re: 2027 FB Recruiting Thread- 2028 3* QB Sam Sollie Commits

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Mansur “Champ” Ali is not your traditional offensive tackle prospect.

That might be exactly what makes him so intriguing.

At 6-foot-7 and 314 pounds, Ali already has the frame college coaches search for. But his story is not built on years of offensive line training, recruiting rankings, or Friday night varsity film. His journey to football has taken a completely different route.

Ali had not played organized football since the sixth grade.

Instead, the former Pike Road High School athlete developed into a high-level track and field competitor at Xavier University of Louisiana. He became a two-time NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships qualifier, a three-time Red River Athletic Conference champion in the shot put, discus, and hammer throw, and a two-time RRAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week.

He also broke an 87-year-old Xavier school record in the discus with a throw of 52.04 meters — 170 feet, 9 inches.

And if that does not get an offensive line coach’s attention, this might.

At approximately 356 pounds, Ali competed in the triple jump and says he placed third at a meet at Southern University.

Think about the athletic traits required for a man that size to triple jump: lower-body explosion, balance, flexibility, coordination, and the ability to control his body in space.

Those traits translate.

For years, Champ thought about football. Eventually, he decided to find out just how far his athletic ability could take him.

He attended camps at Texas A&M, LSU, South Alabama, Auburn, and Ole Miss. Despite having almost no recent football background, Ali repeatedly found himself moved into elite groups and competing against players who had been developing at the position for years.

College staffs could see the size.

They could see the feet.

They could see the athletic ability.

What they could not see was football film.

That became the biggest obstacle in his recruitment.

LSU offered Ali a preferred walk-on opportunity. Ole Miss assistant offensive line coach Terrence Metcalf gave him advice that could ultimately change his career: go play junior college football, develop your technique, and put real game film in front of coaches.

Ali took the advice.

Today, he is at Jones College, where he has reshaped his body from roughly 356 pounds to 314 and is developing at offensive tackle.

Now the projection is becoming production.

Ali admits the transition has required patience. Learning protection schemes, recognizing the “hot” defender and understanding when the offense intentionally leaves a player unblocked have all been part of the process.

“The hardest part for me was, and still kind of is, learning the concept of the hot man and understanding that sometimes, by design, you’re supposed to leave a defender free,” Ali said. “My natural instinct is to stop any and everybody I can from reaching the quarterback.”

That answer tells me two things.

First, he is still learning.

Second, he understands exactly what he still has to improve.

That is important for college coaches evaluating developmental offensive linemen.

Ali is not being sold as a finished product.

He is being evaluated for what he can become.

And there is plenty to work with.

He has rare length.

He has already proven his explosiveness through track and field.

He has shown the discipline required to transform his body.

He carries a 4.0 GPA.

And unlike many offensive linemen who have been playing the position since childhood, Champ has very little football mileage on his body.

Some coaches once wondered whether there was a red flag behind an athlete with this type of physical profile not playing football earlier.

There is no mystery anymore.

There are no red flags.

There are green lights.

Ali currently holds offers from UMass, Jackson State, and Tulane, and his recruitment is beginning to build as more programs finally get the opportunity to evaluate him as a football player rather than simply project him as an athlete.

That is why college coaches should pay attention now.

You are looking at a 6-foot-7, 314-pound offensive tackle with national-level track and field experience, championship-level throwing production, unusual movement skills for his size, a 4.0 GPA, and a football ceiling that has not come close to being reached.

The question is no longer whether Mansur “Champ” Ali has the physical tools to play college football.

He does.

The question now is how good he can become once the football experience catches up with the athlete.

And that may be why some of the biggest opportunities of his career are still ahead of him.

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