Rivals Recap: Roman's Soldiers Showcase

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. –- NFL veteran, Super Bowl XXXVII champion, and current NFL Junior Athlete Development Senior Director Roman Oben hosted the Roman’s Soldiers Showcase at the New York Giants’ Training Facility on Sunday. Some of the best juniors, sophomores, freshmen, and 8th graders were in attendance. Here are some of the highlights from the action.

With six offers already in hand, Tyler Friday looks to be one of the most heavily recruited prospects in New Jersey’s 2018 class. He has already shown impressive versatility playing on both sides of the ball as a freshman and sophomore. On Sunday, Friday dominated as a defensive tackle and won overall MVP of the camp. He was in great physical shape and was much stronger and quicker than the offensive linemen he faced. If Friday’s future is on the defensive line, he will need to refine his footwork and hand techniques, but there aren’t many players as athletic as he is at his size.

The top three quarterbacks at the event all figure to be big time Division-1 signal callers. Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco quarterback Tommy DeVito has made a ton of progress and doesn’t look like the same player from even six months ago. He has grown a few inches, which has helped him improve his game. It seems like his arm is much stronger and his throws are much more decisive. Johnathan Lewis of Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep has added a lot of mass in his upper body and almost looks like a defensive end. His arm strength is impressive and his downfield accuracy is much improved. Cheshire (Conn.) Cheshire Academy’s talented offensive prospects should be happy with the progress that CJ Lewis has made over the last few years. He has a quick release and is very accurate. It was impressive to see how quickly he could adjust his timing for these new receivers.

In a deep wide receiver group, Fara’ad McCombs took home MVP honors. The sophomore out of northern New Jersey powerhouse Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph’s had a spectacular day, taking on the best of the defensive backs and winning the large majority of his reps in one-on-ones. McCombs ran great routes and had the surest hands of any of the receivers. Look for him to improve his overall speed in St. Joseph’s training program and then the offers will start flowing.

Defensive back Jermaine Wilder dominated the one-on-one session and it was even easy to see he was one of the better defensive backs during the position drills. The Wayne (N.J.) Passaic County Technical Institute standout’s footwork is very crisp and he was extremely explosive off his plant foot. Wilder’s closing speed while the ball was in the air caught a lot of quarterbacks off-guard and he was able to come away with a couple of interceptions and some very impressive pass-breakups. His recruitment has yet to really take off, but this spring will serve as his coming-out party.

Dozens of schools have already offered Sparta (N.J.) Pope John XXIII defensive tackle Dalyn Wade-Perry, and he has taken some steps in the right direction. He has lost most of the baby fat and looks much more in shape than he has in the past. Wade-Perry’s conditioning also seems to have improved. During the one-on-one session, he won his fair share of reps, but there is still progress to be made before he reaches his potential.

The wide receiver group was pretty good, but Ihmir Marsette from Newark (N.J.) Weequahic had an MVP-type performance. He is a very natural route runner and his explosiveness is off the charts. Marsette’s length and catch radius made life easy for the quarterbacks and he didn’t let may passes hit the ground. Marsette’s time to add offers is limited, but some school could get a steal down the road.

Here are a few current freshmen and incoming freshmen to remember down the line. Offensive lineman Bryan Felter and defensive back Jordan Morant have a chance to start next season at Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic. Four-year starters in the Big North are few and far between, but these incoming freshmen have a chance to do that. Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph’s is getting a quarterback with a lot of potential in incoming freshman CJ Duell. Current Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep freshman R.J. Oben looks like he will grow into a defensive end with ideal measureables. As he gets stronger, he could be a force to be reckoned with. While he doesn’t know which high school he will go to yet, Chris Leake has a chance to be an immediate difference-maker as a tight end or linebacker.

Sparta (N.J.) Pope John XXIII had a few other standouts at the camp. Sophomore running back Berrell Neal looked like he was in better shape than he was in the fall and he took home running back MVP honors. He has great power, burst, and ran very good routes. Wide receiver Taj Jones might be the best prospect at Pope John XXIII right now. The freshman is every bit the 6-foot-3, 185-pounds he is listed and has very reliable hands. Defensive backs had a tough time guarding him all day and that assignment will only get harder as Jones continues to develop.

Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco defensive back Kevin Brennan is already regarded as one of the best players in New Jersey’s ultra competitive Big North division and had he had a pretty good day on Sunday. The camp setting really isn’t the 5-foot-10, 194-pound Brennan’s scene because his game is predicated on being physical, but he really disrupted receivers’ routes and not many of them were able to get behind him. The prognosis on Brennan is that his measureables might limit his potential at the next level, but he was one of the best pure football players on Sunday and he is a dominant force on game days in the fall.

John Burk was one of the most intriguing prospects at the camp. He has an ideal build for an offensive guard, but started off playing defensive tackle. Burk’s results in the one-on-one session on the defensive line were mixed, but once he flipped over to the offensive line, he won the majority of his reps. His potential as an offensive lineman far exceeds his ceiling as a defensive lineman, but he is still raw. Burk will have to work on sliding laterally, but he is very strong, anchored well against bull rushes and has a punch that will stop defensive linemen in their tracks.