Army Bowl: East Team Monday MVP, more takeaways

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The U.S. Army All-American Bowl week got off to a good start on Monday with practices held in the Alamodome. The East team features many of the nation’s top prospects, regardless of region or position. But one player stood out.

MORE: Live from San Antonio

The Georgia Bulldogs have all the momentum in the world on their side when it comes to recruiting. They have the top-ranked recruiting class and a ton of highly rated prospects already signed in the 2018 class, including five-star Jamaree Salyer. The most dominant player on either side of the ball for the East team, Salyer made his presence felt on nearly every play of the inside run session.

Multiple times the Georgia signee flattened defensive linemen when he pulled and was about as stout as he could be during pass protection drills. It didn’t matter who Salyer went against, he got the push he needed on running plays and kept his quarterback upright on passing plays.

Ohio State signee Tyreke Johnson has been on the national radar since he entered high school and sometimes when players like him are fixtures at national events, they become a victim of over scouting. Johnson has been a five-star from wire-to-wire in the Rivals.com rankings but there were plenty of whispers over the past year about him being overrated. At least through one day of practice, Johnson put his doubters on notice that he’s ready to back up his status as one of the country’s top overall players. He was all over the field while working at safety during the team portion and was excellent in one-on-ones.

One of the players who didn’t sign during the Early Signing Period was Rivals250 offensive lineman Rasheed Walker. Because of his unsigned status, he’s also garnering extra attention for his on-field play. On Monday, he rose to the occasion, making several impressive plays while battling some of the best defensive linemen on the East squad. On one rep during one-on-ones, he clubbed Georgia signee Adam Anderson, immediately thwarting his pass rush attempt. Considering Anderson is one of the best pass rushers in the country, that’s no small feat. Ohio State, Penn State and Virginia Tech are the main contenders for his services.

The East wide receiver corps isn’t the tallest but they are extremely explosive. The best of the group was clearly Miami signee Mark Pope. He isn’t too small, has a ton of pop in his plant foot and does a great job creating separation in his route-running with subtle shoulder and head fakes. Pope routinely made East defensive backs look slow and got them tripping over themselves.

The trio of Taron Vincent, Jayson Ademilola and Nesta Silvera gave offensive linemen fits throughout practice. All three did a good job getting penetration and chasing down plays from the backside. Vincent, an Ohio State signee, did a good job shedding blocks and got better as the practice went on. Ademilola, a future Notre Dame defensive lineman, was strong at the point of attack and made a lot of tackles in the middle of the field. Silvera, an unsigned Miami commit, played with a lot of energy and made a lot of plays on the edge.

Coming off a surprising decision to sign with Clemson during the Early Signing Period, Jackson Carman had a very good day at left tackle. There were reps during one-on-ones where Carman completely dominated his man but others where he wasn’t able to totally stop them and relied on his strength to knock them off course. Physically, Carman looks like he could end up playing guard at Clemson because of his wide frame.

Over the past year Jarren Williams has made quite the climb up the Rivals rankings, going from a three-star to one of the nation’s top 100 players. But on Monday, the Miami signee struggled to find his rhythm, making several errant passes and just having an overall inconsistent performance. Playing alongside five-star Georgia native Trevor Lawrence, Williams has every chance to show this week that he’s the best quarterback from the Peach State, but things didn’t get off to a great start.

There is no doubt Trey Hill’s best football is ahead of him but the Georgia signee doesn’t move well enough right now to be able to handle a defender that doesn’t come straight at him. If a defensive lineman lined up directly across from him, Hill drove him into the ground but he doesn’t pull fast enough and he doesn’t get to the second level fast enough yet. Hill also took a few reps at center and performed well enough.