Da’Rick Rogers: a look at Tennessee signees

The University of Tennessee has had plenty of impact wide receivers over the years and they were in play for pretty much all of the top wide receivers in the recruiting class of 2010. The Vols had Markeith Ambles in line to be a Vol for some time and were also making a strong push for Kyle Prater after Pete Carroll left Southern Cal. As of now the Vols still have the top junior-college wide receiver in the mix, although Kenbrell Thompkins is still trying to find his way out of town after the coaching change.

Out of all the news surrounding the wide receivers, the most important to Vol fans were the latest additions, including a signing day coup that saw Da’Rick Rogers spurn the local school and become a Tennessee Volunteer on signing day. After being committed to the in-state Georgia Bulldogs for some time, Rogers made the call to Coach Dooley and let it be known that he was headed to Knoxville for his college ball.

The 6-foot-2, 205 Under Armour All-American has dazzled scouts, coaches and fans for years and now it appears he will be lighting up Neyland Stadium with his amazing athleticism for the next few years. Rogers, who starred at Calhoun High School in Calhoun, GA, has the size, speed and hands to make every play you can expect a receiver to make. Of all the ups and downs that Vol Nation experienced during this recruiting cycle, this may have been the biggest of them all as Rogers turned on the local school as he felt the wave of momentum building in Knoxville.

The ESPNU 150 member and Under Armour All-American was given this scouting report by the folks at Scouts, Inc., as written on ESPN.com…

The more you watch Rogers, the more impressive he becomes. He is big, knows how to use his size and displays explosive straight-line speed in the open field. He has a tremendous size-to-speed ratio and he is strong. Rogers has the ability to out-muscle defensive backs in contested matchups as well as ward off tacklers after the catch. Drives defenders off the ball with nice a surge and is an imposing figure off the line. Shows a long, but explosive stride. He does a great job tracking the ball, while its in the air and possesses excellent body control to make acrobatic catches. He has excellent size and very good strength after the catch. Will stiff arm defenders and drag them for extra yards. He can win footraces and flashes the ability to be a legitimate home run threat. He is a huge threat on the fade and vertical routes. He is very difficult to defend in the red zone. Presents a huge problem for smaller corners who try to cover or tackle him. He has very big, soft hands and shows the ability to pull the ball away in jump-ball situations. He is elusive for his size and shows a second gear in the open field. He has a wide wingspan that creates huge throwing windows. As impressive as his physical tools and upside are, he does not show a lot of wiggle or flexibility in his change-of-direction. Has some stiffness in the hips. You can see it as a route-runner and ball-carrier. His strength and first-step quickness can help him avoid the first guy, but he isn’t a guy that will put multiple moves together in space to make people miss. Overall, Rogers is an impressive physical specimen and at times looks like a Calvin Johnson-type player. He is aggressive, makes plays and presents some difficult one-on-one mismatches for opposing defenses. Excellent prospect.

Anytime you are compared favorably to someone like Calvin Johnson, you know you have a bright future. Rogers can make so many plays that is hard to peg him as a certain type of receiver, He can blow past defenders, go up and beat them for the ball, and he even blocks with the best of them. Where Vol fans can expect Da’Rick to be most dangerous is in the red zone and in one on one situations, where he is matched up against a smaller corner. His physicality will be too much for most corners to handle. We expect Rogers to be one of the true impact players in this class and so does ESPNU, as they gave Rogers a 4-Star ranking to go along with his All-American status.

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