Texas 7-on-7: Gunter steals the spotlight
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Thursday through Saturday, 128 teams from across the Lone Star State will converge on the Texas A&M campus for the Texas 7-on-7 State Championships. The event kicked off with the small-school tournament as 64 teams from classes 3A and under battled it out in pool play. Rivals.com Southwest recruiting analyst Brian Perroni breaks down the top performers of the day.
Advertisement
WR Brice Gunter, Stephenville: The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Texas State pledge was simply the most dominant player in action on Thursday. Gunter is built somewhat like a tight end but he showed the speed to get behind defenders. Like a flex tight end, though, he is incredibly strong and was able to go up and take the ball away from the defensive backs a couple of times. He is also a big target in the red zone. Gunter's only offer is from Texas State and he did not wait long to commit, but other schools should take notice of him soon.
WR Aaron Mosley, Liberty (2014):
As is the case every year at the small-school tournament, a prospect that was previously unheard-of breaks out in a big way. This year it was the 6-foot-4, 175-pound Mosley. The tall, lanky wide receiver does not have elite speed but is fast enough to stretch the field. He scored on the first play of both of his first two games. He also has good body control and was able to keep his feet inbounds a couple of times along the sideline. He showed strong hands on the fade route as well. Hailing from a small town, Mosley says he has not heard from any colleges at this point.
WR Damitri Morris, Houston St. Pius X: The 6-foot-1, 180-pound receiver put up big numbers last year, including a couple of huge games, but he has yet to pick up an offer. Morris was wearing a knee brace so schools may be concerned about his lateral agility, but he was great in a straight line on Thursday. He may actually be bigger than his listed size and he always seemed to be open deep as St. Pius racked up points. Morris also had a very impressive diving catch while blanketed on the sideline. If schools are looking for a proven wide receiver, Morris should receive some late looks.
QB Tyler Jones, Stephenville:
Like his teammate Gunter, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound quarterback is also committed to Texas State. Jones was receiving a lot of interest from other programs as well but he is in a deep quarterback class in the state this year. Jones does not necessarily have the strongest arm, but his touch on his passes is impressive. When his running back was able to get a step on the linebacker over the middle, Jones lofted it over the defender's head and hit the receiver in stride.
S Kendall Adams, Fort Worth All Saints (2014):
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound rising junior looks like a prototypical high school safety. He has long arms and the type of body frame where he can easily get to 220 pounds when on a college weight program. He moves like a cornerback, though. Adams had no problem shutting down the deep middle of the field and also providing over the top help to the corners. Though he has not picked up his first offer just yet, Oklahoma State could be close to offering.
CB Quentin Tezeno, West Orange-Stark:
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound UTEP pledge is put together very well. He has a strong upper body that allows him to jam wide receivers at the line. However, Tezeno's main strength is in man coverage. He has very good speed and was able to run with all the receivers he was matched against while changing directions really well. UTEP is his only offer at this point, but schools always make their way through WO-S so he is bound to gain the interest of other programs as well.
LB Xavier Phillips, Fort Worth All Saints:
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Baylor pledge has played defensive end prior to this year but he looked very comfortable at the linebacker spot and will be playing there in the fall as well. Phillips is very well put together and is a quick-twitch guy with a very good burst. He also spent some time at wide receiver on the day and made several nice deep catches. Though he plans to use all five of his official visits, it will still be tough for schools to pry him from the Bears.
TE Charlie Reid, Fort Worth All Saints:
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound TCU pledge does not immediately jump out at you from a physical standpoint, but this kid is simply is a football player. He runs very good routes and knows when to break them off to help his quarterback when the four-second limit is nearing. He provides a solid target in the red zone as well. Reid did struggle with a couple of drops on the day but he catches the ball with his hands so it does not seem worrisome at all.
Others who impressed: Princeton WR Jordan Blake (2014), West Orange-Stark LB/WR Travon Blanchard, Stephenville S Mookie Carlile (2014), Princeton WR Jakari Dillard (2014), Celina QB Nathan Elliott (2015), West Orange-Stark CB Colin Janice, Houston St. Pius X QB Kohl Stewart
Click Here to view this Link.
[rl]