Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Northwestern (SC)-South Pointe (SC) Prospect Thoughts

South Pointe (Rock Hill, SC)  v. Northwestern (Rock Hill, SC)

South Pointe

Jadeveon Clowney- Clowney's mere presence dominated the flow of the game in the first half, as Northwestern made it a point to find Clowney pre-snap and adjust the play in an effort to avoid him. Despite this, Clowney still made some big plays, including a few sacks and a huge stop in the backfield on fourth and short. In an apparent (and mostly successful) effort to create confusion, South Pointe played him all over the field, including both end spots, inside on several run situations, and at the "Jack" OLB position. At the high school level, Clowney is going to be successful at nearly any spot, but it was evident Saturday that he's most effective rushing the passer with his hand on the ground. There's no need for smoke and mirrors with his physical tools. It's not a coincidence that Northwestern scored on a deep touchdown pass when Clowney dropped back in coverage.

Tay Hicklin (2012)- It was rough day for Hicklin. With Hicklin running the new flexbone triple option, South Pointe really struggled to move the ball consistently and had a number of costly turnovers. Despite these inefficiencies, it's not like the game was an indictment on Hicklin's talent. Even though he struggled, I thought Hicklin flashed solid athleticism at times. Was he a dynamic playmaker Saturday? No, but it shouldn't be lost that Hicklin projects as a defensive back. Additionally, I think you'll see South Pointe's offense improve drastically as the season progresses.

Corey Neely (2012)- Neely had a very good first half, making a number of plays, including a big interception. The second half was a different story for South Pointe's entire secondary, as Northwestern made some adjustments and really took advantage of some advantageous scenarios. Over the past few years, I've noticed that South Pointe has probably the most aggressive secondary I've seen at the high school level, in terms of running to the ball, gambling on passes, etc. There's a good and bad to this. Most of the time, particularly vs. lesser competition, this works in South Pointe's favor due to their hellacious pass rush. In this particular game, Northwestern noticed that South Pointe was bringing up the secondary to stop short passes and as a result, started running vertical passing plays. South Pointe didn't have an answer for this and their secondary, Neely included, was a mess in the second half. At this point in his career Neely's a very solid player, but the game highlighted a few things he can improve upon (man coverage and adding overall bulk).

Gerald Dixon- With Northwestern devoting a ton of attention to Clowney, Dixon had an opportunity to make some plays and did so by making a few stops behind the line of scrimmage and recovering a fumble and nearly scoring. While Dixon's performance didn't do too much to hurt him, he didn't do a whole lot to stand out in a game with several other BCS-level prospects. I may have overestimated Dixon's overall athleticism given his size in my previous evaluation (seen here). As far as state rankings go, after Saturday, he seems more like a fringe top 30 prospect rather than number 23, where I originally ranked him.

Northwestern

Justin Worley- It was the tale of two halves for Worley. Early on, he battled constant pressure, threw a few bad interceptions (one was a bad throw, the other a bad decision), and just looked uncomfortable. He caught fire in the second half and was 12-12 for 240 yards and 5 touchdowns in the 3rd quarter alone. This fits in with my earlier assertion that Worley is a rhythm passer with a lot of intangibles. It's been said many times before that Worley's mobility is a concern. While he's by no means a threat to run, Worley did a very good job of side-stepping the rush and showed nice ability to recognize pressure.  Conversely, it was apparent that he needs to really improve his footwork (as well as tweak his release). There were several points in the game where these inefficiencies resulted in the ball not coming out cleanly or coming up short. After re-watching film on Worley, I found that even on his highlights, he doesn't step into his throws and has a tendency to rely solely on his arm. Worley's arm strength/velocity should improve if/when he corrects these issues.

Gerald Dixon, Jr.- Dixon's stock has been on the rise for me throughout the back end of the summer and his performance Saturday went a long way to cementing his status as a top 20 recruit in-state after he took a step back from his sophomore to junior seasons. Dixon played a key role in stymieing South Pointe's option attack and did so by blowing up the fullback gives and making high-level plays sideline-to-sideline. It's rare to find big defensive tackles that can move, and Dixon fits the bill.

Roderick Byers- Byers's game was somewhat like Worley's but on a smaller scale. I almost forgot Byers was on the field in the first half and didn't hear his name called until well into the third quarter. In his defense, South Pointe's offense doesn't necessarily provide defensive ends with a lot of opportunities to make plays. However, once South Pointe fell behind and was forced to open things up, flashed his potential by making a couple of nice plays behind the nine of scrimmage.

Josh Shelton (2012)- Shelton had the most consistent performance of the 2012 prospects. Although he wasn't tested a bunch through the air, Shelton was active and physical in run support and looked impressive throughout the course of the game.

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