Friedman's Takeaways: NFA7v7 East Regional
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - More than 60 teams converged on the coast of South Carolina for the NFA 7-on-7 East Regional tournament. Hustle Inc. out of Georgia came away with the first-place trophy but they weren’t the only team with a lot of talent this weekend. Take a look at all the recruiting news from the event and who the top players were.
THE MVP
Gilbert was an absolute beast, but that is what we’ve come to expect from the five-star athlete. He really shined as a tight end and many people believe that’s where he is going to end up for his college career. Gilbert is a very fluid runner and has a very soft hands for a guy his size. He uses frame well to box out to defenders and make it easy for quarterbacks to get him the ball. He even made an outstanding catch on a Hail Mary play to win the game in the tournament playoffs.
Georgia and Tennessee are doing a great job with him and he is planning on going to their spring games. Clemson and Alabama are very much in the picture as well as many other programs. After some visits for spring game in spring practices, expect Gilbert to announce a short list.
THE NEXT FIVE
Britt showed off his speed and a bit more toughness than we’re used to seeing from him. The former Miami commit made some great catches over the middle and used his length to his advantage many times, but his speed and route running skills are what make him an elite prospect.
Miami is leading for Britt’s commitment, but Penn State and Auburn are pushing hard. Alabama and Penn State will get visits in mid-March while Syracuse, Florida and Auburn are expected to get visits in the summer.
Diggs is going to pay defensive end in college, but he made life really hard on teams that tried to throw over the middle when he was playing middle linebacker. He used his length and anticipation skills to knock down passes and disrupt routes, stalling many drives.
Ohio State, Penn State and Alabama should get visits during his spring break and Texas A&M is going to get Diggs for an official visit in the spring or summer.
A recent North Carolina commit, Downs bailed out his offense on many occasions. He excels when lining up in the slot and knows what subtle movements he needs to use to create enough space for his quarterback to get the ball to him. Downs also showed off very reliable hands and a great feel for finding open space in zone coverage.
Gilbert was the best physical specimen at the event this weekend, but Ellis is just a hair behind him. The freshman from Georgia is every bit the 6-foot-5, 200-pounds he is listed at and made a ton of plays at wide receiver, linebacker, and safety. Ellis has great ball skills, instincts, and speed in the open field.
He already has a very impressive offer sheet and can pretty much pick wherever he wants to go to college. Oregon and Maryland are the latest programs to offer Ellis but he admitted that South Carolina, Florida, Michigan and Georgia are doing the best job recruiting him so far. Ellis is still looking forward to getting offers from Alabama and Georgia.
South Carolina is getting an explosive receiving threat in Stewart. He was fantastic on Saturday and got open plenty of times on Sunday even though the ball wasn’t thrown in his direction as much. Stewart has good size and length, but what was really impressive was his quickness in and out of his cuts. He accelerates very quickly and creates a lot of separation between him and the defensive backs. Stewart is a very natural pass catcher and does a good job fighting for the ball in traffic. Programs like Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina, NC State and Louisville are still recruiting him, but he remains solidly committed to South Carolina.
RECRUITING NOTES
Del Rio still has two years of high school left, but nearly 10 programs have already offered the quarterback. He said LSU, Miami, Florida, Florida State and Michigan are standing out to him right now. Del Rio tries to talk to a lot of coaches, but he felt like the coaches at Florida and LSU interact with him more than the other programs. Look for him to schedule visits to Ohio State and Nebraska in the not too distant future.
Janvier, a four-star offensive lineman, tagged along with the Florida Fire team this weekend but didn’t actually compete. He explained that Florida and LSU are his co-leaders at this point and he talks to coaches at both programs every day. Those two programs and possibly Auburn will get official visits.
Arizona State got Lee’s commitment back in November but that hasn’t stopped other programs from recruiting him. Lee said he’s 100 percent committed to the Sun Devils, but wants to make sure he picked the right program, especially because of how much coaches can move around in the offseason. Oregon, Texas, Notre Dame and Alabama are just some of the programs pursuing Lee and he has some trips already set up. The first visit Lee set up for this spring is to Arizona State for their spring game. He is also visiting Miami this weekend, Oregon on April 21, and trips to Texas and Louisville are in the works.
Pryor has a chance of being one of the highest-ranked running backs in the 2021 class and he is already getting close to announcing a short list. He doesn’t have a leader at this point but Penn State, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Alabama, Texas A&M and Georgia are the teams to watch with him. Pryor will visit North Carolina this weekend and wants to visit Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State during his spring break.
Williams is a coveted receiver and his offer sheet reflects that. Tennessee, Alabama, Clemson, Auburn, Ole Miss and Florida are the programs Williams said he really feels like are coming after him. He has visits set up to Tennessee this weekend, Clemson on March 9, and will get to Florida State in March as well.
Alabama, Clemson and Auburn seem to be doing the best job recruiting him right now and he has the best relationships with coaches at Clemson, Alabama and Auburn. Williams said he will take official visits to all three of those programs but won’t narrow his list down until the middle of this coming season. He is also trying to graduate in December so he can enroll early.