Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge: Texas stock report

ATLANTA -- A substantial group of players at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge presented by Under Armour hailed from Texas. Among the bunch from the Lone Star State, several staked their claim as players who exceeded expectations while a few may have hoped to get some better results. The group as a whole did well, but the microscope shows some telling things about some top Texans.

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Deculus came into the camp as a man on a mission looking to earn a fifth star. He more than held his own in 1-on-1 matchups, showing a confident aggression while working at tackle against some of the nation’s best. He has the look of a guy that could easily slide to an inside position, and took some of his best reps against the big-bodied and physical Ja’Len Parks. Overall, he did well to show that he had been working on his pass blocking coming into the camp, and put that to good use.

If Okudah would have played the entire 7-on-7 session of the camp at the same level that he started it, he very well could have won the defensive back MVP award. The key moment for him came early on when he single-handedly broke up three consecutive passes in a goal line situation. He wasn’t quite as successful in 1-on-1 reps as he was in an earlier appearance this spring at the Dallas Rivals Camp Series event, but he played up to his expectations as a top safety.

Cook drew rave reviews from Rivals.com analysts all day as an impressive 2018 recruit that didn’t allow the collective talent of the camp throw him off his game. Cook still lets the occasional deep ball get behind him -- as he did in the first play of 7-on-7 -- but he more frequently breaks up passes with his exceptional athleticism and timing. He sometimes walks a thin line with how physical he gets with receivers, but he has the ability to make plays without creating excessive contact.

Nixon was a late addition to the event, not arriving until late Friday before Saturday's camp, and was an effective member of his team in 7-on-7 play. The combination of Nixon and Tyjon Lindsey gave his side a squirrelly duo of wide receivers that were difficult to cover out of the slot or backfield. Nixon’s most influential plays came via a couple of tip-toe sideline catches in the end zone, but he was a consistent pass-catcher and was effective on deep and short passes alike.

The quarterbacks at the Five-Star Challenge all had their ups-and-downs, but Robison ended the day with a nice body of work. He has sort of a three-quartered sling when he throws, but delivers a very catchable ball with clean pace and trajectory. The Oklahoma commit's experience in the same event last year coupled with success in camps that place him in a similar sort of atmosphere was evident, and he was certainly one of the more consistent performers from the contingent of Texans.

Delpit came into the Five-Star Challenge fresh off a major jump in the Rivals rankings and, relative to the other players at the event, did fine. However, in the camp’s 7-on-7 portion, the defensive play on his side of the field was handled nearly entirely by cornerback Lamont Wade. Had Wade not been so special as an individual defender, Delpit’s experience in the secondary may have been much more arduous. While he wasn’t responsible for glaring defensive errors or breakdowns, he didn’t necessarily deliver a performance congruent with his ascent in ranking.

Yes, Wilson is the top overall prospect in the country. Yes, he took defensive line MVP honors, but a couple of things factor in here: 1. Though he took a ton of 1-on-1 reps, he didn’t outright dominate as the No. 1 player in the country is expected to. 2. The focus of this story is inherently hyper-critical as it looks solely at players from one state, rather than a larger region or the whole field of players. 3. As the top player nationally, there is nowhere to go but down.

Make no mistake, Wilson showed nothing to suggest he wouldn’t be a disruptive, impactful player with pads and a uniform on in a real game. In the context of the camp, he was too committed to his first pass-rush move -- or bull-rushing -- and didn’t consistently do well to counter when an offensive lineman beat him to a spot off the snap.