5/6/2017 football Edit

Rivals 3 Stripe Camp New Jersey: Five players to watch

Micah Parsons (Nick Lucero / Rivals.com)

Adam Friedman • Rivals.com

National Recruiting Analyst

Adam Friedman joined Rivals.com as the East Coast Recruiting Analyst in 2012 and covers D1 CFB recruits from SC to Maine & out to PA & WV. Media requests- RivalsFriedman@gmail.com

The Rivals 3 Stripe Camp is rolling into New Jersey this weekend, as Piscataway High School will host the eighth regional stop of the 10-city spring tour. There will be a number of top prospects from the Northeast scheduled to compete as the best of the best attempt to earn an invitation to the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge Presented by adidas in Indianapolis. Here are five athletes to keep an eye on at the event.

Parsons has been making plenty of waves over the past few weeks. The former Penn State commit is looking to make a return trip to the Five-Star Challenge. Watch for him to work out as a defensive end and linebacker during one-on-one drills. Parsons will ‘wow’ with his athleticism and versatility, but it will be good to see how advanced his techniques are at both positions. As far as his recruitment goes, Penn State is still very much involved and Parsons did call them his leader after he announced his decommitment. Ohio State is the other major contender and many believe that’s where he will eventually end up. Expect Parsons to take visits to Florida State, Alabama, Clemson, Miami, Georgia, and a few others.

Linebackers will have to really work to even stay close to Slade and his exceptional quickness. The Penn State commit is the type of running back that could make a defender miss inside a phone booth. Quarterbacks will love throwing to Slade in one-on-ones and linebackers will dread facing him in the cat-and-mouse drill. Slade has shown how dynamic he can be in the past and it will be good to see if he can continue that streak of dominance against this kind of competition.

Simon is one of the most intriguing prospects in this recruiting class. He is still adapting to playing outside linebacker but he is as physically gifted as they come. Being able to watch Simon in cat-and-mouse and cover in open space will be very telling when it comes to his development. Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, Stanford, and UCLA all got the chance to impression Simon during visits over the last few months but a decision is not imminent.

Ruckert has a special blend of size and speed that makes him an exceptional tight end. He is going to create a lot of match up problems in college and linebackers will have trouble sticking with him during one-on-ones on Sunday. His length and leaping abilities will make it easy for quarterbacks to get the ball to him. Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin are at the top of Ruckert’s recruitment right now and a decision isn’t too far off.

Young’s game is based off physicality, so wide receivers should keep their heads on a swivel. Nobody is expecting Young to take out any of the offensive skill players, but he will do a great job of messing up the timing between quarterbacks and receivers. Young has always been a ball-hawk and it will be surprising if he doesn’t come down with at least one interception during one-on-ones. Penn State is in a great spot with Young, but there are plenty of other schools lurking.