with a Charleston White-like build who is very athletic and can make plays after the catch. As a junior he caught 63 passes for 1,288 yards (20.4 yards/catch) and 13 touchdowns. Texas Tech, Iowa State, Missouri, and New Mexico State appear to be his most interested suitors at the moment, but he still has no offers, something that should have ceased to be the case months ago. (I'm told that one of those four schools may be waiting to offer him in order to keep him under the radar, but I don't believe in intentionally keeping guys under the radar, so I'll be shooting as many holes into that plan as I can.) Of all the athletes mentioned in this piece who don't have any prospect profiles, Sinegal is the one I think the major sites should be most ashamed of for missing.Eddie Sinegal's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/897343/highlights/45089374 Tight End Keyaun Seastrunk (Newton) 6-2 / 220 Profiles: ESPN (no info and no articles mentioning him) Seastrunk is a linebacker-sized receiver who can be seen in his highlights lining up out wide and going deep, lining up attached and going intermediate, getting open off of play action, and, well that's about it. His route-running could use work, but he made the most of his receptions, as he caught 13 passes for 315 yards (24.2 yards/catch) and four touchdowns. Whether or not he can block, I have no idea; only one or two clips in his highlights show him even attempting to. He has good size for a tight end or H-back role, decent speed, and receiving skills good enough that he's bound to get upper division looks if he averages 20 yards per catch for another full season, though he'll have to show some blocking ability. Keyaun Seastrunk's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/538533/highlights/42544374 Aden Slay (Fort Worth Western Hills) 6-2 / 220 Profiles: none Many of today's tight end prospects are recruited to play that position based more on their size and receiving skills than their blocking skills. Contrasting that trend, we have Aden Slay. If he is recruited at all, it will be for his skills in blocking and not receiving. I say that partly because he didn't catch a single pass in 2012, and he's not likely to get many chances to show off in the passing game this year, either. Western Hills runs the wing-T, and while they averaged around 300 yards per game on the ground a year ago, as a team they gained barely 400 yards through the air in the entire season. For college programs needing a blocking tight end or H-back, Slay deserves a look, as he's among the better blockers I've seen in this class of tight ends. Both his own highlights and those of his teammates show him to be a good edge blocker and on many plays run to his side he is left on an island to block the defensive end and does an effective job, usually against bigger ends. There will be questions about whether he can duplicate that feat against college defensive ends, and how much weight he will be able to put on his frame, but he's another tight end to watch this fall. Aden Slay's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1931809/highlights/52531386 Chad Whitehead (Cedar Park) 6-3 / 220 Profiles: 247 and Scout (neither has any articles mentioning him) Whitehead is a player I mentioned in my June article on 2014 tight ends. He's a key returning starter for Cedar Park, 2012's Class 4A Division II state champion. He's not a four-star talent in any one area, but he looks like a poor man's David Thomas in the passing game and is described by his head coach as "an excellent edge blocker." He's a versatile tight end prospect who can line up attached, flexed out, as an H-back, and even serves as a deep snapper. He has good size for this level and his coach believes he'll be able to play at 240 pounds in college. Chad Whitehead's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/672259/highlights/41243376 Offensive Linemen Bryan Barrett (Denton Guyer) 6-2 / 305 Profiles: Rivals (no info or articles mentioning him) He'll get many chances to impress college coaches this fall, as he plays for the defending Class 4A Division I state champions and has a number of teammates who will certainly be playing on Saturdays in the future. Though he'll be a guard in college, Barrett played mainly right tackle in 2012 and showed himself to be a strong run blocker at the point of attack, and on film he shows good technique in pass protection while going against some quality competition. He's not without his faults though; even in his highlights he doesn't always finish his blocks, and an offensive line coach who watched Barrett's highlights (and whose opinion I sought) had doubts that he had the feet to consistently get to the second level, and said Barrett might be best suited to play guard in a man blocking system. But even with those criticisms, that coach, like me, believes Barrett will get a chance to play somewhere in college. Bryan Barrett's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/371045/highlights/25619373 Charlie Bray (Pottsboro) 6-6 / 330 Profiles: Scout (a few articles mentioning him), 247 (little info, no articles) Technically I'm cheating by including Bray, because he has actually been mentioned in a handful of articles, but I'm mentioning him anyway because 1. it's my article, and 2. when was the last time you read anything on Scout? Bray is a huge dude for any level, and that he's blocking Class 2A defensive linemen makes those battles seem even more unfair. He's not a four-star athlete on the offensive line but he moves well enough for his size that he's sure to get D1 offers. The header photo on his Twitter page is of Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, which might just be a clue on where he wants to spend his college years. Seems like a Bret Bielema type of lineman to me. Charlie Bray's highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF6cEgGnUfA Cole Dugan (Richardson Pearce) 6-4 / 245 Profiles: none The same offensive line coach who was critical of Bryan Barrett's feet (among other aspects of his game) thought Dugan looked "very average" and not D1 material. The coaches of district 9-5A evidently agree, as Dugan didn't get so much as an honorable mention spot on its all-district team last year. He might be the most irrational choice out of all the players included here, but I like how he plays and I think he could be a quality college lineman after a few years in an NCAA strength and conditioning program. He plays center for Pearce, and while he doesn't look exceptionally strong now, he moves pretty well and makes me wonder if he could still move that smoothly at 285 pounds or more. If he can after putting on that much weight, he could make a D2 or FCS coach somewhere look pretty smart. Coaches who've seen him play or watched his highlight clips seem to have a shared opinion of him, and for some reason I have a different one. Mine is based on a hunch and certainly not on years of coaching experience, and if Dugan does show himself to be very average and never plays a down of college football at any level, I'm okay with being wrong about him. When his senior year film comes out we'll have a better idea of which side will be right about him. Cole Dugan clips (vs. Dallas Skyline): http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1646377/highlights/28346630 Chizi Ibezim (Austin St. Dominic Savio) 6-3 / 290 Profiles: none One would need to see this Austin private school product in person so assess whether he's a D1 athlete, but you can tell from his film that he has a passion for finishing blocks. When he doesn't pancake his man, he can be seen pushing him backward 10-15 yards away from the play as the whistle is blown. One could very easily imagine him blocking a defensive lineman all the way down the field, beyond the sideline, and over a fence ala that scene in The Blind Side. Chizitam "Chizi" Ibezim plays right tackle and left guard on offense, and though I've read that he also lines up on defense, his highlights don't show any clips from his time on that side of the ball. He'll be an interior lineman at the next level, and there will be questions about how athletic he really is, not to mention how good his competition level was. (It's a mortal lock that competition level will be an issue - fairly or not - when your highlights include plays from a game against Texas School for the Deaf.) Still, he's a strong-looking kid who plays to the whistle, and everything I've read about him suggests he's a very good student. Ibezim could be a steal of a guard for someone if he ends up signing anywhere below the FBS level. Chizi Ibezim's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1930409/highlights/35361373 Daniel Laden (Austin) 6-7 / 250 Profiles: Scout (one 16-month-old article on him, little info otherwise) It's all about upside with Laden. Will he be able to add weight and still be effective in college? Can he play at 300 pounds one day? Will he resemble his school's head coach, Mike Rosenthal, a fellow 6-7 offensive lineman who was a team captain at Notre Dame and went on to start 58 games during an 8-year NFL career? That's certainly what colleges recruiting him would hope to have happen. He's at the opposite end of the o-lineman spectrum from a recruit like David Anzaldua (Edinburg North), who has Laden's length but carries about 70 more pounds. I like Laden's film better than that of Anzaldua and some other big o-linemen who have received FBS offers. My aforementioned offensive line coach friend had some criticisms of Laden but liked how he plays low and with good leverage, and he believes Laden could be a pretty good lineman in a few years with the right program if given a redshirt year and time to develop and add good weight. Daniel Laden's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/959285/highlights/32885436 Thomas Walsh (Colleyville Heritage) 6-3 / 280 Profiles: none He plays left tackle for Heritage and got a lot of pass blocking experience in 2012 while protecting Cody Thomas's blind side. He plays a bit high at times when run-blocking (yes, Heritage did call a few running plays last year) but was still pretty effective in that area. He's a decent puller and looks like a very strong kid, pushing aside a few pass rushers with his initial punch and pancaking others into the ground. He played at a premium position for an established program and blocked for a nationally-recruited quarterback, so there must be some reason none of the sites have a profile on him. Once again, from my offensive line coach friend: "I would call him a very average athlete. He has really heavy feet to me and doesn't move them that well." Still, he allowed that Walsh displays a mean streak with his blocking and that some of his shortcomings as an athlete might be hidden in college, where he'll almost certainly be moved inside. He won't be blocking for a Big 12-bound signal-caller in 2013, but hopefully Walsh will still have some sets of collegiate coaching eyes watching him. I think he could be a solid left guard or center for somebody. Thomas Walsh's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1418767/highlights/39026381 I'll have the defensive side of the All-Low Profile Team for you in the coming days, and I'm even more excited to show you that group. Until then, I welcome any comments, criticisms, or praise (help me out, dos bobby!) you may have for my offensive selections.
Go to any of the major recruiting sites and you can find all manner of lists and rankings for both the state and national level. I'm not much for ranking players overall; I'll leave to others the task of deciding which left guard should be ranked ahead of which strong safety or slot receiver. Instead, I'll present a list you won't find on those other sites, because, for the most part, you won't hear anything about these athletes on those sites. I give you my Low Profile Team for the 2014 Texas class. Most of the athletes mentioned here will be ones who do not have a prospect profile on any of the major sites, and nearly all of the ones who do have little or no information included on it and have had no articles written about them. I won't be so hazardous as to claim these are the best out of all the 2014 seniors who don't have profiles (I haven't scoured the interwebs that much) and I don't believe all of these guys are necessarily D1 talents, but a lot of them are. I've made mention before of talented players who did not at the time have profiles on the major sites, and if their eventual college destinations are any indication, the players mentioned in this piece will most likely end up signing with programs in the Big 12, the Lone Star Conference, or somewhere in between. I'll list the offensive players here, and cover the defensive players and "athletes" in part two. Players are listed by position and in alphabetical rather than preference order. Here we go. Quarterback Troy Allison (McGregor) 6-2 / 185 Profiles: ESPN (no articles and little info) The talented signal-caller for Class 2A's McGregor passed for over 2,000 yards and had over 30 combined touchdowns through the air and on the ground in 2012, and was an Honorable Mention All-State pick by the Texas Sports Writers Association. He profiles as more of a pro style passer in college, but he's got some athleticism. He competed in last spring's state track meet in the high jump, finishing in 6th place with a leap of 6'4". He cleared the bar at 6'7" earlier in the season, and he also recorded a long jump of 20'10". He's not the only athlete in the family; he has an older brother who high jumps for Tarleton State's track team and his parents were both college athletes. His father played football at Tarleton and his mother played basketball at North Texas. Whether it be in football or track, Troy Allison could very well get some Division I looks, but at worst one would expect Tarleton's coaches to be very well aware of him. Troy Allison game clips: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1888719/highlights/26330246 (these are from McGregor's game vs. eventual 2A Division I state champion Cameron Yoe) Tristen Barajas (Ingleside) 6-1 / 176 Profiles: none He became Ingleside's starting QB in the latter half of his freshman year, and in his subsequent two seasons as the full-time starter he threw for over 6,000 yards and 78 touchdowns against 17 interceptions, and led Ingleside to an overall record of 18-6. If his senior year stats merely average what he did in his sophomore and junior seasons, Barajas will finish his high school career with over 10,000 passing yards and over 110 touchdowns, both of which would comfortably place him within the state's all-time top 10 performers in both categories. It is inconceivable that a QB could do that without getting some major college interest. Barajas camped at Texas State and UTSA in the summer (UTSA has a QB committed and is extremely unlikely to take another in this class), and he has also received letters from Missouri and interest from Division II program Tarleton State, but as of last week he had no offers yet. Size and arm strength might be concerns, but he gets rid of the ball quickly and shows good touch on his passes. Tristen Barajas's junior highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/397223/highlights/58151375 Cameron Candelaria (El Paso Franklin) 6-2 / 185 Profiles: Rivals (no articles or info) I've mentioned Candelaria in two previous articles. As a junior he completed 66% of his passes for over 2,400 yards and 25 TDs against just three interceptions, and ran for another 569 yards and 12 TDs. He led a Franklin team that finished 10-2 and averaged over 470 yards on offense. One El Paso coach I talked with a few months ago called Candelaria the best QB in the city, and I'm inclined to agree. Cameron Candelaria's highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m512mvycLMQ Running Back Ryan Collins (Deweyville) 6-0 / 180 Profiles: none Who is Ryan Collins? Just your average generically-named white running back from a 2A-sized high school in a town whose name sounds like it could have been used in a Frank Capra movie. At least if your idea of "average" is rushing for over 1,700 yards and 30 touchdowns and being named his district's Offensive MVP. He's not among the most physically impressive running backs you'll see, but he appears to have a good frame that could carry 10-15 more pounds easily, and when he gets the ball he shows good vision, bursts through holes quickly, and has deceptive speed to run away from defenders when he gets to the second level or around the edge and down the sideline. Deweyville's offense features a lot of power-I and wing-T type looks, and Collins gets the ball on a lot of sweeps and an occasional counter. How he would perform in a one-back or spread-based offense - and/or at a higher competition level - I can't say, but I expect he would be a productive back anywhere, and he should get a shot at playing college ball at some level. Ryan Collins's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/995159/highlights/31195309 Brandon Johnson (Newton) 5-10 / 190 Profiles: none Johnson has largely been stayed in the shadow of teammate (and UT target) Kevin Shorter, but he is a talented running back in his own right. He'll go into his senior season with nearly 2,200 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns already on his career ledger. Shorter is obviously the bigger and better athlete, but on most teams Johnson would be the star in the backfield, and he'd likely have a prospect profile or two if he went to another school, especially one at a higher level (Newton is in Class 2A) and wasn't overshadowed by a big-time FBS-level recruit. He'll be getting a scholarship somewhere. Brandon Johnson's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/538273/highlights/21413380 Fred Pitts (Fort Worth Carter-Riverside) 6-0 / 225 Profiles: none Pitts is an athlete who would have been in much higher demand back when fullbacks were more widely used. At 6 feet and around 225 pounds, he's a big guy in the backfield and is very strong. Carter-Riverside head coach Jim Jeffries says Pitts has bench-pressed 365 pounds and runs a 4.5-4.6 forty. He's a very tough runner (try counting the times he just bowls over would-be tacklers in his highlights) and Jeffries says he has very good hands as well. Carter-Riverside's was not a potent offense in 2012 (they averaged less than 230 yards/game), and Pitts finished with a pedestrian-looking 421 yards rushing and 206 yards receiving. He should get the bulk of his team's carries and improve quite a bit on those numbers this season even if his team's offense remains mediocre overall. Fred Pitts's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/610519/highlights/47234378 John Scott (West Orange-Stark) 6-0 / 185 Profiles: none Just how lightly-regarded is John Scott? Not only does he have no prospect profiles, but he wasn't even mentioned in his own team's capsule preview in this summer's DCTF magazine. He was his team's fourth-leading rusher in 2012, carrying the ball 24 times for 197 yards and two touchdowns. WO-S graduated four of last year's top five leading rushers, so presumably Scott will have a much bigger role in the offense this fall. In giving him a mention here I'm putting quite a bit of faith in his college prospects, and based on a very small statistical sample and a 3:52 highlight video that shows several plays twice. But in that video he shows bits of explosiveness, and when he runs with the ball he looks to me like a taller (but not quite as fast) version of former Granbury running back Brandon Davis, who signed with Louisiana Tech as a preferred walk-on in 2012, got 21 carries as a true freshman, then transferred to FCS program Montana State this year. If Scott is to land at either D1 level, he may have to also emulate Davis's senior season stat line: 1,800 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns. That seems like a long shot, but Scott's highlight video has, as of this writing, 233 views (nearly four times as many as the 68 views for Fred Pitts's video), so he has probably attracted somebody's interest already. John Scott's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1892842/highlights Wide Receiver Isaiah Baker (Arlington) 6-0 / 170 Profiles: ESPN (little info, no articles mentioning him) Baker has very good speed for the high school level (he ran a 4.52 forty at the Dallas area NFTC in April), and he used it to good effect as a deep threat in 2012, catching 29 passes for 607 yards (20.9 yards/catch) and five TDs. He'll be his team's top receiver this season and he'll face some speedy and athletic opponents in the secondaries of Arlington ISD's other schools, so his receiving yards - for the most part - will come with a higher degree of difficulty than the other receivers mentioned here. With a strong senior year he'll get noticed by D1 programs, if he hasn't been already. Isaiah Baker's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1613578/#highlights/22968377 Danny Huckaby (Groesbeck) 6-1 / 165 Profiles: none Huckaby stars at wide receiver and cornerback for 3A Groesbeck. I like him more at receiver, but wouldn't be surprised if others thought differently. The first two clips in his highlights show him: 1. catching a deep ball near the sideline and outrunning defenders for a 94-yard touchdown reception, and 2. taking an interception some 50 yards back to the house. To me, he's one of those sleeper prospects who could just as easily end up in Conference USA or in Division II, depending on his senior season and what kind of exposure he gets. I'm a fan of the kid, and one writer who covers high school football in central Texas named Huckaby among the top 30 senior prospects in the region. Danny Huckaby's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1927009/#highlights/29181425 Lawrence Mallet (Houston KIPP Sunnyside) 6-5 / 180 Profiles: none That Mallet isn't more widely known can partly be attributed to the school he attends. KIPP Sunnyside is a charter school in south Houston that A. fielded its first varsity football team in 2012, B. will graduate its first senior class in 2014, C. has a pronounced lack of equipment and facilities for its student-athletes to practice with, and D. competes in a Class 3A district with long-established programs that have none of those disadvantages. KIPP Sunnyside's football team has a number of athletes who could play football in college at some level, and Mallet arguably has the most upside of the group. He's a tall outside receiver who shows decent speed, a willingness to go across the middle, and promise as a blocker, though he's quite raw. A few months ago I sent his highlights to a high school coach I know who has worked with a number of talented receivers. He emailed me back this response: "Sleeeeper. He looks like he could be really good." Lawrence Mallet's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1341236/highlights/39016379 Ryan Parker (Keller Fossil Ridge) 6-2 / 185 Profiles: Scout (shown in one photo gallery, but little other info and no articles mentioning him) I can't show you any film on Parker, and neither can anyone else. He did not play football as a junior, though he was the leading scorer on Fossil Ridge's basketball team. I'm including him here because he really impressed me when I saw Fossil Ridge at a 7-on-7 tournament in June. I was talking with another school's head coach when Parker caught the second of his three touchdowns in the first half of the game I was watching, and he looked so smooth and athletic that we both thought he was (TCU commit) Nick Foster at first. If he can build on his summer success and develop good chemistry with senior quarterback Jacob Gnacinski (who was offered by UTSA during the summer), he could have a very productive season. He's an athlete who has a good chance to go from complete unknown to FBS-level recruit this fall. Clay Rhodes (Kaufman) 6-0 / 180 Profiles: none Rhodes starts at quarterback for Kaufman but won't be lining up at that position in college. He could play either wide receiver or safety at the next level, and I originally included him with the "athletes" but am putting him with the receivers instead because, well, that's where I would have him play. He's got the speed to run away from many 3A defenses and is a threat to break a long gain any time he has the ball in his hands and a seam to run through. He's a physical and strong-looking athlete who could end up being a good slot receiver for somebody. Clay Rhodes's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/320514/highlights/40317380 Eddie Sinegal (El Paso Andress) 6-2 / 170 Profiles: none I mentioned Sinegal three months ago in my article on some of El Paso's top prospects. To briefly recap, he's an outside receiver with a Charleston White-like build who is very athletic and can make plays after the catch. As a junior he caught 63 passes for 1,288 yards (20.4 yards/catch) and 13 touchdowns. Texas Tech, Iowa State, Missouri, and New Mexico State appear to be his most interested suitors at the moment, but he still has no offers, something that should have ceased to be the case months ago. (I'm told that one of those four schools may be waiting to offer him in order to keep him under the radar, but I don't believe in intentionally keeping guys under the radar, so I'll be shooting as many holes into that plan as I can.) Of all the athletes mentioned in this piece who don't have any prospect profiles, Sinegal is the one I think the major sites should be most ashamed of for missing.Eddie Sinegal's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/897343/highlights/45089374 Tight End Keyaun Seastrunk (Newton) 6-2 / 220 Profiles: ESPN (no info and no articles mentioning him) Seastrunk is a linebacker-sized receiver who can be seen in his highlights lining up out wide and going deep, lining up attached and going intermediate, getting open off of play action, and, well that's about it. His route-running could use work, but he made the most of his receptions, as he caught 13 passes for 315 yards (24.2 yards/catch) and four touchdowns. Whether or not he can block, I have no idea; only one or two clips in his highlights show him even attempting to. He has good size for a tight end or H-back role, decent speed, and receiving skills good enough that he's bound to get upper division looks if he averages 20 yards per catch for another full season, though he'll have to show some blocking ability. Keyaun Seastrunk's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/538533/highlights/42544374 Aden Slay (Fort Worth Western Hills) 6-2 / 220 Profiles: none Many of today's tight end prospects are recruited to play that position based more on their size and receiving skills than their blocking skills. Contrasting that trend, we have Aden Slay. If he is recruited at all, it will be for his skills in blocking and not receiving. I say that partly because he didn't catch a single pass in 2012, and he's not likely to get many chances to show off in the passing game this year, either. Western Hills runs the wing-T, and while they averaged around 300 yards per game on the ground a year ago, as a team they gained barely 400 yards through the air in the entire season. For college programs needing a blocking tight end or H-back, Slay deserves a look, as he's among the better blockers I've seen in this class of tight ends. Both his own highlights and those of his teammates show him to be a good edge blocker and on many plays run to his side he is left on an island to block the defensive end and does an effective job, usually against bigger ends. There will be questions about whether he can duplicate that feat against college defensive ends, and how much weight he will be able to put on his frame, but he's another tight end to watch this fall. Aden Slay's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1931809/highlights/52531386 Chad Whitehead (Cedar Park) 6-3 / 220 Profiles: 247 and Scout (neither has any articles mentioning him) Whitehead is a player I mentioned in my June article on 2014 tight ends. He's a key returning starter for Cedar Park, 2012's Class 4A Division II state champion. He's not a four-star talent in any one area, but he looks like a poor man's David Thomas in the passing game and is described by his head coach as "an excellent edge blocker." He's a versatile tight end prospect who can line up attached, flexed out, as an H-back, and even serves as a deep snapper. He has good size for this level and his coach believes he'll be able to play at 240 pounds in college. Chad Whitehead's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/672259/highlights/41243376 Offensive Linemen Bryan Barrett (Denton Guyer) 6-2 / 305 Profiles: Rivals (no info or articles mentioning him) He'll get many chances to impress college coaches this fall, as he plays for the defending Class 4A Division I state champions and has a number of teammates who will certainly be playing on Saturdays in the future. Though he'll be a guard in college, Barrett played mainly right tackle in 2012 and showed himself to be a strong run blocker at the point of attack, and on film he shows good technique in pass protection while going against some quality competition. He's not without his faults though; even in his highlights he doesn't always finish his blocks, and an offensive line coach who watched Barrett's highlights (and whose opinion I sought) had doubts that he had the feet to consistently get to the second level, and said Barrett might be best suited to play guard in a man blocking system. But even with those criticisms, that coach, like me, believes Barrett will get a chance to play somewhere in college. Bryan Barrett's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/371045/highlights/25619373 Charlie Bray (Pottsboro) 6-6 / 330 Profiles: Scout (a few articles mentioning him), 247 (little info, no articles) Technically I'm cheating by including Bray, because he has actually been mentioned in a handful of articles, but I'm mentioning him anyway because 1. it's my article, and 2. when was the last time you read anything on Scout? Bray is a huge dude for any level, and that he's blocking Class 2A defensive linemen makes those battles seem even more unfair. He's not a four-star athlete on the offensive line but he moves well enough for his size that he's sure to get D1 offers. The header photo on his Twitter page is of Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, which might just be a clue on where he wants to spend his college years. Seems like a Bret Bielema type of lineman to me. Charlie Bray's highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF6cEgGnUfA Cole Dugan (Richardson Pearce) 6-4 / 245 Profiles: none The same offensive line coach who was critical of Bryan Barrett's feet (among other aspects of his game) thought Dugan looked "very average" and not D1 material. The coaches of district 9-5A evidently agree, as Dugan didn't get so much as an honorable mention spot on its all-district team last year. He might be the most irrational choice out of all the players included here, but I like how he plays and I think he could be a quality college lineman after a few years in an NCAA strength and conditioning program. He plays center for Pearce, and while he doesn't look exceptionally strong now, he moves pretty well and makes me wonder if he could still move that smoothly at 285 pounds or more. If he can after putting on that much weight, he could make a D2 or FCS coach somewhere look pretty smart. Coaches who've seen him play or watched his highlight clips seem to have a shared opinion of him, and for some reason I have a different one. Mine is based on a hunch and certainly not on years of coaching experience, and if Dugan does show himself to be very average and never plays a down of college football at any level, I'm okay with being wrong about him. When his senior year film comes out we'll have a better idea of which side will be right about him. Cole Dugan clips (vs. Dallas Skyline): http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1646377/highlights/28346630 Chizi Ibezim (Austin St. Dominic Savio) 6-3 / 290 Profiles: none One would need to see this Austin private school product in person so assess whether he's a D1 athlete, but you can tell from his film that he has a passion for finishing blocks. When he doesn't pancake his man, he can be seen pushing him backward 10-15 yards away from the play as the whistle is blown. One could very easily imagine him blocking a defensive lineman all the way down the field, beyond the sideline, and over a fence ala that scene in The Blind Side. Chizitam "Chizi" Ibezim plays right tackle and left guard on offense, and though I've read that he also lines up on defense, his highlights don't show any clips from his time on that side of the ball. He'll be an interior lineman at the next level, and there will be questions about how athletic he really is, not to mention how good his competition level was. (It's a mortal lock that competition level will be an issue - fairly or not - when your highlights include plays from a game against Texas School for the Deaf.) Still, he's a strong-looking kid who plays to the whistle, and everything I've read about him suggests he's a very good student. Ibezim could be a steal of a guard for someone if he ends up signing anywhere below the FBS level. Chizi Ibezim's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1930409/highlights/35361373 Daniel Laden (Austin) 6-7 / 250 Profiles: Scout (one 16-month-old article on him, little info otherwise) It's all about upside with Laden. Will he be able to add weight and still be effective in college? Can he play at 300 pounds one day? Will he resemble his school's head coach, Mike Rosenthal, a fellow 6-7 offensive lineman who was a team captain at Notre Dame and went on to start 58 games during an 8-year NFL career? That's certainly what colleges recruiting him would hope to have happen. He's at the opposite end of the o-lineman spectrum from a recruit like David Anzaldua (Edinburg North), who has Laden's length but carries about 70 more pounds. I like Laden's film better than that of Anzaldua and some other big o-linemen who have received FBS offers. My aforementioned offensive line coach friend had some criticisms of Laden but liked how he plays low and with good leverage, and he believes Laden could be a pretty good lineman in a few years with the right program if given a redshirt year and time to develop and add good weight. Daniel Laden's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/959285/highlights/32885436 Thomas Walsh (Colleyville Heritage) 6-3 / 280 Profiles: none He plays left tackle for Heritage and got a lot of pass blocking experience in 2012 while protecting Cody Thomas's blind side. He plays a bit high at times when run-blocking (yes, Heritage did call a few running plays last year) but was still pretty effective in that area. He's a decent puller and looks like a very strong kid, pushing aside a few pass rushers with his initial punch and pancaking others into the ground. He played at a premium position for an established program and blocked for a nationally-recruited quarterback, so there must be some reason none of the sites have a profile on him. Once again, from my offensive line coach friend: "I would call him a very average athlete. He has really heavy feet to me and doesn't move them that well." Still, he allowed that Walsh displays a mean streak with his blocking and that some of his shortcomings as an athlete might be hidden in college, where he'll almost certainly be moved inside. He won't be blocking for a Big 12-bound signal-caller in 2013, but hopefully Walsh will still have some sets of collegiate coaching eyes watching him. I think he could be a solid left guard or center for somebody. Thomas Walsh's highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1418767/highlights/39026381 I'll have the defensive side of the All-Low Profile Team for you in the coming days, and I'm even more excited to show you that group. Until then, I welcome any comments, criticisms, or praise (help me out, dos bobby!) you may have for my offensive selections.
