Do not want this kid unless he packs on weight and comes in as a DE and not a LB.
All of his highlights are from DE and it is a lot harder to make reads and play any LB position if you have never actually played there before. Not to mention the fact that as a LB you also have way more responsibilities in coverage.
He does have a high motor and great first step, so with some good weight he could be a force at DE.
Remember Marcus Robinson rated #3 OLB and only played DE in HS. He ended up never playing LB for us and was a very undersized DE that never got much done for someone rated so high.
IMO LB Jaboree' Williams with no offer looks like a much better LB prospect b/c he has film of him making big plays from LB, DE, DT, and Safety not just at DE, which isn't the position he is being recruited for.
Same reason why I wanna see film of Chris Lammons playing CB before I anoint him best CB in the area like so many already have. The only film I have seen of him is on offense. (Nothing wrong with that Chris if you are reading this lol) Kid is a crazy good ATH, I just wanna see him lock down some stud WRs in games before I'm sold.
Remember when Brandon McGee came out? He was rated a high 4 star ATH that every school was recruiting to play CB. All of his HS highlights were at QB I believe. Yes he was solid this year, but it took him a few years to learn to play CB even though he had all the God given ability in the world and was the fastest player on the team with great size for a CB.
I would like to get guys who have been playing LB all through HS.
Watch Perryman's HS highlights, that is a player that has played LB for a long time and you can tell by how quick he reads the offense and reacts.
LB is a very hard position to play, when the ball is snapped you gotta first take a "free step" and read the OL to see if it is a run or pass (if its a pass then you gotta drop back into coverage in zone or find your man in man to man), then read into the backfield see what the QB is doing and find the ball all in a split second.
That is why taking a DE who is just used to rushing into the backfield and asking them to learn to play LB in college where everything is so much faster is a tall order IMO.
IMO it is crucial to evaluate these recruits at the position that they are actually being recruited to play. Like I would like to see how Michael Smith does without his hand in the dirt and playing mostly LB this year while coming in on a few plays as a rush end. Not totally sold on him at LB even though he looks like a monster coming off the edge.
