Arcade's Roundup: Season 137 recruiting preview

Ever start something when you’re bored and then spend way too much time on it than you should? Well, that’s why there will be little prelude to this. You all know how recruiting works. Call me a fool for talking about recruiting before the recruits are signed, but here we go. -AC WILK season 137 recruiting preview. Top 3 Guess rated recruits at every position: DB -- 3. Aaron Phelps, 72.54, Foley, AL -- Great athleticism, speed, GI and all that crap. Good WE, too. Lousy blocking. One school is in his 180: Troy State. But some gorillas are hanging out in the 360, not least of which is also an elephant. Coach mcbethbr is new to the school, has no bowl money, but 24 open scholarships. This is his best shot at a prize recruit, at least on paper. 2. Gary Jones, 73.74, Watonga, OK -- Athletic, fast, great GI. He won’t pick up the playbook that fast, but that won’t matter a whole bunch. With that OK in his byline, you won’t be surprised to know who’s in his 180. The two Oklahoma schools sit around 70 miles from the kid. OK has the prestige advantage, but OK St has 5 more schollies and may try to use that cash. Or may not. 5 other schools are in his 360, including Nebraska, but I’d be surprised to see the kid wearing a different color than that red color Oklahoma has on their uniforms. 1. Kevin Street, 74.04, Caledonia, MS -- All the tools, plus a very good work ethic. Plus a high GPA. This kid is going to help some defense be lock down for 4 seasons. Four schools in his 180, but only one elite, who also is the only BCS team in the kid’s backyard with bowl money at all. One of the others may take a wild swing for Street, or one of the 10 other schools in his 360, but I’d be surprised to see the kid wearing a different color than that red color Alabama has on their uniforms. LB -- 3. Jerome Gilliam, 77.41, Mt Bevieu, TX -- Athletic, strong, fast, etc, etc. What can I say about Jerome Gilliam that hasn’t been said already? Probably the best pass coverage LB, and has fantastic teeth. Only one school in his 180, and that’s Texas. Six other teams are in his 360. You might see a wild shot at Gilliam, but if the Longhorns keep it on the rails, anyone else will be punching a long way up. Looks like another one for the UT gift basket. 2. Larry Todd, 77.81, Bellingham, WA -- Extremely athletic. He’s got WE problems, but he’d say he’s just misunderstood. Will still be one of the top LBs in his class by senior year. Only one school is in his 180, and that’s a purple school. Only one other school in his 360, and they like red. I expect the red school to want Mr. Todd, but I expect the purple school to hold him close and not let him go. 1. William Arrington, 78.45, Valley Mills, TX -- A little less athleticism than Todd or Gilliam, but GI like nobody’s beez, and decent WE. There are 5 schools in his 180, including the Longhorns. UNT has 20 schollies, and that kind of cash can sometimes make things exciting, but the Mean Green haven’t finished better than #70 in the last 4 seasons, so don’t have as much prestige to throw around. Also, Texas has 18 schollies open. There are more 5 more schools in his 360, but it will take some bad luck for the Horns to let Arrington go. DL -- 3. Joseph Davis, 81.28, Landsale, PA -- A great tackler with good instincts towards the ball, or something. Not great technique, but very athletic. Will surely be coveted by the covetous couches of the coastal conferences. Or something. 6 schools in his 180, 16 in his 360. He’ll get some attention. Penn State will likely stop by. Temple and Maryland have been seen driving past his house as well. It’s actually getting very creepy in Landsale. Then again, it’s creepy in Wilk, period. 2. Peter Schmidt, 81.8, Ellsworth, ME -- Ah Maine, home of Stephen King, setting of IT. Rocks, beaches, woods. It’s a good spot for a kid to grow up and become a bone crushing monster. Great athleticism, strength, tackling, and GI. Also, no schools in his 180, so get your helicopter tickets out. 3 schools in his 360, with BC the closest, and likely wanting to box everyone else out. As is usual in New England, UConn and Army are the other nearbys, but desperados lurk outside the 360. 1. Paul Murillo, 81.8, Nevada, MO -- When he’s not giving tours of Italy to retirees, Paul Murillo is doing terrible things to running backs and quarterbacks, which many coaches would love to see happen to such players on other teams, and not their own. His high work ethic gives him a good shot at keeping the #1 DL tag for his class. He has few weaknesses, but has been known to be distracted by hams thrown on the field. Two teams in his 180: Arkansas and Missouri. Ark has the schollie advantage, Missou has a trophy without too much dust on it. Six other schools in the 360, including Nebraska and Oklahoma, may keep them looking over their shoulders, but I’d expect one of the 180s to land Mr. Murillo. OL -- 3. Andrew Dejesus, 83.25, Smithfield, UT -- Could wind up as the top OL in the class with the right potential lottery. GI is lowest of the top 3 OL, but I doubt anyone would cry over it. Being the mountains, there aren’t too many neighbors. 3 schools in his 180, and no one else in his 360 - with BYU being the biggest dog in the pack. Utah and Utah State will also be hanging around, and the kid almost lives on Utah State’s campus. I’d be surprised at someone coming in long range, but the Utah schools would probably be surprised, too. 2. Thomas Wilkinson, 83.66, Ashburnham, MA -- No knocks on Thomas in his namesake world. Potential pending, could also wind up the top OL of the class. He’s in MA, which normally means automatic admission to BC, especially since UConn has a small(ish) class and Army’s scholarship advantage isn’t huge. Temple and Penn State are also in his 360, GT is GT, and everyone loves a Thomas, so it could turn into a contest. 1. Eric Hinson, 84.43, Pensacola, FL -- What can I say, the guy’s such a beast he even makes his mother cry. His teammates call him Shrek. This could be an interesting recruiting battle, but maybe not. 2 teams in his 180: Florida State and Troy State. Normally, you’d see this and shrug, but here’s how it could get interesting. Troy State has no bowl money, but a huge schollie advantage: 24-8. And both schools have great recruiters at the helm. I actually *don’t* think mcbethbr will wrestle for this kid, but stranger things have happened. And there are 9 other schools in his 360 who would love to have him, should they find themselves on an extra pile of cash. TEs -- 3. John Smith, 77.26, Staten Island, NY -- Smith is athletic and strong, and while he doesn’t corner so well, he has great top speed for a TE. Add that to great hands and excellent blocking, and you have, well, Mr Flashy: John Smith. There are 5 schools in his 180. Temple has the most cash of the 5, and the greatest need, so don’t be surprised to see the Owls give some love. As always with NYC area recruits, other schools are looking just outside the 180, so someone might throw in. 2. Aaron Williams, 79.2, Richmond, VA -- Williams is a blocker first, but has very good hands and can be a threat to not drop passes. 6 schools in his 180, more than I care to count in his 360. It’ll likely be an ACC slugfest though, should they decide to go after him, with 5 of the 6 in his 180 being conference mates, the outsider being Navy. 1. Charles Goff, 79.89, Elon College, NC -- Though like Williams, not super fast, Goff is as athletic as a pretend recruit can be. Not as good of a blocker, but close, and better hands for catching digital footballs. If he were a book report, it would say “I liked it, it was good, would recommend to others.” 5 schools in his 180: 4 AC schools and South Carolina. USC runs the NB Box and has the most schollies in his 180, but also 4 TEs on the roster, so it remains to be seen if they put in. WRs -- 3. Gregory Byers, 78.58, Roseburg, OR -- Dubbed “the Roseburg Rocket” by the press, Byers is as fast as recruits are legally allowed to be. Which is as fast as a few others are as well. He’s also got great fashion sense, great hands, and hopes to sell cars one day, if he can get out of Oregon, which he’ll do shortly as there are no D1 humans in state. There’s only 1 school in his 360, and coach mpmershon is likely to get the kid to come north to Washington. He may see interest from Washington St, Cal and/or Stanford, too. 2. Aaron Wilson, 79.46, Dayton, OH -- Just as fast and handsy as Byers, but a slightly better blocker, so he’s got that going for him (which is nice). Byers and Wilson are so interchangeable, I may be talking about the wrong one right now. One difference is Wilson has schools in his backyard. Schools, schools, schools. And more schools. 10 in his 180, to be exact. Plenty of crafty recruiters in the bunch to make things interesting, but in his 180 are Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Michigan. I’d expect to see two or all three on him day 1, and we’ll have to wait til signing day to see clear the pile and see who’s got the ball/recruit. But keep this in mind: the Buckeyes only have 2 WRs on their roster. Michigan only has 3. There may be blood. 1. Rick Craig, 79.9, Westfield, IN -- Not as fast as Wilson or Byers, but it shouldn’t matter. Rick is more athletic and will pick up the playbook faster. He’s got 8 schools in his 180, including Ohio St, but Rick has an IN at the end of his byline, so expect to see coach cfbfan hanging around the Westfield McDonalds. There’s also many of the same great recruiters in Ricky’s area. There are very few gimmies in Wilk world. RBs -- 3. Charles Pearson, 81.39, Atwater, CA -- Great RB cores, except maybe athleticism, but there’s not much for RBs in Cali, so if someone wants to turn up their nose at him, I’m sure other coaches would be happy to hear it. Only 3 schools in his 180, and Cal has the scholarship advantage and is the 5-time defending conference champ. Coach hitman at Stanford could make a play, or with the RB scarcity in CA, coach ez37 could be compelled to go north, but the table looks like it’s tilting towards coach cebrake Pearson. 2. Barry Green, 82.38, Littleton, CO -- Barry’s favorite candy is probably Butterfingers, but that shouldn’t hurt too bad with all the other things he can do (surprisingly, he’s an expert balloon animal maker at kids’ parties). Eyeballing things, Barry’s WE advantage will probably propel him to the #1 RB of the class in a few seasons, too. Only 2 DI schools are in his 180: Colorado, and Other Colorado. Next closest is BYU at 353 miles, if Barry doesn’t accessorize his gold with black or green, I’ll eat my hat/cheeseburger. Other Colorado’s coach jay9 is without the benefit of bowl money, which should make coach CJ happy for a little bit. 1. Glen Watts, 82.95, Jamestown, ND -- Jamestown is home of both the world’s largest buffalo (statue) and #1 RB recruit Glen Watts. Glen has some WE questions, like why try harder, and he also enjoys Butterfinger candy bars, but he also seems to train by hauling that giant buffalo around the prairie, pretending it’s alive. And here’s something fun: there are no DIA schools in his 180. The closest is Minnesota at 293 miles. Coach kensei has put together some great talent at MN, but that’s hardly dibs distance, especially with Nebraska as the next closest school, and a few more in buffalo chip flinging distance (if you fling really hard, anyway). Any battle in ND will run up the fuel bill, but buffalo chips are cheap if you can modify your engine for them. QBs -- 3. Daniel Lopez, 68.98, Omaha, NE -- Decent arm, mediocre GI, but best technique in the kingdom. There’s one DI school in his 180 and it starts with an N. That’s right, NW Missouri State. ...oh wait. Too bad this typewriter doesn’t have backspace. It’s another school. So if Lopez doesn’t go there, someone either kamikazes long distance, or the local coach just doesn’t like the cut of his jib. 2. Joe Knight, 70.3, Ironton, OH -- This kid may not be able to name the state capital of Ohio, but he has a howitzer for an arm, which means he has to eat sandwiches with one hand or he might hurt himself. He’s got decent technique and GI to boot. There are 8 schools in this kid’s 180, 5 BCS, 1 elite, and the BEast champ with 25 schollies. The favorite will likely be Ohio St or WVU, but there are plenty of good recruiters in the area. 1. QB William Howard, 76.24, New York, NY -- You know, I didn’t even know they played high school football in NYC, when a school could instead put a high rise on that real estate and fund itself in perpetuity, but here we are. The NY kid has a decent arm, but an unrivalled combo of field vision, technique and mobility. His aptitude for learning the playbook is in question, but not enough of a drawback to dent his creds. There are 5 teams in his backyard - Rutgers, Temple, UConn, Army and Navy, and everyone of them have 16+ schollies open except UConn with 8. Out of these 5, the team probably in the best position to land Willie How How would probaby be Temple with 17 schollies, & a truckload of BEast bowl money. The former UConn doesn’t have, the latter Rutgers doesn’t have. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Army or Navy take a shot, but without top 25 prestige, I would be be very surprised to see either sign him. But nothing is guaranteed. Coach GT at UConn and Coach z32 at Rutgers are both crafty recruiters. Aaaand just outside of that 180 sits Penn State (13 schollies). Aaaand inside the 360 is WVU and gruntboy with 25 scholarships and a BEast champ trophy to show off. We may even see BC and/or Maryland make a run. There it is folks. Start your engines. GL to all.