Haywood has Pac 10 co-leaders

One of the real standout performers we saw while in attendance at the Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft- Carson game last Friday was Taft safety-linebacker Jason Haywood. Haywood, 6-3, 170 pounds is a very intriguing prospect and it will be interesting to see where on the defense he ends up in college.

At first glance, you can't help but notice how rail thin Haywood is. He looked all of 6-3 but is very lean and looks like he'll struggle to physically match-up. It took one play in the game last Friday to prove that theory wrong as the athlete absolutely leveled a Carson wide out on an incomplete screen pass. From then on, Haywood was all over the field making huge hits, looking very good dropping back in to coverage and was the best defensive player on the field.

The big question with Haywood is how much bigger can he get. He has the skills to play safety in college but because of his hitting ability and growth potential, if he can bulk up to say, 215 pounds or so, he could make an excellent outside linebacker in college as well.

"It really doesn't matter to me where I play," Haywood said after the game. "I don't know how much bigger I'll get in college. I can see myself around 205 pounds or so but that might be it, I wouldn't want to lose any speed or quickness."

On the recruiting front, Haywood currently has a trio of scholarship offers with two Pac 10 co-leaders right now.

"I received calls this month from Washington State, Oregon State, San Jose State, USC and Marshall," Haywood said. "All but USC and Marshall have offered right now and I have Washington State and Oregon State as my two leaders right now. I haven't set up any trips yet but want to take all five if possible. I'm not in any rush to make my decision and kind of just want to play the season out first before I focus too much more on recruiting."