Purely one person's opinion and given that a few names are likely to come off and new ones on this is pretty speculative stuff.
QB - Gilliam = A- Our best QB prospect other than Goff in last 15 years. Missing only an inch of height a few MPHs on his fastball for him to be a top 5 kid. Great fit with Dykes system. Quick release, accurate, can really run
RB - Clark = B Honestly liked him better after his Junior season when he played QB. Thought he might get appreciably stronger, bigger and faster. He's got a slinky running style that will work in this system and he runs hard with great balance. Will break tackles. Missing great burst and top end speed. This grade could go up if we land one of the other backs we are after.
WR - Duncan, Kobayashi, Veasy, Gamble and Laris - B All are big guys who can block and will be effective in the red zone. Will be surprised if Kobayashi matriculates at Cal. If Brown, Stovall and Echols (2 of the three) join this becomes an A
OL - Curhan, Juarez, Perez, Wallace and Williams - A-/B+ Such a tough position to project. I like the film and personality with this crew yet not an Uluave or obvious future NFL starter.
DL - Weaver, Becker, Paul, Yaghi and Udeogu - B- Weaver is an A. Yaghi has a great motor and plays with ferocious strength but not sure how big he can get and currently has poor pad level. That said, great prospect. Would be surprised if both Paul and Becker come to Cal. Paul looks like a plugger to me. Not quick or explosive. Becker might be great, very limited film or scouting on him. Udeogu has athletic potential and good frame. Could really use one more stud on the level of Weaver/Yaghi here
LB - Goode - B I really like Goode. Can really move in space, ideal LB frame for this system. Tough kid. We cannot close this class out with just Goode here. Need another REAL player not a JC scrape up
DB - Beck, Franklin, Drayden and Bynum - B Interesting group here. All four of these guys are on the small side but they all are willing tacklers Drayden can run pretty well (11.1 100M) but is not super quick or twichy. Don't see great hips or feet either but he is ballhawk playing the zone and clearly has a high football IQ Willing tackler. Beck is my favorite. Smaller but tough and he's the most athletic of this group. Still not a burner but again a willing tackler and has the feet and hips of a coverage CB. Bynum has great technique for a HS kid and he's quick and bursty athletically. Skinny and less physical than the other two. Not sure about his top end speed either. Franklin is physically strong and tough press cover guy with better size than the other three. Don't see top end speed and his highlights look like a referee's clinic on PI not being called.
The net is that the class is solid but not spectacular. Need to finish strong to keep momentum going from strong 2015 class. Feels like there are 7-8 studs who have visited or will visit and we need to land at least half those guys. Critical to get another DL and safety IMO and offensively we need more speed thus Echols and Stovall are important. Brown is the superstar that would make a difference.
QB - Gilliam = A- Our best QB prospect other than Goff in last 15 years. Missing only an inch of height a few MPHs on his fastball for him to be a top 5 kid. Great fit with Dykes system. Quick release, accurate, can really run
RB - Clark = B Honestly liked him better after his Junior season when he played QB. Thought he might get appreciably stronger, bigger and faster. He's got a slinky running style that will work in this system and he runs hard with great balance. Will break tackles. Missing great burst and top end speed. This grade could go up if we land one of the other backs we are after.
WR - Duncan, Kobayashi, Veasy, Gamble and Laris - B All are big guys who can block and will be effective in the red zone. Will be surprised if Kobayashi matriculates at Cal. If Brown, Stovall and Echols (2 of the three) join this becomes an A
OL - Curhan, Juarez, Perez, Wallace and Williams - A-/B+ Such a tough position to project. I like the film and personality with this crew yet not an Uluave or obvious future NFL starter.
DL - Weaver, Becker, Paul, Yaghi and Udeogu - B- Weaver is an A. Yaghi has a great motor and plays with ferocious strength but not sure how big he can get and currently has poor pad level. That said, great prospect. Would be surprised if both Paul and Becker come to Cal. Paul looks like a plugger to me. Not quick or explosive. Becker might be great, very limited film or scouting on him. Udeogu has athletic potential and good frame. Could really use one more stud on the level of Weaver/Yaghi here
LB - Goode - B I really like Goode. Can really move in space, ideal LB frame for this system. Tough kid. We cannot close this class out with just Goode here. Need another REAL player not a JC scrape up
DB - Beck, Franklin, Drayden and Bynum - B Interesting group here. All four of these guys are on the small side but they all are willing tacklers Drayden can run pretty well (11.1 100M) but is not super quick or twichy. Don't see great hips or feet either but he is ballhawk playing the zone and clearly has a high football IQ Willing tackler. Beck is my favorite. Smaller but tough and he's the most athletic of this group. Still not a burner but again a willing tackler and has the feet and hips of a coverage CB. Bynum has great technique for a HS kid and he's quick and bursty athletically. Skinny and less physical than the other two. Not sure about his top end speed either. Franklin is physically strong and tough press cover guy with better size than the other three. Don't see top end speed and his highlights look like a referee's clinic on PI not being called.
The net is that the class is solid but not spectacular. Need to finish strong to keep momentum going from strong 2015 class. Feels like there are 7-8 studs who have visited or will visit and we need to land at least half those guys. Critical to get another DL and safety IMO and offensively we need more speed thus Echols and Stovall are important. Brown is the superstar that would make a difference.
