5/13/2017 football Edit

RCS Columbus: Talent impresses at New Speed Combine

Adam Friedman, Josh Helmholdt and Woody Wommack

Rivals.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nearly 1,000 players performed at Saturday’s Rivals New Speed Combine presented by adidas in central Ohio, yielding several new invites for Sunday’s Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas. The state of Kentucky was best-represented, claiming half of the invites out of the combine.

Saturday’s invitation to return to Sunday’s Rivals 3 Stripe Camp capped a big week for Tucker. On Thursday he added his second offer of the process from the home-state Louisville Cardinals during a conversation with offensive line coach Mike Summers. The school is only an hour-drive from Tucker’s home, but he has yet to visit. Marshall was the first school to offer Tucker, and he plans to make his first visit to Huntington on May 27. He is currently putting together a summer camp schedule with Kentucky, Purdue and Mississippi State likely stops. Tucker is still early in his evaluation of schools recruiting him and does not plan to make a college decision until later in his senior year.

Measuring in at 6-foot-8, Jones looks more like a future left tackle than a quarterback, but we had seen him at a camp earlier this off-season and know he has a strong arm. Jones has started at quarterback on varsity in both of his freshman and sophomore seasons, throwing for 4,882 yards and 50 touchdowns so far in his high school career. The home-state Kentucky Wildcats have always been Jones’ team growing up and he attended each of their home games in the 2016 season. Quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw has given him favorable feedback on sophomore film and Jones plans to camp there this summer.

Richardson is one of the more intriguing prospects to come out of the combine. His 4.6 second 40-yard dash time along with his 40-inch vertical jump will really help him in the 3 Stripe Camp on Sunday. Richardson primarily plays wide receiver but West Virginia is looking at him as a defensive back as well. Pittsburgh, Toledo and Marshall are also recruiting Richardson but he doesn’t hold any offers yet.

Wide receiver Taj Mustapha is the big name in the 2018 class at West Bloomfield and Dixon has been a beneficiary of the additional coaches drawn to the school. Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Iowa State and Ohio State have show interest in Dixon this spring. He played safety last season and will play a hybrid position for West Bloomfield this year. At 6-foot-2 and 193 pounds most colleges project him to linebacker at the next level and he posted really solid numbers of 4.75 40-yard dash while putting up a 41-inch vertical on Saturday. No offers have materialized yet for Dixon, but he each of the aforementioned schools wants him to camp this summer. He grew up following Michigan State, where West Bloomfield alum Trishton Jackson currently plays, and visited the Spartans for a spring practice last month.

Cox earned an invitation back to Sunday’s event after posting some impressive testing numbers following measuring in at 6-foot-3 and 280 pounds. Cox lives near Lexington, Ky. and said the Wildcats' coaches have been by to check up on him. He plans on returning the favor and will camp with the ‘Cats this summer in hopes of earning an offer. Other programs showing interest include Eastern Kentucky.

Washington made the trek north from Louisville to compete and was rewarded with an invitation to Sunday’s camp. Washington has several schools close to offering and once he posts his ACT score next month the offer floodgates could open. Western Kentucky and Memphis are among the schools that checked on him during spring practice and he has a very busy schedule of camps in June. Among the programs he plans on visiting are Purdue, Louisville, Bowling Green, Tennessee, Memphis and Indiana.

Rush earned a return invite for Sunday’s camp with one of the top testing performances at the event. The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder ran a 4.68 40-yard dash and a 4.09 shuttle. He played primarily running back as a junior, rushing for 1,400 yards and 13 touchdowns, but his size and skill set is drawing interest at linebacker. Brown University and Davison (N.C.) College have already offered for running back, while Notre Dame (Ohio) College has offered for either running back or linebacker. Rush has also been receiving solid interest from Toledo and Bowling Green and will likely camp with both schools this summer. He also plans to camp with Ohio State on June 13, Cincinnati on June 20 and Harvard on June 24. The Ivy League interest is also due to Rush carrying a 4.0 GPA in the classroom.

After seeing Douglas’ testing numbers and watching him perform, it is a surprise the southeast Michigan native does not have more college attention. He transferred this past winter from Troy (Mich.) High School over to Brother Rice, which is one of the most tradition-rich programs in Michigan. The only college attention he has received thus far is from Florida Tech, but he would be interested in hearing more from Cal, Michigan State, UCLA and USC. The Pac-12 appeals to him because of the way they use their linebackers. As a junior Douglas recorded 65 tackles and five sacks while playing a weakside linebacker position.