All-American Bowl: Thursday's stock report

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

SAN ANTONIO – While the West team went through a full and physical practice on Thursday, the East focused on installing its special teams for 80 percent of its practice. The Day 3 Stock Report, then, is heavy on West Team prospects.

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Wide receivers were frustrated by Banks on Thursday because they could not shake the Texan. Banks was in the receivers’ hip pockets during one-on-ones and 7-on-7s, and quarterbacks who tried to throw his way had their passes batted down. The Rivals250 prospect, who remains unsigned, was aggressive with receivers throughout their routes, but maintained discipline and competed in a way that would not draw a flag. He and fellow Texan Tyler Owens on the same side of the field will be a dynamite tandem for the West defense.

Future Nebraska Cornhusker Bryce Benhart may be the tallest to ever play in the All-American Bowl. He looks all of his listed 6-foot-9, and towers over the rest of his teammates. The challenge for a player like that is being a good bender and not playing too high. Benhart is effective because he is successful in that endeavor. The one knock is that Benhart could be stronger at the point of attack, but that is explained by dropping 20 pounds since the end of football season so that he can make the 285-pound limit for high school wrestling.

Coming into the week we heard a lot about Brooks' athleticism, and Thursday was our first chance to see it in full effect. The future LSU Tigers registered impressive plays in run defense, pass coverage and even special teams. Early West practices had the front seven going against the offense’s running game and Brooks was in the backfield all day long. Immediately after he worked 7-on-7, showing proficiency playing in space and getting his hands on passes. Finally, he sliced through the line several times during field goal block practice.

Among the offensive linemen in San Antonio this week, few look more physically ready to step on a football field than Brown. That is particularly impressive since left tackle prospects tend to develop physically later. However, the future Wisconsin Badger has the size, the length and the bulk to battle college defensive linemen right now. Brown missed parts of Wednesday’s practice, but he was fully operational Thursday and performed well. His blend of athleticism, size and strength makes it difficult for defensive ends to get around Brown.

After spending the first hour and a half of practice running through the various special teams, the East finally did break into a short, 15-minute live team period to close out Thursday’s session. Not a ton was gleaned, except that the left side of the offensive line was doing a great job creating a pocket. When we watched more closely it was Cross, again, who was largely responsible for keeping the defense at bay. His athleticism has been difficult for defensive ends to counter as they have tried to get past him this week.

The West coaches were not about to let the defense hit their quarterbacks (though Marcel Brooks did eject Grant Gunnell out of bounds in a momentary lapse of judgement), but it was still easy to credit Leal with multiple sacks even if he had to let up once he got to the quarterback. Leal has been the West’s most consistently dominant defensive lineman this week, which says a lot because that position group is particularly deep. The future Texas A&M Aggie is big, powerful and athletic, and he plays with a great motor.

There are several wide receivers who look the part physically this week at the All-American Bowl, and maybe none more than Whittington. The future Texas Longhorn is a specimen, and brings both strength and athleticism to the wide receiver position. Whittington is coming off a record-setting state title game performance in which he scored six touchdowns. On Thursday Whittington was particularly effective, regularly creating separation and being one of the few to beat his future teammate, Tyler Owens, for a touchdown this week.

While five-star Antonio Alfano has made the biggest plays from the interior defensive line position on the East team during the first two practices, it was Young who did the best job collapsing the pocket on Thursday. Working against offensive center Harry Miller, who himself has had a solid week of practices, Young could not be stopped during the short team live period on Thursday. An Alabama commit, Young keeps his pad level low and his momentum pushing upfield.

The West defensive back group has been a solid unit overall, but individually it has been a tough week for McDuffie. Thursday was a particularly difficult day for the Washington signee, with Jaylen Ellis and Garrett Wilson both beating him deep for touchdown catches. McDuffie is one of the smaller defensive backs in San Antonio this week, and bigger receivers have been able to get an advantage on him using their size. McDuffie’s strength is his speed, but he will need to hit the weight room and complement it with strength before he plays at the Pac-12 level.

From a character standpoint there are few who are more enjoyable to be around than Ndoma-Ogar, who is the consummate teammate and always encouraging. On the field, though, there have been a few holes in his game as he has had to try and corral the likes of Siaki Ika and Faatui Tuitele at defensive tackle. The issue is Ndoma-Ogar does not stay engaged through the opposition’s second and third moves, and attempting to constantly re-engage is not always successful.