Mile Markers: I-85

Here are some prospects down I-85 to keep track of.    Hillman is a stout, explosive IOL prospect with some D1 opportunities under his belt. His shorter size is likely what's preventing bigger schools from getting involved, but he compensates for his lack of length perfectly. He is explosive out of his stance and is consistently the first hat through. He is a quick riser to the second level. At the point of attack, he has manipulative play strength. He can fire his feet to displace defenders and will toss them to the turf as well. Hillman is on the shorter side, but he is explosive, strong, and will get a shot to play at the D1 level. Big fan of his game.     Landon Williams is a towering basketball prospect developing into an edge defender. He is still a puppy and raw, but the traits are rare, and the upside is high. Williams has a massive catch radius, casting a wide net as a tackler and absorbing ball carriers. He is hard to escape from once he wraps his arms around you. He is still raw, but flashes some sudden bursts of athleticism in the form of spin moves and shooting gaps to penetrate. Looking for him to take a big step forward this fall. He is raw, but the upside is high, which could generate some late small-school buzz.     KJ Sims immediately caught my attention on tape and is someone I will track closely going forward. He is certainly raw, still adding some quick twitch and packing on play weight. However, I'm a big fan of his pursuit skills and closing speed to the ball. When he has a runway to the ball, he closes speed in a hurry with his long strides. He is learning to shed, but he keeps his motor hot and consistently flags the ball down from across the field. Sims has a long frame to grow into and has two years to do so. I think there's a chance he picks up some FBS buzz down the line.     [player_tooltip player_id='1804116' first='Bobby' last='Frierson'] is a baseball/football athlete who is generating buzz in both sports. He is probably more known at this point as a baseball prospect, receiving national buzz as he already looks and plays like a college 3rd baseman. Regardless, I'll keep an eye on him as he continues to grow as a football prospect. He comes in at a strong, well-developed 6'3 215. He plays both ways, but projects long-term as a defender. Might not have elite juice, but he is strong, developed beyond his years, and is physically demanding to defend. Will absolutely add him to my board and keep an eye on him going forward.     [player_tooltip player_id='1643432' first='Tripp' last='Kelly'] is all of 6'5 225 and has plenty of room to add more weight to that frame. He isn't the most productive receiver, but he plays the HB position well and holds his own as a blocker. In the receiving reps we see, he has a massive catch radius and is capable of altering his body to make grabs on the edge of that catch radius. Kelly is big, has room to get bigger, and holds his own as a blocker. He holds some small school offers, and if he ends up at that level, he will give one of those schools access to a body type at that position that they don't frequently get access to.     Stigall is a big S prospect with D1 offers under his belt. He is tasked with covering a lot of territory, which he does well when combining his long strides with his pursuit skills. Lacks the elite juice that would typically get bigger schools involved, but compensates for it with his ability to leverage the ball and chase it across the field. He is a willing tackler at the point of attack who does a good job settling down before he strikes. He rarely misses the mark and will get better at bringing ball carriers to the ground as he adds play strength. His combination of pursuit skills and large tackling radius ties together the makings of a highly productive tackler at the next level.     Desmon Cunningham is a shockingly underrecruited receiver prospect who doubles as a basketball prospect. He is also a jumper in T/F. You can see his T/F and basketball experience on tape. He is silky smooth, does an excellent job of boxing out defenders and showing his chest to the QB, and has the hops to rise above defenders down the field. He has some football nuance as well, efficiently dancing around contact and plucking the ball away from his chest. Smaller schools should have their fingers crossed to see if this guy falls into their lap.

Here are some prospects down I-85 to keep track of.