Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney don’t always see eye to eye. In this edition of Rival Views, the two debate which 2022 all-purpose back should be on top in the rankings. The full Rivals250 for the 2022 class will be released on Tuesday.
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CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS WEEK SCHEDULE
MONDAY: Countdown of the five-stars | Who should be No. 1 in 2022? | Who should be the top QB? | Who should be the top OT?
TUESDAY: Rivals250 revealed | Mike Farrell's thoughts
WEDNESDAY: Offensive position rankings released
THURSDAY: Defensive position rankings released
FRIDAY: State rankings spotlight
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FARRELL’S VIEW: Trevor Etienne
Why Trevor Etienne? A few reasons. First off, he has better size than Raleek Brown which makes him potentially more durable, a more effective blocker and a bigger receiving target. At 5-foot-9 he’s not huge but he’s filled out at nearly 200 pounds and is very strong. Etienne runs low to the ground, has tremendous explosion and he could be a late-bloomer like his brother Travis was in high school.
Etienne put up monster numbers last season and was big in playoff action. I don’t think you can go wrong with him as he’s learned from his brother.
GORNEY’S VIEW: Raleek Brown
Brown is one of the most dynamic and exciting running backs I’ve seen in a long time and I don’t even think this is an argument: Brown is clearly the best. Etienne is very talented, don’t get me wrong, and he had terrific stats in his sophomore season. But his high school always runs an option, two-back offense that is difficult for defenses to figure out and so a lot of open running lanes become available to him.
Brown plays in a typical spread offense but when he has the ball in his hands, he’s so incredibly dynamic and fun to watch, plus he has elite speed. He can slip through the tiniest crack for big gains; he’s undersized and it’s to his advantage because defenders cannot wrap him up and once he breaks to the second level he’s gone.
Transferring to Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei will allow Brown to show off his skills in arguably the best high school football league in the country – and I doubt many defenses will have an answer for him. Najee Harris and Joe Mixon came from Northern California but they were bigger backs without Brown’s freakish athletic ability.
When you see Brown on the sidelines, he doesn’t strike anyone as an elite athlete who can put the moves on anybody. But once he gets going, it’s so fun to watch and that’s why he’s clearly the No. 1 all-purpose back.
