First, the final visit list from yesterday's Junior Day.
2017 RB Salvon Ahmed (offer)
2017 DB Chaz Ah You (offer)
2017 DL Dalyn Wade-Perry (offer)
2017 LB Levani Damuni (LDS mission candidate)
2017 LB Addison Gumbs
2017 DL Marlon Tuipulotu
2018 OL Will Farniok
2018 WR Chase Cota
There was also a 2019 WR there who doesn't have any offers and isn't really a recruit quite yet, so the above list includes the names to know for now.
On to today's Opening Regional in Oakland (well, actually El Sobrante)...
Due to Rivals' affiliation with Under Armour and our Rivals Camp Series (and Nike's affiliation with The Opening), Rivals personnel is not credentialed to cover The Opening/Elite 11 events. So my access was somewhat limited, and I didn't get to chat with everyone I wanted/get great views of every drill as a result. But I did conduct a number of interviews and observed several periods. I'll have articles and a bit of video posted later in the week, but some notes...
-Chaz Ah You brought his mother on his unofficial visit yesterday, which is notable because a)this was her first time to campus and b)she is big on academics. Chaz said the trip went well, and he seems excited about Stanford, but he also said that he has not been able to raise his ACT score. So I think that's a big thing to watch in that recruitment - sounds like he will keep trying. UCLA is a strong contender here, and I have to think BYU is lurking (they recently hired his father on to the football staff), even if he doesn't mention them all that much in interviews. Ah You is effectively a 2019 recruit because of LDS mission plans.
-Salvon Ahmed said that his Junior Day visit was highlighted by time chatting with Christian McCaffrey - Ahmed really enjoyed spending time with McCaffrey, and noted that he was impressed with McCaffrey's honest answers to his questions. Ahmed is clearly Stanford's top uncommitted running back target (Sione Lund is committed), and he did seem to light up a bit when relaying that fact. Ahmed has yet to start his application, but he does plan to take his AP classes next fall, so Stanford should at least be in the mix for the duration of his recruitment.
Just me speculating here, but one factor to watch might be position - Savon has long maintained that he has no preference (and that he likes the thought of being an athlete and multi-purpose weapon), but he did shine today working strictly as a defensive back. In retrospect I should have asked him about position preference again today, but it will be something to follow up about at some point in the near future, particularly if he works out strictly at DB at The Opening Finals.
-Colby Parkinson has a chance to be really special. He may have been the tallest player at camp (legit 6-7 or so), and you just don't see many players with his size who move as gracefully as he does and catch passes as naturally as he does. I didn't get to see a ton of his 1-on-1 reps against linebackers/defenders, but did get a sense for his route running and hands in work with quarterbacks and was quite impressed. Plus, Parkinson actually played in five 7-on-7 games yesterday and flew in last night, so it's not like he was resting body in anticipation of today's camp.
It's easy to see why schools continue to recruit him (and some very hard) despite the Stanford commitment, but in chatting with Colby and his family he remains solid to the Cardinal. He's currently working through the admissions process - he hopes to submit his application within the next few weeks. A summer decision is possible. Parkinson will return to Stanford next month to camp; it will be fun to watch him in action again.
Additionally, Parkinson was rewarded for his strong performance with a trip to The Opening Finals in Oregon, where he'll join QB Davis Mills and other Cardinal targets at the talent-filled all-star showcase.
-Tucker Fisk could easily pass for an offensive tackle or defensive end; he's a very physically imposing kid. But he moves quite well and showed good hands in the reps I watched. (He didn't catch one pass I saw thrown his way, but it looked like the ball was thrown prematurely.) Tucker and Colby are already becoming good friends, and they really complement each other extremely well on the field. I'd take Stanford's 2016-2017 TE recruiting (with Kaden Smith, Tucker Fisk, Colby Parkinson and Scooter Harringon) over any program's in the country. They've reloaded the position in a major way.
-2018 WR Chase Cota is an Oregon football legacy (his father, Chad, played for the Ducks and in the NFL for eight years), but Stanford made an impression on his Junior Day visit. Chase said that he does intend to return to The Farm next month for camp, which is what Stanford requested as it continues to evaluate Chase for a possible scholarship offer. Too early to know where exactly the Cardinal would stack up, but it's clear he has legitimate interest and that he will be one of the top players to keep tabs on next month.
-Stellar Prep (a relatively new school in the East Bay) LB Addison Gumbs did not participate in today's camp, but he did visit for the Junior Day. Gumbs is a very good player, but at this point I'd be a bit surprised if things progress to the offer stage with the Cardinal. (He already has offers from basically everyone else and has stated that he intends to decide this summer.) But good to get him on campus, and I suppose it's possible things will pick up. Just probably wouldn't bet on it at this point.
-Kind of a similar deal with Oregon DL Marlon Tuipulotu, who is committed to Washington but visited Stanford yesterday. Tuipulotu won the DL MVP at today's camp and earned an invitation to The Opening. He's clearly a quality prospect (though I thought there were a few guys better than him today, and he's not the biggest DL around), but between his commitment to the Huskies (which he does legitimately seem pretty happy with - you never really know with these things, but he said his family has been pushing him to take other visits) and Dalyn Wade-Perry and Ryan Johnson really kind of Stanford's DL focus right now, I'd be a bit surprised if things progress with Marlon. But again, good to get him on campus, and who knows what will happen if things fall through with Stanford's current offered DL targets.
-As posted in the other thread, 2017 Kingsburg OL Andrew Vorhees will camp with Stanford next month. Vorhees has essentially every offer he wants (including USC, UCLA, Oregon and numerous others) - except for Stanford. Stanford plans to take two offensive linemen in 2017, and they're in good shape to fill those spots with players who already have scholarships, but as I've mentioned on a few occasions, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Cardinal find a way to get more than two 2017 OL on board, even if it requires a bit of creativity. I didn't see a ton of Vorhees today - there were a lot of OL competing in a relatively short 1-on-1 period - and non-padded OL vs. DL pass rush is very different than padded - but I watched four reps (will have video up later) and he was solid. The sample size was probably too small to make a strong impression either way. He certainly looks the part, however, and will be a very intriguing camper this summer along with Drew Dalman and Brett Neilon.
-Speaking of Dalman, I also caught four reps of his in the one-on-ones. And again, he was solid, but the sample size was a bit small to get a great feel. Nothing too spectacular either way.
-I just opened my email to see that Will Farniok was actually working in a different jersey number than he was initially assigned (which would explain why I couldn't find him). But now with the knowledge that he was there and remembering a few plays from his jersey number, he was actually pretty good - really slender for an OL, but did a nice job getting in front of DL and moving well
2017 RB Salvon Ahmed (offer)
2017 DB Chaz Ah You (offer)
2017 DL Dalyn Wade-Perry (offer)
2017 LB Levani Damuni (LDS mission candidate)
2017 LB Addison Gumbs
2017 DL Marlon Tuipulotu
2018 OL Will Farniok
2018 WR Chase Cota
There was also a 2019 WR there who doesn't have any offers and isn't really a recruit quite yet, so the above list includes the names to know for now.
On to today's Opening Regional in Oakland (well, actually El Sobrante)...
Due to Rivals' affiliation with Under Armour and our Rivals Camp Series (and Nike's affiliation with The Opening), Rivals personnel is not credentialed to cover The Opening/Elite 11 events. So my access was somewhat limited, and I didn't get to chat with everyone I wanted/get great views of every drill as a result. But I did conduct a number of interviews and observed several periods. I'll have articles and a bit of video posted later in the week, but some notes...
-Chaz Ah You brought his mother on his unofficial visit yesterday, which is notable because a)this was her first time to campus and b)she is big on academics. Chaz said the trip went well, and he seems excited about Stanford, but he also said that he has not been able to raise his ACT score. So I think that's a big thing to watch in that recruitment - sounds like he will keep trying. UCLA is a strong contender here, and I have to think BYU is lurking (they recently hired his father on to the football staff), even if he doesn't mention them all that much in interviews. Ah You is effectively a 2019 recruit because of LDS mission plans.
-Salvon Ahmed said that his Junior Day visit was highlighted by time chatting with Christian McCaffrey - Ahmed really enjoyed spending time with McCaffrey, and noted that he was impressed with McCaffrey's honest answers to his questions. Ahmed is clearly Stanford's top uncommitted running back target (Sione Lund is committed), and he did seem to light up a bit when relaying that fact. Ahmed has yet to start his application, but he does plan to take his AP classes next fall, so Stanford should at least be in the mix for the duration of his recruitment.
Just me speculating here, but one factor to watch might be position - Savon has long maintained that he has no preference (and that he likes the thought of being an athlete and multi-purpose weapon), but he did shine today working strictly as a defensive back. In retrospect I should have asked him about position preference again today, but it will be something to follow up about at some point in the near future, particularly if he works out strictly at DB at The Opening Finals.
-Colby Parkinson has a chance to be really special. He may have been the tallest player at camp (legit 6-7 or so), and you just don't see many players with his size who move as gracefully as he does and catch passes as naturally as he does. I didn't get to see a ton of his 1-on-1 reps against linebackers/defenders, but did get a sense for his route running and hands in work with quarterbacks and was quite impressed. Plus, Parkinson actually played in five 7-on-7 games yesterday and flew in last night, so it's not like he was resting body in anticipation of today's camp.
It's easy to see why schools continue to recruit him (and some very hard) despite the Stanford commitment, but in chatting with Colby and his family he remains solid to the Cardinal. He's currently working through the admissions process - he hopes to submit his application within the next few weeks. A summer decision is possible. Parkinson will return to Stanford next month to camp; it will be fun to watch him in action again.
Additionally, Parkinson was rewarded for his strong performance with a trip to The Opening Finals in Oregon, where he'll join QB Davis Mills and other Cardinal targets at the talent-filled all-star showcase.
-Tucker Fisk could easily pass for an offensive tackle or defensive end; he's a very physically imposing kid. But he moves quite well and showed good hands in the reps I watched. (He didn't catch one pass I saw thrown his way, but it looked like the ball was thrown prematurely.) Tucker and Colby are already becoming good friends, and they really complement each other extremely well on the field. I'd take Stanford's 2016-2017 TE recruiting (with Kaden Smith, Tucker Fisk, Colby Parkinson and Scooter Harringon) over any program's in the country. They've reloaded the position in a major way.
-2018 WR Chase Cota is an Oregon football legacy (his father, Chad, played for the Ducks and in the NFL for eight years), but Stanford made an impression on his Junior Day visit. Chase said that he does intend to return to The Farm next month for camp, which is what Stanford requested as it continues to evaluate Chase for a possible scholarship offer. Too early to know where exactly the Cardinal would stack up, but it's clear he has legitimate interest and that he will be one of the top players to keep tabs on next month.
-Stellar Prep (a relatively new school in the East Bay) LB Addison Gumbs did not participate in today's camp, but he did visit for the Junior Day. Gumbs is a very good player, but at this point I'd be a bit surprised if things progress to the offer stage with the Cardinal. (He already has offers from basically everyone else and has stated that he intends to decide this summer.) But good to get him on campus, and I suppose it's possible things will pick up. Just probably wouldn't bet on it at this point.
-Kind of a similar deal with Oregon DL Marlon Tuipulotu, who is committed to Washington but visited Stanford yesterday. Tuipulotu won the DL MVP at today's camp and earned an invitation to The Opening. He's clearly a quality prospect (though I thought there were a few guys better than him today, and he's not the biggest DL around), but between his commitment to the Huskies (which he does legitimately seem pretty happy with - you never really know with these things, but he said his family has been pushing him to take other visits) and Dalyn Wade-Perry and Ryan Johnson really kind of Stanford's DL focus right now, I'd be a bit surprised if things progress with Marlon. But again, good to get him on campus, and who knows what will happen if things fall through with Stanford's current offered DL targets.
-As posted in the other thread, 2017 Kingsburg OL Andrew Vorhees will camp with Stanford next month. Vorhees has essentially every offer he wants (including USC, UCLA, Oregon and numerous others) - except for Stanford. Stanford plans to take two offensive linemen in 2017, and they're in good shape to fill those spots with players who already have scholarships, but as I've mentioned on a few occasions, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Cardinal find a way to get more than two 2017 OL on board, even if it requires a bit of creativity. I didn't see a ton of Vorhees today - there were a lot of OL competing in a relatively short 1-on-1 period - and non-padded OL vs. DL pass rush is very different than padded - but I watched four reps (will have video up later) and he was solid. The sample size was probably too small to make a strong impression either way. He certainly looks the part, however, and will be a very intriguing camper this summer along with Drew Dalman and Brett Neilon.
-Speaking of Dalman, I also caught four reps of his in the one-on-ones. And again, he was solid, but the sample size was a bit small to get a great feel. Nothing too spectacular either way.
-I just opened my email to see that Will Farniok was actually working in a different jersey number than he was initially assigned (which would explain why I couldn't find him). But now with the knowledge that he was there and remembering a few plays from his jersey number, he was actually pretty good - really slender for an OL, but did a nice job getting in front of DL and moving well
