Midwest Spotlight: Five prospects that should emerge this spring
TAKE TWO: Can Notre Dame land up-and-comer Jordan Johnson?
The Spring Evaluation Period opens April 15 and college coaches will once again be on the road scouting high school prospects at their schools. Here are five class of 2020 prospects from the Midwest region who may be under the radar now, but should see their offer lists expand in the coming weeks.
Junior season has become the most important in a high school prospect’s recruitment, and Eberhardt lost his when he suffered a knee injury last August before the season ever began. Fortunately for Eberhardt, though, he has two big advantages in his corner. The first is that he is an outstanding cover corner, with some of the best feet at the position in this class and the length college coaches look for out of their cornerbacks. The second advantage is that his high school features two of the top four 2020 prospects in the state of Ohio and is bound to see an endless stream of college coaches through its doors this spring.
Power Five offers have come from four Big Ten schools for Jones, including one from Michigan just last week. However, Jones' offer list is one I expect to look very different in June than it does today. The Akron native has the ability to project to either cornerback or receiver, and to play those at the Power Five level, you need to be fast. In Jones’ case, however, he plays at a speed above the average for even Power Five-caliber prospects. Jones has divided interests with basketball that have helped keep him under the football radar, but college coaches fall in love with speed and when you add in Jones’ versatility, he will attract a lot of attention this spring.
The only way Magwood emerges from the spring with as few football offers as he currently has is if he tells college coaches he’s playing basketball in college. The talent and versatility Magwood brings to the football field should make him a national recruit, but he harbors hoop dreams that keep him away from being recognized for those skills. To date, Magwood’s only FBS football offers are from in-state schools Cincinnati, Akron, Miami (Ohio) and Toledo. Out-of-state schools hardly know about the Columbus-area prospect, who will either be a huge breakout star of the Spring Eval Period, or remain under the radar. How Magwood handles the next couple months will determine which outcome emerges.
Ontario is not in the Midwest. It’s not even in the United States, but Canada falls under my coverage umbrella and Ottawa has produced a steady stream of Division I talent in recent years. Most Ottawa prospects who show Power Five potential – guys like Patrice Rene, Luiji Vilain and Jonathan Sutherland – transfer to the States to play out their high school careers, but Mesidor has opted to stay home. College coaches who make the trek to Canada’s capital to see Mesidor are going to be impressed with his physical transformation since last off-season, and his explosiveness and athleticism have improved as well.
A dozen programs have already offered Miles a scholarship, but only one of those is from a Power Five Conference and that is Washington State. When you consider that most of the Mid-American Conference, along with Cincinnati and Temple, have already offered Miles, that suggests this offer list as one that is about to see the population of Power Five offers increase this spring. Miles has the length coaches look for at the defensive end position, and only lacks seasoning to be a quality edge rusher.