The commitments of three-star offensive tackle Jaleel Davis from Richmond Senior High in Rockingham, N.C., was not a surprise as he has been trending towards the Wolfpack for a while (hence why he was rated high on our top 50 list). The truth is Davis was not going to be moved away from NC State by offers from the likes of Georgia Tech, Kansas and Maryland, which he picked up in April and May.
Davis doesn’t have the classic-looking frame that you will see from a Colby Smith, the former NC State target and Tennessee commit from Rockingham County High in Wentworth, N.C., for instance, but Davis is already a large player at 6-foot-5 and over 300 pounds, so his mission will be more to redefine his body in college.
What Davis does have, as we have noted, is a large wingspan at 6-foot-10 plus, and NC State head coach Dave Doeren, who is more analytical than perhaps any Wolfpack football coach before him, is known to have a soft spot for offensive tackles with length and a long wingspan.
We believe that NC State is going to take at least four offensive linemen in this class and perhaps a fifth. It has been on a mission to rectify the bad luck it had in line recruiting prior to the 2019 class. The early returns from 2019 are outstanding. One source we talked with thinks that rising sophomore Ikem Ekwonu is going to be a first round draft pick at tackle, and as we noted in a previous premium chat we would not be surprised if redshirt freshman Dylan McMahon grabs a starting spot at guard or center this season. Redshirt freshman Timothy McKay is also generating excitement.
Despite the setbacks of losing Jonathan Adorno and Austin Blaske, NC State is still very pleased with what it landed in the 2020 class, and the very brief returns in the spring of early enrollees Ethan Lane and Sean Hill were positive.
But both Lane and Hill are interior linemen, as is McMahon. Truth be told guard might be McKay’s best spot. Hence why tackles might get more of a focus in this class.
New commit Thornton Gentry from Chapin (S.C.) High could very well be a tackle, although his father and coach Justin Gentry told us (for a story coming out later Friday evening) that he thinks Thornton might be best as a guard in college depending on how tall he gets. Doctors project Thornton to grow a little more and he’s already 6-foot-5.
Next week in our top 50, recently offered guard/center prospect Lyndon Cooper from Carrollton (Ga.) High is probably going to be No. 1 on the list, and we’d be surprised if he doesn’t commit in June/July.
That leaves room for one or two players, who we expect to be at least capable of playing tackle. Yousef Mugharbil from Murphy (N.C.) High, Michael Gonzalez from Sun Valley High in Monroe, N.C., and Diego Pounds from Raleigh Millbrook are probably the three most notable targets. We suspect NC State would make room for two, but if it lands one we wonder if they would expand the board past that group.
Every head coach likes to carry extra scholarship players above the norm at certain positions. For Doeren, that has always been offensive linemen.
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Gentry actually made a visit to NC State, along with Virginia Tech and Appalachian State, before picking the Wolfpack. His family was on its way to see Missouri when the dead period was enforced and they had to turn around.
So they used the proximity of those three schools to do “self-guided tours.” Cooper is set to do that himself. As we noted last week in the War Room with what Tennessee did with Kaemen Marley, colleges are using FaceTime to essentially guide the players virtually while they walk around the campuses with their family.
In phone conversations with the new Pack commits, both mentioned that the coronavirus pandemic had slowed down their timeline of committing. Both of the linemen also mentioned they had been leaning toward NC State for awhile now. When the recruiting dead period was extended the most recent time, both of them figured they would go ahead and commit after maintaining consistent virtual communication with the coaching staff.
Two takeaways from the above.
The first is that the coaching staff has been hustling during the pandemic in maintaining communication via the resources available. Every commit and prospect we’ve spoken with over the past two months has provided positive comments about how well the staff has stay engaged during the pandemic.
The second is that the commitment of three-star quarterback Aaron McLaughlin is already causing positive ripple effects in the aftermath. Both of this weeks commits mentioned they had been speaking with McLaughlin since his commitment and that the relationships formed with the existing commits played a big factor. This is why the MacLaughlin commitment was so important. Not only is he a great grab, he’s an essential asset to help bring in other talent the rest of the way.
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One player that has not made it to NC State in person is three-star running back commit Caleb McDowell from Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County High. We have noted previously that of the commits NC State had at that point, McDowell would probably be the one we would watch closest to see how firm he holds.
Since picking NC State, McDowell has landed an offer from South Carolina. It is worth noting that former NC State running backs coach Des Kitchings was not recruiting McDowell before he left, as that was a recruitment that was handled by tight ends coach Todd Goebbel and running backs coach Kurt Roper after Kitchings departed the staff.
Thus there is not any lingering connections between the two. That said, there are some indications that NC State should not write off the South Carolina offer, as South Carolina has some other connections to McDowell they are trying to pull.
Presuming McDowell has a senior season and it is as good as his coach hinted to us he expected it to be, with his athleticism McDowell has he will be one to watch. There is a universal feeling that this year will be a record number of decommitments, and thus colleges will have to expand their recruiting boards as a consequence.
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Some colleges indeed have been pressuring players to commit. It’s generally accepted that Tennessee has been putting the squeeze on targets.
What’s interesting is how Clemson insiders broke down the commitments of two North Carolina players they landed — running back Will Shipley from Weddington High in Matthews and defensive end Zaire Patterson from Winston-Salem Prep.
In Shipley’s case, the conventional wisdom from Clemson’s camp is that slow and steady won the race over Notre Dame’s overly-aggressive pursuit (which was not hard to see on social media). Shipley was appreciative of Notre Dame’s interest and at one point was believed to be torn, but ultimately it may have gotten to be too much and may have even led Shipley to go ahead and pick Clemson earlier than expected.
Similarly, UNC was once thought to be a prime player for Patterson, but Clemson insiders say that UNC was too aggressive and that turned Patterson off. Ultimately he eliminated the Heels and decided between Clemson and South Carolina.
Davis doesn’t have the classic-looking frame that you will see from a Colby Smith, the former NC State target and Tennessee commit from Rockingham County High in Wentworth, N.C., for instance, but Davis is already a large player at 6-foot-5 and over 300 pounds, so his mission will be more to redefine his body in college.
What Davis does have, as we have noted, is a large wingspan at 6-foot-10 plus, and NC State head coach Dave Doeren, who is more analytical than perhaps any Wolfpack football coach before him, is known to have a soft spot for offensive tackles with length and a long wingspan.
We believe that NC State is going to take at least four offensive linemen in this class and perhaps a fifth. It has been on a mission to rectify the bad luck it had in line recruiting prior to the 2019 class. The early returns from 2019 are outstanding. One source we talked with thinks that rising sophomore Ikem Ekwonu is going to be a first round draft pick at tackle, and as we noted in a previous premium chat we would not be surprised if redshirt freshman Dylan McMahon grabs a starting spot at guard or center this season. Redshirt freshman Timothy McKay is also generating excitement.
Despite the setbacks of losing Jonathan Adorno and Austin Blaske, NC State is still very pleased with what it landed in the 2020 class, and the very brief returns in the spring of early enrollees Ethan Lane and Sean Hill were positive.
But both Lane and Hill are interior linemen, as is McMahon. Truth be told guard might be McKay’s best spot. Hence why tackles might get more of a focus in this class.
New commit Thornton Gentry from Chapin (S.C.) High could very well be a tackle, although his father and coach Justin Gentry told us (for a story coming out later Friday evening) that he thinks Thornton might be best as a guard in college depending on how tall he gets. Doctors project Thornton to grow a little more and he’s already 6-foot-5.
Next week in our top 50, recently offered guard/center prospect Lyndon Cooper from Carrollton (Ga.) High is probably going to be No. 1 on the list, and we’d be surprised if he doesn’t commit in June/July.
That leaves room for one or two players, who we expect to be at least capable of playing tackle. Yousef Mugharbil from Murphy (N.C.) High, Michael Gonzalez from Sun Valley High in Monroe, N.C., and Diego Pounds from Raleigh Millbrook are probably the three most notable targets. We suspect NC State would make room for two, but if it lands one we wonder if they would expand the board past that group.
Every head coach likes to carry extra scholarship players above the norm at certain positions. For Doeren, that has always been offensive linemen.
***
Gentry actually made a visit to NC State, along with Virginia Tech and Appalachian State, before picking the Wolfpack. His family was on its way to see Missouri when the dead period was enforced and they had to turn around.
So they used the proximity of those three schools to do “self-guided tours.” Cooper is set to do that himself. As we noted last week in the War Room with what Tennessee did with Kaemen Marley, colleges are using FaceTime to essentially guide the players virtually while they walk around the campuses with their family.
In phone conversations with the new Pack commits, both mentioned that the coronavirus pandemic had slowed down their timeline of committing. Both of the linemen also mentioned they had been leaning toward NC State for awhile now. When the recruiting dead period was extended the most recent time, both of them figured they would go ahead and commit after maintaining consistent virtual communication with the coaching staff.
Two takeaways from the above.
The first is that the coaching staff has been hustling during the pandemic in maintaining communication via the resources available. Every commit and prospect we’ve spoken with over the past two months has provided positive comments about how well the staff has stay engaged during the pandemic.
The second is that the commitment of three-star quarterback Aaron McLaughlin is already causing positive ripple effects in the aftermath. Both of this weeks commits mentioned they had been speaking with McLaughlin since his commitment and that the relationships formed with the existing commits played a big factor. This is why the MacLaughlin commitment was so important. Not only is he a great grab, he’s an essential asset to help bring in other talent the rest of the way.
***
One player that has not made it to NC State in person is three-star running back commit Caleb McDowell from Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County High. We have noted previously that of the commits NC State had at that point, McDowell would probably be the one we would watch closest to see how firm he holds.
Since picking NC State, McDowell has landed an offer from South Carolina. It is worth noting that former NC State running backs coach Des Kitchings was not recruiting McDowell before he left, as that was a recruitment that was handled by tight ends coach Todd Goebbel and running backs coach Kurt Roper after Kitchings departed the staff.
Thus there is not any lingering connections between the two. That said, there are some indications that NC State should not write off the South Carolina offer, as South Carolina has some other connections to McDowell they are trying to pull.
Presuming McDowell has a senior season and it is as good as his coach hinted to us he expected it to be, with his athleticism McDowell has he will be one to watch. There is a universal feeling that this year will be a record number of decommitments, and thus colleges will have to expand their recruiting boards as a consequence.
***
Some colleges indeed have been pressuring players to commit. It’s generally accepted that Tennessee has been putting the squeeze on targets.
What’s interesting is how Clemson insiders broke down the commitments of two North Carolina players they landed — running back Will Shipley from Weddington High in Matthews and defensive end Zaire Patterson from Winston-Salem Prep.
In Shipley’s case, the conventional wisdom from Clemson’s camp is that slow and steady won the race over Notre Dame’s overly-aggressive pursuit (which was not hard to see on social media). Shipley was appreciative of Notre Dame’s interest and at one point was believed to be torn, but ultimately it may have gotten to be too much and may have even led Shipley to go ahead and pick Clemson earlier than expected.
Similarly, UNC was once thought to be a prime player for Patterson, but Clemson insiders say that UNC was too aggressive and that turned Patterson off. Ultimately he eliminated the Heels and decided between Clemson and South Carolina.
