| 06 September 2011
It has been a very interesting two weeks of football. I know you have a big question mark in your mind right now. The college season kicked off Thursday night. The NFL has not kicked off yet. What planet is Duane getting football on for the last two weeks?
The high school season. We had the Kirk Herbstreit Classic this last weekend. High school football started the week before in most states. The networks are figuring it out. I think there has always been a big fan interest in high school football but with so much interest in recruiting the interest has skyrocketed.
There were a number of players in action who Ohio State fans would have great interest in who played on television.
Roger Lewis had an impressive game. The Central offensive line was not on its game so their quarterback, a Kent commit for baseball, was having a rough time finding the time needed to throw but he found Lewis a number of times. I like how he catches the football. Very natural and very fluid. I like the attitude after the catch. He is determined to get more yardage. He caught a ball over the middle, something else that impressed me since many young receivers want no part of the middle of the field, he was surrounded but had no intention of going down. He made a move that froze the defense except for one guy who made a diving tackle attempt that succeeded. If he hadn't, Lewis had created enough space that he is likely headed to the house. He also caught a long touchdown pass. Fans like for me to note a familiar player that a recruit reminds me of. I would say Lewis reminds me of Devin Smith.
On the other side of the ball I continue to be very impressed with Centrals Taco Charlton. He is such an athletic kid for his size. He actually plays linebacker for Central. I saw him in coverage several times. He has a great first step and a top drawer burst. I doubt we ever see the big numbers out of Charlton because of how he fits in the Central scheme but this is one special athlete. He needs to work on using his hands better. He showed strength, standing up blockers and holding up to double teams but he got too tied up sometimes despite stuffing the blockers. His potential is unlimited.
Glenville played yesterday. The offense is not what we have gotten used to with Glenville but the defense is fast and athletic. A good game out of Buckeye verbal Devan Bogard. He is playing middle linebacker this year. He looks bigger but no doubt is a safety at the next level. This kid finds the football, he has the speed to get there and arrives in a bad mood.
A player that was a hot commodity early was cornerback V'Angelo Bentley. He had a great game. He accounted for all of Glenvilles touchdowns. He had an 80+ yard punt return and picked up a fumble and ran it in for a touchdown. He looked good as a running back. I recall Mark Porter telling me he is not your average 185 lb back after he saw him up close. You can see it in his running. He runs like a bigger back and never shies away from contact. I think corner is where he will be recruited. Someone is going to get a really good player in Bentley.
The other Glenville player who stood out to me was 2013 safety prospect Chris Wormley. He is 6-2 or 6-3 and about 190. There was a Jermale Hines aspect to his game. He is long and lean, very fast and shows great instincts. He is definitely one to watch in the next class.
An out of state player was the best skill player that I saw last weekend. I saw Dorial Green-Beckham the week before. He was the only skill player who impressed more than Kingsland Camden County (Ga) cornerback J.J. Green. He was all over the field on both sides of the ball. He was defending passes and absolutely fearless in run support. I am sure V'Angelo Bentley would confirm that. Green came up and left Bentley laying prone for a few seconds with a hit on a swing pass to Bentley. The southern schools are showing a great deal of interest so I doubt he is coming north but this kid was so impressive I suspect it is going to take a flat out no to get schools to stop recruiting him. Size is not great, 5-9, 168 but he is a 2013 kid. He will get bigger. Great return man too.
The Centerville lineman were as good as expected. McGowan is a pile driver but Centerville was forced to throw a bit more in this game as Indianapolis Cathedral did a great job of slowing the triple option and were scoring points which forced Centerville to throw more. He showed his lack of reps as a pass blocker.
2013 tackle Evan Lisle showed very well in this game. He handled the increased workload as a pass blocker a little better than McGowan. He still needs work but all this performance showed was that he had the capability to be a fine pass blocking tackle. He is already an impressive run blocker.
The talk of the weekend is the performance of elite edge player Ifeadi Odenigbo. Way too much is being made about this one game. It was not his best. The biggest misconception is that Odenigbo is going to play as a freshman. I don't believe anyone that is evaluating Odenigbo is projecting a freshman impact player. He needs to get in the weightroom and he needs reps. His raw potential is unlimited. He has not been playing football for very long. Ask anyone who evaluates players if this one game is going to change their opinion of him. I think you will get a unanimous no. Ask the coaches at Ohio State, Alabama, Oklahoma, MIchigan, Notre Dame and about a dozen other D-1 programs if they will back off of him over this one game and I guarantee you will have a coach laughing in your face. It was one game.
I saved the best for last. If I had included the first game of the year in my top 50 Adolphus Washington would have been, once again, my number one player. It would have had nothing to do with Odenigbo having an off game. Washington was just that impressive. He had 14 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. The one chink is his armor, what knocked him out of the number one spot in the top 50, was his controlled motor. He turned it on when he saw an opportunity. I wanted to see an every down player. I saw that last week. He was a menace. I saw him triple-teamed on at least two plays. Nobody schemes to triple team anybody. Washington was so disruptive they changed their blocking to make sure he did not blow up the play. He was chasing runners down. They decided early on the stop running at him. During the broadcast the ESPN announcers showed a graphic of where he was ranked among defensive ends. He was number 12. That will change when they redo their top kids. Washington was on the same field as the number two overall player in the class, Eddie Goldman from Washington DC. Goldman was impressive. Very impressive but I doubt anyone would take Goldman over Washington after this performance. I saw ESPN number one player overall, DE Mario Edwards too. Washington, and Goldman and Dorial Green-Beckham, were better players. At least the first week of the season they were.
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