Football Recruiting Update – September 8, 2018:
Spots Left:
We have approximately 3-4 spots left in the 2019 recruiting class, aside from any unforeseen or unanticipated attrition after this season.
NCAA FBS Recruiting Calendar Updates:
The football recruiting calendar, established by the NCAA has flipped a little this week.
What this means is that FBS schools have now entered the “Evaluation Period” of the recruiting calendar (the previous two periods were a Quiet Period and a Dead Period, periods where coaches could have very limited contact with potential recruits).
Here’s the NCAA Definition of the “Evaluation Period”:
Forty-two (42) evaluation days (54 for U.S. service academies) (see
Bylaw 13.02.7.2) during the months of September, October and
November, selected at the discretion of the institution and
designated in writing in the office of the director of athletics;
authorized off-campus recruiters shall not visit a prospective
student-athlete’s educational institution on more than one calendar
day during this period.
What this essentially means is that colleges can start pushing coaches out to high schools again for visits during the month of September, October, and November.
Our coaches are definitely hitting the road on Friday, September 7th to visit some local high schools to conduct evaluations and to check on current commits.
2018 Season Stats for Current Commits:
Savion Jackson – 3 Games : 21 tackles, including one for loss and two sacks.
CJ Clark – 2 Games: 14 tackles
Joshua Harris – 3 Games: 21 tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble.
Khalid Martin – 3 Games: 25 tackles, including one for loss, three pass breakups, an interception, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
Zonovan Knight – 3 Games: 34 carries for 487 yards and seven touchdowns.
Jamious Griffin – 3 Games: 38 carries for 349 yards and six touchdowhs and two receptions for 29 yards and 1 TD.
Drake Thomas – 3 Games: 31 tackles, one interception (returned for TD), and one forced fumble; 8 carries for 41 yard and 2 TDs on offense.
Jaylon Scott – 3 Games: 17 tackles, 1 sack, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 PBU, 1 forced fumble, and a blocked punt.
Dylan McMahon – 3 Games: 14 knockdown blocks on offense and 16 tackles on defense.
Jalen Frazier – 3 Games: 16 tackles, 1 tackle for loss.
Keyon Lesane – 3 Games: 9 carries for 89 yards with 1 TD, four catches for 162 yards with 2 TDs; one interception on defense.
Chris Toudle – 2 Games: 2 catches for 18 yards and one carry for 11 yards.
Zovon Lindsay – 3 Games: 10 pancake blocks on offense; 9 tackles with 4 tackles for loss and a safety on defense.
Jakeen Harris – 1 Game: 14 tackles and a forced fumble, 1 catch for 30 yards on offense.
Timothy McKay – 3 Games: 11 knockdown blocks.
Shyheim Battle – 3 Games: 13 tackles, 2 INTS (both in the same game), 3 PBUs, 3 kickoff returns for 124 yards.
Ikem Ekwonu – 3 Games: 4 knockdown blocks on offense, 3 tackles on defense.
Target Updates:
3* WR Zay Flowers has released his top 5 schools list. We made the cut along with Boston College, Nebraska, Northwestern, and Tulane.
Updated Recruiting Graphics:
Tyler McIntyre and his crew are at it again with an incredible graphic for our recruits:
Some Senior Film Review of Current Commits:
Running Back Jamious Griffin from Rome, GA:
Analysis: Griffin runs with a lot of quick twitch ability, and cuts very quickly at the line of scrimmage. He needs to learn to use his pad leverage a lot better, but he is next to impossible to stop in the open field. Griffin is a very powerful runner, who will be very difficult to bring down at the collegiate level once he gets into a high quality strength and conditioning program. He is already a load to bring down, but this will continue at the collegiate level. Keep in mind, this video clip he posted on Twitter was against Georgia Level AAAAA competition, which are very good opponents (he had 8 carries for 184 yards in the game). I look for Griffin to continue to increase his positional ranking if he continues to post these big of stats against high quality competition. Rome HS is rated the #3 AAAAAA team in the state of Georgia this season and is so far undefeated.
Safety Khalid Martin from Kernersville, NC:
Analysis: Martin continues to impress me with his overall athleticism and playmaking abilities. He plays very good coverage and closes on the ball well in the open field. He is a very good open field tackler, but needs to play with better leverage and learn a little better tackling technique at times (college kids will break some of his tackles because he is not using good enough pad leverage). He needs to read and react to plays a little bit faster, but his athleticism is enough for him to get by and still make plays at his current level. If he can gain some good weight, I think he would be a good candidate to play immediately on special teams. Martin was a tweeter type of prospect between a 3* and a 4* but with more highlights like these, I think he will definitely be a 4* by the end of the season.
Running Back Zonovan Knight from Bailey, NC:
Analysis: Zonovan was a prospect that was as high as the #10 running back in the country nationally before he took a little dip late in the summer. In my opinion, these highlights show every bit of the reasons why he was that highly rated. He reminds me of a cross between Jaylen Samuels and Nyheim Hines. He breaks a ton of tackles like J-Sam and has very shifty and quick feet like Nyheim Hines. He has a homerun type gear that is a difference maker, not only on special teams with returning kicks, but also getting jet sweeps, reverses, and pitches out of the backfield. He also might have an ability to contribute immediately as a kick returner. In my opinion, he is definitely a 4* prospect and will be a very, very exciting player for us over the next four seasons.
Wide Receiver Keyon Lesane from Matthews, NC:
Analysis: Keyon Lesane is a very underrated prospect in my opinion. He is very, very quick in the open field. As these pieces of footage show, he is being used as a multi purpose athlete by Butler HS. I foresee that he will be a multi-dimensional athlete like Jakobi Meyers is right now for us, maybe with even better speed, albeit a little shorter. He has great hands in the open field, and could also contribute immediately as a special teams performer. He needs to gain 15-20 pounds so he can break more tackles in the open field instead of just relying on speed alone. He is definitely a good prospect with blazing speed that will be able to do a lot of big things with the ball in his hands at the collegiate level.
Defensive End Savion Jackson from Clayton, NC:
Analysis: Savion Jackson is a very highly rated prospect and for very good reason. He has very good athleticism and size for his position, but also can play different spots on the D-Line. His HS has him playing some at DT and some at DE, which is good because of how often we rotate players to different spots (Darian Roseboro played some at DT during our first game this season). Perhaps what I am the most impressed about is his motor. This guy just flat gets after it. His motor and ability to find the ball and make a tackle remind me a lot of Bradley Chubb, albeit, I think Chubb was a lot more raw than Jackson coming out of high school. Jackson has the size and ability to contribute right away, but would be a luxury to redshirt if we can get some current young players like Boletepeli and Lyas to perform well this year. I think he is definitely one of the top 5 defensive ends in the country and potentially worth a 5* rating if he continues to play like his current highlight film is showing.
