There has been a lot of discussion on here, a lot of it hostile, discussing A&M's three latest commits. Why were they taken this early? Are they any good? Will they help narrow the gap between A&M and Alabama? Are the coaches lazy?
Well, after looking at the film of these guys (which I encourage all of you to do), I really don't have a complaint about the three. Actually, I do have one -- at least one of these guys is severely underrated.
Tyrel Dodson: Oh, I like him. And doubt ye not Chavis.
Have you ever seen the movie, The Untouchables? It's one of my favorites and, if you haven't, you do not have the best interests of the United States of America in your heart. Anyway, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and Malone (Sean Connery) recruit George Stone (Andy Garcia) to join their little band of Capone-busters. (Probably NSFW - language)
Oh, I like him.
That was my first thought when I saw Dodson's film, which you can see here. It doesn't appear that he's playing against the finest of opponents in Franklin, Tenn., but it really doesn't matter. His abilities are evident. Among the things that impressed me were:
Colton Prater: a rather nasty fellow
Several people asked the other day if Prater has a mean streak to him and the answer is, pretty conclusively, yes. If you watch his highlights (above), you'll see quickly that he likes getting his hands on an opponent and knocking them to the ground. He does it repeatedly. He definitely likes to run block -- a lot. He beats up on guys off the snap and keeps pushing them until they're down, and then a little more. He'll run down the field looking for someone to hit, which is the mindset you want out of your linemen.
He's definitely an interior guy, even if he is playing tackle in these highlights. He's got a lot of upper body strength and stones guys in pass protection, but he lets them get in on him because he doesn't really extend his arms. That's something that he'll have to work on in college, for sure. I wonder how much weight he's going to be able to put on, because it looks like he's already fairly filled out and he's at 270 pounds. Maybe that's just camera angles, though; Dave Christensen got a look at him several times and thinks he can fill out.
Prater is nasty and likes to run block. He's already quite good at it, and he'll get a lot stronger in college. He'll need a redshirt year, but if he gains some weight he could end up being the Jarvis Harrison grinder that this group really doesn't have right now unless Connor Lanfear develops in that way.
Kendrick Rogers: A definite take
Something that I mentioned the other day that bears repeating: Rivals has one guy covering all of Texas AND Louisiana. The other recruiting sites are the same, so a lot of guys in out of the way places will get overlooked until they start showing up at camps and blowing up. Frankston is not a major metropolis and isn't on a major thoroughfare, so it's not a shock that Rogers didn't get the hype he deserves earlier. But this kid can play, and more than a little bit. Someone very close to A&M's thought process said they "got another Mike Evans", and there is a little bit to that. I saw more Terrence Tolliver, the kid from LSU, but whatever.
In any case, if you watch his highlights (here), you can see he's a big dude. He's still going to put on plenty of weight, but he looks bigger than 182. If this kid gets up to 225, yeah, he's into Evans territory.
The first thing you notice is his leaping ability, which probably shouldn't come as much of a shock. In one play, he makes a catch where he jumps over a corner's back and pulls the ball in, eerily similar to 3rd and 19 at Ole Miss a few years back. But what really impressed me (outside of the sick one-handed catch in the end zone) was how good he was at knowing where he was on the football field. The guys throwing him the ball were, for lack of a better term, terrible, but Rogers frequently shows great footwork in making the catch and staying inbounds. He was a lot more polished than I had expected. He doesn't have the real breakaway speed that you'd love to have, but he is 6'5" and still runs pretty darned well. I also got a kick out of the fact that he'll block, as well; there's one highlight where the play is run away from him, but he buries the corner anyway. You know the A&M coaches loved that.
Could he take a redshirt year, like Evans, and get bigger and adjust to the far better level of competition? Sure, and A&M is just the place for him to do that. The Aggies will need depth starting in 2018, so I have no problems at all with taking him and letting him develop into what people think and hope he can be.
Well, after looking at the film of these guys (which I encourage all of you to do), I really don't have a complaint about the three. Actually, I do have one -- at least one of these guys is severely underrated.
Tyrel Dodson: Oh, I like him. And doubt ye not Chavis.
Have you ever seen the movie, The Untouchables? It's one of my favorites and, if you haven't, you do not have the best interests of the United States of America in your heart. Anyway, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and Malone (Sean Connery) recruit George Stone (Andy Garcia) to join their little band of Capone-busters. (Probably NSFW - language)
Oh, I like him.
That was my first thought when I saw Dodson's film, which you can see here. It doesn't appear that he's playing against the finest of opponents in Franklin, Tenn., but it really doesn't matter. His abilities are evident. Among the things that impressed me were:
- His size. If he's not really 6'2", 230, he eventually will be. He's got the size to definitely be an SEC MIKE.
- His range. I really liked that his first two highlights were of him dropping into coverage. It showed he can move, not just straight forwards but backwards as well. His highlights close with chasing down a receiver on a fly pattern and picking off a pass like you would expect from a DB. But he's also able to go from sideline to sideline against the run, chasing down guys from the other side of the field.
- His lower body strength. Several of his highlights show him as a running back, including the one that stood out most to me. He gets the handoff on a draw and the opponents blitz, and three guys hit him low for what looks like a sure loss of five. Instead, he somehow keeps his feet moving and sheds all three tacklers and runs for a gain of 20. If he's got the lower body strength to do that as a high school junior, he's going to be a force when he gets into A&M's S&C program.
- His explosiveness. When he did blitz, which is only occasionally in these highlights, he moves off the snap like he's shot out of a cannon. Really good first step.
- His smarts. A lot of guys in high school are so fired up that they play themselves out of position, especially against misdirection. Dodson's smart enough to keep to his assignments and recognize the play before he moves. Then he turns on the jets and gets to the ballcarrier. I also like his technique, as he's wrapping guys up and not just trying to level them with a shoulder shot. He does a very good job of working through traffic, as well.
Colton Prater: a rather nasty fellow
Several people asked the other day if Prater has a mean streak to him and the answer is, pretty conclusively, yes. If you watch his highlights (above), you'll see quickly that he likes getting his hands on an opponent and knocking them to the ground. He does it repeatedly. He definitely likes to run block -- a lot. He beats up on guys off the snap and keeps pushing them until they're down, and then a little more. He'll run down the field looking for someone to hit, which is the mindset you want out of your linemen.
He's definitely an interior guy, even if he is playing tackle in these highlights. He's got a lot of upper body strength and stones guys in pass protection, but he lets them get in on him because he doesn't really extend his arms. That's something that he'll have to work on in college, for sure. I wonder how much weight he's going to be able to put on, because it looks like he's already fairly filled out and he's at 270 pounds. Maybe that's just camera angles, though; Dave Christensen got a look at him several times and thinks he can fill out.
Prater is nasty and likes to run block. He's already quite good at it, and he'll get a lot stronger in college. He'll need a redshirt year, but if he gains some weight he could end up being the Jarvis Harrison grinder that this group really doesn't have right now unless Connor Lanfear develops in that way.
Kendrick Rogers: A definite take
Something that I mentioned the other day that bears repeating: Rivals has one guy covering all of Texas AND Louisiana. The other recruiting sites are the same, so a lot of guys in out of the way places will get overlooked until they start showing up at camps and blowing up. Frankston is not a major metropolis and isn't on a major thoroughfare, so it's not a shock that Rogers didn't get the hype he deserves earlier. But this kid can play, and more than a little bit. Someone very close to A&M's thought process said they "got another Mike Evans", and there is a little bit to that. I saw more Terrence Tolliver, the kid from LSU, but whatever.
In any case, if you watch his highlights (here), you can see he's a big dude. He's still going to put on plenty of weight, but he looks bigger than 182. If this kid gets up to 225, yeah, he's into Evans territory.
The first thing you notice is his leaping ability, which probably shouldn't come as much of a shock. In one play, he makes a catch where he jumps over a corner's back and pulls the ball in, eerily similar to 3rd and 19 at Ole Miss a few years back. But what really impressed me (outside of the sick one-handed catch in the end zone) was how good he was at knowing where he was on the football field. The guys throwing him the ball were, for lack of a better term, terrible, but Rogers frequently shows great footwork in making the catch and staying inbounds. He was a lot more polished than I had expected. He doesn't have the real breakaway speed that you'd love to have, but he is 6'5" and still runs pretty darned well. I also got a kick out of the fact that he'll block, as well; there's one highlight where the play is run away from him, but he buries the corner anyway. You know the A&M coaches loved that.
Could he take a redshirt year, like Evans, and get bigger and adjust to the far better level of competition? Sure, and A&M is just the place for him to do that. The Aggies will need depth starting in 2018, so I have no problems at all with taking him and letting him develop into what people think and hope he can be.
