Rising Stars Highlights(Jabrill, Damon Webb, Funchess, Mo Ways, Burbirdge, Gardner)
Recently some of Michigan's finest went to a rising stars camp and they did some 1 on 1 stuff with other players. The list of players includes: Funchess, Peppers, Damon Webb, Aaron Burbridge, Jarrod Wilson, Mo Ways, Devin Gardner, Jalen Embry, and a younger guy from Cass Tech Lavert Hill, among others. Some tweets to go along with the video:
Michigan Fans you got a great one in freshman Jabrill Peppers!!! #realdeal
— Prepstarsvideo (@Prepstarsvideo) July 5, 2014
3 future Big 10 DB standouts - Jabrill Peppers ( Michigan), Tim Cason(Purdue) and Damon Webb(Ohio State). http://t.co/jCs4JUCPDP
— Prepstarsvideo (@Prepstarsvideo) July 5, 2014
Lavert Hill looks good for a high school prospect. Funchess has crazy good hands and body control. Mo Ways looks like a very good receiver. Burbridge definitely looks like he could be elite. Webb looked pretty good. The CB going to MSU(who's name I forget) held the receiver blatantly both times I saw him, so he's certainly ready for duty with MSU. Jalen Embry looks like he'll be a solid player for Iowa. Ball State got a steal in Corey Lacanaria.
Webb and Peppers looked good. I'm sure the coaches will improve Jabrill's press technique and he will make an impact early. I expected Jarrod Wilson to look a little better but one on ones can be tough for safeties.
9:40 Funchess on Peppers. Wow. Such football.
such football. so jump.
If Burbridge looks like he can be elite then this is some pretty misleading footage.
I thought Moe Ways looked pretty slow, especially off the line. That could be a problem down the road, especially against DB's like MSU's who jam a lot.
Dame Webb looked good, although he held more than any other DB in that video and it wasn't close.
Webb looks really good, but damn if Mo Ways didn't seem to come out on top a lot.
That kid from Pittsburgh looked pretty solid as well.
Aside from the sheer size of Funchess, I was most impressed by Maddox. He would have been a good candidate for a late offer if we didn't snag Canteen.
That white kid that goes to Ball State. shifty little dude.
Peppers looked poor on technique to me (not very trained eye) but his huge athletic advantage over most of the guys he went against made up for it. when the technique catches up...oooh man
Peppers seemed to get in position when he wanted to, but I think at this point he's still over confident in his athletic abilities relative to his peers, who are now clearly another step ahead of what he's used to.
He did do a poor job on his initial jam several times, does way too much reaching and that puts him in a bad position early. But you look at him recover, and he almost slows up, trying to anticipate the ball to get the interception, when he clearly has the athletic ability to get back in position instead. And that's where he needs to focus on, at this level, it's very difficult to be out of position and make plays, bait throws, etc. He has the technique when he focuses on it (look how good he was when he didn't reach on his initial press), but it's going to require a bit of an adjustment in mindstate.
Luckily, that's not the hardest thing to fix. And you see the explosiveness he has out of his breaks that are the reason he is a first a CB at the next level.
The difference out there is though once they gets pads on, it's a whole different game. Them there receivers would get knocked out of their game in a hurry against Peppers. You have a guy like Peppers laying a hit on them every time things change a lot. That Iowa receiver wouldn't stand a chance in pads against Jabrill on that day. Funchess is the only one that would take him. It doesn't really matter this year though because J Rock is going to be right in the middle lighten mother truckers up. He looks like a frickin WCW Booker T out there. You see them shoulders? Damn, cant wait.
He reminds me a lot of Gallon. Not very big, and not sure if elite fast, but their quick cuts and routes just get them open, and then have sure hands to make the catch. Hopefully I remember to watch him in a couple games.
I loved the rest of it. Lots of intensity where you know that they did not want to lose. I really liked seeing the different commits to schools and players competing against each other. I'm guessing they get to know and like each other in the camps, which adds to the intensity to beat each other on game day.
I think you mean "he reminds me of Wes Welker."
/ every sportswriter
Totally agree. The little white dude was very impressive. The Iowa receiver was beast as well. Funchess and Jabrill looked like men among boys physically, but most of these are high school transition kids so that doesn't mean much.
Mo Ways and Funchess with some catches. Love it.
Do want.
He has it. Have to get him. That's Delano's brother right?
Jabrill looks like a beast. Not only was he pressing but just driving guys into the ground. He's about as close to a create-a-recruit in NCAA as you can get. Once he gets a year to learn his assignments, its going to be a sight to behold
The kid from Ball St was the best one out there... with no pads.
That Lacanaria dude is going to be an excellent slot receiver. He was making people look foolish. Huge steal for Ball State.
and the rest is history....... 6 stoves in the house and everybody cooking.
Can't even remember the words to your own songs.
That's not the real Gucci...
Maybe he forgot b/c he smokes too much pot?
A lot happens to the human body between middle school and college. Don't beat yourself up.
He must be juicing.
/s
You realize it's possible that Lacanaria got better than you over the course of the last 5 years or so, right? Boys do so much growing/maturing from 7th/8th grade through the end of high school it's ridiculous. I had a buddy we used to push around in 7th grade because he was so small and he graduated HS at 6'4" 225.
I bet you can't cover him now, since all the D1 guys in that video sure had a hard time with it.
The Lacanaria kid from Brother Rice was the speediest and easily one of the top receivers there. Too bad he's 5'8". He'd have much better options than Ball State if he were 2" taller.
That kid stood out to me. He almost always got separation and had nice hands. Ball St. is getting a nice receiver.
Edit: A D Sellers, great minds think alike.
How can you not like Devin? He will do great this year.
That little guy going to Ball state can ball.
Ha. good stuff.
1) Moe Ways might not be as speedy off the line, but he's a big target like Funchess. Very prototypical of the WRs we've been recruiting lately. He'll have the ability to just jump up and get a ball.
2) Ditto to the folks who observe Peppers relying on his athleticism. It seems like he's agressive, which is good, but less polished on his technique. He has troubles with his jam and/or gets juked right away on the line. Then he's able to make up the gap with his raw speed. If he's got a year to just focus on the technique, look out.
Webb mugged/held on every play.
Embry, the ball state WR and the one from Pitt looked good.
Not too impressed with Jarrod Wilson from those clips.
Jabrill is a specimen. By the end of this year he will be starting. He just needs to refine technique and not rely so much on athleticism as others have mentioned. Aka he doesn't need to pick every ball, sometimes it's just as good in a scheme to be in the right spot.
is a safety so he may not be used to covering people in press one-on-one and we won't really ask him too. As long as he stays deeper than the deepest, doesn't get out of position and helps in run support I'm fine with him.
Yeah I think those tweets said he beat Fuch 3 out of 4. With better thrown balls I think it was at least Funch winning 3.
That said I do think Webb was the best DB out there from what the highlight showed.
Call me biased, but it seems like Mo Ways and Funchess brutalized Damon Webb on every rep that was not a clear PI. Funchess looks almost unguardable, although he seemed to slip a few times coming out of his breaks.
Peppers looked like a guy who is used to having his way agaisnt lesser talent, who will need to make some adjustments to excel the college level. But he showed enough to make me believe that he will push for early playing time. The best DB at the event easily.
Jarrod Wilson got torched in his reps against Funchess and Lancaria. Lancaria made everyone look bad, but as one of the upperclassman at the event i would have hoped Wilson would have showed a little more. For good measure, Lancaria came back and juked Delano Hill completely out of his shorts. Peppers was the only DB that could hang with Lancaria all day. Would not shock me to see Peppers start at safety against App State.
You very, very little of what this video showed has anything do with Peppers's ability to play safety, right?
webb will be really really good at osu, unfortunately for um. i think most acknowledge webb and lewis have been top 2 prospects from cass tech and i think theyll both have solid careers. gotta appreciate that little white dudes game, just ripping in and out of his breaks and toasting some good athletes. hopefully funchess continues to work on his hands and route running...he can have the biggest catch radius in all of ncaa and make freakishly athletic plays look easy, but he needs to catch everything thrown his way, especially the easy ones - and it starts in practice, concentrating 100% on plucking every single ball, penalizing yourself for mistakes. the dude could be a 1st round lock if he duplicates last years effort while showing consistent reliable hands this fall...love to see him take that next step since hes already a nightmare. re peppers, i recall someone posting mattison interview where he said over summer theyll identify the position where they need an impact playmaker asap and start out peppers there. id agree safety given corner depth but S is tough for true frosh especially someone whos never really played the position. it seems they really trust wilson which is good bc hed likely be stuck playing lot of single high if peppers steps in at S
are both safeties, they are not going to excell in press coverage because they are never asked to do it. There is a reason whenever a qb sees one-on-one coverage with a good reciever they are told to attack that match up at every single level of football. Basically every safety in the history of football is going to struggle in press against a quality reciever, this not just a Michigan safety problem.