The Spartans have picked up their 3rd commitment from Ohio safety, Jalyn Powell. Powell attends Warren G. Harding high school, home of former Spartan DB Chris L. Rucker. Once again, it looks like the Spartan coaches have jumped ahead of most of the recruiting services, so the information on Powell is limited, and in some cases conflicting. Only 247 has a rating for him, and they consider him a 3-star guy. Otherwise, Scout says that Powell received offers from Michigan, and West Virginia, and that Ohio State is showing interest in him. All of the other sites, however, list MSU as his only offer.
Powell has great size for a safety (6'1" and 185 lbs.). If you believe ESPN, which is the only site that has a 40 meter time for him, he seems to be a little slow (at 4.86 seconds). But folks, you tell me if you believe this guy is slow:
In this video, Powell looks like the best athlete on the field. There are several moments where he makes everyone else look like they're standing still. On defense he shows some pretty good instincts and he brings the lumber when he tackles. I have to say, this is some of the best highlight video I've ever seen. That makes Powell one of the most exciting prospects I've ever reviewed.
Powell is being recruited as a safety, but to me he looks like a guy that could excel at many other positions, including wide receiver, linebacker, and running back. He fits the mold of a Dantonio safety and will be a great addition to the class of 2013 for the Green and White.
Powell has great size for a safety (6'1" and 185 lbs.). If you believe ESPN, which is the only site that has a 40 meter time for him, he seems to be a little slow (at 4.86 seconds). But folks, you tell me if you believe this guy is slow:
Powell is being recruited as a safety, but to me he looks like a guy that could excel at many other positions, including wide receiver, linebacker, and running back. He fits the mold of a Dantonio safety and will be a great addition to the class of 2013 for the Green and White.
I just wanted to add two things to this post without robbing Leo of his angle.
ReplyDelete1.) 40 times are ridiculously fake. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Once-again-beware-the-cult-of-the-40?urn=ncaaf-144692 4.4 speed is largely a myth. Think of all of the players in the Big Ten you saw who were faster than Keshawn Martin this year. Martin cut a 4.45 officially at the combine. So if a 4.86 is a legitimately timed 4.86, that's really not too bad at all. When possible I try to grab a guy's 100 meter dash time as a measure of straight-line track speed. Anything under 11 is excellent, anything under 12 is fast enough to play Big Ten football.
2.) The intro to the video gave me the giggles. I think this tape is sped up a bit which makes it look like he's a bit faster than he actually is. What's important is that when he's on defense he decided where he's going, he runs with a purpose and gets there quickly. On offense when he gets into the open field, he's always pulling away from people. That's football speed. He has it.