—NEWS JAN/FEB

Many of the same schools are traveling through Malvern Prep and offering the top 2025s at the program. Those being Blakey, Bauer, and Pellicciotta. Bauer, ranked as the 27th best junior in PA, has received offers out of Harvard, Princeton, UPenn, Navy, Air Force, Towson, Army WP, Akron and Kent State within the past two months after getting ACC love from BC and Pitt. Again, much like Blakey, we hit the nail on the head identifying Bauer, he’s hitting the stride I expected him to hit back in September.

Jake Bauer Jake Bauer 6'1" | 220 lbs | LB Malvern Prep | 2025 State PA thrusts his name into the top tier at his position. For two consecutive seasons, I was under the impression that all Bauer lacked was the recruiting heat to cement his place among the best in the state. Thankfully, this past Winter, programs finally caught up to my prior grade. Pitt, Boston College, Akron, Army WP, and UPenn have all reached out to the Malvern Prep All-Leaguer in the form of scholarship offers. Bauer isn’t the moldable pass-rushing OLB/EDGE freak that Sacca and Burnett are, what you see is what you get. Bauer boasts a high floor, a higher floor than many above him if I’m being honest. I like him as an equal to Cam Smith Cam Smith 6'1" | 200 lbs | LB St. Joseph's Prep | 2025 State PA and Alex Tatsch Alex Tatsch 6'3" | 210 lbs | LB Greater Latrobe | 2025 State PA in terms of next-level upside. Very surprised G5s haven’t keyed in on him yet. Bauer certainly has a Power Five ceiling, yet his true fit might come at the G5 level. How Temple, Ohio, Coastal, and others alike haven’t offered him yet is beyond me.

The Malvern Prep linebacker is one of the top linebackers in the entire state in the class of 2025 with a history of production. Bauer has good size and quality athleticism, what he doesn’t have in athleticsim, he makes up for well with strong play recongition skills and a high-motor. He projects more to a middle lineebacker at the next level in my opinion with hsi size and athelticism profile. He plays an intimidating style and one that opposing teams have to hate going up against thanks to his physicality. Strong pursuit skills and nice closing speed as well makes him a threat to rack up numberous takcles for loss.

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• 6’1, 220 | 4.01 GPA | LB
• Holds offers from Pitt, Boston College

My fondness of Malvern Prep’s Jake Bauer Jake Bauer 6'1" | 220 lbs | LB Malvern Prep | 2025 State PA is well documented. We can go back some months, possibly over a year now, and find pieces/tweets singing the praises of this young man’s game. All Bauer did was double down on his emphatic sophomore season with an even more impressive Junior campaign. I ranked Bauer’s sophomore tape high among his LB’ing peers, Bauer now stands elbow to elbow with the likes of nationally known backers. A prospect I’ve seen live on more than three occasions, I can speak on the young man’s build, a build that packs a serious punch. Averaging close to ten tackles a game, Bauer mans the middle of the loaded Friar defense, serving as the program’s MIKE backer. MP likes to deploy a four-man front, mixing in Dime packages but hardly ever asking Bauer to leave the field. Whether MP deploys two or three backers, Bauer is the tone-setter who won’t be seen on the sideline. Three interceptions to his name, you can witness Bauer showing blitz pre-snap, then retreating to his zone comfortably, all the while playing passing lanes/windows behind him. I can find several heat-seeking backers who excel at stopping the run, Bauer is now proving he’s more than a brute between the trenches. Watching the junior key the run and reacting without much of a false-step is mesmerizing on tape. Happy to see some FBS programs catch up.

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• Bauer’s 10+ tackle performance further solidified his stance as one of the best linebackers in the state.
• His build/frame is a daunting one, one that I know opposing backs don’t want barrelling toward them in the open field or in the gaps.
• Doesn’t look like your average 6’1, 220 pound linebacker.
• Registered tackles downfield, towards the sideline, outside the numbers, long story short, the kid was everywhere against La Salle.
• Not only witnessed Bauer play the run, he played the pass and was willing to attack curl zones to the left or right of him.