Al Pops’ Prospect Evaluations – 10/6
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Interested in reading this and more? Use the code AlPops30 for 30% off a Prep Redzone Next Subscription As we head into a new season of youth and middle school football around the country, below is a look at some class of 2027…
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As we head into a new season of youth and middle school football around the country, below is a look at some class of 2027 prospects (athletes beginning their eighth-grade school year) that have come across my desk. As football recruiting and evaluating continues to change, the eighth-grade season is becoming a pivotal time for young athletes to garner early attention from Universities. Here’s a look at some prospects that are on the trajectory to be playing a high level of football for years to come.
There are a lot of gifted kids out there dominating on the middle school or youth football scene across America. However, deep in southern Georgia, 2027 prospect Ja’Londi O’Hara Ja’Londi O’Hara 6’0″ | 155 lbs | ATH Ware County | 2027 GA out of Ware County Middle School appears to be special. In speaking with several people close to the Ware County program, there’s a collective thought that O’Hara has the potential to be the best prospect to ever come through the system. That’s saying something, consider former Buffalo Bills first round pick, Leodis McKelvin is also from that program. O’Hara certainly looks the part with long, lean muscle and giant hands. Dominant is understatement when looking at what he’s doing on the middle school level this year, scoring almost at will. Expect to see him get varsity time early next year, on a Ware County High School team that is currently ranked No.21 in the state.
There’s a lot to like about Quarterback Carter Zingelmann Carter Zingelmann 6’4″ | 200 lbs | QB TX out of Crownover Middle School in Texas. Already 6-foot-1 and 165-pounds, Zingelmann looks like he could be the future for Guyer High School at the Quarterback position. Crownover Middle School feeds into Guyer High School, which is currently ranked the No.1 team in Texas. Zingelmann looks like the prototype if asked to create an ideal Pro-Style eighth-grade signal caller. Despite his season ending a bit prematurely with an injury, Zingelmann and his right arm are very promising. He’s a confident passer who trusts both his arm, and his guys on the outside, to make the play happen. That wasn’t more obvious than his performance in a late-September game against Navo Middle School where he went 17-out-of-19 passing, in a 30-0 victory. During that game he made several off-platform throws and threw a few deep balls up for his receivers to go up and get. I’ll take a gutsy Quarterback who believes in himself and the guys around him any day. In a loaded program it may take him a bit to see significant varsity time, but college programs should certainly come knocking before that.
Highlights
In the last few weeks I’ve written about both Cohen Thomas Cohen Thomas 6’0″ | 165 lbs | QB Smiths Station | 2027 AL and Jaylen Huff Jaylen Huff 5’7″ | 130 lbs | ATH AL of Smiths Station Junior High in Alabama. The third member of a pretty substantial trio, is Trevon Kee Trevon Kee 5’9″ | 165 lbs | ATH North Clayton | 2027 GA . After watching his film, I originally had Kee listed as a Running Back with what I saw. While Cohen was tossing the pill all over the yard, and Huff was making people miss in a phone booth, Kee was more of your traditional north and south Running Back that kept the chains moving. While he certainly does make plays at Running Back, after further film study, I think the 5-foot-10, 150-pounder projects more as an Outside Linebacker. He uses a lot of the same skill set in terms of vision and getting from point A to point B quickly, but he brings a different thunder defensively. He closes very quickly and arrives with bad intentions. Even on plays when a ball carrier or receiver is trying to get out of bounds, Kee escorts them to the sideline with attitude. Plays the position the right way and makes it a chore to pick up additional yards when in his vicinity. He’s not totally there yet, but Kee is someone to keep an eye on going forward.