1/2/2024 football Edit

Three-Point Stance: Receivers and linemen stand out on Day 1

Adam Gorney • Rivals.com

National Recruiting Director

SAN ANTONIO - The first day of practice at the All-American Bowl is in the books as it was cold and rainy for the West squad at Trinity University but pleasant inside the Alamodome for the East.

In today’s Three-Point Stance, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney gives his thoughts on the wide receiver rankings in the 2024 class, the West offensive line and the impressive East defensive linemen.

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CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals100

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AFTER NO. 1 AT WR, LET THE DEBATE BEGIN

Five-star Jeremiah Smith had a strong day - big surprise! - and continues to prove he’s the best receiver in the 2024 class. The Ohio State signee is just so dominant in every setting and does everything so well that it’s going to be nearly impossible to move him off the top line.

After that, I’m all ears. An easy argument could be made for Auburn signee Cam Coleman, who had a great week at Under Armour. But one can also be posited for Alabama signee Ryan Williams, who is a technician and was unguardable in Orlando.

From the All-American Bowl, Miami signee Ny Carr had an impressive first day. He’s not the biggest receiver but he has long arms and phenomenal hands to make tough catches. Notre Dame signee Cam Williams and four-star Gatlin Bair also looked smooth and showed consistent catching ability as well.

This is an unbelievably deep wide receiver class and someone who showed Tuesday that he might need a massive bump in the rankings is Clemson signee Terrance Moore. The Tampa (Fla.) Catholic standout was unstoppable going deep and he caught everything. No. 41 in the wide receiver rankings? No way.

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EARLY THOUGHTS ON WEST O-LINE

One of the biggest surprises on Tuesday during limited action was Tennessee signee Bennett Warren, who is absolutely massive at 6-foot-8 and 335 pounds but moved really well mainly playing right tackle. He’s a little bit of a waist bender but the Sugarland (Texas) Fort Bend Marshall standout was really impressive, was light on his feet and was looking for contact the whole time.

Others that made a big impression: Auburn signee DeAndre Carter has to trim up a little bit but he’s going to be an offensive guard for the Tigers and he’s always loved to mix it up; Oregon signee Fox Crader has impressive length and could develop into a special player in the coming years; and Grant Brix is someone to really watch.

There were no one-on-ones for the offensive linemen during Tuesday’s cold and dreary practice but Brix was lined up at left tackle and definitely has impressive size and he can move pretty well for his size. The Nebraska signee could look even better once he gets to mix it up against some defensive linemen this week.

One that surprised me was Isendre Ahfua. The Texas A&M offensive line is by no means small at 6-foot-4 and 290 pounds but the Seattle (Wash.) O’Dea standout used to tip the scales at 320-plus and he’s lost significant weight so it was surprising to see him so trimmed up.

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THE EAST D-LINE WAS IMPRESSIVE

The East defensive line is stacked and on Tuesday a lot of them had impressive performances. Five-star performances? That’s up for debate but many of them were extra special.

Florida signee LJ McCray looked the best as he had size and length plus he won numerous reps and then Amaris Williams used his hands really well. The Auburn signee is a physical presence who can also move really well, too.

Five-star Eddrick Houston bull-rushed right through one offensive tackle and the Ohio State signee also had his moments. Two of the biggest surprises were Georgia signee Jordan Thomas, who is big and physical and plays with a lot of violent intentions and then Notre Dame signee Bryce Young was long and wiry but surprisingly productive all day as well.