2022 Watchlist Breakdown: Orange County Part 1

Last week I broke down the <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/05/2022-rankings-reaction-orange-county-players/">players from Orange County</a> that made the updated 2022 rankings on Prep Redzone. Now it’s time to break down the 13 players who didn’t quite crack the top 200 but made the new Watch List. [player_tooltip player_id="143118" first="Nico" last="Brown"] is a really good athlete who was the best receiver on an Edison team that got second place in the loaded Sunset League. He would have easily had over 1,000 yards and had around 15 touchdowns in a normal full season. He is a stellar student who is also a baseball player and has football offers from Dartmouth and Penn. https://twitter.com/richboyce4/status/1378394361122054147?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="143137" first="Jason" last="Costa"] was a 500-yard rusher for an undefeated Santa Ana team this spring, but I like him better as a safety prospect. He is a great tackler and closes to the ball quickly. Some opposing teams foolishly tried to run bubble screens in his direction and he blew up the play for a loss. He doesn’t have any offers at the moment but Santa Ana sends tons of players to Division 2 and 3 schools every year. https://twitter.com/Jason_Costa157/status/1384006101637632002?s=20 Mater Dei is so loaded with defensive talent that [player_tooltip player_id="141993" first="Lyrik" last="Fata"] flies under the radar. He is a 6-foot-5, 230 pound outside linebacker who excels at stopping the run. He had a breakout game against Santa Margarita where he had six tackles and a sack. He will definitely get some FCS offers during his senior year. https://twitter.com/lyrik_fata/status/1382230377176047617?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="119141" first="Brody" last="Jones"] got limited playing time this spring at Foothill because he transferred late and the Knights already had a senior quarterback in place. Jones was excellent as a sophomore at Crean Lutheran and looked good in the playing time he got this spring. His two glaring skills are his arm strength and his mobility. He makes difficult throws from the opposite hash to the sideline and he extends place with his legs. [player_tooltip player_id="120793" first="Nova" last="Kebeli"] was named offensive player of the year for the Pacific Hills League this spring and carried the Portola offense on his back. He rushed for nearly 700 yards and had seven touchdowns for the Bulldogs. He isn’t drawing a lot of recruiting attention and I don’t know if he will translate as a college prospect or not. What I do know is that he runs really hard and has instincts as a running back that take some players years to develop. https://twitter.com/mikehuntley63/status/1375278044529614848?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="143131" first="Jacob" last="Manu"] is a rugby player who was second on the team in tackles at Servite this spring. He has the tackling ability and agility of a rugby player but real football instincts. He causes major problems in the backfield and constantly is moving around which makes it difficult for opposing offensive coordinators to key on him. He has offers from Penn, Dartmouth and UNC Charlotte.