Friedman's Takeaways: Defenders shine in Baltimore
Over the past three weekends, the Baltimore area has played host to two major events in which top prospects from all over the country have come to show off their skills. Two weeks ago, the OT7 7-on-7 tournament brought in prospects from as far as the West Coast and this past weekend some of the region's most coveted prospects participated in the Baltimore Under Armour Next Camp. Here are some of the major takeaways from the top defensive prospects at both events.
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DEFENSIVE LINE
Zahir Mathis is still very lean but his quickness and length off the edge make him one of the most difficult defensive lineman to slow down. As he gets stronger he’ll become more of a consistent pass-rushing force, but during the season he plays much stronger than he looks.
Brandon Davis-Swain has a great combination of quickness and strength that make him one of the more consistent, defensive line prospects in the 2024 class. He could play inside or outside at the next level, depending on how his frame develops. Colorado, Michigan and Purdue all have official visits coming up.
Darien Mayo continues to get taller and add mass to his frame but he still looks very lean and his pass rushing moves are still a work in progress. He has an insane amount of potential and it’ll be great to watch him throughout the rest of this offseason and into the fall to track his development.
Class of 2025 Rivals250 defensive tackle Bryce Jenkins is a bull in a China shop with really great quickness at the snap. He does a good job moving offensive linemen out of his way but there’s still work to be done as he refines his technique.
Also on the interior of the defensive line, Virginia Tech commit Emmett Laws showed well on Sunday using a combination of speed, strength, and hand techniques to keep defensive linemen off of him.
A name to track as this process rolls on is defensive tackle Eric Mensah. He has outstanding strength and is a very wide body in the middle of the defensive line, but doesn’t carry a ton of bad weight.
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LINEBACKER
Jadon Perlotte, a Georgia commit, has great size and plenty of mass on his frame but still moves well in the open field. It will be interesting to see if he continues to get bigger.
CJ Jimcoily looks like an outstanding prospect and has excellent range is up for a linebacker with lots of room to fill out his frame.
Make sure to keep an eye on Thomas Davis Jr., a 2026 linebacker out of the Charlotte area who is the son of former Carolina Panthers Thomas Davis. He’s picked up a couple of new offers since the OT7 event.
Four-star Gabriel Williams has already been identified as a "stock up" prospect this offseason and that continued on Sunday with another impressive performance.
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DEFENSIVE BACK
Safety prospect Faheem Delane really lived up to his high billing as a 2025 Rivals100 prospect. Alabama and LSU lead for his services.
Class of 2026 defensive back Samari Matthews already has a long offer sheet and it's not hard to see why. He brings great size to the table but also has the quickness and footwork to stick with receivers of any size.
California defensive back and track standout Jason Mitchell towers over even some of the biggest receivers at 6-foot-4. It’ll be great to watch his development as a defensive back over the next year and a half.
Of course, class of 2024 Rivals250 Penn State commit Kenny Woseley had a really good day on Sunday and so did NC State commit Asaad Brown.
Look for 2025 defensive back Tariq Hayer to see an uptick in his recruitment. He's shown a lot of progress over the last few months.
As the spring turns into summer, don’t be surprised to see offers start to really roll in quickly for 2026 defensive back Hakim Satterwhite.
Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances 2025 Rivals250 defensive backs Blake Woodby and Kevyn Humes turned in 40 times of 4.3 and 4.4, respectively.