Underrated Prospects Breakdown

As football camps and combines across the nation get ready to ramp up in full force. It’s time to bring attention to some underrated prospects whose names you should get familiar with. These prospects have tremendous physical gifts and talent that should be on notice, but for one reason or another, not a lot of publications are discussing them. Here are three underrated prospects you should know. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="321767" first="Zaheim" last="Jones"], Salem, 2023</strong> Jones is a tall long corner with good size. At 6’0 180 he has plus size for the position and plays best in coverage when his eyes are on the quarterback. Jones excels in zone coverage and is very disciplined. Plays best when he can roam and carry routes. He is very opportunistic and creates much ball production by capitalizing and baiting quarterbacks into mistakes. He has great instincts and reacts efficiently to screens. He’s a solid tackler and a willing participant in the run game. In man coverage, excels at using his length to alter the catch point. Able to play deep routes really well. Shows solid awareness to turn and locate the football while in the air. Very physical at the catch point. Needs to improve his play at the line of scrimmage. Would like to see him be more physical and patient when in press. There are still some questions about speed and explosiveness that need to be answered, but as far as good zone corners go. [player_tooltip player_id="321767" first="Zaheim" last="Jones"] checks most of the boxes of the traits you need to excel at the position. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="in">Int… vs Keyport <a href="https://t.co/GPppVvQ4Ww">pic.twitter.com/GPppVvQ4Ww</a></p> — [player_tooltip player_id="321767" first="Zaheim" last="Jones"] (@ZaheimJones3) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZaheimJones3/status/1457081377036378115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="321783" first="Bryce" last="Kania"], Chatham, 2024</strong> Kania stands at 6’4 175 and looks every bit of that on tape. What stands out immediately, after watching his tape, is the myriad of ways he can win. From winning contested 50/50 balls down the field,  to making tough catches over the middle, off his frame. He has a massive catch radius and body control to make spectacular catches and is very underrated in terms of his movement skills and gaining yards after the catch. Kania has the most upside of any WR in the ’24 class. His tape leaves some to be desired. For all the physical tools he possesses, you don’t see those same movement skills in and out of his routes. You don’t see that detail in his route running that a wide receiver of his magnitude should have. To be fair, he’s a bigger guy at 6’4 so its widely known that is tough for those types of receivers to sink their hips and change direction, but honing his craft as a route runner, diligently, would go a long way in his development and reaching his full potential. In addition, there isn’t enough evidence on his tape to understand how he deals with press and physicality at the line scrimmage. All questions he will answer this upcoming season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="321780" first="Ryan" last="Cregan"], Delbarton, 2024</strong> Delbarton has two really good offensive linemen in the ’24 class. [player_tooltip player_id="321780" first="Ryan" last="Cregan"] is one of the best. Standing at 6’5 290 he excels at run blocking. On zone and gap runs he can create movement at the point of attack. Where he really separates himself is his ability to block on the second level. He shows the ability to locate second-level defenders and get great blocking angles, also uses his massive arm length to lockout. He’s very impressive pulling and blocking in space on gap runs. Can move well for a young man his size, shows solid footspeed and leverage when blocking in space. In pass protection, show the ability to effectively uses hands. Able to also utilize his arm length to keep defenders out of his chest. Can occasionally drop his hands and lose the integrity of his technique, but he consistently plays with good leverage and shows good ability to use hands and feet together effectively. Has a strong upper body and plays with great power and has the athleticism to win against most of the competition he goes against. If there are things that he can work its making sure his leverage is always consistent. There are some reps on his tape, where he still wins but you can clearly see, that he’s playing far too high. As mentioned previously, he can win with his athleticism in 80 percent of the reps he takes. As he plays better competition the leverage battle becomes far more paramount in the trenches. Shows the ability to effectively drop his hips while anchoring but would love to see how he does when challenged by someone of equal or greater athleticism. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Strong rep by 2024 Delbarton big [player_tooltip player_id="321780" first="Ryan" last="Cregan"] (6-5, 295), who started at right tackle last year for the Green Wave. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RSS2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RSS2022</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NJFootball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NJFootball</a> <a href="https://t.co/g0AEwtXlvf">pic.twitter.com/g0AEwtXlvf</a></p> — Todderick Hunt (@TodderickHunt) <a href="https://twitter.com/TodderickHunt/status/1514221823474507789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> &nbsp;