With the 4th OL commit of this year’s Fritzmas cycle I took it upon myself to begin my long promised assessment of our current OL commits, so without further ado:
Charlie Clark (Marist H.S. Atlanta, GA.) 6-4 270 OG
Pros: Great at the point of attack, impact blocking is plus. Good pad level, with the quickness needed to play guard. Plays very hard, finishes his blocks.
Cons: Not sure about the level of competition, he will need some fundamentals work due to the change in scheme and will need some time to put on some weight.
Eval: Charlie is a junkyard dog, he gets after it, blocks his guy and goes to find some more. Fires out of his stance with a great pad level and leg drive.
Joey Claybrook (Starkville H.S., Starkville, MS.) 6-7 250 OT
Pros: Great frame, dude is huge. Got a mean streak with great feet and solid athlete. Comes from a winning program, state champion. Moves very well for his size.
Cons: Hand placement needs to improve, with high hips, he needs to play with a lower center of gravity. Not great at the point of attack, more of a finesse guy.
Eval: This guy looks like a prototype left tackle. Give him a red-shirt year with Coach Speer to put on some muscle and I can see him pushing for playing time sooner than later. Good looking OL.
Gage Mallory (Guyer H.S. Denton, TX)6-4 300 OG/OT
Pros: Pulls well with great short area quickness. A good athlete who can bury defenders. Violent with his hands, has a good punch in the pass set. He has solid footwork and is a mauler. He played at a high level school near Dallas with a history of success.
Cons: Not a great build, and he plays high. He can be undisciplined in his pass sets and is a bit of a lunger (he lunges after the defender instead of waiting of the defender and punching. His hand placement needs work.
Eval: A versatile and all around very athletic player who plays in a similar scheme to what Tulane employs. Is a winner and knows what it takes to win, can play Guard or Tackle but the way he excels at pulling he will probably be a guard at Tulane.
Cameron Jackel (Archbishop Shaw H.S., New Orleans, LA) 6-5 300 OT
Pros: Above average footwork, he pulls well for a tackle and show’s good short-area quickness. Excellent at the point of attack on run plays. Decent but not dominating in pass protection. A good in-line blocker and hard worker with good hand placement. He has been very well coached.
Cons: Doesn’t appear to be the size he’s listed at, and he doesn’t always finish his blocks. Seems to lack a nasty streak.
Eval: A good player from a high level program with a fairly complex offense. His ability to pull will make him a good “move” tackle. He has been well-coached and shows excellent fundamentals.
The new coaching staff looks for a certain type of player on the OL, tall, with excellent feet who can pull and get to the 2nd level. These guys are maulers, who make up for what they lack in finesse with great pad level and leg drive. You can coach up the pass blocking, but run blocking is as much more of an attitude and want-to and these guys seem to have it.
Charlie Clark (Marist H.S. Atlanta, GA.) 6-4 270 OG
Pros: Great at the point of attack, impact blocking is plus. Good pad level, with the quickness needed to play guard. Plays very hard, finishes his blocks.
Cons: Not sure about the level of competition, he will need some fundamentals work due to the change in scheme and will need some time to put on some weight.
Eval: Charlie is a junkyard dog, he gets after it, blocks his guy and goes to find some more. Fires out of his stance with a great pad level and leg drive.
Joey Claybrook (Starkville H.S., Starkville, MS.) 6-7 250 OT
Pros: Great frame, dude is huge. Got a mean streak with great feet and solid athlete. Comes from a winning program, state champion. Moves very well for his size.
Cons: Hand placement needs to improve, with high hips, he needs to play with a lower center of gravity. Not great at the point of attack, more of a finesse guy.
Eval: This guy looks like a prototype left tackle. Give him a red-shirt year with Coach Speer to put on some muscle and I can see him pushing for playing time sooner than later. Good looking OL.
Gage Mallory (Guyer H.S. Denton, TX)6-4 300 OG/OT
Pros: Pulls well with great short area quickness. A good athlete who can bury defenders. Violent with his hands, has a good punch in the pass set. He has solid footwork and is a mauler. He played at a high level school near Dallas with a history of success.
Cons: Not a great build, and he plays high. He can be undisciplined in his pass sets and is a bit of a lunger (he lunges after the defender instead of waiting of the defender and punching. His hand placement needs work.
Eval: A versatile and all around very athletic player who plays in a similar scheme to what Tulane employs. Is a winner and knows what it takes to win, can play Guard or Tackle but the way he excels at pulling he will probably be a guard at Tulane.
Cameron Jackel (Archbishop Shaw H.S., New Orleans, LA) 6-5 300 OT
Pros: Above average footwork, he pulls well for a tackle and show’s good short-area quickness. Excellent at the point of attack on run plays. Decent but not dominating in pass protection. A good in-line blocker and hard worker with good hand placement. He has been very well coached.
Cons: Doesn’t appear to be the size he’s listed at, and he doesn’t always finish his blocks. Seems to lack a nasty streak.
Eval: A good player from a high level program with a fairly complex offense. His ability to pull will make him a good “move” tackle. He has been well-coached and shows excellent fundamentals.
The new coaching staff looks for a certain type of player on the OL, tall, with excellent feet who can pull and get to the 2nd level. These guys are maulers, who make up for what they lack in finesse with great pad level and leg drive. You can coach up the pass blocking, but run blocking is as much more of an attitude and want-to and these guys seem to have it.
