Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with his take on the defensive players and big men from the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas, including some more player comparisons and why Lincoln Riley is right.
MORE: Tuesday's Three-Point Stance | Complete #RivalsChallenge coverage
1. More thoughts on #RivalsChallenge
The Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas is in the books, but the memories are still fresh in this old head. Here’s my breakdown of the defensive players at the event as well as the big men.
Defensive line – It wasn’t a stellar group overall, but I was impressed with a few of the defensive linemen. Khris Bogle has a chance to be special as he has a great motor, a good frame to build on and a great first step. He was probably the most impressive of the defensive linemen. Shamar McCollum has non-stop energy and will be a spark for some team down the road while I liked the upside of Virginia commitment Jowon Briggs, Myles Murphy and Marcus Stripling. Class of 2020 defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson showed flashes of his five-star ability as well.
Offensive line – The offensive line group was the more impressive group of big men led by MVP and LSU commitment Kardell Thomas, who once again showed how physical and tough to beat he is. Florida State commitment Dontae Lucas showed off some nastiness at the position while center Clay Webb got better as the event wore on. Class of 2020 offensive guard Justin Rogers impressed me as did LSU commitment Anthony Bradford, who moves very well for a massive lineman and showed off his strength. Stacey Wilkins, Keiondre Jones, Saleem Worley and others also had good moments.
Linebacker – Linebackers are tough to evaluate at events like this but there were a few who stood out, led by 2020 freak Justin Flowe. He was non-stop all day and has one of the best motors on a big linebacker I’ve seen. Penn State commitment Brandon Smith showed off good coverage skills for a bigger linebacker while Miami commitment Anthony Solomon may not be the biggest linebacker but he can cover like a safety. West Virginia commitment Lee Kpogba probably raised his stock as much as any linebacker at the event and Clemson commitment Bryton Constantin showed off excellent coverage and ball skills. Texas commitment De’Gabriel Floyd has added some good weight and was also impressive. Class of 2020 five-star Antoine Sampah showed off great agility as well.
Defensive back – This was a very strong group led by MVP Elias Ricks, a 2020 prospect who has a chance to be a five-star with his size and length. Tyrique Stevenson had a very good day and showed natural instincts, Florida State commitment Akeem Dent was good in the first session but missed the 7-on-7 with an injury. Class of 2020 Kelee Ringo flashed his speed and No. 1 overall Derek Stingley was targeted and held his own. The LSU commitment lost a few reps to fellow five-star Theo Wease but he was excellent in 7-on-7 and showed off his ball skills on offense as well. Max Williams may not be big, but he covers like a taller cornerback. I also liked what I saw from Cameron Smith.
2. Player comparisons
Some of the players mentioned above remind me of stars of the past for many different reasons. Here are a few comparisons for people who like that stuff.
LB Justin Flowe – The Vontaze Burfict comparisons are good ones for Flowe, at least physically. Hopefully he won’t be as much trouble on and off the field as Burfict, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a big linebacker move so well.
DE Khris Bogle – Remember Ricky Sapp? That’s who Bogle reminds me of as a skinny, athletic rush end with a solid frame to fill out, but who will probably play at 250 or so in college.
DT McKinnley Jackson – After seeing Jackson in person for the first time, I’d go with Daylon Mack. He’s not quite as sawed off as Mack, but he plays with the same natural leverage and looks closer to 6-1 than he does 6-3. And that isn’t a bad thing at all.
OL Dontae Lucas – Andre Smith comes to mind, although Smith was much more technically sound at the same stage. The two play with the same passion and anger, they have some bad weight they need to lose and they will power their opponents into the ground and play to the whistle.
LB Antoine Sampah – I see a lot of Stephone Anthony in Sampah on the hoof. Both love to hit, they have good frames to fill out and they are solid in coverage. Anthony was a little bigger at the same stage but they aren’t far off.
DB Derek Stingley Jr. – Patrick Peterson is the easy one for Stingley but I’m going with Eric Berry. He’s a smidge longer than Berry at the same stage, especially with his wingspan, but the two of them play very similarly. It’s scary to say but Stingley is more athletic and might have better instincts.
DB Elias Ricks – I’d go with Quincy Wilson because he’s such a tall, angular defensive back at this stage. He’s ahead of Wilson when it comes to development at the same stage and if he can have a career like Wilson he’ll be very happy.
3. Riley was right about SEC defenses vs. Big 12 offenses
Lincoln Riley is right. Riley recently said on the radio that if you put Georgia, the team his Oklahoma Sooners dropped 48 points and 531 yards on in the national semifinal, in the Big 12 there is no way it would be a top five national defense. I’ve been as critical as anyone of Big 12 defenses and truly think many of them are simply awful, but I can’t disagree with Riley here. It’s just too hard for a defense, any defense and that includes Alabama and others, to shut down Big 12 offenses consistently.
Does that mean Big 12 defenses do a good job? Nope, but I just can’t see a way any team in the country could be top five nationally in that conference. Top 10? Maybe but doubtful. Top 20? Sure. But top five is just too hard.
Georgia and SEC fans were upset by Riley’s comments and he did backtrack a bit saying it wasn’t a shot at Georgia but more of a compliment toward Big 12 offenses, but everyone needs to relax. What Riley said is true and until someone, anyone, shuts down a team like Oklahoma consistently, I’ll continue to believe him.
