Army Bowl: Waddle shines, more West team notes

SAN ANTONIO – Day one of U.S. Army All-American Bowl practices were moved indoors to the Alamodome due to unseasonably frigid temperatures outside. The weather did not dampen the excitement, however, as there was plenty of action at West team practice to kick of Army Bowl week.

MORE: Ranking the Army Bowl QBs | East team notes

-Houston wide receiver Jaylen Waddle proved as elusive on the field as he has been off the field lately. At just 5-10 and 175 pounds, Waddle is among the smallest athletes in the game, but he is also among the fastest. He showed his jets in one-on-ones, but also in the return game when the West practiced special teams and the speedy Texan is going to be difficult for defenses to pin down.

On the recruiting end of the spectrum, it has been difficult to pin down which school Waddle will sign with next month. There has been buzz this could be a Texas-Texas A&M battle, but Waddle dismissed that and said Alabama, Florida State, Oregon and TCU are just as strong. He said the recruiting class he has the strongest relationship with is the Longhorns, but the coach he has the strongest relationship with is Marcus Arroyo at Oregon. He listed Texas A&M and TCU as two offenses that fit him well, but felt comfortable on every campus he visited. Based on Day 1 it looks like Waddle, may be the talk of the West team this week.

-Besides Waddle there were several more West players who caught our attention. Junior Angilau may have been the best of the offensive linemen on Monday. He has a nice combination of size and athleticism for the position. Georgia signee Luke Ford has the prototypical tight end frame and he showed the ability to consistently get separation in his routes. He even got a pancake on Ronnie Perkins as a blocker, but that was one of the few times Perkins was stopped. The Oklahoma signee was consistently in the backfield and had a great first day.

Five-star Brenden Radley-Hiles is short, but a playmaker who made a slick one-handed catch while playing wide receiver. And on the topic of wide receivers, Amon-Ra St. Brown shows he is not content just being a five-star. He is constantly working on his craft and never dogs it. UCLA signee Chase Cota should also get mention with the wide receivers as he was able to get open consistently.

And, finally, linebackers do not get much attention in these practices usually, but Michigan signee Cameron McGrone proved to be a playmaker on Day 1 by stripping a ball carrier and coming back later with a nice pass break up in 7-on-7.

-On the flip side, guys who struggled for the West on Day 1 included Miami wide receiver signee Brian Hightower, who had trouble hanging onto the football. The big receiver is smooth and an easy mover, but he dropped a lot of passes he should have caught. Defensive tackle Tyler Manoa looked a tier below the talent on the field. He is undersized and struggled from both a strength and quickness standpoint. Offensive guard Luke Matthews also was overmatched by both quickness and strength while five-star Anthony Cook had trouble staying with receivers and was often caught holding to keep them close.

-St. Louis four-star defensive tackle Michael Thompson has a good idea which school he will choose. The Rivals100 prospect did not sign in the early period after taking official visits to just USC and Missouri, but said on Monday he has the team in mind he expects to pick, though he would not let on which school that might be.

Before that happens, though, Thompson wants to take a few more official visits and make sure of his decision. Alabama and Miami will definitely be two of those official visits, but they are still working out exactly which dates he will visit Tuscaloosa and Coral Gables. Nebraska could be that fifth and final official visit. Thompson is still getting to know new Cornhuskers head coach Scott Frost and his staff, but likes what he has heard so far.

-Speaking of defensive tackles, Thompson is an anomaly on the West team. The other West defensive tackles – Tommy Togiai, Tyler Linderbaum and Tyler Manoa – are noticeably smaller than Thompson, who is now over 300 pounds and every bit his listed 6-foot-4. Togiai does not look all of his listed 6-foot-3 and 293 pounds, but he arguably was the most well-rounded player of the group. Linderbaum, who is signed with Iowa, and Manoa were even smaller still. Linderbaum showed an explosive first step that allowed him to get the angle on several interior offensive linemen despite giving up size and strength, while Manoa struggled throughout Monday’s practice.

-Linderbaum was involved in the first inter-team scuffle of the week. After several reps against California guard Chris Murray, the two continued their shoving match past the whistle until they were broken up by teammates and coaches. A little chippy-ness is not necessarily a bad thing early in the week, especially among linemen. Murray and Linderbaum had some good battles, with Murray’s strength and Linderbaum’s quickness proving good tests for the other.

-Despite being a class of 2019 member until last month when he re-classified to 2018, JT Daniels was the most poised of the quarterbacks group on Day 1. As a whole, the quarterbacks group had a strong day, with Californian Tanner McKee showing a lot of pop in his arm and good accuracy while Ole Miss signee Matt Corral was a little more wild and seemed to be pressing, but still had an overall solid performance. Daniels, however, had the cleanest performance of the trio and looked very calm, cool and collected. It is a storyline worth watching with Trevor Lawrence the current No. 1 overall player in 2018 captaining the East and Daniels, who was No. 1 in 2019 when the Rivals100 was updated last month, leading the West.

-The West team was missing several players during Monday’s practice. Most notable among the absentees were Rivals100 prospects Penei Sewell and Jalen Hall. Also not seen were linebackers Brandon Kaho and Solomon Tuliaupupu as well as Ohio State defensive back signee Josh Proctor and Alabama offensive guard signee Emil Ekiyor.

-It was a thin group of West running backs on day one, with Harold Joiner getting almost all the carries. Washington signee Trey Lowe was in attendance, but had his jersey pulled up most of the day and did not take a rep that we saw. Oklahoma signee T.J. Pledger did get a couple carries, but was later seen with ice on his ankle. That left Joiner, who is ranked as an athlete because he could project to several position in college, as the lone back by day’s end. The Alabama native looks plenty capable of being an every-down guy, though. At 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds he was one of the most impressive-looking players on the West team. He is a north-south runner with a good burst and is difficult to stop once he gets that momentum going.

-Speaking of prospects who pass the eyeball test, Oklahoma’s bookend offensive tackles Darrell Simpson and Brey Walker jump off the field immediately for how big they are. The two future Sooners dwarfed their teammates. They would often work on the same line, with Simpson playing left tackle and Walker working at right tackle. Walker, in particular, was dominant when he got his hands on defenders, but both prospects showed they need further development on footwork.