Simmons Road Show: Cruising through Mississippi

I haven’t been back into Mississippi since May, so I was able to spend some time there the second half of last week. I attended three high school football games, I made stops at close to 20 high schools and I saw a lot of the top talent in the Magnolia State.

Here are some of the things I liked this trip.

MORE: Observations, updates from Jacksonville

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

Charles Cross is a quiet young man. He does not publicize his recruitment. He is not one that gets out to a lot of camps. He has just gone about his business the way he likes to do things, so not too many know a lot about him.

The Laurel (Miss.) offensive tackle is under-ranked. I liked his tape enough to give him a mid to high three-star ranking, but he deserves to be higher than that. After seeing him compete live for the first time, he will receive a bump in the next rankings update later this year. Cross is a very athletic offensive lineman. He has very good feet, great length, he bends well and his best football is definitely ahead of him.

The Florida State commit has gained between 25-30 pounds over the last year. He will continue to build onto that frame and he will get stronger and more dominant due to that. The school he competed against was not great, so he was not challenged in this contest, but seeing him live led me to check numerous boxes when grading him as an offensive tackle.

He showed great quickness and he looked like a tight end out there running down the field on big plays. Cross impressed in a big way.

I live in Georgia, and it is hot, humid, sticky and we have our share of mosquitos, but it is nothing like Greenville (Miss.).

For the first time in my 14-plus year career in this industry, the mosquitos were affecting my work. I was outside trying to take photos of 2020 prospects Trey Benson and Dillon Johnson at St. Joseph’s Catholic School and Johnson couldn’t stay still as he was getting bitten, we had to move locations more than once because the mosquitos were in the pictures and I just should have listened to the coaches.

When I first walked into the office at the Field House, there was a bottle of OFF on one of the desks. Another coach came out with a bottle from the locker room and offered it to me. I was stubborn, I said no, thinking I would only be outside for a few minutes, but I made a mistake. OFF should be one of their sponsors. They go through bottles a day out there.

I expect plenty of college coaches to be visiting St. Joseph’s Catholic School right off the river in the coming months, so take my advice. Bring OFF.

I have been hearing about Jehiem Oatis for over a year now. He camped at Alabama in the summer before his eighth grade year and was offered by Nick Saban. That is when I first heard about him.

The Crimson Tide were not first to offer him though. Going into that camp, the freshman at Columbia (Miss.) already had offers from Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The Alabama news just got out there and drew attention to him.

In the summer of 2018, before he started high school, Oatis camped at Georgia, LSU and Tennessee. Each school offered him.

I laid eyes on the young man and I can see why all six SEC schools offered. Oatis is only a freshman, but he is every bit of 6-feet 5-inches tall and he is a solid 320 pounds. It is not a sloppy 320 pounds, but he is a strong and carries that weight extremely well.

Oatis may be the most impressive freshman I have laid my eyes on from a frame standpoint. He has long arms, he has massive hands, he wears a size 16 shoe and he could be a national name in the 2022 class. He is playing defensive end and tight end this season, but will likely be recruited to play defensive tackle down the road.

One of the most impressive players on the hoof that I spent time with on this trip was Eli Acker. He is a 2020 offensive tackle that made the move to the offensive line from tight end this season and he is really filling his frame out nicely.

He has added about 15-20 pounds from a year ago and is up to 267. He is an athletic lineman with the frame to add more weight. It is easy to see that Acker works out hard in the weight room and he looks to be in great shape.

The Ole Miss commit is drawing a lot of attention from other schools including Florida and Notre Dame. Expect more schools to offer as they see him live or his junior film later this year.

For a young quarterback in Taylorsville (Miss.), a small town in Mississippi that does not draw a lot of national attention, sophomore quarterback Ty Keyes was extremely impressive.

Keys has not done a ton of interviews yet, but it seemed like he had already been involved in a hundred. As a freshman, he led Taylorsville to a state title. Keyes threw for 4,000 yards and 45 touchdowns. He grew up playing other positions and has only been playing quarterback since his eighth grade year.

Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss have offered. Numerous other schools are showing interest, including Florida State, a school he camped at in July. He wears No. 8 because of Lamar Jackson, a quarterback he really liked watching play at Louisville.

Keyes was impressive in his interview for being just a sophomore. Just the way he answered each question, how he came across and it was easy for me to see how he held his composure in big games last season helping Taylorsville win it all.

I saw a beat up Oak Grove (Miss.) team take on Meridian (Miss.) Friday night and Georgia commit John Rhys Plumlee stood out from the beginning. On play one, Plumlee showed his speed and athleticism with a 10-yard run around the edge to start the game.

He is a true athlete. He broke a 75-yard run for a touchdown to get things going early in the second quarter. Plumlee is more than an athlete though. He did have offers to play wide receiver and defensive back, but he is a quarterback who can make plays with his arm and legs.

Against Meridian, he was pressured often and he did a great job of extending plays, buying time and keeping his eyes down the field. After the game, Plumlee told me that keeping his eyes down field is an area he has really improved at this season, and it showed.

He threw with good timing and good accuracy even with his top two wide receivers out for the season. He finished with over 300 total yards and two touchdowns in the 37-6 win.

Georgia is a getting a dual-threat quarterback who is smart, confident and a leader. He has that moxie that really stands out to me. No moment or stage is too big for him. He plays under control. The game slows down for him. When watching him lead and play under control, I see a little Jake Fromm in him.

It was my first time seeing Plumlee live and I left impressed. As much with his demeanor and personality as his game between the lines.

I talked to well over 50 recruits while in Mississippi and I heard the name Joe Moorhead often when talking to some of the best in the state. Of course area recruiters and position coaches are involved, but Missisippi State's Moorhead was by far the head coach talked about the most when it comes down to consistent communication.

It is obvious that Moorhead wants to be involved. That he wants to get to know the prospects the Bulldogs are in pursuit of. He is a head coach that takes the time to speak to recruits on a regular basis around all his other responsibilities. His name came up a lot and that stood out to me.

Out of the 17 prospects committed to Mississippi State, nine are currently playing in the state of Mississippi. There are other in-state targets out there in this class too. It was not just seniors though, there were juniors that mentioned Moorhead as well. He is taking a strong approach to connecting with recruits and that is impressing some of the best in his backyard.

McKinnley Jackson is a marked man. The 2020 five-star defensive lineman out of Lucedale (Miss.) George County faced regular double teams and some triple teams Saturday on a very hot afternoon, yet still had a major effect.

What I liked most was his effort. Yes, it was hot, so yes, he had to come out and take a few breaks to recharge the battery, but when he was fresh, he was very active. He was chasing the ball down from the backside, he was collapsing the pocket on a regular basis and he showed great power.

It is easy to see why Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and many others want him in their 2020 class. He is a force in the middle. He is tough to move, he really gave it his all and his performance was impressive.