Leonard boasts three DL prospects

The 75 mile stretch of I-95 from West Palm Beach, Fla., to Miami produces more Division I talent than any other stretch of road of that size in America.

Lake Worth (Fla.) John I. Leonard High is located in that stretch and possesses what may be the most talented and highly- recruited defensive line in the state of Florida.

The biggest name on the Leonard defensive line is defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis. Simply put, Ellis is a beast and may be one of the top defensive lineman in the nation, according to Leonard assistant coach Alan Williams.

"He's one of those kids that you don't have to get motivated to play the game," Williams said. "He's just a man amongst boys out there. He has ability to take over a game from the defensive tackle spot and that is something that is pretty hard to do. I know he can do that because he did it several times for us this year. He's just an animal out there and no one can stop him."

The 6-foot-5, 318-pound Ellis runs the 40-yard dash in 5 seconds flat, has a 305-pound bench press and 500-pound squat. He was named third team all-state and first team all -area and all-conference as a junior.

"He mostly plays defensive tackle for us, but he can play some offensive tackle too when we need him," Williams said. "I think he is definitely going to play defense in college because you just don't find many guys out there like him that are as quick off the ball as he is."

As a junior he led the team in tackles with 64, he also posted 13 sacks and caused three fumbles. Colleges have certainly taken notice of Ellis' tremendous abilities.

"He's hearing the most from Florida, Georgia, Miami, Florida State, Tennessee and just about every other school outside of the Pac-10," Williams said. "We get quite a few calls a day from coaches asking about him checking on his academics, asking for film and those kinds of things."

Currently Ellis is holding down a 2.3 GPA and has already scored an 860 on the SAT and projects as a likely qualifier.

While Ellis may be the star of the show, he certainly isn't the only standout on the team and perhaps not even the only one on his own defensive line. The other defensive tackle, Ken Chastaine isn't too shabby either, according to Williams.

"He is a big kid who moves well and uses his brute strength to bully people around and clog up the middle," Williams said. "Even though we have all of these great defensive lineman, he was voted defensive lineman of the year by his teammates if that tells you anything. He give's it everything he's got out there. He is hearing from Pittsburgh, Central Florida and Iowa already."

The 6-foot-3, 330-pound Chastaine runs the 40-yard dash in 5.3 seconds, has a 355-pound bench press and 500-pound squat. As a junior he posted 30 tackles, six sacks and recovered two fumbles.

Though he plays a different position and is a from a much different mold of defensive lineman, there is a third Division I prospect that will line up with Chastaine and Ellis in defensive end Markus White, who may have the most upside of the bunch.

"He is a freak of nature physically," Williams said. "He is also a basketball player and he is just so light on his feet and is very athletic. This past year was his first year playing football. He has been playing basketball the rest of his career, but I think he realized his future was out here with the pads on."

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound White runs the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds, has a 35-inch vertical jump, a 285-pound bench press and 315-pound squat. As a junior he had 36 tackles, eight sacks and six recovered fumbles, one of which was taken back for a touchdown. He also boasts a 2.5 GPA.

"Tennessee invited him to their camp and I think he is going to try to make it up there," Williams said. "Georgia and Iowa have also been showing him a lot of interest. There have been more and more schools though that have started calling and asking about him recently though."

White was named second team all-area and first team all-conference as a junior.