Gorney's Takeaways: adidas West Coast Invitational

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The adidas West Coast Invitational was held at Cal Lutheran on Saturday and many top 7-on-7 teams from the region were in attendance. Here are five takeaways from the event.

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Brayden Liebrock made a statement Saturday that he’s one of the best tight ends in the 2019 class and is vastly underrated at this point in the recruiting cycle.

The Chandler, Ariz., prospect is all of 6-foot-5 and he has a fantastic frame, he’s fluid as a wide receiver and he has some of the best hands we’ve seen from a tight end in recent memory. Time after time, Liebrock was targeted and came down with nice catches, effortless catches, and he took over games when he wanted.

Only four-star Ethan Rae from Orange (Calif.) Lutheran is rated higher at tight end in the West and Liebrock will definitely be competing to be tops at his position in the region after Saturday’s showing.

Another interesting debate that is going to emerge through this cycle is whether Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei’s Sean Dollars or Oakland (Calif.) Bishop O’Dowd’s Austin Jones is the top running back in the West.

As it stands now, Jones is ranked as the third-best running back in the class and Dollars is the second-best all-purpose back. Dollars is incredibly dynamic with the ball in his hands and he dominated the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas a few weeks ago and many tournaments this offseason.

Jones put up big numbers in his junior season and looked good - mainly playing wide receiver - at the adidas event this weekend. Both Dollars and Jones are highly talented and definitely could be stars on the next level.

D.J. Uiagalelei continues to prove he’s one of the best quarterbacks - and top overall players - in the 2020 class.

The Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco standout already has phenomenal size at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, he has a dynamic arm and tremendous accuracy. He didn’t play every series on Saturday but when he was in the game, Uiagalelei had a big impact especially throwing the deep ball right on the money.

Also a top-notch baseball player, it’s hard to believe Uiagalelei still has two years of high school football left. He’s excellent, coachable and he has all the talent in the world. USC, Florida State, LSU and many others are involved and Uiagalelei said he’s in no major rush to make a decision.

The guy throwing all those darts to Liebrock all day was four-star quarterback Jacob Conover, who has an excellent delivery and phenomenal accuracy and is also making a statement about moving higher in the rankings.

Calm and collected in the pocket, Conover scans the field quickly and then delivers the ball exactly where it needs to be time and time again. Even though he’s not huge physically, the four-star has excellent arm strength and his accuracy was excellent all day. Arizona State, BYU, Alabama and Oregon State look like a top four.

Josh Delgado transferred from Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco to Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy - talk about two powerhouse programs - for his senior season and he’s having a good time at his new school. It’s also a learning experience.

The four-star receiver said Saturday that there have been some challenges living away from home, some responsibilities beyond the football field, that might make him look more seriously at Pac-12 schools in his recruitment.

Delgado is enjoying his time at IMG but he’s also grown more seriously about Washington during his time there and other Pac-12 schools look to be emerging as well. Staying in the South for college remains a possibility but coming closer to home for college is more of a probability.