Midwest Spotlight: Five players who need a fall football season
The coronavirus pandemic eliminated most of the off-season football opportunities for high school athletes, and now it is threatening to wipe out the senior season for the class of 2021. The loss of a final high school season would affect the development of every prospect in the class, but some will be hurt more than others. Here are five prospects from the Midwest region who need to play their senior seasons.
MORE: Five teams that need to play this season the most
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022: Top 100
MORE: Rivals Transfer Tracker
*****
After a stellar sophomore campaign at Frederick Douglass High in Lexington, Crowdus saw IMG Academy as the best place to develop his talent and transferred to the Florida school before his junior season. He played sparingly at IMG, however, and has since returned to Frederick Douglass to finish out his prep career.
The last time we saw Crowdus was at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge more than a year ago, and he was not ready to step up to that level of talent at the time. His speed and quickness was matched by the elite talent of that event, and the smaller receiver had trouble creating separation. Now a Kentucky commit, Crowdus could definitely use the live reps a senior season would bring.
*****
There is a lot of excitement at Rutgers over Munnerlyn’s future after the Ohio product picked the Scarlet Knights earlier this month from an offer list of more than 20 schools. The question, though, is at what position? As a junior he played all over the field on both sides of the football, from wide receiver to tight end to outside linebacker.
Rutgers sees him at tight end, and wants to use him in all variations of the position, from H-back to in-line to the slot. He played his junior season at just 200 pounds, though, and Munnerlyn will need to add weight to fulfill Rutgers’ vision for him. A senior season could help him adjust to added weight before he gets to college and they start packing it on.
*****
Of all the Midwest prospects rated four-stars, Parks’ recruitment reflects that rating the least. His film attests to the Ohio athlete’s explosive playmaking ability, but college coaches do not seem to know where he fits at the next level and his offer list remains in single-digit territory.
We highlighted Parks earlier in the year as a prospect who would have benefited greatly from a full off-season camp schedule, and if he now loses a senior season there is no place for him to answer coaches’ questions, raise his stock and start generating the offers his talent suggests.
*****
There may not be a player in the Midwest who needs a senior season more than Powlus. When you consider his skill set in relation to his offer list, the latter comes up short. Even his famous name has not kick-started this process. The issue is an injury that occurred in week 2 that caused Powlus to miss the rest of his junior season. He is back to 100%, but has had nowhere to showcase his talents to college coaches with the coronavirus shutting down all in-person contact this off-season.
Powlus’ lone Power Five offer came from Kentucky over a year ago, but the Wildcats picked up their quarterback in this class in March. Powlus picked up several Mid-American Conference offers during his sophomore year, and more recently added one from Yale.
*****
Story was listed in the first Rivals100 for the 2021 class following a breakout sophomore season that showed a prospect with high potential based on his size and athleticism. Despite breaking his leg toward the end of that season, Story had already done enough to generate scholarship offers from top schools in the region. The progression we were expecting to see from Story as a junior, though, never materialized. He played both ways for Solon last season, but did not dominate as much as expected. Story could use another season to get some confidence back in his leg and put the injury behind him before he heads off to Northwestern.