ForumsBy Justin Wells
Recruiting Coordinator
Gatorcountry.com
SAN ANTONIO, TX — As preparations for Saturday’s US Army All-American Bowl moved into day three, players participated in a skills challenge during the morning, before moving onto intrasquad scrimmages in the afternoon. Here’s a look at some of the top performers on the day for the East and West squads:
QUARTERBACK: Jake Heaps (Sammamish, WA Skyline) appears to be the best quarterback I’ve seen in the last two weeks after watching him throw today. Like a lot of those BYU quarterbacks who have excelled over the years, Heaps doesn’t impress just by first glance. He’s a little short (probably around 6-1) and a a frame that I heard move observer mention as “lumpy.” That said, he throws the ball extremely well, with good arm strength, and near-pinpoint accuracy. He throws well enough on the run, and while he is not much of a scrambler, he is athletic enough to make people miss in the pocket.
Another player who impressed today would be Penn State commitment Paul Jones (McKees Rocks, PA Sto-Rox COMMITTED TO PENN STATE). Jones has great size (6-3, 225) and throws extremely well on the run. The only negative I can take from Jones’ performance today, is that he has a strange hitch in his throwing motion that needs to be worked out. Aside from that, he is very impressive.
One other quarterback, Iowa commitment A.J. Derby (Iowa City, IA) was moved from the west team to the east specifically so he could play quarterback. I’m not sure he’s as tall as listed (6-5), but he is a big kid who threw the ball with a lot of zip, and with much better accuracy than might be expected by a kid that some thought could be headed to play linebacker on the next level.
RUNNING BACK: In scrimmage work today, there wasn’t a lot of live tackling, so it was hard for the running backs to stand out. Lache Seastrunk (Temple, TX Temple) stood out as the best all-around athlete at the position based on his work in the scrimmage, and the fact he appeared the fastest 40-yard dash of the day when the players ran an informal set of sprints during the skills challenge.
WIDE RECEIVER: A lot of players stood out at this position during scrimmage work. Kyle Prater (Hillside, IL Proviso West COMMITTED TO USC) had a long touchdown pass of close to 70 yards from Barry Brunetti where he simply got behind the defense. East cornerback Jaylen Watkins (Cape Coral, FL COMMITTED TO FLORIDA) said that Prater has been the most difficult receiver to cover in practice.
Christian Green (Tampa, FL Catholic) was phenomenal on the afternoon as well. He hauled in a long touchdown pass of about 50 yards where he found a hole in the defense down the left sideline, and simply ran past everyone to the end zone. His play on Wednesday drew a lot of rave reviews from the crowd.
Another prospect who deserves mention is Ivan McCartney (Miramar, FL). He scored on a ten-yard touchdown pass, and celebrated by doing a crazy dance that was reminiscent of something out of the book of Steve Urkel.
Although he didn’t do much in scrimmage work, I saw hometown star Nate Askew (San Antonio, TX James Madison COMMITTED TO TEXAS A&M) beat defensive backs Dior Mathis (Detroit, MI Cass Tech COMMITTED TO MICHIGAN) and Jarrick Williams (Prichard, AL Blount COMMITTED TO ALABAMA) for long touchdown passes in one-on-one drills. Those plays elicited loud cheers from his family, who were decked out in Aggie gear from the stands.
TIGHT END: It didn’t seem the tight ends got much respect in the passing game. C.J. Fiedorwicz (Johnsburg, IL COMMITTED TO IOWA) of the East seemed to get the most attention from his quarterbacks on the afternoon.
It should be noted that Ronald Powell (Rancho Verde, CA Moreno Valley) and Gerald Christian (Palm Beach Gardens, FL Dwyer COMMITTED TO FLORIDA) “ran the gauntlet” in which they ran a straight line down the width of the field and caught passes from quarterbacks on both sides and performed very well in the drill. Both players looked like natural pass-catchers in the drill, which is impressive considering both Christian and Powell are in excess of 230 pounds.
OFFENSIVE LINE: It’s hard to look at anyone but Seantrel Henderson (St. Paul, MN Cretin-Derham Hall) as the most impressive offensive lineman in San Antonio. There are a lot of guys listed as being 6-6, 6-7, and even 6-8 on the rosters. Only one of them has his own area code, however, and that’s Henderson. He played very well while often matched up against Owamagbe “Owa” Odighizuwa (Portland, OR David Douglas) and Texas commitment Reggie Wilson (Haltom City, TX).
One other interesting note for the linemen, West Virginia commitment Quinton Spain (Petersburg, VA) beat Ronald Powell in the obstacle course during the skills challenge. It did look like Powell took the match-up lightly, but Spain got the win for the East team, nonetheless. To Powell’s credit, he would take a second turn and win easily over Jacques Smith (Ooltewah, TN COMMITTED TO TENNESSEE).
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: It was hard to pick out too many standouts, as the defenses were taking it relatively easy today. Sharrif Floyd (Philadelphia, PA George Washington) is the big name for the East squad. Meanwhile, the strength for the West is on the edge with Odighizuwa, Powell and Wilson.
Odighizuwa seemed to be the most active presence on the day. He’s a big kid — definitely heavier than Powell at this point — who just seems to have his motor on full throttle at all times. Again, with the defenses going less than 100 percent today, it was hard to gauge the defense lineman, but Odighizuwa was the name that really stood out on the afternoon.
LINEBACKERS: Have to go more on who “looks” the part here more than anything else at this point. Blake Lueders (Zionsville, IN COMMITTED TO NOTRE DAME) and Chris Martin (Aurora, CO Grandview COMMITTED TO CAL) give the East an absolutely massive pair of linebackers. Lueders is listed at 6-5, 250 pounds, while Martin goes 6-4, 240 pounds.
After seeing Martin this summer, he looked like a guy who could potentially carry 275 pounds (or more) in college, but he looked very fluid and comfortable playing in space. He could eventually grow into a defensive lineman down the road, but linebacker is his place for now.
Tony Jefferson (Chula Vista, CA Eastlake COMMITTED TO OKLAHOMA) is listed as an outside linebacker for the West, and he is even seeing time as a punt returner on special teams. He is incredibly athletic, and looks like a big-time playmaker in the future for the Sooners.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Not a lot of standouts here on the afternoon. The player that really impressed was LSU commitment Eric Reid (Geismar, LA Dutchtown) who is a really good looking safety. He figures to play strong safety in Baton Rouge, but he looked solid in coverage, and is definitely a factor in run support at 6-2, and almost 210 pounds.
Latwan Anderson (Cleveland, OH Glenville), Marquis Flowers (Goodyear, AZ Millenium), and Jaylen Watkins were three players who stood out. Anderson is a ball-hawking safety who always seems to be in the thick of things. Flowers is a really impressive looking safety with great size. He looked great in coverage, although he could eventually end up at linebacker. Watkins appears to be the top cornerback here. He is playing very well, and his break on the ball extremely good. He might even grow into a free safety down the road in Gainesville.
KICKERS: I have to say, the specialists are all playing extremely well. Michael Palardy (Ft. Lauderdale, FL St. Thomas Aquinas COMMITTED TO TENNESSEE) and Cade Foster (Southlake, TX Carroll) have extremely strong legs, and both figure to be immediate impact players when they get to college. The punters, Matt Darr (Bakersfield, CA Frontier COMMITTED TO USC) and Will Hagerup (Whitefish Bay, MI COMMITTED TO MICHIGAN) got good height and distance on their punts as well.
The key word for this group is “explosion.” The ball simply exploded off the feet of all of these guys when they put their foot into it. Every one of these guys look like they belong in San Antonio, and it seems natural to think that they will all be able to contribute early if asked to do so.
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