In trying to build up and break down the remaining recruiting board for the Florida Gators for the Class of 2014, one thing needs to be made clear: other prospects will emerge. Some of them will have been former targets of UF that have reconsidered their commitments. Other players will have come off the radar entirely to become priorities for the Florida coaching staff. Just look at last year's class, for instance. Seven prospects committed after Oct. 1, 2012 that weren't considered possibilities for Florida on that date:
LB Alex Anzalone
DT Darious Cummings
LB Jarrad Davis
DT Jarran Reed
LB Matt Rolin
P Johnny Townsend
OL Trevon Young
Of course, Anzalone and Rolin had been offered much earlier in the process, but had committed elsewhere (Anzalone to Ohio State, then Notre Dame; Rolin to South Carolina). Cummings and Reed (who ultimately wasn't able to enroll at Florida this fall) were JUCO targets who emerged on the radar as the season wore on, which has been the emerging trend for how UF typically pursues prospects out of the junior college ranks. Davis became a possibility for the Gators as Auburn's season crumbled and Gene Chizik was run out of town. Townsend and Young emerged on the board right around National Signing Day for UF.
More names will emerge, that much is clear. Like Eric Lauderdale on Monday, the Gators are far from done in terms of evaluating players and extending offers. Some will of those tenders will go to names that will not surprise hard-core UF recruitniks. Others, like Lauderdale, may be names that surprise us a bit.
Just a little some to keep in mind as we project the recruiting board for Florida moving forward. It is an organic creature that will continue to change and develop all the way until National Signing Day.
Showing posts with label High. Show all posts
Showing posts with label High. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Who is the best high school player you ever saw?
I love posing this question for others, and evidenced by this entry, answering it as well. Through covering high school recruiting and paying close attention to it for over 10 years now, I've had the opportunity to see a lot of great high school players. Some who went on to major success at the college level (Trent Richardson, Matt Barkley, Alshon Jeffery, among others) and some who didn't (Gary Brown and Nu'Keese Richardson come to mind). Still, of all the great players I've ever had the pleasure to witness, the play of one is still burned brightly into my mind. Perhaps the naivety of youth altered my view of his ability at the high school level, compared with many of the greats I've seen in the years since. But I'll still stand by this one until someone else changes my opinion.
The greatest high school football player I've ever seen in person is Reggie Nelson.
It bears mentioning, Nelson graduated from Palm Bay High School the same year I graduated from nearby Astronaut High School in 2003. I never had the honor of playing against Nelson on the same field, and I should probably be thankful things worked out as such. Although I was a member of a pair of state playoff teams in my two years of varsity football, Palm Bay was on another level at the time. We would have been run off the field if we tried to butt heads with the Pirates on a Friday night back in the fall of 2001 or '02, and I have no shame in admitting as such.
Unfortunately, I only had the opportunity to see Nelson play once. But boy did he put on a show. My junior year, in 2001, a buddy and I went south to Palm Bay to watch the Pirates host New Smyrna Beach in a regional final match-up the day after Thanksgiving. NSB was coached by Brevard County coaching legend Gerald Odom, who won two state championships at Merritt Island, and would revive moribund programs at New Smyrna and Cocoa before hanging up his whistle. The Barracudas featured a talent squad headlined by receiver/safety Cardan Alexander (a name that should be familiar to many Florida recruitniks). There were a number of players on the field that day who would go on to play Division I football, but Nelson was in a class by himself.
Despite the fact that Nelson only stood about 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds at the time, he flew around the field like a mini-Ray Lewis from his linebacker position. The speed and the ferocity in which he leveled opposing players was jarring to watch from the stands. I hadn't seen anything like it in person, in relation to someone I could reach out and touch before. Sure, I had been to college games at that age. I'd grown up watching guys like Marvin Jones, Lawrence Wright and Lewis himself light up people in person. But I'd never seen a peer play with that ability until that fateful day in Melbourne.
Nelson had a huge day for Palm Bay, and the Pirates went on to beat New Smyrna 36-7. I don't remember what his exact stats were, but he had somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 tackles on defense, while I also recall Nelson making a couple of big catches on offense. Palm Bay would lose the following week to a really good Tallahassee Lincoln squad in the state semis. But a year later, Nelson and Cohen would finish the job, leading Palm Bay to a state title over a Tampa Jefferson team headlined by another fellow future Gator in Andre Caldwell. Nelson was credited with over 150 tackles during both his junior and senior years at Palm Bay, earning two All-State nods and winning Florida Today Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior. Sometimes high school football stats like that get inflated, and maybe Nelson's numbers were too. But to watch him on the field in person, you could actually believe those numbers were legitimate, based on the way he played the game.
A gifted offensive player in high school as well, I have no doubt Reggie Nelson could have been a very effective college wide receiver. But he eventually found the perfect role as a one-high safety on Florida's incredibly talented 2006 defense that was the lynchpin for a national championship-winning squad. Nelson moved on to the pros the following year, and has carved out a solid seven-year career to date with the Jaguars and Bengals. But that game with New Smyrna Beach will always stick out with me. Nelson played like a man possessed that day, and really put a stamp on a two-season run where he was unquestionably the best football player in Brevard County between during our final two years of high school.
The greatest high school football player I've ever seen in person is Reggie Nelson.
It bears mentioning, Nelson graduated from Palm Bay High School the same year I graduated from nearby Astronaut High School in 2003. I never had the honor of playing against Nelson on the same field, and I should probably be thankful things worked out as such. Although I was a member of a pair of state playoff teams in my two years of varsity football, Palm Bay was on another level at the time. We would have been run off the field if we tried to butt heads with the Pirates on a Friday night back in the fall of 2001 or '02, and I have no shame in admitting as such.
Unfortunately, I only had the opportunity to see Nelson play once. But boy did he put on a show. My junior year, in 2001, a buddy and I went south to Palm Bay to watch the Pirates host New Smyrna Beach in a regional final match-up the day after Thanksgiving. NSB was coached by Brevard County coaching legend Gerald Odom, who won two state championships at Merritt Island, and would revive moribund programs at New Smyrna and Cocoa before hanging up his whistle. The Barracudas featured a talent squad headlined by receiver/safety Cardan Alexander (a name that should be familiar to many Florida recruitniks). There were a number of players on the field that day who would go on to play Division I football, but Nelson was in a class by himself.
Despite the fact that Nelson only stood about 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds at the time, he flew around the field like a mini-Ray Lewis from his linebacker position. The speed and the ferocity in which he leveled opposing players was jarring to watch from the stands. I hadn't seen anything like it in person, in relation to someone I could reach out and touch before. Sure, I had been to college games at that age. I'd grown up watching guys like Marvin Jones, Lawrence Wright and Lewis himself light up people in person. But I'd never seen a peer play with that ability until that fateful day in Melbourne.
Nelson had a huge day for Palm Bay, and the Pirates went on to beat New Smyrna 36-7. I don't remember what his exact stats were, but he had somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 tackles on defense, while I also recall Nelson making a couple of big catches on offense. Palm Bay would lose the following week to a really good Tallahassee Lincoln squad in the state semis. But a year later, Nelson and Cohen would finish the job, leading Palm Bay to a state title over a Tampa Jefferson team headlined by another fellow future Gator in Andre Caldwell. Nelson was credited with over 150 tackles during both his junior and senior years at Palm Bay, earning two All-State nods and winning Florida Today Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior. Sometimes high school football stats like that get inflated, and maybe Nelson's numbers were too. But to watch him on the field in person, you could actually believe those numbers were legitimate, based on the way he played the game.
A gifted offensive player in high school as well, I have no doubt Reggie Nelson could have been a very effective college wide receiver. But he eventually found the perfect role as a one-high safety on Florida's incredibly talented 2006 defense that was the lynchpin for a national championship-winning squad. Nelson moved on to the pros the following year, and has carved out a solid seven-year career to date with the Jaguars and Bengals. But that game with New Smyrna Beach will always stick out with me. Nelson played like a man possessed that day, and really put a stamp on a two-season run where he was unquestionably the best football player in Brevard County between during our final two years of high school.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)