Ranking the Contenders: Julien Simon
Julien Simon is one of the most interesting prospects in the entire 2021 class because the four-star could legitimately play four positions in college - linebacker, safety, running back or wide receiver - and be special anywhere on the field.
His recruitment is also taking shape as earlier this month, the Tacoma (Wash.) Lincoln standout released a top eight of Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Cal, Arizona State, USC, Texas and Stanford.
Simon has visited schools all across the country, but the coronavirus travel ban has thrown a wrench into his other planned trips to Arizona State, Texas and Michigan recently.
Below, we take a shot at naming some of the front-runners on his list and we rank the contenders heading into a decision that could come soon.
MORE RANKING THE CONTENDERS: Marcus Burris | Brock Bowers | Kelvin Gilliam | Bram Walden
MORE: Recruiting check-in with five-star Amarius Mims
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022: Top 100
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USC
What doesn’t Simon like about USC? He loves the football tradition there, he loves the academics, the location, the weather and he’s developing an even stronger relationship with new assistant coach Donte Williams. Simon remained highly interested in the Trojans, even when there was some lack of communication as there was an offseason coaching overhaul. Now that things are back in place, USC looks like the team to beat. If Simon is to play linebacker at the next level, the Trojans have developed many talented ones over the years and that could be a factor, too.
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WASHINGTON
Washington is the home school. He’s visited there multiple times. Simon has a great relationship with Jimmy Lake, who recruited Simon as an assistant coach and is now the head coach of the Huskies. If familiarity is going to win the day in Simon’s recruitment, then the Huskies could be tough to beat. The four-star knows a lot about the program, he’s comfortable there and Washington has been doing an extraordinary job developing players to win in the Pac-12 and then head off to the NFL. Washington has had 15 players drafted the last three years. It’s definitely an intriguing proposition if Simon leans toward staying closer to home as decision day nears.
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STANFORD
When Simon was breaking down his top eight schools, Simon raved about Stanford not only because of its outstanding academics but because of its football program, too, and how many players have come out of that program and played in the NFL. With Simon, the seriousness about academics is not just lip service, and he’s highly interested in getting a degree from such a prestigious school. The cherry on top would be playing for a football program that has been highly successful over the years as well. That combination really cannot be beaten, and Simon is seriously thinking about it.