You Are Athlete Birmingham: Instate RBs Who Caught My Eye

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last Saturday I had the awesome opportunity to take a road trip up to Birmingham for the regional You Are Athlete camp. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While out there, I got to meet and watch some of our state's top prospects up close- and man are we lucky with some of our up-and-coming RBs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These prospects killed it Saturday and are set up for massive seasons this fall, be sure to take a look at the film in the meantime, you won't want to miss out on these guys!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1506566"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67bbe6fa3a986"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center","placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center text-gray-700">[player_tooltip player_id='1506566' first='Xavier' last='Edwards'] had a great day at camp Saturday, competing well in a bunch of drills and matchups, and is a serious up-and-coming RB for us to watch out for this fall. Edwards has great size and speed, impressive vision, and excellent contact balance he used to break off a ton of huge runs last season. It's also really impressive how versatile Edwards is, he can create a ton in the passing game- frequently making clutch plays out wide and out of the backfield as a pass catcher. I think what impressed me most with Edwards on Saturday was just seeing how quick he was in person, he's highly elusive and precise with his cuts, consistently leaving defenders in the dust. Edwards is coming off a huge season last fall that saw him create big plays both on the ground and through the air, ending the year with 117 carries for 977 yards and 14 TDs and another 12 receptions for 189 yards and 3 TDs in the air. I'm seriously excited to watch Edwards play out his senior year this fall, he's having a great offseason and after seeing him this Saturday it's clear he has a huge year ahead of him.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17686184/6745522f9073481879b8c0cc' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"center","anchor":"acf-block-67bbf4b605b23"} /--> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1408968"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67bbe6fa3aa1d"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">[player_tooltip player_id='1408968' first='Maurice' last='Winston'] seriously impressed me Saturday- he has some serious quickness and make-you-miss abilities that I saw on full display during the one-on-one period. Winston is incredibly fast and can move effortlessly with the ball in his hands- he came up with some absolutely filthy jukes on Saturday, completely dominating the defenders he went up against. It's easy to see on tape as well, last season Winston was straight-up unstoppable for Randolph County's rushing attack. Winston is excellent at finding rushing lanes/following his blocks, has incredible speed in the open field, and is extremely difficult to bring down with how good his contact balance is. I left Saturday an even bigger fan of Winston as a player- he can do so much with the ball in his hands on special teams and out of the backfield, finding ways to create massive plays whenever his number was called. It's evident that Winston is set up for a huge year this fall- he's coming off a dominant junior season and has been working extremely hard this offseason, recently picking up offers from EKU and Illinois State. Be sure to watch out for Winston this fall, it's going to be hard to miss him!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/20193949/670b06d4db34049bfa31c3d9' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67bbf4b605b74"} /--> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1629160"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67bbf4b6078cb"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">I hadn't watched [player_tooltip player_id='1629160' first='Elijah' last='Tarver'] before this weekend but man did he impress me, he's a highly athletic 2027 with a ton of upside on both sides of the ball both at RB and LB. Tarver spent the day at camp competing at RB and really caught my eye- he plays with a ton of speed, has great size, and can easily make defenders miss- it's impressive to watch. Tarver put together a great season last fall, on defense he's a dominant run defender- consistently flying downfield to fill in lanes, fight off blocks, and take down the ball carrier. Offensively, Tarver made the most out of every carry- he's incredibly quick, plays with great speed, and is a massive threat in the open field, coming away with some massive plays on the ground. Tarver produced a lot for Percy Julian on both sides of the ball last season, ending his sophomore year with 28 carries for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground, 5 receptions for 106 yards through the air, and 67 total tackles (6 for loss), 2 sacks, and one INT on defense. Tarver is absolutely going to be on our radar this fall- he left me seriously impressed this past weekend at RB but has so much potential on both sides of the ball- it's going to be fun to watch him as he heads into his junior year!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/19331394/673271d42523d8e245fdf1bf' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67bbf4b607914"} /--> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->