The First Family of Defense – Camden, NJ

Thanksgiving in Camden, NJ has a long standing tradition of it’s two High Schools playing to prove who runs the city. It’s a city known for its toughness, but also for its successes of which there are many. All us football Dads hope to see our sons representing our home town on the field and maybe seeing them play ball on Saturday. One father, Marshall Washington, had a lot to be thankful for that day because he had not just one son playing in that game but three… and they’re all legit.

The oldest is Senior Nyair Graham Nyair Graham 6'1" | LB Camden | 2022 State NJ , a 6’1, 200 pound outside linebacker who’s a three year starter at Camden High. Nyair is aggressive, but I feel like that term is overused for linebackers. A better word for him would be decisive. I know it doesn’t sound as cool but hear me out.

Everyone wants a LB that plays with his hair on fire until he misses a sure tackle or gets out of position and gives up a big play. Nyair studies his opponents. When know their tendencies you can be aggressive and play downhill because you trust your preparation. He plays so fast it looks like he’s blitzing every play, but the truth is he’s reading his keys and flying to the ball so quickly it just looks like he’s blitzing. While Nyair plays like a missile with a helmet on, my favorite part of his game is actually his discipline. He plays aggressively within the defense. He still keeps his responsibility. Stays home when he’s called to and keeps his outside contain. And he finishes. He had 82 tackles in only 7 games also got home for 5 sacks on the season.  In one of Camden’s biggest games of the season, Nyair had 16 total tackles and 2 forced fumbles in a close loss to Winslow. He’s a gamer and that’s the thing that will serve him best at the next level. In fact, Nyair has offers from 19 D1 schools like Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and Michigan.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/10492558/Nyair-Graham

His brother is ’22 SS/LB Zyeer Blount. At 6’3 , 195 pounds the Woodrow Wilson stand out causes collisions all over the field and is very strong at the point of attack. I know I said he’s 195, but when you see him in person you swear he’s like 220. I don’t know how else to describe it.  He just looks and plays big.

I love his pursuit. He takes great angles stays in the play, often hustling and getting in on tackles clear on the other side of the field. Zyeer is a tackling machine and a finisher as shown by his 55 solo tackles this year.

He’s also impressive in coverage. Often young LBs try to cover like DBs, but Zyeer plays the way a linebacker should. He gets hand on Tight ends and Running backs, disrupting routes and taking away passing angles for the QB. He also moves well in space, transitioning smoothly from getting to the deepest part of his zone to coming down hill and denying extra yardage to the ball carrier. He can cover in man to man as well and I was impressed on how quickly he can flip his hips and stay with smaller, quicker receivers. He’ll be an immediate impact on special teams wherever he goes for college, as he gets down field quickly and dismissively sheds blockers to ensure short returns.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/11989853/Zyeer-Blount

The youngest is Woodrown Wilson’s  CB Marshall Washington Jr. has the height (6’ 2) and arm length colleges crave, in fact Marshall already had a D1 offer from Temple. His film shows good speed and fluid hips in coverage, often playing tight man coverage. While he’s playing very well in his sophomore year at corner for Group 3 Champion Woodrow Wilson, I think his future is at safety. Maybe even strong safety.

See, one thing that runs through all the brothers is their aggressiveness against the run, and Marshall has it too. He flies up from the corner position, transitioning from pass coverage to run stopper and he takes great angles. That’s rare for a young player to come up with such confidence and great tacklers in the secondary limit extra yardage. With his height, speed and aggressiveness to the ball he might be able to play anywhere in the secondary.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/16426582/Marshall-Washington-jr