ATLANTA -- With the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented By Under Armour a resounding success as always, it’s time to name the best of the best on offense and defense. In fact, we thought it would be cool to make up a team, the All-Farrell Team, on each side of the ball based on the performance of the players in the morning and evening sessions. Here is the offense.
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QUARTERBACK
Johnson struggled a bit in the morning session but so did all the other quarterbacks for the most part. In the evening during 7-on-7, he was the most consistent, threw the most touchdowns and had a good TD-to-interception ratio. He was clearly the QB MVP.
Just missed – Davis Mills
Mills was steady and his calm, measured approach helped lead his team to the finals.
RUNNING BACK
The running back group was very impressive, but Harris is just simply in a league of his own with his size, speed and hands. He was the biggest weapon by far for any team in the 7-on-7 portion, a rarity for a running back. In a great foursome of running backs, the Alabama commit was an easy choice for RB MVP.
Just missed – Cam Akers
Akers played both running back and defensive back in the evening session, showing off his versatility. He is very explosive, reaching top speed very quickly.
WIDE RECEIVER
Lindsey was the star of the show for the most part as he was clearly the biggest weapon in leading his team to the 7-on-7 title. The receiver group as a whole was inconsistent, but Lindsey was great in the morning and the evening. Choosing him as WR MVP was easy.
Black was one of the surprises of the camp because he hails from Connecticut and doesn’t get to play against competition like this very often. He was steady and consistent and made some nice catches.
Jeudy had a couple touchdown catches in the evening, but it was his morning performance, where he just tooled on everyone, which allows him to make this list.
Harley is in the same boat as Jeudy, a guy who was dominant in the morning with his speed and cutting ability but didn’t impact as much as expected in the 7-on-7 tournament. But his morning performance warrants inclusion here.
Smith was very consistent in both sessions and is a little bit more fluid and explosive than Smith. He and Black made key contributions to their teams and were consistently making tough catches, but Smith had one amazing one-handed catch that had everyone excited (ruled out of bounds though).
Just missed – KD Nixon
Nixon, a late replacement for Joseph Lewis, turned out to be key for his team in its 7-on-7 victory as he grabbed four touchdown passes. The Tennessee commit is built like a small running back and likely too small to get a rankings bump based on this performance, but he was good. Trevon Grimes and Donovan Peoples-Jones would have easily made this list had they not been injured based on the way they started.
TIGHT END
Dotson was clearly the best of an average tight end group, making some key catches in helping his team to the title and battling for the ball against some athletic linebackers in the morning. It didn’t hurt that his friendly high school rival quarterback, Sean Clifford, was also targeting him often.
Just missed – Jimmy Jaggers
Jaggers makes this list by default as he only had a couple of catches and couldn’t get much separation. However, he was more impressive than the other two tight ends, both 2018s, at the event.
OFFENSIVE LINE
The surprise winner of the OL MVP award, at least when you consider the competition coming in, Leatherwood was on his game from the morning to the evening and never wore down. The Alabama commit also played with an angry edge we had been hoping to see.
Wills was very consistent and beat opponents with his hand placement and footwork. He’s patient out of his stance, waits for the defender to make his move and then directs him where he wants him to be. He makes it look easy at times.
Hayes was a bit of an unknown coming into the event, dominant at our Kansas City Regional Camp but against average competition. Against the best in the country, he continued that dominance, at least at times, and his initial punch and then light-footed reaction are fun to watch.
Donaldson is aggressive like Hayes, a guy who likes to get into his opponent before he’s caught off balance. So he’ll get off the snap, get into his slide and then whap you with his arm extension. It usually works and on one rep he stonewalled the nation’s No. 1 player, Marvin Wilson, with apparent ease.
Mays is a physical kid and he loves to play to the whistle, often throwing his opponent to the ground. He loves to maul and is hard to handle if you let him get his hands on you. He had some of the better highlight moments of the evening with some nasty battles.
Just missed – Walker Little
Little, a recently minted five-star, was solid but not spectacular in the morning, but his battles with Marvin Wilson in the evening were fun to watch. The two teammates went at it quite a bit and Little more than held his own. He did the same against many others as well.