With so much talk about the wide outs, I thought I would share my wide receiver board.
First things first, any board, whether it be mine, Florida's, Florida State's,Georgia's, the Rivals Analysts or an NFL team is nothing more than a beauty contest with beauty being in the eye of the beholder.
I am not some super scout, nor do I claim to be. I do have an opinion though - the same as 99% of you.
To me the interesting thing about scouting is that you can get a group of astute talent evaluators to look at the same players/prospects and come away with completely different opinions.
One of the best things I saw this year was Miami's official football site putting out a video of a recruiting meeting where the various coaches on the staff were discussing an unidentified prospect. To see the differing opinions on the staff as to whether the kid was worth an offer, was a take at all and his potential as far as contributing was a fascanating look at how the process takes place and goes to show how wide a discrepancy there can be on a prospect within a staff.
Okay, I said all of that in order to get to this.
With all of the talk of the wide receiver board falling apart, I, somewhat out of boredom (not really, not during this time of the year) decided to take a look at the kids who are currently committed, still on the board and are no longer on the board.
HOW RIVALS RANKS THEM
#1 Nate Craig-Myers 6.0 6-4/220/- Tampa, FL 3
#2 Sam Bruce 6.0 5-8/179/- Fort Lauderdale, FL 7
#3 Elijah Stove 6.0 6-0/174/4.51 Niceville, FL 10
#4 Tyrie Cleveland 5.9 6-3/180/- Houston, TX 15
#5 Binjimen Victor 5.9 6-4/173/- Coconut Creek, FL 18
#6 Freddie Swain 5.9 6-1/174/- Citra, FL 35
#7 Josh Hammond 5.9 6-0/180/4.5 Hallandale, FL 36
#8 Tre Nixon 5.8 6-1/168/4.38 Viera, FL 51
#9 Rick Wells 5.8 6-0/187/- Jacksonville, FL 59
JUCO doesn't count in the positional rankings
#8-#10 Dre Massey 5.8 6-0/185/4.34 Goodman, MS NR Florida
I went back and watched some video and took what I rembered from seeing kids live over the summer and some this past fall and then in the all-star games (and factored in practice reports somewhat).
HOW I WOULD RANK THEM
#1 Tyrie Cleveland - Size, speed, athletism. He looks like the prospect who will make the biggest impact. The best pure athlete among the wide receivers on the board
#2 Nate Craig-Myers - He lost his fifth star because he didn't look the part during all-star week, but don't dismiss his senior season. He has very good speed, agility and accelaration for someone his size
#3 Dre Massey - The fact that he is three inches shorter than listed dampens the enthusiasm somewhat, but still a playmaker
#4 Josh Hammond - Even after being bumped from three to four-stars, he might still deserve to be a little higher. Comes from a family of athletes. Got it done against South Florida competition
#5 Elijah Stove - I am not as sold as some others. I would take any of the four above him in a footrace
#6 Sam Bruce - He is a straight slot receiver. Someone you want to get the ball in space and let him work his magic. Seeing him at TFSC he is more of a street ball type rather than a route runner
#7 Tre Nixon - You can never discount speed
#8 Binjimen Victor - I liked him back in June at TFSC in Baltimore. He looks a bit akward running because of his height, but he goes up and gets the ball. Apparently Florida didn't like him as much after seeing him during the season (the Rivals analysts agreed after seeing him at all-star week). I didn't see him, so I can't comment
#9 Freddie Swain - He had a blow up type of spring and summer without the pads, but then was hurt his senior season when the pads went on. He has legit 4.5 speed, but his frame is lacking somewhat
#10 Rick Wells - Here is the conundrum, he looked all everything during 7-on-7 season, but was so-so during football season. Part of that was due to Raines having an abysmal offense and passing attack. The thing about that is, they didn't get him involved in other ways (return game or end rounds) becuase he doesn't have great speed, wiggle or an above average athlete. What he has is the best build of any of the kids on this list, looking college ready already. That is great to outphysical high school corners, will it translate to the next level?
First things first, any board, whether it be mine, Florida's, Florida State's,Georgia's, the Rivals Analysts or an NFL team is nothing more than a beauty contest with beauty being in the eye of the beholder.
I am not some super scout, nor do I claim to be. I do have an opinion though - the same as 99% of you.
To me the interesting thing about scouting is that you can get a group of astute talent evaluators to look at the same players/prospects and come away with completely different opinions.
One of the best things I saw this year was Miami's official football site putting out a video of a recruiting meeting where the various coaches on the staff were discussing an unidentified prospect. To see the differing opinions on the staff as to whether the kid was worth an offer, was a take at all and his potential as far as contributing was a fascanating look at how the process takes place and goes to show how wide a discrepancy there can be on a prospect within a staff.
Okay, I said all of that in order to get to this.
With all of the talk of the wide receiver board falling apart, I, somewhat out of boredom (not really, not during this time of the year) decided to take a look at the kids who are currently committed, still on the board and are no longer on the board.
HOW RIVALS RANKS THEM
#1 Nate Craig-Myers 6.0 6-4/220/- Tampa, FL 3
#2 Sam Bruce 6.0 5-8/179/- Fort Lauderdale, FL 7
#3 Elijah Stove 6.0 6-0/174/4.51 Niceville, FL 10
#4 Tyrie Cleveland 5.9 6-3/180/- Houston, TX 15
#5 Binjimen Victor 5.9 6-4/173/- Coconut Creek, FL 18
#6 Freddie Swain 5.9 6-1/174/- Citra, FL 35
#7 Josh Hammond 5.9 6-0/180/4.5 Hallandale, FL 36
#8 Tre Nixon 5.8 6-1/168/4.38 Viera, FL 51
#9 Rick Wells 5.8 6-0/187/- Jacksonville, FL 59
JUCO doesn't count in the positional rankings
#8-#10 Dre Massey 5.8 6-0/185/4.34 Goodman, MS NR Florida
I went back and watched some video and took what I rembered from seeing kids live over the summer and some this past fall and then in the all-star games (and factored in practice reports somewhat).
HOW I WOULD RANK THEM
#1 Tyrie Cleveland - Size, speed, athletism. He looks like the prospect who will make the biggest impact. The best pure athlete among the wide receivers on the board
#2 Nate Craig-Myers - He lost his fifth star because he didn't look the part during all-star week, but don't dismiss his senior season. He has very good speed, agility and accelaration for someone his size
#3 Dre Massey - The fact that he is three inches shorter than listed dampens the enthusiasm somewhat, but still a playmaker
#4 Josh Hammond - Even after being bumped from three to four-stars, he might still deserve to be a little higher. Comes from a family of athletes. Got it done against South Florida competition
#5 Elijah Stove - I am not as sold as some others. I would take any of the four above him in a footrace
#6 Sam Bruce - He is a straight slot receiver. Someone you want to get the ball in space and let him work his magic. Seeing him at TFSC he is more of a street ball type rather than a route runner
#7 Tre Nixon - You can never discount speed
#8 Binjimen Victor - I liked him back in June at TFSC in Baltimore. He looks a bit akward running because of his height, but he goes up and gets the ball. Apparently Florida didn't like him as much after seeing him during the season (the Rivals analysts agreed after seeing him at all-star week). I didn't see him, so I can't comment
#9 Freddie Swain - He had a blow up type of spring and summer without the pads, but then was hurt his senior season when the pads went on. He has legit 4.5 speed, but his frame is lacking somewhat
#10 Rick Wells - Here is the conundrum, he looked all everything during 7-on-7 season, but was so-so during football season. Part of that was due to Raines having an abysmal offense and passing attack. The thing about that is, they didn't get him involved in other ways (return game or end rounds) becuase he doesn't have great speed, wiggle or an above average athlete. What he has is the best build of any of the kids on this list, looking college ready already. That is great to outphysical high school corners, will it translate to the next level?
