re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition

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BEST OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

“Demarcus Marshall’s kick-back was good and his speed and strength were both good.” – Jalen Redmond, Midwest City, Okla.

“Demarcus Marshall. He’s something special. He’s aggressive. I call him Silverback.” 2019 OL EJ Ndoma-Ogar, Allen, Texas

“Demarcus Marshall and EJ Ndoma-Ogar. I was really impressed with both of them. Demarcus is tough and delivers a good strike and stays in front of the guy. The same with EJ; he’s just a mean dude.” – 2021 OL Hayden Connor, Katy (Texas) James E Taylor

“EJ Ndoma-Oga. He was a little more physical than the rest of them and his feet were quicker.” – Three-star DT Josh Landry, Houston (Texas) Lamar

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BEST DEFENSIVE BACK

“Isaiah Humphries was very effective with his press.” – Three-star WR Jaylon Robinson, Fort Worth (Texas) Paschal

“Verone McKinley was very good with his coverage.” – Robinson

“RJ Mickins, he’s a beast. Verone McKinley was really good, too.” – Stone

“I went against RJ once. He’s just a young guy but he’s patient and he was physical so those were the two things that impressed me.” – Three-star WR Tre Adams, Frisco (Texas) Wakeland

“Brodrick Calhoun. He’s a great DB. It’s just the best against best, you know, iron sharpens iron.” – 2019 WR Trejan Bridges, Carrollton (Texas) Hebron

“Verone McKinley. He’s just a great teammate. I’m always going against him in practice.” – Bridges

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OT Rafiti Ghirmai

Recruiting Wrap: Ghrimai has an impressive list of offers, including Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas and several others.

Performance: After a shaky start dealing with fast edge rushers, Ghrimai settled in and had a pretty nice day. If he can get his hands on a defensive lineman he’s adept at locking them up. Having a strong base works very much in his favor in those situations. He’s listed at a tackle, but it’s easy to see his skillset projecting to guard as well.

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LANCASTER, TEXAS -- After a choppy start to the Dallas stop of the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by Adidas that included a change of venue and participants traveling through significant weather conditions to compete, a number of prospects proved that the early obstacles weren’t about to stop them from showing their stuff. One position MVP joined two others to earn invites to the Rivals Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas, and several others turned in award-worthy performances on Sunday.

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Mobile Christian defensive end Andres Fox has narrowed his list of contenders for the second time in two weeks.

After visiting Auburn over the weekend, Fox said Auburn, Auburn and LSU make up his top three.

"They are all great schools," said Fox, who is ranked as the nation's No. 38 weak-side defensive end in the 247Sports Composite.

At The Opening New Orleans regional camp March 19, Fox's top six schools included Auburn, Alabama, Florida, USC, Florida State and Georgia.

While at Auburn, Fox (6-foot-4, 235 pounds) enjoyed watching the team's second scrimmage. He said he has the "best bond" you can have with the Auburn staff, in particular defensive line coach Rodney Garner.

"I had a great experience with Coach G today," he said. "I loved it. The d-line was active. Coach G really pushed them hard.

"He's going to push you to be the best player you can be; and he loves you at the end of the day."

Fox helped lead Mobile Christian to the AHSAA Class 3A state championship game last year. He doesn't currently have a timetable for a decision.

Fox briefly touched on his three contenders, so check out what he had to say about each below.

AUBURN

"I have a long relationship with them and they were my first big offer. And they watched me play in the state championship."

ALABAMA

"Nick Saban, and all the great players that came through there."

LSU

"Pete Jenkins, I sat down and talked to him, and he showed me some stuff that could make me a real great player."

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1. Solomon Tuliaupupu
2. Dax Hollifield
3. Merlin Robertson
4. Bumper Pool
5. Damone Clark

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MVPs

QB - Quincy Patterson, Chicago Solorio
A Virginia Tech commit, Patterson is a physically put-together, strong-armed quarterback who was awarded the MVP in a competitive group and earned an invitation to the Elite 11 finals in the process.

RB - Johnny Adams, Indianapolis Ben Davis
Adams tested extremely well, finishing third in the ratings and recording a 4.51 forty and 41.8-inch vertical. In addition to those testing numbers, he did well in pass-catching and blocking drills. He has several offers including Syracuse, Toledo, Western Michigan, Ball State and Central Michigan, but more schools are in contact and he may be a camp offer guy.

WR - Travion Mosby, Kirkwood (Mo.)
A surprise who emerged. 6-foot-2, 180 pounds with excellent ball skills, he has legitimate Division-1 receiver potential, but shows the possibility of those skills translating onto the defensive side of the ball as well on his film.

OL - Emil Ekiyor Jr., Indianapolis (Ind.) Cathedral
This was a contentious group with several players who could have claimed a stake in the award, but Ekiyor Jr., a Michigan commit, used power and strength to combat some of the camp's top defensive linemen, who quickly found out bull-rushing him was not going to be an effective option. He also tested well, finishing with the top rating out of all the offensive linemen. He earned an invite to The Opening Finals.

DL - Ronnie Perkins, St. Louis (Mo.) Lutheran North
Perkins, a Scout 300 and multiple offer guy, also had a talented group he had to stick out from and he did that. He showed twitch off the edge and also slide inside a couple times. He was a tough matchup for offensive linemen in 1-1s because of his ability to change directions. He was invited to The Opening Finals. Missouri, his home-state school is a leader, but Notre Dame, Michigan and many others recently offered.

LB - Ovie Oghoufo, Farmington Hills (Mich.) Harrison
A Notre Dame commit, Oghoufo is long and athletic, which we knew, and that helped him in pass coverage. But it was the additional physicality and the number of reps he won in the pass rushing drills which sealed the MVP deal for him.

DB - Gregory Newsome, Carol Stream (Ill.) Glenbard North
Newsome is a long, athletic cover guy with good ball skills. His long arms help him, but he also has good technique and fluidity. He is a safety by trade, but has good man to man skills to the point that some schools are talking about cornerback with him and we can certainly see that possibility. He said Northwestern was his leader with Iowa and others in tow.

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OPENING FINALS INVITES

TE - Luke Ford, Carterville (Ill.)
While he was not actually named an MVP, we could make the case that Ford was the most impressive player in attendance. The Arkansas commit used his 6-foot-7 frame to win in contested situations catching the ball, but he was also very physical in blocking drills where we do not recall him losing a rep.

CB - Kalon Gervin, Detroit Cass Tech
A Notre Dame commit, Gervin ran a 4.41 forty and then had a good showing in drills in 1-1s, breaking up several passes and providing tight coverage on others. He is always competitive and productive in these settings and is now off to Oregon.

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