It was a chilly and windy day today for the Rivals Camp Series Dallas event, but it was well worth the effort for those who made it out. There was quite a bit of talent on hand, including a number of players who either hold Texas offers or are on the Longhorns’ recruiting radars.
I’ll have much more detailed recruiting updates throughout the week, but here are some quick-hitters on the guys I spoke with to hold you over …
RB Eno Benjamin – The Wylie East product won the RB MVP award, narrowly edging out J.K. Dobbins on what I’d call a split vote. Benjamin deserved the honor though … he was pretty much unstoppable in 1-on-1 drills, making plays in the passing game all over the field. He also ran very well in the IllSpeed competition.
Benjamin has a top 10 that does not include Texas. He has a top three of Oklahoma State, Iowa and Michigan as his top three. He said if Texas offers, they’ll certainly move into his top 10.
LB Baron Browning – Earned LB MVP. I spoke with him briefly and he had very good things to say about his UT junior day visit and his thoughts on Charlie Strong. He told me he’s pretty much wide open though and does not have any sort of list of favorites. Texas is definitely in the mix here.
WR Camron Buckley – Had a really good visit to the Texas junior day. Said he’s pretty open but the Longhorns are high on his list. I think this is one Texas can win if the coaches decide to push for a commitment.
DB Jeffrey Okudah – Defensive back MVP. Texas wasn’t in his top 10 but the Longhorns are now in the mix thanks to a good junior day visit and his conversations with Charlie Strong and Clay Jennings. Ohio State is the team to beat here. Texas has a lot of ground to make up.
RB J.K. Dobbins – Dobbins said he’s happy with his Ohio State commitment and is a firm pledge, but he’ll have a better handle on where things stand when he visits the Buckeyes in a couple weeks. He didn’t rule out the possibility of popping in on a Texas practice sometime this spring. I told Dobbins that I’m on record as saying I expect he’ll visit UT at some point and he didn’t put up much of a fight. He’s committed and there’s work to do for UT, but this one isn’t over.
LB/DE Chris Allen – The Baton Rouge Southern Lab product said he picked up a Texas offer after the Rivals Camp in New Orleans a few weeks ago. Is up to about 15 offers, says he’s pretty open but does like UT’s tradition and wants to get to Austin at some point for a visit.
2018 WR Jalen Preston – Early UT offer, basically said he’s not focused on recruiting right now. Not a lot to report here.
OL Tyrese Robinson – He says he’s 100 percent solid with OU, but he does plan on taking other visits. One of those trips will be to Texas, likely in the summer. Showed up wearing OU gear. May also visit Baylor and Georgia. Measured in at 6-4 and 310. He did well in 1-on-1s but needs to lean up a little bit to maximize his talent.
OL Walker Little – Maybe the most interesting conversation I had. Little won OL MVP and was flat-out dominant in 1-on-1s. He’ll be at UT’s spring game on April 16. When Texas first offered, UT was at or near the top of his list. The Longhorns fell off during the season and after the coaching change, but Matt Mattox has done a good job of getting Texas back in the mix. Has a brother and sister at Ole Miss so that’s worth watching closely, but he’s very high on the Longhorns.
DT Marvin Wilson – Not planning to hit any spring games, but said he’s trying to get to Austin in the next few weeks for a UT practice. Doesn’t have any visits for any schools lined up. Is trying to cut his list down, and said he’ll probably have a top 10 at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge in June. He said there’s a “really big chance” Texas will be in that cut. Has a great relationship with Charlie Strong and calls him up once or twice a week.
DB Grant Delpit – Has a UT visit, is hoping to get to Austin for a practice. Has spring visits set up for LSU, Florida and Southern Cal. He said he doesn’t have a formal list, but Texas is probably one of his top schools even though he doesn’t know much about the Longhorns just yet. When I asked who is standing out, he mentioned LSU, Florida, Southern Cal and OU.
WR Tyrell Shavers – He had a previous commitment for his baseball team so he wasn’t able to work out, but he showed up towards the end of camp to watch. After he clocked a 4.38 at The Opening Dallas camp last weekend, the offers poured in from Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M and Miami. No contact yet from Texas but said he’d like to hear from the Longhorns. Doesn’t have any schools standing out. Will visit Texas A&M on April 9. Teammate of UT signee Denzel Okafor.
WR Omar Manning – Had a good day overall. Said he’s pretty open but will release a top-10 next week. He knows TCU, Alabama, OU, Texas A&M, Oregon and Texas will for sure make the cut. The Texas offer is new but he said he likes what he knows of new UT WR coach Charlie Williams. He plans to call Williams very soon, possibly even today.
LB Mohamed Sanogo – Was very good today. He played as well as any LB at the camp in 1-on-1 passing drills and provided tight coverage all day. Really, really likes Texas. Said he’s pretty open and not in a rush, but if UT offers, this one looks good for the Longhorns.
LB Anthony Hines – Honestly, not much new to report here. He did play well overall and earned an invitation to the Five-Star Challenge. Still pretty open but Texas is right there in the mix.
WR Mannie Netherly – A&M commit who was offered by Texas at UT’s junior day. Unfortunately, he snuck by me so I didn’t get to do an interview. In talking to a few people, he’s actively recruiting for A&M so it may be tough to pull him away. Honest assessment though … he struggled today and really did nothing to separate himself from the pack. Had trouble getting separation and when the ball was on target, he had trouble catching it.
OL Grayson Reed – Wants to visit Texas, Baylor and OU this spring and then will likely have an early decision. I think the Longhorns are the runaway leader here heading into those visits. Reed didn’t have his best day in 1-on-1s, but was routinely matched up with some of the top DL talent at the camp.
WR Laviska Shenault – Has some big early offers but hasn’t heard from Texas yet. Told me he’d love to hear from UT and I’d expect that to happen soon.
Couple more random thoughts …
DB Robert Barnes – He’s committed to OU but has visited Texas a couple times. Based on that, I wouldn’t say the door is slammed shut but Barnes was very vocally pro-OU today. His family was wearing OU gear as well.
OL Austin Deculus – Dude is a monster. Reminds me of Mason Walters with his build – lean, muscular with a barrel chest. Plays meaner than Walters though. Plans to commit in May. Told me Texas is not under consideration and he wants to get out of the state. LSU is the overwhelming favorite.
You all would not have liked the OU flavor at the event. The Sooners had a handful of commits at the camp and they were pretty vocal in their feelings about Oklahoma, including cheers of Boomer Sooner when QB Chris Robison was named QB MVP. Hearing those chants on a high school campus in the state of Texas just doesn’t seem right.
ALEX'S EVALUATIONS: Rivals Camp Series Dallas
It was the best regional Rivals camp I have ever been to, kudos to whoever was in charge of putting together the talent on-hand.
There were so many players, it is easy to get overwhelmed, and it's certainly hard to see everyone or give everyone the amount of focus you should. It's the old saying in scouting from all-star events - "Watch a lot, see a little. Watch a little, see a lot."
The saying means that you need to focus on certain position groups and players if you want to do a good job. I was much more in the "watch a lot, see a little"-mindset for the event, so, here are a few little thoughts from each position group I actually watched enough to form (or aid in re-calibrating) a few opinions:
OL
- The story of the day is Austin Deculus. He may be the best high school OL I have ever seen in a camp setting. An absolute monster and beast. Texas fans should not get their hopes up, though, as I'm told it will take a miracle to swing him from LSU (he grew up an LSU fan and is from Louisiana).
- Apparently Rivals.com thought Walker Little was the real story of the day, however, as he was OL MVP and I can't blame them. He would have been second on my list.
- I put the over/under on Little's shoe-size at 17 upon first seeing him again ... and the over won. Kid has some St. Bernard paws. Size 18.
- Also standing out was OU-bound Tyrese Robinson although he doesn't automatically project to tackle like Deculus and Little. I was unimpressed with Texas target Grayson Reed - but that could have to do with his having to go against DT Marvin Wilson over and over. Reed's power base through his haunches and rump is substantial. He has the frame to grow into a road-grading guard or RT.
RB
- Eno Benjamin won the RB MVP and it was because he didn't drop a ball that came near him all day.
- I'm not sure I wouldn't have given the award to Ohio State commit JK Dobbins.
- After all this time, I'm going to have to revise my stance on Benjamin's speed. My stance thus far has been that his speed is underwhelming and actually a hinderance to an otherwise unique and elusive running style. After seeing him today I no longer worry about long-speed being a hinderance. He's not a burner but he's fast enough.
WR
- I was most excited to see WR Tyrell Shavers coming off a ridiculous 40-time at Nike camp, but he was a no-show early on. I talked to a buddy who trains Shavers and apparently his dad was making him handle the concession stand at his baseball game as his father is a coach. Shavers showed up at the end of camp and if that guy really runs a sub-4.4 forty-time, he's going to end up with 50+ offers because he's big.
- Time to get the radar up on 2018 WR Brennan Eagles from Alief. I'll say this: I had never heard of most of these kids coming into the day - certainly not many 2018 ones. However, I had constant notes about 'No. 134' and constant notes about a player in an all-star setting means something. One of the national Rivals analysts asked me my evaluation of the group and I told him I really liked the way Eagles moved, tracked and adjusted to the football in flight on such a windy day. He was making big contested catches and separating with physicality. It turns out the Rivals analysts loved Eagles, too, as he won WR MVP.
- The sickest bit of Odell Beckham Jr.-separation of the day came from K.D. Nixon. He has nifty feet and will stem at the line of scrimmage like Muhammad Ali. It's clear he's worked hard at skill-specific training. Add in a twitchy and athletic natural physique and you have an entertainer on your hands at WR - the kind that makes you jump up and yell with a nice cut to shake the DB.
- No. 71 was unbelievable, his name is Laviska Shenault Jr. and he's a big-bodied and smooth WR from Desoto. I was not at all surprised when I heard that Alabama is his most recent offer but was I had never heard of Shenault, as I was told by Rivals analysts he stays out of the media, but he's very, very sick. Long arms and big hands. High-cut with a high-butt.
- Emmanuel Netherly has a crazy offer-list which includes Texas but I could not have been less impressed with this player as a prospect. He clearly has some great film from what I've been told and crazy high-school production, but he looked like a player at Rivals camp that wouldn't be a shoe-in for an offer from Texas State. Zero ability to separate versus high-level DBs, no route-running prowess and no displays of any kind of hands. Who knows, maybe it's like catching Franklin BBQ on a bad day - everyone has them. I am simply amazed at the offer list based on the player I saw at camp today, though.
DL
- There was Marvin Wilson and then there were the others.
LB
- Anthony Hines has lost a lot of 'baby fat' since last spring/summer and my theory is it's because his family had to take out a loan to build a wing on their home to hold all of his offer letters, which cut into food budget.
- Or, Hines could just be coming into his adult-body as expected. With this said, I'm not sure I project him as solely a "mike" LB in a traditional sense anymore. Certainly still an inside LB, but not pigeonholed into being a downhill thumper.
- It's clear, though, when looking at the players side-by-side and in drills versus top competitors, that Baron Browning is the better LB prospect and therefore the best one in the state. Browning is bigger and longer and faster and also more explosive. Browning also more natural in coverage and has a knack for making plays on the football. Browning's a baller ... and in fairness, so is Hines.
I'd take Browning if I had to choose one to be on my defense, though.
I’ll have much more detailed recruiting updates throughout the week, but here are some quick-hitters on the guys I spoke with to hold you over …
RB Eno Benjamin – The Wylie East product won the RB MVP award, narrowly edging out J.K. Dobbins on what I’d call a split vote. Benjamin deserved the honor though … he was pretty much unstoppable in 1-on-1 drills, making plays in the passing game all over the field. He also ran very well in the IllSpeed competition.
Benjamin has a top 10 that does not include Texas. He has a top three of Oklahoma State, Iowa and Michigan as his top three. He said if Texas offers, they’ll certainly move into his top 10.
LB Baron Browning – Earned LB MVP. I spoke with him briefly and he had very good things to say about his UT junior day visit and his thoughts on Charlie Strong. He told me he’s pretty much wide open though and does not have any sort of list of favorites. Texas is definitely in the mix here.
WR Camron Buckley – Had a really good visit to the Texas junior day. Said he’s pretty open but the Longhorns are high on his list. I think this is one Texas can win if the coaches decide to push for a commitment.
DB Jeffrey Okudah – Defensive back MVP. Texas wasn’t in his top 10 but the Longhorns are now in the mix thanks to a good junior day visit and his conversations with Charlie Strong and Clay Jennings. Ohio State is the team to beat here. Texas has a lot of ground to make up.
RB J.K. Dobbins – Dobbins said he’s happy with his Ohio State commitment and is a firm pledge, but he’ll have a better handle on where things stand when he visits the Buckeyes in a couple weeks. He didn’t rule out the possibility of popping in on a Texas practice sometime this spring. I told Dobbins that I’m on record as saying I expect he’ll visit UT at some point and he didn’t put up much of a fight. He’s committed and there’s work to do for UT, but this one isn’t over.
LB/DE Chris Allen – The Baton Rouge Southern Lab product said he picked up a Texas offer after the Rivals Camp in New Orleans a few weeks ago. Is up to about 15 offers, says he’s pretty open but does like UT’s tradition and wants to get to Austin at some point for a visit.
2018 WR Jalen Preston – Early UT offer, basically said he’s not focused on recruiting right now. Not a lot to report here.
OL Tyrese Robinson – He says he’s 100 percent solid with OU, but he does plan on taking other visits. One of those trips will be to Texas, likely in the summer. Showed up wearing OU gear. May also visit Baylor and Georgia. Measured in at 6-4 and 310. He did well in 1-on-1s but needs to lean up a little bit to maximize his talent.
OL Walker Little – Maybe the most interesting conversation I had. Little won OL MVP and was flat-out dominant in 1-on-1s. He’ll be at UT’s spring game on April 16. When Texas first offered, UT was at or near the top of his list. The Longhorns fell off during the season and after the coaching change, but Matt Mattox has done a good job of getting Texas back in the mix. Has a brother and sister at Ole Miss so that’s worth watching closely, but he’s very high on the Longhorns.
DT Marvin Wilson – Not planning to hit any spring games, but said he’s trying to get to Austin in the next few weeks for a UT practice. Doesn’t have any visits for any schools lined up. Is trying to cut his list down, and said he’ll probably have a top 10 at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge in June. He said there’s a “really big chance” Texas will be in that cut. Has a great relationship with Charlie Strong and calls him up once or twice a week.
DB Grant Delpit – Has a UT visit, is hoping to get to Austin for a practice. Has spring visits set up for LSU, Florida and Southern Cal. He said he doesn’t have a formal list, but Texas is probably one of his top schools even though he doesn’t know much about the Longhorns just yet. When I asked who is standing out, he mentioned LSU, Florida, Southern Cal and OU.
WR Tyrell Shavers – He had a previous commitment for his baseball team so he wasn’t able to work out, but he showed up towards the end of camp to watch. After he clocked a 4.38 at The Opening Dallas camp last weekend, the offers poured in from Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M and Miami. No contact yet from Texas but said he’d like to hear from the Longhorns. Doesn’t have any schools standing out. Will visit Texas A&M on April 9. Teammate of UT signee Denzel Okafor.
WR Omar Manning – Had a good day overall. Said he’s pretty open but will release a top-10 next week. He knows TCU, Alabama, OU, Texas A&M, Oregon and Texas will for sure make the cut. The Texas offer is new but he said he likes what he knows of new UT WR coach Charlie Williams. He plans to call Williams very soon, possibly even today.
LB Mohamed Sanogo – Was very good today. He played as well as any LB at the camp in 1-on-1 passing drills and provided tight coverage all day. Really, really likes Texas. Said he’s pretty open and not in a rush, but if UT offers, this one looks good for the Longhorns.
LB Anthony Hines – Honestly, not much new to report here. He did play well overall and earned an invitation to the Five-Star Challenge. Still pretty open but Texas is right there in the mix.
WR Mannie Netherly – A&M commit who was offered by Texas at UT’s junior day. Unfortunately, he snuck by me so I didn’t get to do an interview. In talking to a few people, he’s actively recruiting for A&M so it may be tough to pull him away. Honest assessment though … he struggled today and really did nothing to separate himself from the pack. Had trouble getting separation and when the ball was on target, he had trouble catching it.
OL Grayson Reed – Wants to visit Texas, Baylor and OU this spring and then will likely have an early decision. I think the Longhorns are the runaway leader here heading into those visits. Reed didn’t have his best day in 1-on-1s, but was routinely matched up with some of the top DL talent at the camp.
WR Laviska Shenault – Has some big early offers but hasn’t heard from Texas yet. Told me he’d love to hear from UT and I’d expect that to happen soon.
Couple more random thoughts …
DB Robert Barnes – He’s committed to OU but has visited Texas a couple times. Based on that, I wouldn’t say the door is slammed shut but Barnes was very vocally pro-OU today. His family was wearing OU gear as well.
OL Austin Deculus – Dude is a monster. Reminds me of Mason Walters with his build – lean, muscular with a barrel chest. Plays meaner than Walters though. Plans to commit in May. Told me Texas is not under consideration and he wants to get out of the state. LSU is the overwhelming favorite.
You all would not have liked the OU flavor at the event. The Sooners had a handful of commits at the camp and they were pretty vocal in their feelings about Oklahoma, including cheers of Boomer Sooner when QB Chris Robison was named QB MVP. Hearing those chants on a high school campus in the state of Texas just doesn’t seem right.
. . .
ALEX'S EVALUATIONS: Rivals Camp Series Dallas
It was the best regional Rivals camp I have ever been to, kudos to whoever was in charge of putting together the talent on-hand.
There were so many players, it is easy to get overwhelmed, and it's certainly hard to see everyone or give everyone the amount of focus you should. It's the old saying in scouting from all-star events - "Watch a lot, see a little. Watch a little, see a lot."
The saying means that you need to focus on certain position groups and players if you want to do a good job. I was much more in the "watch a lot, see a little"-mindset for the event, so, here are a few little thoughts from each position group I actually watched enough to form (or aid in re-calibrating) a few opinions:
OL
- The story of the day is Austin Deculus. He may be the best high school OL I have ever seen in a camp setting. An absolute monster and beast. Texas fans should not get their hopes up, though, as I'm told it will take a miracle to swing him from LSU (he grew up an LSU fan and is from Louisiana).
- Apparently Rivals.com thought Walker Little was the real story of the day, however, as he was OL MVP and I can't blame them. He would have been second on my list.
- I put the over/under on Little's shoe-size at 17 upon first seeing him again ... and the over won. Kid has some St. Bernard paws. Size 18.
- Also standing out was OU-bound Tyrese Robinson although he doesn't automatically project to tackle like Deculus and Little. I was unimpressed with Texas target Grayson Reed - but that could have to do with his having to go against DT Marvin Wilson over and over. Reed's power base through his haunches and rump is substantial. He has the frame to grow into a road-grading guard or RT.
RB
- Eno Benjamin won the RB MVP and it was because he didn't drop a ball that came near him all day.
- I'm not sure I wouldn't have given the award to Ohio State commit JK Dobbins.
- After all this time, I'm going to have to revise my stance on Benjamin's speed. My stance thus far has been that his speed is underwhelming and actually a hinderance to an otherwise unique and elusive running style. After seeing him today I no longer worry about long-speed being a hinderance. He's not a burner but he's fast enough.
WR
- I was most excited to see WR Tyrell Shavers coming off a ridiculous 40-time at Nike camp, but he was a no-show early on. I talked to a buddy who trains Shavers and apparently his dad was making him handle the concession stand at his baseball game as his father is a coach. Shavers showed up at the end of camp and if that guy really runs a sub-4.4 forty-time, he's going to end up with 50+ offers because he's big.
- Time to get the radar up on 2018 WR Brennan Eagles from Alief. I'll say this: I had never heard of most of these kids coming into the day - certainly not many 2018 ones. However, I had constant notes about 'No. 134' and constant notes about a player in an all-star setting means something. One of the national Rivals analysts asked me my evaluation of the group and I told him I really liked the way Eagles moved, tracked and adjusted to the football in flight on such a windy day. He was making big contested catches and separating with physicality. It turns out the Rivals analysts loved Eagles, too, as he won WR MVP.
- The sickest bit of Odell Beckham Jr.-separation of the day came from K.D. Nixon. He has nifty feet and will stem at the line of scrimmage like Muhammad Ali. It's clear he's worked hard at skill-specific training. Add in a twitchy and athletic natural physique and you have an entertainer on your hands at WR - the kind that makes you jump up and yell with a nice cut to shake the DB.
- No. 71 was unbelievable, his name is Laviska Shenault Jr. and he's a big-bodied and smooth WR from Desoto. I was not at all surprised when I heard that Alabama is his most recent offer but was I had never heard of Shenault, as I was told by Rivals analysts he stays out of the media, but he's very, very sick. Long arms and big hands. High-cut with a high-butt.
- Emmanuel Netherly has a crazy offer-list which includes Texas but I could not have been less impressed with this player as a prospect. He clearly has some great film from what I've been told and crazy high-school production, but he looked like a player at Rivals camp that wouldn't be a shoe-in for an offer from Texas State. Zero ability to separate versus high-level DBs, no route-running prowess and no displays of any kind of hands. Who knows, maybe it's like catching Franklin BBQ on a bad day - everyone has them. I am simply amazed at the offer list based on the player I saw at camp today, though.
DL
- There was Marvin Wilson and then there were the others.
LB
- Anthony Hines has lost a lot of 'baby fat' since last spring/summer and my theory is it's because his family had to take out a loan to build a wing on their home to hold all of his offer letters, which cut into food budget.
- Or, Hines could just be coming into his adult-body as expected. With this said, I'm not sure I project him as solely a "mike" LB in a traditional sense anymore. Certainly still an inside LB, but not pigeonholed into being a downhill thumper.
- It's clear, though, when looking at the players side-by-side and in drills versus top competitors, that Baron Browning is the better LB prospect and therefore the best one in the state. Browning is bigger and longer and faster and also more explosive. Browning also more natural in coverage and has a knack for making plays on the football. Browning's a baller ... and in fairness, so is Hines.
I'd take Browning if I had to choose one to be on my defense, though.
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