I’m legitimately shocked that Jakoby doesn’t have more offers. I first mentioned Jakoby a couple years ago as a potential up-and-comer at Goodrich, citing physical running.

During his senior season, Jakoby totaled over 2,200 AP yards, alongside 10 TFLs, 3 forced fumbles, and 5 pass breakups.

Getting an updated in-person look at Jakoby in his semifinal game against Divine Child, I’m more confident than ever that Jakoby should be a Division 2 prospect. Really, the only thing Jakoby lacks is elite speed.

On both sides of the ball, Jakoby is extremely physical. Quick to stop the run, as well as bowl people over when he’s the ball carrier. Plus, Jakoby is an excellent (vocal) leader. I could go on and on, but I am shocked that Jakoby doesn’t have more opportunities.

Jakoby has spent this season proving himself as one of the best running backs in our state. This dudes rare mix of speed, power and balance makes him formidable against even the stoutest defenses. Truly one of the most explosive athletes I have gotten the chance to cover. When Jakoby picks his lane, puts his foot in the ground and gets up field, defenses struggle to stop him consistently. It’s well documented just how much we like him here on PRZ, but it’s worth repeating just how elite he is. He set records this season for the Martians, and isn’t done yet. He has led this team to the point of elite in division 4 and gives them a fighting chance regardless of opponent in this extremely deep division.

This game lived up to the hype, and Jakoby was a big reason why Goodrich pulled out the close victory.

Kicking off his week 1 tape is a brutal block on an unsuspecting safety. Great job eliminating the defender from the play with a brutal hit, then continuing downfield to find more people to hit. Second and third on his tape (same play, different camera angle) is a great read, pursuit angle, and hit stick on the QB keeper. It was the correct veer read by the QB- Jakoby just made a better play. The tape concludes with a few solid rushes, and another high-effort defensive play.

Jakoby is a major force for this Goodrich team. Offensively and defensively, Jakoby raises Goodrich’s ceiling significantly.

Competitiveness.

Granted, I have a better evaluation of Jakoby than most RBs, and I had the fortunate opportunity to watch Jakoby in the most important game of his life- the D4 State Championship game.

During that game, I was extremely impressed with Jakoby’s passion, competitiveness, and leadership. I have a lot of respect for emotional players who harness their emotions to help their team win. It was extremely apparent that Jakoby wanted this game badly. He was a vocal leader for his team, celebrated hard when his team found success, and just stayed very positive. Jakoby brought a ton of energy to that game, which led to a stadnout game with 76 rushing yards and 1TD.

Lagat is coming off of a wildly successful season at Goodrich. Leading the Martians to their first State Championship, Jakoby displayed excellent play speed and leadership throughout the season. I love the way he hyped the team up. Love the way he ran the football- with a ton of physicality and grit.

On top of those things, Jakoby is a two-way player and pretty dang athletic. GLIAC prospect without a shadow of a doubt. One of the players I’ll be pounding the table for throughout the Spring.

Jakoby has shown enough consistent improvement for me to consider him a Division 2 prospect. I mean, just look at his State Championship performance. Offensively, he had 81 yards rushing and 1TD on 12 carries. Defensively, he totaled 4 tackles, 2TFL, 1 forced fumble, and 1 Sack.

Of course, stats don’t nearly paint a full picture. Also, what I saw was incredible toughness, leadership, and good athleticism. On the toughness aspect, Jakoby consistently fights for extra yards, and defensively, he consistently stops the opposition from falling forward. Leadership-wise, he’s a sparkplug. So much energy, and his team really feeds off of it. Lastly and arguably most importantly, he’s an athlete. Quick, fast, explosive. He’s a GLIAC prospect if I’ve ever seen one.

Jakoby is another returning back that I think is in for a monster senior season. Jakoby has the energy and motor to go all game long, and I love his bag of moves, great vision and ability to get up field in a hurry. He had 81 yards and a TD in the state finals despite his other back getting a majority of the carries. Jakoby has special talent and is going to really blow some people away next season!

Every year, there are a few players that have a breakout State Championship performance. The first of this year’s breakout stars is Jakoby.

From the jump, he was excellent on both sides of the ball. I watched Jakoby during all of his first offensive possession. In that first possession and really throughout the game, Jakoby was extremely tough to tackle, and extremely energetic.

Throughout all four quarters, Jakoby exploded through arm tackles, juked defenders, tip-toed the sidelines, all while being a vocal leader for the team. Really, really good performance from Jakoby- he’s a good GLIAC prospect in my eyes right now.

Goodrich is going to have to get offensive and defensive production from a lot of areas this Friday. Jakoby could provide a ton of value on both sides of the ball.

Offensively, I’m confident that Jakoby will do well. He’s a great between-the-tackles option and does a fair job at staying on his feet through contact. Niles is a very opportunistic defense, but they’re not known for forcing a ton of 3-and-outs. So, I expect Jakoby to do well running up the middle- but he HAS to focus on ball security.

Defensively, Jakoby will need to make some tackles in space. Niles is excellent at blocking outside the tackles, and they’re even better at staying up through contact. If Jakoby tackles consistently well, Goodrich has an excellent chance.