Recruiting Report: Elijah Green (2021)

Farmington’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18037" first="Elijah" last="Green"]</strong> didn’t let an injury slow him down. Less than three weeks into the season, the junior suffered an injury he is still dealing with today. Despite the injury, he missed less than a quarter of football and helped the Tigers to their best season since 2012. Despite not being able to work out for college programs, the junior has already picked up offers. "Coming into this season, we had a bunch of juniors, and they were getting the feel of playing varsity football," Green said. "The easier part of the schedule was the first half of the season, so it allowed the guys to ease their way into it. Then we faced teams that ended up in the state semi-finals. I am excited about the season we had. The new guys stepped up and were able to have a winning season – unlike the seasons before. I am excited to get all those kids back for next year." The difference between this year and years past was more about the players’ heads than their bodies. "When we were successful, we had confidence," Green explained. "We knew we had a ton of good athletes – inexperience was the problem we had. When we had confidence in our abilities, and when we played with that confidence, that is when we were most successful." The plan coming into the season was for Green to play both ways. "I did that during the first game, but we changed to where I would play defense only against a team that liked to throw the ball deep. Most of the teams we played, we were more worried about the run." The plan to play defense was scrapped entirely early in the season. "In the first half of week three, I dislocated my shoulder and tore my labrum," Green explained. "That was the end of playing defense. I just played offense from then on – trying to keep my shoulder from too much contact. I missed the rest of the first half and came back to play in the second half. I played the rest of the game, blocking with one hand. Going into week four, I got a brace and played the rest of the season with it. The brace helped a ton. Playing with that was hard at first. It made it harder to reach for the ball, but it only took a few passes to get used to it." Limited to offense, the coaches would try to use Green in as many ways as possible – including as a kick returner. "As a receiver, typically, I would line up on the outside, but I would move around to each receiver position. I would go in motion some. The coaches did a good job when defenses would try to take me away." Green mentioned one mental and one physical aspect of his game he thinks are strengths. "I see the defense well," said the 6’0" 187-pound athlete. "I can recognize when the defense is trying to do something different. I am able to see what the defense is doing and can find open grass. When the ball is up in the air, I am a physical receiver and can go up and get the ball." Green is still not one hundred percent. "I got shoulder surgery after the football season and have been recovering from that. I am almost cleared of restrictions – I am ready to get training again. I have been doing a lot of legs and core workouts. I am focusing on footwork and my speed. My speed needs to get better. I am going to work with a speed coach this spring." Just like the football season, Green’s shoulder has not slowed down recruiting. "Recruiting has been going good," Green explained. "With my shoulder injury – that is not what colleges want to hear – but coaches are understanding and everything. I have had a bunch of coaches want to come out and watch me work out, but we had ended up just talking so they can meet with me. They say they are impressed with my film; they just want to watch me work out. We have a lot of schools coming to the school in the spring that are going to be watching me work out." The junior has three offers and lots of other interest. "I have offers from South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, and Iowa Western Community College," Green told northstarfootballnews.com. "I have heard from North Dakota State, Iowa State, Minnesota, Army, and I have had a lot of FCS interest from Eastern Michigan, Indiana State, and Illinois State." "Most of the schools are recruiting me for wide receiver," Green continued, "but a few schools can see me on both sides of the ball." Green feels schools like him despite not having top-level speed. "The main thing is they like how physical I am. They like my strong hands and that even though I am not the fastest receiver, but they like how I am able to get open and find grass." Once his shoulder is fully healed, Green will be finding plenty of green grass in the Farmington passing game – and potentially passing games at the next level.