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Rankings rewind: Haden, Agholor
Every weekend during the college football season, there tend to be a couple of on-field accomplishments that make you stop and take notice. USC wide receiver Nelson Agholor accomplished this during a 38-30 victory over California when he grabbed 16 receptions for 216 yards and two touchdowns.
As a true freshman in 2012, Agholor saw time as a reserve wide receiver, plus he returned kickoffs. Offensively he finished the season with 19 receptions for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Taking on a bigger role last season, he started all 14 games and totaled 56 receptions for 918 yards and six touchdowns. His performance earned him several postseason honors, both nationally and in the conference. This season, Agholor has already bested all of his season-highs with 82 receptions for 1,079 yards and ten touchdowns.
Playing his high school football at Berkeley Prep in Tampa, Florida, Agholor saw time at running back, wide receiver, cornerback and safety. He immediately made an impact as a freshman with 1,400 all-purpose yards and five interceptions, and then as a sophomore with 970 yards rushing, 239 yards receiving and 18 total touchdowns, plus 31 tackles and four interceptions. He continued his impressive play as a junior with 1,440 yards on offense and three interceptions on defense. Agholor definitely saved his best for last at Berkeley Prep, as he rushed for 1,983 yards and 28 touchdowns, while grabbing 10 receptions for 117 yards and two touchdowns on offense during his senior season.
It should come as no surprise that Agholor's recruiting process was a very busy one. Before his junior season began at Berkeley Prep, he already had offers from USC, Georgia, Notre Dame, Florida, UCLA and USF. A few months after his junior season concluded, Agholor had offers from basically every school in the country. Agholor took an aggressive approach during the spring and early summer by visiting USC, UCLA, Texas, TCU, USF, Georgia, Auburn, Miami, Florida and Florida State. During the fall and winter, Agholor took official visits to Notre Dame, Florida, Oklahoma, Florida State and lastly, USC. A week after his late January visit to USC, Agholor committed to the Trojans.
Agholor was a five-star wide receiver in the Class of 2012. He was ranked as the No. 3 wide receiver nationally, the No. 2 recruit in Florida and the No. 18 overall recruit nationally. In Florida, Agholor was only ranked behind Tracy Howard, who has not had the same impact at Miami, while at wide receiver he was only ranked behind Stefon Diggs and Dorial Green-Beckham, who have both shown glimpses of stardom. Being a five-star, Agholor's accomplishments at USC are far from a surprise. He was a game-breaking athlete in high school, continues to be that in college, and definitely has the potential to continue to do that in the NFL.
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Aaron Green and TCU had just enough to push away from Kansas on Saturday. | |||||
Following a transfer from Nebraska to TCU, nobody was really sure what would come of former four-star running back Aaron Green. He has answered those questions in recent weeks with a number of impressive performances, including 128 yards and two touchdowns during a surprisingly tough 34-30 win over Kansas. Playing his high school football at Madison in San Antonio, Texas, Green enjoyed a fabulous career that saw him rush for almost 5,000 yards. He began to make his mark as a sophomore, when he rushed for 2,024 yards and 27 touchdowns. Green then totaled 1,100 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns as a junior, before finishing his time at Madison with 1,171 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns in 2010. Recruiting was hectic for Green right from the start, with his first offers coming in from Nebraska, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas A&M early in 2009. With his older brother, Andrew Green, being part of Nebraska's Class of 2009, the Cornhuskers were always going to be a major player. By the conclusion of his junior season, Green grabbed additional offers from many of the top programs in the country, and by early 2010 he had Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, California, Baylor and Oklahoma State as leaders. With recruiting getting too hectic, Green further trimmed his list to Nebraska, Texas, Cal and Florida State. During the fall, Green only took two visits, to Florida State and Nebraska. Two weeks after his Lincoln visit he decided to follow his brother and committed to Nebraska. At Nebraska, Green saw playing time in 12 games as a true freshman in 2011, and finished with 105 yards rushing and two touchdowns. However, after his freshman season, he decided to transfer to TCU, where he had to sit out the 2012 season. Last season, Green finished fourth on the team with 232 yards rushing. This season, with starter B.J. Catalon dealing with some injuries, Green has received more playing time and has thrived. So far in 2014, Green has totaled 684 yards rushing and six touchdowns on only 82 carries. Green was a four-star running back in the Class of 2011. He was the No. 8 ranked running back nationally, the No. 8 ranked recruit in Texas and the No. 61 overall recruit nationally. At the running back position, Green was ranked behind a number of recruits who did not pan out, including Mike Bellamy, Mike Blakely and Savon Huggins. Green's story is an interesting one, because while his college career has not taken the prototypical route with his transfer, he is finally showcasing the abilities that we always knew he had. A year ago, it seemed as though he may have been ranked too high, but now we will take more of a wait-and-see approach. The talent and potential to succeed are definitely there, so now we'll see where Green goes from here. For now we're still confident with his high four-star ranking. |
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Alec Ogletree celebrated his interception of Peyton Manning on Sunday. | |||||
The biggest surprise of the NFL weekend came in St. Louis, where the Rams shut down the Denver Broncos during their 22-7 victory. That defensive effort was led by linebacker Alec Ogletree, who finished the day with 13 tackles an interception. Ogletree was drafted by the Rams in the first round with the 30th overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft. He made an immediate impact with the Rams, starting all 16 games and leading the team with 117 tackles. He also finished with six forced fumbles, 1.5 sacks and one interception, which he returned 98 yards for a touchdown. He is having another big season in 2014 for the Rams, already totaling 66 tackles, three forced fumbles and two interceptions. As a true freshman at Georgia in 2010, Ogletree saw a majority of his playing time on special teams before sliding in as the starting strong safety for the final five games of the season. The 2011 season did not go as expected for Ogletree as he broke his foot in the season-opener against Boise State and missed the ensuing six games. In the eight games that he did play, Ogletree finished with 52 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles. Finally enjoying a full season as a starter in 2012, Ogletree had 111 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. He bypassed his senior season for the NFL Draft. Playing his high school football at Newnan in Georgia, Ogletree left an impressive legacy. He began to get noticed as a sophomore when he blocked an amazing six punts. In 2008, as a junior, he again blocked six punts, plus he added 75 tackles and three interceptions. As a senior, he had his best overall season at Newnan with 85 tackles, five tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles, two interceptions and two blocked kicks. Offensively he also added 33 receptions for 633 yards and five touchdowns. Clemson was the first school to offer at a camp prior to his junior season. By early 2009, Georgia, Florida State, Miami, Auburn, Florida and Georgia Tech had also offered Ogletree, and by May he had named Georgia, Miami, Florida State, Florida and Auburn as his leaders. While he had already seen the school several times, an early June visit to Athens seemed to seal the deal for Ogletree as a commitment came to the Bulldogs a couple weeks later. Ogletree was a four-star safety in the Class of 2010. He was ranked as the No. 3 safety nationally, the No. 3 recruit in Georgia and the No. 40 overall recruit nationally. At safety, Ogletree was only ranked behind Keenan Allen, who is now a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers, and Matt Elam, who is on the Baltimore Ravens. Considering Ogletree is now an outside linebacker in the NFL, this obviously makes it difficult to compare. In Georgia, Ogletree was only ranked behind Da'Rick Rogers and Markeith Ambles, who both experienced some troubles after high school. While Ogletree may not have ended up at safety, there was no questioning his potential and athleticism back in high school. He has already proven himself on the NFL stage and should continue to do so for years to come. With that said, we're very confident with our very high four-star ranking back in 2010. |
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Kenny Britt hauled in a 63-yard touchdown pass against the Broncos. | |||||
While the St. Louis defense dominated the game, the offense also kept the Denver defense on their heels. Helping the offense during their victory was wide receiver Kenny Britt, who finished the day with four receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown. Britt was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the first round with the 30th overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played five seasons with the Titans before signing with the Rams during this past summer as a free agent. He had several productive seasons in Nashville, including grabbing 45 receptions for 589 yards and four touchdowns in 2012, and 42 receptions for 775 yards and nine touchdowns in 2010. In his first season with the Rams, Britt has totaled 25 receptions for 440 yards and three touchdowns through 10 games. During his three-year career at Rutgers, Britt set a Big East Conference record with 3,043 receiving yards. At that time he also became Rutgers' all-time leader in touchdown receptions with 17 and in 2008 set single-season school records for receiving yards (1,371) and receptions (87). His 2008 season earned him several national and conference honors. He also turned heads during his sophomore season when he finished with 62 receptions for 1,232 yards and eight touchdowns. After the 2008 season, he decided to leave Rutgers early and declared for the NFL Draft. Britt, who played his high school football at Bayonne in New Jersey, picked up his first three offers from Rutgers, Syracuse and Michigan State after his junior season. As the spring moved along, additional offers came in from Boston College, Purdue, Wisconsin, Louisville, Illinois and Iowa. During the fall and winter, Britt ended up taking official visits to Virginia, Rutgers and finally Illinois, where he had originally committed after a late January visit. However, a couple of days later Britt re-considered and flipped his commitment to Rutgers. Britt was a four-star wide receiver in the Class of 2006. He was the No. 22 ranked wide receiver nationally and the No. 5 ranked recruit in New Jersey. He was not ranked overall nationally. In New Jersey, he was ranked behind Myron Rolle, Antwine Perez, Knowshon Moreno and Jason Adjepong (now Worilds). This group has experienced varying degrees of success, both in college and in the NFL. At wide receiver, a majority of the recruits ranked ahead of Britt disappointed, with only Percy Harvin, Preston Parker and Sam Shields (at a different position) playing to their potential. While Britt is not a star in the NFL, he has established himself as a reliable receiving threat. It always seemed as though he had potential to do more, but to this point that has yet to happen. Britt is still a four-star talent, but only shows glimpses of that potential. |
Mike Farrell National Recruiting Director |
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