Which Sophomore Was the Most Valuable to Their Team in 2019?

<strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Overview</span></strong> We wanted to take a look at which player in the 2022 class provided the most value to their squad. Rankings, awards, and everything else were completely thrown out the window. We wanted to see which team would take the biggest hit without their star player. We gave you a list of candidates and our final pick below! <hr /> <strong><span style="font-size: 24pt;">The Contenders</span></strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20881" first="Jashawn" last="Johnson"], ATH, Hoffman Estates</strong> One of the more unheralded recruits in the state of Illinois, but don’t underestimate his ability, this kid is a baller. Johnson was spectacular in 2019, doubling as a wide receiver and defensive back for the Hawks. His ability to stretch a defense and make a game-changing play is immeasurable. However, the Hawks finished 4-5 last season and just missed out on the playoffs. Obviously, this wasn’t Johnson’s fault, but it would be tough for me to give him the no<span style="font-size: 1rem;">d over multiple prospects who were on State Championship caliber teams. </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;"> </span> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20878" first="Tyler" last="Morris"], WR, Nazareth</strong> If you haven’t seen the film of Mr. Morris, you are missing out. This kid is electrifying with the football and runs as good of routes as anyone in the country. He’s a Major Power Five recruit and will have his pick as to which school he’d like to attend. However, Morris won’t be my pick here. Nazareth from a talent perspective had Division one players all over their roster. They also had the best player in the state in quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="20193" first="J.J." last="McCarthy"]. Morris is a superstar, and I do think Nazareth would hurt without him, just not as much as some other teams may. <img class="alignnone wp-image-41242" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/08/B353AD7F-64D8-4B79-8EB0-FB0BE2223A7B-169x300.jpeg" alt="" width="283" height="502" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20868" first="Kaleb" last="Brown"], RB, St. Rita</strong> Brown is such a fun player to watch on film. He’s got track speed, phenomenal balance, and incredible vision. Tom Lemming ranked him the #1 athlete in the country and I 100% agree with him. He’s an absolute superstar and I think he’s the best player in Illinois, regardless of age now that McCarthy has transferred to IMG. However, St. Rita has a plethora of talent with guys like [player_tooltip player_id="20355" first="Henry" last="Wilson Jr."], [player_tooltip player_id="20324" first="Michael" last="Gaughan"], [player_tooltip player_id="20900" first="Valen" last="Erickson"], and his backup Kyle James. Surely, the Mustangs would take a massive hit without Brown, but I do think they’d still be a solid playoff team and for that reason, I couldn’t go with Brown. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20859" first="Kaden" last="Cobb"], QB, Fenwick</strong> I recently saw Cobb at the Rise and Fire camp for the first time and was extremely impressed by his natural throwing ability and accuracy. Cobb led Fenwick to the first round of the playoffs last fall and was spectacular all season long. However, for the sake of this article, Cobb won’t be my pick only because Fenwick is loaded with talent like [player_tooltip player_id="20890" first="Max" last="Reese"], [player_tooltip player_id="20901" first="Jimmy" last="Liston"], [player_tooltip player_id="20887" first="Eian" last="Pugh"], Jonas Capek, and [player_tooltip player_id="20877" first="Jacque" last="Walls"] to name a few. The Friars would most certainly hurt without Cobb, but I think they have enough talent to get by. <img class="alignnone wp-image-31611" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/07/IL-Kaden-Cobb-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="309" height="464" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20858" first="Rashad" last="Rochelle"], QB, Springfield</strong> This kid was dynamic in 2019, helping lead Springfield to a 7-3 record as a sophomore. So many times he was able to improvise and make a big play when nothing was there. Rochelle is a kid I think will have his recruiting take off in the coming months. However, I won’t be going with him as my pick either. Despite Rochelle being the catalyst for the Senators 2019 season, they bowed out in the first round of the playoffs to Lemont. I think if he puts together a good 2021 season, and a deep playoff run, he’d be hard not pick for this achievement next year. <hr /> <strong><span style="font-size: 24pt;">Others in Consideration</span></strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20860" first="Dontrell" last="Jackson Jr."], QB, Marist</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20884" first="Ben" last="Clawson"], WR, Hersey</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20873" first="Aaron" last="Vaughn Jr."], RB, Providence</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20869" first="Aidan" last="Laughery"], RB, Gibson City Melvin Sibley</strong> <hr /> <strong><span style="font-size: 24pt;">Champion</span></strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20880" first="Hank" last="Beatty"], WR, Rochester</strong> When I saw Beatty’s numbers in 2019, I honestly thought it was a joke, as he totaled 99 receptions for 1,949 yards and 25 touchdowns. Hank was the best player in Rochester’s pass-happy offense and was a monster part of their 2019 5A State Championship run. Now, don’t get me wrong, Rochester had a lot of talent as well, including Western Illinois signee Clay Bruno, athlete [player_tooltip player_id="20365" first="Matt" last="Baker"] and running back Jacob DuRocher. However, if you take away their biggest deep threat in Beatty, I don’t think they win a State Title. Whenever the Rockets needed a big play, he always came in the clutch, including 12 catches for 212 yards in the State Championship game against St. Rita. Rumor is he’ll be playing quarterback this year too...