Thursday, December 28, 2017

A Most-Wanted TE



6-5 220 pound TE Jackson Heath from Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas has committed to Columbia.

Heath had offers from a long list of other schools including Harvard, Dartmouth. Princeton, Yale, Cornell, New Mexico, Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Illinois State, Missouri State, Oregon State, Holy Cross, Ball State, Army, Youngstown State, and South Dakota State.

Heath will be the first Blue Valley grad to come to Columbia, but Overland Park is also where we found 1988 Columbia Football captain John Alex '89. 

That brings our list on reported commits for 2018 to 24:

1) Inho Choi DB 6-1 175 lbs. Holy Names HS Windsor, Ontario/Deerfield Academy 

2) Cam Dillon LB 6-2 219 lbs. Findlay HS Findlay, OH

3) Michael Fluegel RB/CB 6-1 180 lbs. Clarkston HS Clarkston, MI

4) John Foreback QB 6-1 215 lbs. Morristown-Hamblen West HS Morristown, TN

5) Devin Hart LB 6-1 212 lbs. McEachem HS Powder Springs, GA 

6) Jackson Heath TE 6-5 220 lbs. Blue Valley Northwest HS Overland Park, KS

7) Marquis Hubbard S/LB 5-11 190 lbs. Kinkaid HS Houston, TX

8) Dante Landolfi LB 6-2 220 lbs. Upper Arlington HS Columbus, OH

9) Parket Lefton LS 6-1 240 lbs. King's Ridge Christian HS Alpharetta, GA

10) Ty Lenhart QB 6-3 203 lbs. DeMatha HS, Hyattsville, MD

11) Fara'Ad McCombs DB 6-0 178 lbs. St. Joseph's HS Montvale, NJ

12) Mozes Mooney WR 6-1 175 lbs. Bishop's School La Jolla, CA

13) Drake Morey DL 6-5 250 lbs. Ashland HS Ashland, OR

14) Jake Motz OL 6-5 293 lbs. Pope John Paul II HS Hendersonville, TN

15) Stewart Newblatt OL/DL 6-4 255 lbs. Clarkston HS Clarkston, MI 

16) Chris Park WR 5-11 175 lbs. Junipero Serra HS San Mateo, CA

17) Keaton Prevette LS 6-0, 225 lbs. Charlotte Country Day Charlotte, NC


18) Brandon Radice TE 6-4, 205 lbs. Ridge HS Basking Ridge, NJ

19) Mikey Roussos WR 6-1 180 lbs. River Ridge HS New Port Richey, FL 

20) Joshua Smythe-Macaulay LB 6-3 193 lbs. Bowie HS, Austin, TX

21) Mitchell Sturgill DB 6-1, 185 lbs Bellevue HS Bellevue, WA

22) Watson Tansil LB 6-3, 215 lbs. Franklin Road Academy Nashville, TN

23) Xavier Thibault DE 6-5 241 lbs. Williston Northampton School Easthampton, MA 

24) Ryan Young RB 5-10 200 lbs. Wheaton Warrenville South HS Wheaton, IL 


12 comments:

Tod Howard Hawks, Columbia College, Class of 1966 said...

Jackson Heath was selected 1st Team Kansas 6A All-State TE by The Wichita Eagle.

Peter Stevens said...

I have no experience evaluating HS recruits, especially on film, but you don't have to be Vince Lombardi to see that Jackson will be a special player-- our own version of Gronk.

1- He has excellent speed for TE;
2-He has great hands;
3-He can run all sorts of routes whether lined up as TE , slot receiver or wide out;
4-He's fearless going over middle;
5-He knows how to run after the catch;
6-Excellent blocker too ( check out all the pancakes)

To me he looks like he'll make immediate impact and be a star in short order. I'm dying to hear what the coaches say.

oldlion said...

We haven’t had a true pass catching TE since Andrew Kennedy.

alawicius said...

Agreed, although he's got some pretty good experienced TEs ahead of him. If he gets playing time as a frosh he'll probably advance quickly, let's see what happens. Looks like we may have the best corps of receivers in the league, and there are some darn good ones out there. Our QBs will surely step up.

Chen1982 said...

Who do all of you think will be our starting QB next year?

alawicius said...

Tough to call but my guess is Bean.

oldlion said...

Al’s MO is to have two QBs, one of which is a better passer and the other of whom is a better runner. I like Bean as a wildcat type guy but don’t know much about his passing ability. Dame and Davis may be candidates as passing QBs. Stitt did not show me much this year in limited action. And of course, there may be a transfer out there.

RLB said...

another:
https://247sports.com/Article/3-star-receiver-Trajen-Johnson-commits-to-Columbia-Lions-shortly-after-midnight-on-New-Years-112998277

oldlion said...

Somebody just posted that three star recruit Trajen Johnson of Arkansas has committted. He is a WR and the 15th ranked player in Arkansas. Looks like we have a good one.

Don B said...

The offensive mind set is generally run, pass deep to wide receivers, and pass to backs. The TE is forgotten in this offense. It may be because the TEs aren't particularly good receivers or more likely they were critical for OLine blocking schemes and protection for time to throw deep to wide receivers. There would have to be a significant offensive scheme change or change of heart to incorporate tight ends as meaningful in the passing game, although I believe the team would be immensely improved if it happened.

Tod Howard Hawks, Columbia College, Class of 1966 said...

Re: Who will be starting QB for the Lions in the Fall?

Replacing Anders Hill will be most difficult and, I believe, the most critical decision Bagnoli will have to make in the Fall.

Two QB commits, John Foreback and Ty Lenhart, who will be freshmen in the Fall, may very well be in the mix. Both received considerable interest from a large number of big-time university programs, especially Foreback.

It will be most interesting to see who starts under center for Columbia in 2018.

Unknown said...

How is this 2018 Class stacking up on a national (FCS) level?