Massington plans to dominate at Challenge

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Dallas JacksonClick Here to view this Link. is the National High School Sports Analyst for Rivals. Email him your questions and comments at DallasJ@Yahoo-Inc.comClick Here to view this Link. and follow him on TwitterClick Here to view this Link..

Mesquite (Texas) West Mesquite wide receiver Eldridge Massington is very excited to take on the best cornerbacks in the country at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge.

He just hopes that the trip to Atlanta is not a wasted one for those competitors who may end up in his wake.

"The only corners that can cover me are smart corners," Massington said. "If a short guy is out there and he thinks his speed will do it, I can run with him and outjump him. If a tall corner is out there against me he will try to muscle me but I am strong enough to get off and then he won't keep up.

"If someone is going to cover me they have to be able to read my body and run my route before I get there. That's it."

The confidence was born in Massington from work ethic but cultivated with a hunger to succeed.

The 6-foot-3 USC commit had felt as if he wasn't being taken seriously or appreciated until very recently. Now that he is a mainstay in recruiting circles the assault on the competition has become more vocal.

"I had to be patient for a long time," he said. "I am a long-strider so on film it looks like I am slow but I was running past people.

"It took awhile for that to be known and since then it became crazy. It calmed down a little since I committed but now I can get that talk going again with a strong performance."

Massington is ranked as the No. 32 receiver in his class and the No. 245 overall player in the country. He thinks that both of those numbers will be boosted with his play at the invitation-only camp and 7-on-7 event.

"I am always looking to go against the top cornerbacks," he said. "That is what I am waiting for, a chance to see No. 1.

"Then, once I go out and dominate him, everyone will know how good I am. That's what I'm going to do all right."

The chance to line up against the top cornerback in the class, Olney (Md.) Good Counsel's Kendall Fuller, is something that Massington said got him excited about the event.

"That kind of competition makes you want to make plays," he said. "When you go against the best you know all eyes are on you because everyone is watching that top guy.

"He is the guy to beat and I am the guy that will beat him."

Massington cast a wider net than just Fuller, saying that all comers at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge would be welcomed to try and shut him down.

He added that none would be successful.

"I am going to dominate whoever they put in front of me," Massington said. "That is what I expect to do. I expect to abuse them."

If, by chance, someone does give him a run it will make Massington dig a little deeper. A problem, that he said, would be fine with him.

"If someone does beat me on a rep I will just take it up a notch," he said. "If I get shut down it will make me go even harder.

"When I hit that next level I won't be stopped. My size, speed and how I attack the ball are just too good."

Mike Farrell's take

Few players have emerged as quickly as Massington who is now a USC commitment just months after having a handful of middling BCS offers. And he's a confident and cocky kid with good size who wants to go against Kendall Fuller, the nation's No. 1 defensive back, because he feels only a few corners can handle him if any. A long strider, Massington has sneaky speed, can separate with a few strides and he is a red zone threat with good body control. He could enter as a prospect outside the Rivals100 and leave as top 50 player, he has that much potential.

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