2012 Army Bowl Highlights Position Rankings

Not done just yet. Thought I'd post what I have done SO FAR. Going to do TEs, O Line, D Line and DBs.

2012 ARMY BOWL HIGHLIGHTS

Top QB Prospects

PRO STYLE QB

1) QB Julian Jones 6'5 230 TEXAS CHRISTIAN COMMITMENTJones is a terrific pocket QB with college ready size and the touch to make a big impact at the college level immediately.

2) QB Jay Bell 6'4 233 ILLINOIS COMMITMENT
Jay Bell has come a long way this season continuously improving on his senior season breakout campaign. His arm is terrific and would be able to start on a majority of the powerhouse teams after some conditioning in the spring next season.

3) QB Rashad Roach NORTH CAROLINA COMMITMENT
Rashad Roach may be a bit on the skinny side right now but he has probably the most accurate arm in high school football and a tremendous upside. He can throw the deep ball without losing much accuracy.


DUAL THREAT QB

1) QB Nick Smith PITTSBURGH COMMITMENT
Nick Smith may be the fastest QB in the entire class this year unless a team converts an athlete over. His agility, break tackle and arm strength make him a serious candidate and could have a shot at the Freshman AA team next year.

2) QB Dan Taylor MISSISSIPPI COMMITMENT
Dan Taylor possesses terrific athletic ability for the QB position and a great skill set throwing deep and accurately. He throws his short to mid range passes on a DIME and can run in open space like a running back. Taylor's speed in fact is probably his best skill as of right now.

3) QB Ryan Kerney TCU COMMITMENT
The Ryan Kerney commitment gives Texas Christian the best QB class by far. Kerney has the speed to avoid tacklers, the moves when in the open field and the arm strength and accuracy to be a deadly starting candidate next season. If he learns to secure the ball better he'll be tough to leave on the bench.


Top RB Prospects

POWER RB

1) RB Calvin Watkins OREGON STATE COMMITMENT
This 4* running back gives the Beavers some immediate depth at RB with his ablity to do everything successfully. Without any serious flaws in his game and college speed for a feature back, Watkins leadership qualities make him a sure fire candidate to be a team captain by his junior senior year.

2) RB Luke Hendrix TEXAS CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT
Luke Hendrix is a steal recruit commmitment for the Texas Christian Horned Frogs with his well balanced running style and believe it or not the kid didn't fumble ONCE his entire HS career. Hands of GLUE.

3) RB Walter Webb MISSISSIPPI COMMITMENT
Walter Webb has everyone thinking Ricky Williams with his running style. He's not BLAZING fast but he's quick, very agile, he will break tackles and always hold onto the ball. People are thinking it's a serious possibility that he see's valueable playing time next season especially in the Wildcat with Marc Payne who many consider to be like Ronnie Brown. These two will give the Rebels the most dynamic young RB tandem in the nation next season. Payne's success this year takes off much of the success for Webb to come in as a freshman and contribute early.

POWER RBs

1) RB Kurt Anderson IOWA COMMITMENT
Kurt Anderson is considered the best running back prospect this year due in large part to 4.42 speed, terrific skills with the ball in his hands, the ability to shake tacklers off, and his acceleration. He has the skills to contribute in the passing game as well as be a goalline powerhouse. Tons of upside here.

2) RB Dan Humphrey CINCINNATI COMMITMENT
Dan Humphrey is one of the fastest backs in this class with a 4.38 posted 40 time. He flies in open field and has a great ability to be successful in the passing game a slot receiver with his rocked up build. He'll be a nightmare in the flats in the passing game.

3) RB James Doucette AUBURN COMMITMENT
Doucette allready has the speed and ball carrying ability to contribute in Auburns running system. He won't be a liability any time you give him the ball he almost never puts it on the ground. He's pretty agile and gets to top speed pretty quick. He has a 4.42 40 time posted on his highlight reel.


Top WR prospects

BEST AFTER CATCH

1) WR Matt Vincent KANSAS COMMITMENT
Matt Vincent is a short, shifty target with 4.36 40 speed and he will be a nightmare to try to keep infront of any college corner. He's entered a pass heavy Kansas system that gets their receivers the opportunity to find open space so he'll have a terrific career.

2) WR Kenny Green NORTH CAROLINA COMMITMENT
Kenny Green is the type of player who comes to work every day and has the highlight reel receiver height, he could just use some extra weight. He's the type of receiver to beat you with his speed and route running and be a couple steps ahead of the corner defending him so he doesn't need amazing ball skills to make big plays. He's a real homerun threat.

3) WR Clint Bailey ILLINOIS COMMMITMENT
Clint Bailey has deceptive speed and his 6'5 height makes him a nightmare for any corner to be covering while on an island. Bailey has shown the ability to keep plays alive with a knack for tipping passes up and only where he can control them. His hands are suspect but that never prevented current Illini STAR WR Jamie Ivey from 1000 yard 10+ TD years.


BEST HANDS

1) WR Kevin Peoples NORTH CAROLINA COMMITMENT
North Carolina and Coach Goat made out like BANDITS and despite his #2 rating, Kevin Peoples might be one of the best WR prospects in recent memory. Green gives them their deep threat and screen pass type player, while Peoples will be your go-to-guy with hands like a venis fly trap and great route running skills.

2) WR Larry Moore KANSAS COMMITMENT
Kansas stole a WR from underneath Coach Gang's backyard and this white boy can FLY and do everything well. He's made a name for himself making some amazing catches when needed in his Illinois HS State Title run. He joins Matt Vincent on a terrific WR class from Coach Santana.

3) WR Paul Williams MARYLAND COMMITMENT
Paul Williams stands 6'6 and weighs 216. He has NFL ready size for the wide receiver position so it's safe to say this monster has tremendous upside. Tremendous college ready speed and a great set of hands and receiver knowledge to know where to be and how to run crisp routes makes this kid a threat every play. He uses his height and body well while catching the ball.

Top TE Prospects

RECEIVING

1) TE Tez Bradley MISSISSIPPI COMMITMENT
Tez Bradley has been making waves in Ohio this year and being named offensive player of the year was just the beginning of a list of accomplishments for him. The Gator All America Player of the Year winner amassed nearly 2000 yards receiving this year while leading his team to an Ohio State Championship. Bradley has hands of gold and may be the best receiving prospect in the class.

2) TE Kevin Haas NORTH CAROLINA COMMITMENT
Kevin Haas is a big fish in a big pond and his 1500 yard season in the state of Florida says numbers about the upside this kid has. Terrific college ready size, he catches the ball like a receiver, plays with the disposition of a linebacker and runs like a full back. He is a truck and will be utilizted early in his career as a Tarheel.

3) TE Steve Weddle IOWA COMMITMENT
Steve Weddle has quietly made a name for himself in the state of Pennsylvania in a tough football market in the state this season. 1000+ yard receiving every year, this kid quietly makes plays for a run based team that really just utilizies him in the passing game well. Weddle may not have hands of gold but he's steady and he'll hurt you when he's open.



Top OL Prospects

1) G William Fields MISSISSIPPI COMMITMENT
Fields has the strength and skills of some of the best offensive linemen in college football today. It's not normal to see a kid so well advanced at this stage of the game.

2) T Larry Johnson TEXAS CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT
Larry Johnson is very good at defending his QB from taking punishmentand possesses great strength from a high school prep athlete. He could improve his pass blocking and be the very dependable LT TCU hopes he'll become.

3) T Josh Foster AUBURN COMMITMENTJosh Foster makes his living on the run block despite being a tackle right now. He may project better as a guard to pull and Auburn will do this only to utlizie his powerful strength as a run blocker.


Top DL Prospects

1) DT John Hall CINCINNATI COMMITMENT
John Hall is considered the best DT prospect since Warren Martin. He possesses the ability to get off blockers and make an impact in the backfield consistently and will continue even at the college level. Considered ESPNU 150's #1 prospect, John Hall will fight, itch, scratch, break blocks all on his way to starting time next season.

2) DT Mike Lumpkin IOWA COMMITMENT
Mike Lumpkin has the strength and ability to say "ummm no, you're not blocking me this play" and will continue to showcase his unnatural freak of nature athletic ability at the next level early. He will be stronger than the majority of O Linemen trying to block him next season.

3) DT Greg Bryant NORTH CAROLINA COMMITMENT
Nobody in the entire class is as strong as Greg Bryant. With a bench press over 500 pounds this kid is a dream for any defensive co-ordinator.

Top DBs

1) FS Jerome Green TEXAS CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT
Any coach dreams to get a safety product like Jerome Green. Kid is a baller. Great speed and acceleration as well as terrific tackling skills, pursuit angles and hitting power. Great shot at playing time early next season as a safety or linebacker because he certainly has the size.

2) FS Brandon Madison ILLINOIS COMMITMENT
Brandon Madison joins the Illinois squad next season and possesses great ability to get to plays and finish them off in the running and passing game. He's equally as valueable in both and will be a terrific college DB.

3) SS Claude Burgess CINCINNATI COMMITMENT
Claude Burgess has linebacker size but DB speed. He hits just like a linebacker but can run with even the fastest receivers. He could be used as a linebacker to cover a receiver early next season and have great success.

nice nice nice

its good. not meaning to n=be a negative nancy but i liked wat u did the past 2 seasons better IMO.

I'm not done

I wanted to post the top players so if I don't have PS3 access tommorow I can still get a write up done with just this info. And linebackers got no love, dang.

awesome work macc!

The 2012 Army Bowl took place his afternoon and it's obvious the event has taken the college football world by storm as a capacity crowd of 35,000 packed the Alamodome, not including the extra regeristered floor, field and standing room seating that now accomidates the avid college football fan. The nation's proud were on deck and packed the stands to see what would turn out to be one of the more entertaining games in years past. While this game is typically dominated with defence, today's game showed the college world that they're in for quite the freshman class of 2013.

QB Julian Jones lead the East onto the field this afternoon and he showed why he is considered among the top QB prospects to look out for next year. Jones posted a terrific senior HS season with 3915 yards passing and 38TDs while only throwing 5INTs in a tough Oklahoma D5 conference that he wrapped up with a D5 title for his school.

Jones looked especially comfortable with soon to be conference rival, WR Matt Vincent who signed on with Kansas this afternoon. Vincent allowed Jones to show his terrific arm strength early with a 80 yard bomb that Jones put up that Vincent ran right underneath and caught with nearly nobody around him. Vincent burned one of the fastest corners in the game, NC State commitment Damon Thomas for his score, the first of the game 7-0 East.

QB Jay Bell who declared his commitment to Illinois before the game lead the West onto the field and Bell came in as one of the look-out premiere QBs in high school in this game. Bell posts a terrific ability to throw the ball hard and accurate and should have the athletic ability to make a case to start on his Fighting Illini squad next season. Bell comes in with a 3536 yard season finishing with 42TDs in a weaker Wisconsin D2 conference but Bell looks very promising with his 6'4 223 pound frame and allready college ready size and arm.

Bell used the nations top WR prospect, North Carolina commitment 6'4 WR Kenny Green to his advantage and connected with Green four times on the games opening drive. Kenny has terrific speed and size and runs his routes hard and well and proved to be very good at forcing mismatch problems for defences through the middle. Green finished the game with 6 receptions 82 yards an a TD.

The running game showed no signs of slowing up - RB Calvin Watkins declared his commitment to Oregon State at half and the four star back showed just how versatile he really is. Watkins understands the running game, how to hit holes and really just runs straight and makes defences come and tackle him. He was praised by his fellow teammates for his leadership qualities and just generally how good of a citizen he really is. This kid is a lookout back!

RB Walter Webb out of West End, Alabama showed the country why Mississippi was so very high on recruiting him early in the season despite current sophmore and 2012 Heisman winner Marc Payne taking the brunt of the carries. Webb was used in Wildcat formations as the motion back and found tremendous success breaking tackles, getting into open space and really making guys miss with his cuts and jukes. Webb may be one of the most underrated backs in this class and he will certainly see playing time next season to lower the ammount of touches Marc Payne will have. Webb proved he's the type of back who wears defences down with 65% of his yardage this season coming in the second half, accounting for 1953 yards in HS season and 28 TDs.

RB Dan Humphrey is one of two five star backs in this class and he lead his West team with the most of their carries on the day. He signed to Cincinnati at halftime. Humphrey considers himself a speed back but scouts project him to have more of an inside running career, through the tackles finding space and making guys miss when he runs wide. Humphrey was the only back to go over 100 yards today with 107 and 2TDs. His break-out play came in the 2nd quarter when he took a Jay Bell hand off right, cut back to go inside his tackle found no space and danced back outside hit a block and it sprung himself forward beating the safety wide to go to paydirt for 42 yards.

RB Kurt Anderson, the games only other five star back showed why he is so praised and heavily recruited in the college football world. Anderson can do everything you want out of a feature back and has the speed to be effective on all three downs. He makes it tough for teams to tackle him and will rarely let go of the ball. He has some moves and the lungs to play all three downs at 100%.

WR Clint Bailey who declared his commitment to Illinois was electrifying all game, burning corners down the sideline and proving to be the prototype mould of playmaker that Illinois been recruiting. They certainly like their speed and height from the WR position and they've found favourable match-ups with teams having to defend THREE PLAYERS ABOVE 6'4!!! It's no wonder Coach Gang's Illinois squad has so much success passing the ball with these kind of targets he CONSISTENTLY brings in.

WR Paul Williams looked like a man among boys with his 6'6 frame and 216 pound mass. Despite only being a three star prospect, this kid played like a five star today hauling in a game high 9 receptions for 102 yards and a TD. Even if you've found a corner or DB to cover this guy, he runs his routes so crisp that you're sure to bite on a double move eventually. And even if you stay infront of him, the 6'6 frame will just tip balls over the tallest of CBs at 6'1. We'd say Williams has college ready size but it's a fact - he has NFL ready size.

again, nice work macc, fun read!