04-10-2020, 04:55 AM
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#48
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MVP
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Re: Smoky Mountain State University V2 | Teambuilder Dynasty (NCAA 14)
2019 | Week 9 Recruiting Update
From the looks of it, these are about to be a weekly thing for the rest of the season. And they're gonna be fun.
Last week we landed our first commit of our 2020 Signing Class... This week, we landed 4 commitments, all of which are 3* recruits. And they happen to be 4 of the most college ready players that we were targeting.
3* FS, J.J. Jordan | 73 Ovr
89 Speed | 93 Acceleration | 85 Agility | 77 Tackle | 74 Pursuit | 68 Man Coverage | 71 Zone Coverage | 80 Press
Recruiting Info: This is a BIG TIME get! J.J. Jordan is a 6'4", 196 lbs. Free Safety from Teaneck, NJ. Jordan was our top defensive target and we managed to get him. It wasn't easy though. In the Week 5 recruiting update, I talked about how TCU was heavily pursuing him and we added another FS to our recruiting board for that reason. He had a visit lined up Week 10 to TCU and decided to cancel that visit and proceeded to commit to us.
Skills Breakdown: Jordan is a beast. He's going to be an incredible Free Safety for us. He's got elite speed and acceleration for his size. Both of those attributes will let him be a true Center Fielder. This dude is going to be a ball hawk and on top of that, he's nearly as strong as some of our current LB's on the team. He's just a freak athlete. When it comes to actual football skills, he's fantastic tackler and will come up and with his strength, speed, and size, he will absolutely lay you out. His coverage skills aren't the best right now. However, his Press coverage is actually really good, which is a bit surprising.
Future Outlook: We haven't decided on Jordan's Freshman year yet. He could come in and contribute in specific packages. But, if he's redshirted, he has a chance to be a four year starter since Jamal Flanagan will be a Senior next year. We think Freshman Shannon Lee can be a really good player, which gives us the option to redshirt him next year. This is a guy that we legitimately think can be an All-Conference/All-American caliber player.
3* T, Larry Cowan | 69 Ovr
80 Strength | 63 Agility | 79 Pass Block | 73 Run Block | 82 Impact Block
Recruiting Info: Larry Cowan is a 6'4", 283 lbs. Tackle recruit from Fort Worth, TX. Cowan was one of the first recruits we targeted in this recruiting cycle. We're aware that Cowan doesn't meet our Tackle height criteria. But considering his height and skillset, we think he'd be a pretty solid Center.
Skills Breakdown: We really like Cowan's current strength because that will only get better once he gets here and adds some weight through our strength and conditioning program. When it comes to his blocking abilities, he's definitely a better at pass blocking than run blocking. His impact blocking is what he's best at though. I want to comment more on Cowan because I really like his potential, but there's just not too much to comment on when it comes to linemen.
Future Outlook: Cowan will have a chance to win the vacant starting Center spot since current starter Eli Morse is a senior. He'll compete against Michael Hayford for that spot. If he doesn't win that position battle, he will 100% be redshirted. Regardless, we view Cowan as a high caliber starter for us down the road once he gets here, adds some muscle, and refines his techniques/fundamentals.
3* DE, Justin Dixon | 70 Ovr
79 Speed | 80 Acceleration | 76 Strength | 80 Finesse Moves | 74 Block Shed | 74 Tackle | 75 Hit Power
Recruiting Info: Justin Dixon is another massive get for us. He's a 6'4", 235 lbs. Defensive End recruit from Palm Coast, FL. Dixon had schools like Alabama, Florida, and Florida State in his Top 5, but thankfully they never pursued him. Because of that, we got ourselves a fantastic pass rusher.
Skill Breakdown: In our scheme, we strongly believe that speed kills, but you ultimately win games on the line of scrimmage. That's proved to be true so far. In games we've lost, we haven't gotten consistent pass rush. With Justin Dixon in the fold, getting a pass rush will not be a problem. Dixon's speed matched with his acceleration will be a problem for another tackle he goes up against in this league. And then he's not great at any one specific thing, but he's well rounded. He's good at just about everything you look for in a Defensive End recruit. His strength is solid, he's got fantastic finesse moves with good power moves. Then he's a good tackler with good hit power. I love everything about this kid's game.
Future Outlook: It depends on who else we land in this Signing Class. If we land a couple more DE's, Dixon is a redshirt candidate for the sole purpose of we want him to start here as long as possible. If he's redshirted, he'll start his Redshirt Junior and Senior seasons. And he's another All-Conference caliber player. Don't be surprised if he racks up 10+ sacks in a season when he gets consistent playing time.
3* WR, Van Peoples | 71 Ovr
93 Speed | 89 Acceleration | 83 Agility | 83 Elusiveness | 71 Catching | 69 Route Running
Recruiting Info: This is another big one! Van Peoples is a 5'11", 177 lbs. Wide Receiver recruit from Winnfield, LA. We thought we had Peoples in the bag for a while... But towards the end Mississippi State came after him hard. We ramped our recruiting efforts up for him and he ultimately shut his recruitment down this week and committed to us.
Skill Breakdown: Peoples is the type of play you just get the ball in their hands anyway you can and then you just sit back and watch them make plays. The kid is incredibly fast and has elite elusiveness. As a receiver, he's raw. But we won't really need him to play a big role in the offense until his Sophomore season at the very least. So he's got plenty of time to work on his catching rating. Like, his catching isn't bad. But his catch in traffic and spectacular catch need some work. His route running is nice, but it could still use some work. However, with his speed and elusiveness, this kid is a legit option as a kick returner next year.
Future Outlook: We have no plans of redshirting Peoples next year. At the very least, he's a kick/punt returner option. There's always the option to put him in the game and dump screens off to him and watch in amazement as he makes plays. This kid is another All-Conference caliber player. It'll be fun to see him progress over the next 4 years.
So those are our 4 newest commitments. I hope I get to make even longer posts here in the coming weeks!
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