It's time for the final round of the inaugural "My Guys" Recruiting draft, brought to you by the BON recruiting team. Here's how the first four went down:
- Whitewright QB Tyrone Swoopes (GoBR's pick)
- Fort Worth Arlington Heights OL/DL A'Shawn Robinson (BFLT's pick)
- Celina's OL/DL Jake Raulerson (GHG90's pick)
- Sealy ATH Ricky Seals-Jones
- Dallas Kimball DT Justin Manning
- Dallas Jesuit WR Jake Oliver
- Bastrop CB Antwuan Davis
- Groveland South Lake (FL) S Marcell Harris
- Kennedale LB Brett Wade
- Weimar OT Ja'Braylin Thomas
- Lake Highlands OT/DT Kent Perkins
- DeSoto APB Dontre Wilson
Check out the fifth and final round after the jump.
Round 5, Pick 1 -- GoBR
Livingston athlete Chevoski Collins
It's a recruiting cliche that at smaller schools -- and often bigger schools as well -- coaches put their best athlete at quarterback. Such is the case for Chevoski Collins at Livingston. Variously listed between 5-11 and 6-1, Collins is an explosive athlete Texas could recruit at wide receiver or safety in 2013 after showing well at receiver during the summer at a camp in Austin.
He plays every bit as fast as his listed 4.5 and if the shake in his hips is any indication of his coverage ability, Collins could fill a major need at safety and still have the versatility to walk up in coverage, the preference of defensive backs coach Duane Akina.
Getting an offer as a receiver may be getting more difficult with the emergence of prospects like Houston Bellaire's Devin Lauderdale and Fort Worth Arlington Height's Robbie Rhoads, both of whom are more explosive than Collins as receivers, though Collins can match them both with his ability to make defenders miss in a phone booth.
Round 5, Pick 2 -- BFLT
Rosenburg Terry wide receiver/tight end Derrick Griffin
This pick was harder than the first. Lawton, OK DE D.J. Ward received serious consideration, but when I saw Griffin's film I had to pull the trigger. Griffin is a devastating blocker, and unstoppable in the red zone and on jump balls. He throws decleaters out there in droves. He uses his leverage well, and when he gets his hands inside on the defender, he's driving him backward. He moves very well for his height (around 6'7''), and the speed is much better than I anticipated. He's not a 4.4 burner, but I think he's a sub 4.65 guy. He has some juke, and can get upfield on screens and short passes. On jump balls he uses his size to wall off defenders, and high points the ball. He is generally uncoverable. He can stretch the field is a real threat over the middle, and can split outside as a wide receiver and cause match up nightmares for defensive backs. He reminds of Brandon Pettigrew.
Griffin is more of an athlete playing football and basketball right now, but from his junior film you can see legitimate football skills. The biggest issue with Griffin is that he might choose basketball over football. He has said in interviews that if he grows another 2 inches he will play basketball full time.
TAMU is recruiting Griffin the hardest but he has expressed interest in Texas. I would like to see Texas pick up the intensity of their Griffin's recruitment. I'd suggest offering Griffin the option of playing basketball and football at Texas.
Round 5, Pick -- GHG90
Prestonwood Christian tight end/defensive end Christian Morgan
The last pick in the draft, Mr. Irrelevant, is not so irrelevant after all. Actually, Christian Morgan has a chance to be a very important recruit in this class, depending on where everybody else winds up. Other than Morgan and Jake Raulerson, the in-state DE cupboard is about as bare as Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Both of them may not end up playing there. At defensive end. I'm from Missouri on whether they'd play with Sharon Stone, but my Instinct says they would. Hey, I attend Missouri. And I'd attend Sharon Stone. Wordplay! I can do this all day. Basic-lay.
Naturally, the in-state downturn for defensive end recruits is affecting UT's projected depth at the position. Of course, a lot of that worry stemmed from the thought that Alex Okafor and Jackson Jeffcoat would both be leaving early (Oak this year, JJ next). After a quiet start to the season for both players, that is ironically looking like less and less of a concern. Do we want our players to be great and leave or mediocre and stay...?
Morgan has very good athleticism and ball-get off at defensive end, which he supplements with fantastic strength that leads GoBR to think he could possibly wind up at OT. I think that's a bit of round peg, square hole square peg, round hole thinking in trying to put 60 pounds on a player once he gets to college and not incur some kind of, well, death, but Wescott probably has some insider info on the Chris Whaley dietary plan that makes that sound like a piece of cake. Red velvet cake. Mmmmmmmmm, Chris likey red velvet. Or we could just feed him Patrick Nkwopara. Then we'd be half way there!
I think Tim Crowder and Brian Robison are both pretty solid comparisons for Morgan. SDE types with enough speed and athleticism to get after the QB when they need to, but aren't going to wreck a team's gameplan like Brian Orakpo.
At tight end, Morgan would make a lot of fans here very happy. He's a traditional TE who can mess people up in the blocking game, has good hands, and has the athleticism to have plays run for him in the passing game. Prestonwood Christian has a cool play where the TE starts to run upfield then slips back behind a bunch of blockers and catches a middle screen. Morgan looks solid and fluid athletically and shows good lateral and straight-line speed on this play.
Last, but certainly not least, he goes to the same school as stud 2013 basketball recruit Julius Randle. So unless they're mortal enemies or something, that can't hurt. It would be a pretty good fight though...
That wraps up the 2013 "My Guys" recruiting addition. What are your thoughts on the draft? Any major misses? Players taken too high or too low?