Quarterbacks are often the first big stars to commit and thus lead their recruiting classes, so recruiters are snapping them up before their senior seasons. You're choosing the leader of your team of to year-olds based on his performance as a year-old. We saw this play out in June during this cycle , when schools further down the food chain were forced to wait on the five-stars to make their decisions.
Since a school won't typically take more than one quarterback per class, most teams have to both hurry and wait. Once on campus, quarterbacks that don't get chances to play early often jump ship, as did 13 of the top 18 prospects from the class. That puts greater pressure on coaches to get the takes right, lest they end up having to start a player who shouldn't have been on scholarship.
Teams that have success recruiting and developing quarterbacks usually choose players based on the needs of a strongly developed system, sometimes tinkering for players with particular exceptional abilities. Teams that attempt to build around future pro quarterbacks, like USC traditionally does, are at huge risk of boom-or-bust cycles if they miss evaluations or have to start underclassmen. Scarcity: Every offense is designed to involve at least five players from one of the world's smallest gene pools: the tall, heavy, and quick-footed.
Defensive linemen are often more athletic and sometimes similarly sized, but their responsibilities on the football field are considerably different. An offensive lineman has to have the agility to get in front of blitzing linebackers along with the powerful base necessary to stand his ground when facing a defensive tackle with an explosive first step and pound frame.
Work on the offensive line is generally very technical and involved, requiring the ability to learn and master skills. While defensive linemen needn't necessarily be the brightest players on the field to understand how they fit into a scheme, offensive linemen have to work carefully in tandem with great awareness of their pre-snap plan along with how that will change when the bullets start flying.
You also need a portion of nastiness. When the action gets heavy, it's helpful if the offensive linemen are scrappers who like to intimidate the smaller defenders paired across from them. The huge, powerful, tall, quick, crafty, and cruel athlete is not one of the more common varieties. And he'll probably need long arms and a wide butt, too.
Evaluation: Most offensive linemen are not 6'5, pounds coming out of high school. Among 's 25 blue-chip tackles on the Sports Composite, only 10 are already listed at , and lesser prospects are likely to be smaller. That means projecting the future frames of to year-olds and those players' willingness to pack on the needed weight and power if that sounds easy, consider that No.
And that takes time. The instances of freshmen starting on offensive lines are particularly rare, as a good line is usually built with upperclassmen. Coaches hope most linemen will emerge ready to contribute after two or three years in the program. Like on the defensive line, it's not uncommon to find players with necessary size who were happy to bully smaller players in high school, but less wiling to embrace the massive amount of discipline, energy commitment, and threshold for pain necessary to find success.
Much like Andrew Bynum on the hardwood, some kids play football in high school because they are 6'4, pounds and it comes easily, not because they particularly love the game. Coaches have to be able to tell the difference. Other kids struggle to keep on the needed weight to withstand power rush moves or drive back determined defenders. In addition to training, class, film, and games, linemen have to eat about 5, calories per day. If they suffer injuries, it can be hard to keep the needed weight on while rehabbing.
Injuries are not at all uncommon for offensive linemen who have to navigate both the chaos in the trenches along with the risks that come from their own girth. It's simply very hard to be both a healthy person and a pounder. Evaluating kids for injury risk, the willingness to face hard coaching and challenging scenarios, and the ability to master the techniques and assignments on the line with rebuilt bodies is one of the more challenging tasks in recruiting.
Given how few of these massive kids with truly exceptional athleticism exist, offensive line is the most challenging position to recruit. As you watch and hope for your team to snag that prize, five-star running back, keep in mind the real prizes in a recruiting class. Learn more about defensive positions in football. Do you play offense as well? NCSA review We checked out the company, is it a scam or the real thing? Athletic Scholarships. International Email info athleticscholarships.
The Hurricanes have had their own two-sport big man in defensive end Kenard Lang. Lang, who lettered in football, baseball, and basketball at Evans High School in Orlando, also played baseball at the University of Miami. Orgeron liked to have a comparison for each prospect to a former prospect and was always looking for his next Warren Sapp. When Orgeron popped on a good film, like the one of Jerrell Powe , Orgeron had to compare all other prospects to his eye popping raw athleticism.
Powe, a six-foot-two, pound tackle, had a well documented recruitment that led him from Mississippi to Hargrave in Virginia, to a prep school in Pennsylvania before finally being cleared by the NCAA. He felt he could work some laziness out of kids like he had with Cortez Kennedy while the two were at Miami.
To Orgeron that laziness in big men is often a sign of poor conditioning and motivation, which he felt he could fix.
Maybe he has an ankle problem or something. See how he waddles? Coach O would prefer to see guys able to squat, heels down, and get a heavy load deep into the squat below parallel. Of course, coaches want to get the height and weight measurements first and foremost of these big guys when they arrive at camps.
It also helps to see a kid in person and really look at their build. Everyone carries weight differently and some guys who are look a lot sloppier than a muscled up guy at It depends how you carry the weight and your body composition. In Meat Market , the Ole Miss coaching staff wanted the heights and weights of each camper, but also their Vertical Jump, yard dash time, and yard shuttle time.
The 40 time of a defensive lineman may not lead to a direct causation for success but data does lend itself to the lower the 40 time for an offensive lineman and defensive tackle the more career longevity they tend to have. The Vertical Jump is a great test for explosiveness with little risk involved. When asked about the individual qualities of their respective games that drew the most attention from colleges, versatility and the ability to quickly get off the ball at the snap were the common traits each mentioned.
The spread offense craze that has enveloped college football came from the high school ranks. However, no group could have a bigger impact on the future of the sport than the class of sleek pass-rushers who are redefining one of the most important positions on the field. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.
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