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re: Class of 2019 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: That's a Wrap Edition
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:37 pm to TideSaint
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:37 pm to TideSaint
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STOCK STEADY
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Rashad Cheney
Cheney was the only three-star defensive lineman and the Alabama commit did look a tier below the rest of the talent in attendance. His size/athleticism combination is solid, but not to the level of the top guys in Atlanta and he struggled to win reps throughout the day. We did like his competitiveness, however, and willingness to keep getting after it.
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 5:40 pm
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Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:38 pm to TideSaint
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McKinnley Jackson
There was a long discussion in the rankings meetings for the first Rivals100 of the 2020 class about whether or not Jackson should start out as a five-star. In the end he those in favor of five-stars won out, and after the rising junior’s performance in Atlanta the discussion is probably dead. He lacks ideal height, but the rest of his game is on target.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:42 pm to Carlton
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I just looked at Oklahoma's DB draft history. If the Oklahoma fan is going to cry if he picks us, I will fill a pool with tears if D.Hill picks the Sooners. The BIG 12 is where DBs go to die. They haven't had a second round pick at DB since '05. That is crazy.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:44 pm to TidalSurge1
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:47 pm to TidalSurge1
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Nuggets from Hank after covering The Opening: Bama is in the driver's seat for Trey Sanders and Siaki Ika, very likely for Daxton Hill and Ishmael Sopsher and trending very well for Nakobe Dean and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Sanders and Darnell Wright will be at Cookout #2, probably Ika too.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:47 pm to TideSaint
The #RivalsChallenge Stock Report: Offensive linemen
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ATLANTA - With the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas in the rearview mirror, it's time to issue stock reports for each position. Take a look at how each offensive lineman fared under the lights of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:48 pm to TideSaint
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STOCK STEADY
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Amari Kight
Kight had his moments, but he struggled some after being asked to line up at guard instead of tackle. He was not comfortable there, so he wasn't playing at a high level, but you cannot knock him for lining up somewhere new.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:49 pm to TideSaint
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Clay Webb
Webb was not as dominant as he had been in prior events, but he was still very impressive. The speed got to him a little and Jowon Briggs gave him some trouble, but he won more than he lost and showed why he is a five-star center.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:51 pm to TideSaint
Three-Point Stance: More thoughts on #RivalsChallenge
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Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with his take on the defensive players and big men from the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas, including some more player comparisons and why Lincoln Riley is right.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:57 pm to TideSaint
Hank, do you see Cheney ending up in the class?
"I don't think he will looking at it right now."
"I don't think he will looking at it right now."
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 6:01 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:04 pm to Cobrasize
You need to post some redheads. 
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:05 pm to TidalSurge1
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TidalSurge1
You feel like summarizing that Rivals' article above your post?
Their articles give my tablet hell when they link player profiles throughout a story.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:08 pm to TideSaint
Wrapping up The Opening Finals: What I learned (Barton Simmons article)
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FRISCO, Texas — The 'best of all-time' sounds hyperbolic. It sounds unreasonable and unnecessary. It sounds like it’s an attempt at overdramatizing a t-shirt camp. But sometimes it’s just true. Kyle Fordjust put together the best wide receiver performance in the history of The Opening Finals – and I’ve been to all of them.
Don’t misunderstand. Though we’re going to rank Ford and try to predict and project what his long-term future looks like, I’m not saying he’s the best receiver I’ve ever seen. I’m saying he dominated The Opening, a showcase of the 162 best college football prospects in the country, like no one I’ve ever seen before.
Ford had 51 catches over the course of the weekend at the Opening. The second-highest total was 30 catches. He tied for the most touchdowns with nine. Ford accounted for 37 percent of his team’s completions. He accounted for 45 percent of his team’s touchdowns. In an event that featured elite defensive backs at every turn and a host of talented skill players around him, Ford dominated everyone that lined up in front of him and he outshined the four-stars surrounding him.
Dismiss a camp performance like this at your own peril. We’ve thought back on some of the best wide receiver performances that we can remember at The Opening and they correlate with success beyond the camp circuit.
Calvin Ridley was the primary reason a flawed Blake Barnett managed to win the Elite 11 MVP back in the summer of 2014. Christian Kirk was a huge problem for defenders at that same event. Both were drafted within the first two rounds in April. Jerry Jeudy had a monster event in 2016 prior to a successful true freshman campaign at Alabama and Justin Shorter was dominant last summer and appears to be a lock to contribute at Penn State as a true freshman.
If you want a cautionary tale, Auburn’s Kyle Davis had a similar performance in scope and style to Kyle Ford a couple of years ago. He’s yet to validate that performance on the college level but his high school production (1,500 yards combined sophomore, junior and senior seasons) compared to Ford’s (nearly 1,500 yards in his junior season alone) offer plenty of context to believe that Ford has a different trajectory in front of him.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:10 pm to TideSaint
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I’ve got a confession to make. Entering this event, we had some collective doubts about Kayvon Thibodeaux, our original No. 1 prospect in the class of 2019 for 247Sports and the current top player per the 247Sports Composite. Thibodeaux had been to a few events where he was frankly underwhelming. There was some concern that he was better classified as a five-star candidate than a No. 1 candidate.
His performance at The Opening re-entered him into the debate for No. 1 on 247Sports. Thibodeaux played with the purpose of a No. 1 player, playing like a guy that was determined to assert himself as that alpha among alphas. He flashed elite edge speed, showed some punch that we hadn’t seen before and played with a competitive temperament that was obvious.
So the race for No. 1 is wide open heading into the fall and Thibodeaux is back in the discussion. As those debates commence in the coming days there are really only two other names that will get legitimate consideration.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:11 pm to TideSaint
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Evan Neal was outstanding this week and he can thank a diet for his breakthrough performance. Neal measured in at 391 pounds in the spring at The Opening Regional event and the resulting performance wasn’t great. A much trimmer, much more agile 360-pound Neal showed up in Texas for The Opening Finals and the difference showed. Neal told me that he dieted to get his weight down, eating more vegetables and plants while maintaining the same workout regimen. The result was a massive offensive tackle that showed the ability to react and recover against one of the fastest collections of edge rushers The Opening Finals has ever seen. He was the immovable wall that many of those talented rushers ran up against.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:13 pm to TideSaint
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Alabama commit Kevin Harris was not very successful in 1on1s and yet I don’t remember a single rep out of him that wasn’t startling with regards to the edge speed he showed. Bigger offensive tackles were just able to run him but the athleticism popped. As he adds strength and is able to convert speed to power on the next level, I still think Harris emerges as one of the better pass rushers in this class.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:25 pm to TideSaint
LINK ]Three-Point Stance: More thoughts on #RivalsChallenge
quote:
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with his take on the defensive players and big men from the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas, including some more player comparisons and why Lincoln Riley is right.
1. More thoughts on #RivalsChallenge
Kardell Thomas
The Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas is in the books, but the memories are still fresh in this old head. Here’s my breakdown of the defensive players at the event as well as the big men.
Defensive line – It wasn’t a stellar group overall, but I was impressed with a few of the defensive linemen. Khris Bogle has a chance to be special as he has a great motor, a good frame to build on and a great first step. He was probably the most impressive of the defensive linemen. Shamar McCollum has non-stop energy and will be a spark for some team down the road while I liked the upside of Virginia commitment Jowon Briggs, Myles Murphy and Marcus Stripling. Class of 2020 defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson showed flashes of his five-star ability as well.
Offensive line – The offensive line group was the more impressive group of big men led by MVP and LSU commitment Kardell Thomas, who once again showed how physical and tough to beat he is. Florida State commitment Dontae Lucas showed off some nastiness at the position while center Clay Webb got better as the event wore on. Class of 2020 offensive guard Justin Rogers impressed me as did LSU commitment Anthony Bradford, who moves very well for a massive lineman and showed off his strength. Stacey Wilkins, Keiondre Jones, Saleem Worley and others also had good moments.
Linebacker – Linebackers are tough to evaluate at events like this but there were a few who stood out, led by 2020 freak Justin Flowe. He was non-stop all day and has one of the best motors on a big linebacker I’ve seen. Penn State commitment Brandon Smith showed off good coverage skills for a bigger linebacker while Miami commitment Anthony Solomon may not be the biggest linebacker but he can cover like a safety. West Virginia commitment Lee Kpogba probably raised his stock as much as any linebacker at the event and Clemson commitment Bryton Constantin showed off excellent coverage and ball skills. Texas commitment De’Gabriel Floyd has added some good weight and was also impressive. Class of 2020 five-star Antoine Sampah showed off great agility as well.
Defensive back – This was a very strong group led by MVP Elias Ricks, a 2020 prospect who has a chance to be a five-star with his size and length. Tyrique Stevenson had a very good day and showed natural instincts, Florida State commitment Akeem Dent was good in the first session but missed the 7-on-7 with an injury. Class of 2020 Kelee Ringo flashed his speed and No. 1 overall Derek Stingley was targeted and held his own. The LSU commitment lost a few reps to fellow five-star Theo Wease but he was excellent in 7-on-7 and showed off his ball skills on offense as well. Max Williams may not be big, but he covers like a taller cornerback. I also liked what I saw from Cameron Smith.
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 6:46 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:25 pm to TidalSurge1
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2. Player comparisons
Justin Flowe
Some of the players mentioned above remind me of stars of the past for many different reasons. Here are a few comparisons for people who like that stuff.
LB Justin Flowe – The Vontaze Burfict comparisons are good ones for Flowe, at least physically. Hopefully he won’t be as much trouble on and off the field as Burfict, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a big linebacker move so well.
DE Khris Bogle – Remember Ricky Sapp? That’s who Bogle reminds me of as a skinny, athletic rush end with a solid frame to fill out, but who will probably play at 250 or so in college.
DT McKinnley Jackson – After seeing Jackson in person for the first time, I’d go with Daylon Mack. He’s not quite as sawed off as Mack, but he plays with the same natural leverage and looks closer to 6-1 than he does 6-3. And that isn’t a bad thing at all.
OL Dontae Lucas – Andre Smith comes to mind, although Smith was much more technically sound at the same stage. The two play with the same passion and anger, they have some bad weight they need to lose and they will power their opponents into the ground and play to the whistle.
LB Antoine Sampah – I see a lot of Stephone Anthony in Sampah on the hoof. Both love to hit, they have good frames to fill out and they are solid in coverage. Anthony was a little bigger at the same stage but they aren’t far off.
DB Derek Stingley Jr. – Patrick Peterson is the easy one for Stingley but I’m going with Eric Berry. He’s a smidge longer than Berry at the same stage, especially with his wingspan, but the two of them play very similarly. It’s scary to say but Stingley is more athletic and might have better instincts.
DB Elias Ricks – I’d go with Quincy Wilson because he’s such a tall, angular defensive back at this stage. He’s ahead of Wilson when it comes to development at the same stage and if he can have a career like Wilson he’ll be very happy.
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 6:41 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:25 pm to TidalSurge1
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3. Riley was right about SEC defenses vs. Big 12 offenses
Lincoln Riley
Lincoln Riley is right. Riley recently said on the radio that if you put Georgia, the team his Oklahoma Sooners dropped 48 points and 531 yards on in the national semifinal, in the Big 12 there is no way it would be a top five national defense. I’ve been as critical as anyone of Big 12 defenses and truly think many of them are simply awful, but I can’t disagree with Riley here. It’s just too hard for a defense, any defense and that includes Alabama and others, to shut down Big 12 offenses consistently.
Does that mean Big 12 defenses do a good job? Nope, but I just can’t see a way any team in the country could be top five nationally in that conference. Top 10? Maybe but doubtful. Top 20? Sure. But top five is just too hard.
Georgia and SEC fans were upset by Riley’s comments and he did backtrack a bit saying it wasn’t a shot at Georgia but more of a compliment toward Big 12 offenses, but everyone needs to relax. What Riley said is true and until someone, anyone, shuts down a team like Oklahoma consistently, I’ll continue to believe him.
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 6:39 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 7:27 pm to TidalSurge1
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Mike FarrellLincoln Riley
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 8:05 pm
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