Texans show stuff at NIKE Camp

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Leave it to the great state of Texas to make an impact in an event held hundreds of miles outside of its state borders. Two Texas prospects had great days at this past weekend's NIKE Training Camp at Stanford University and definitely helped their causes with the solid effort.

Brandon Reid of El Paso Canutillo was a name that caught everybody's eye with his 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame. He also moved around really well in drills, and it was easy to see why he rushed for 659 yards and six touchdowns last season.

At defensive line Klein defensive end John Youboty was very impressive. At 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, he showed a quick motor off the line of scrimmage, moved his feet well in drills and was dominating in the one-on-one drills.

"When they had the NIKE Camp in Fort Worth, I missed it because I had to go up North for my cousin's graduation," Youboty said.

"I came out to this one because my sister goes to college out here at Chico State. I thought I did pretty good. I was kind of disappointed I didn't get the MVP for the defensive linemen at the camp, but I came in second on the voting. It's kind of bittersweet, but it's pretty good for what I did. I just came out here and showed people what I've got."

Now that Youboty has faced top players in Texas and California, who does he give the edge to?

"I have to give it to the Texas boys," he said. "There's some pretty good competition out here, but I think Texas has them by a little bit."

Youboty said he wanted to make it to a NIKE Camp to help get him some further exposure to the college coaches. He said not to many people got a good look at him in 2006 because he was playing out of position.

"Well this past year, I didn't play defensive end," Youboty said. "They had me playing tight end. So my name didn't get out there much because it's not my natural position. And our offense, we run the ball every single play. So I didn't do anything but block. But this year, they moved me to defensive end and I had a pretty good spring game. I had three sacks and did some damage there."

When it comes to recruiting, Youboty is still searching for his first offer. But that might change soon.

"I talked to coaches at Missouri and they said it's probably expected this week some time," he said. "I talked to Kansas State, Kansas and UofH would be my second highest team on my list."

Youboty has somebody to ask for help when it comes to recruiting. His older brother, Ashton Youboty, signed with Ohio State and is now with the Buffalo Bills.

"He just taught me to keep my eyes open and you'll never know what might happen," Youboty said. "He said you'll know when you've found the right school. I ate all the food at the dinner table. I look up to him a lot. Everything I do, I try to do it like him. He's a great role model."