I've been insanely busy and this is the first chance I've had to dive into the big wave of commits.
In reverse order:
Jeremiah Koger- there is an internet disconnect on his height. Rivals says 6'4". TOS says 6'1", as does On3. A Baltimore Banner article says he's 6'4". I didn't really see any phone booth moves or anything that made me say wow, but he ran a chair, a hitch and go, a few digs (but didn't see a huge cutback lane), so it's better than Nicklas Tshivaudi. His speed looks fine for his size. I think if he was in Florida he wouldn't have all of the ACC offers.
Brunno Reus- he has two legs, which should prove useful. That's all I know about kicking until they screw something up.
Jermichael GIllis- I found a HUDL with his sophomore tape but nothing from 2023. TOS loves him but I can't really pass an opinion without seeing tape. Guessing he and Koger used to go to school together? If there's a link to recent tape I'd appreciate it.
Antavious Richardson- Love HS QBs with good size switching to safety, and he has some big kick returns too. Good size, good speed, phone booth moves. I didn't see much violence with his hits, but that's probably because he had to protect himself- he still got into the backfield to take down RBs. Really like him.
Tywan Cox- very reminiscent of Smoke Davis and maybe Deatrick Nichols, though I didn't see the cover corner stuff Nichols showed. Looks like the classic undersized nickel/FS who will hit people. Miami produces three or four of these guys every year and we should grab one every year.
Sean Poret- so I've given up on tape and rankings of linemen. Virtually every 5.6 or higher at USF has busted, and most of our best have been 5.4 or lower. It's entirely on the line coach to determine if he likes the raw material and if they guy has the mentality to do the job. Poret looks like a great recruit but what matter is how he looks in 2026.
Brandon Kubay- the size and speed is there but the 4th clip he shows a WR wiggle to get off the line and get open. He has more lateral movement than Nicolas Tshivaudi or Frederick Lloyd ever showed.
Jayden Fry- I didn't see a special first step. Also don't understand why he doesn't have an ECU or Appy State offer. Those schools whiffed on BB but it's just something worth considering. Every school wants edge rushers regardless of system or scheme, especially one with prototype size- pretty easy to see Fry at 6'4" 250/260.
Deangelo Bowden- I know that Pitt brought him in for a workout and passed. He does have a lot of regional G5 offers though and that's a good thing. I wonder if he can play a complete game or if he's a 3rd down pass rushing specialist. There's nothing wrong with that- Chris Robinson was great at it- but I have to wonder if there was a similar kid from Florida.
Kory Pettigrew- Sorry, I don't see it. Three minutes of running go routes against soft coverage with a couple of curls mixed in. Didn't see a single clip with lateral movement. Time and again we've seen big receivers who run in straight lines come to USF and do nothing, because college DBs can cover anything if they know what is coming and don't have to worry about getting fooled. Maybe he has fancy footwork and just didn't put it at the beginning of his tape, but I don't understand going out of state for a guy that there are three dozen of in Florida every year. To say something nice- he located underthrows well.
Colin Bellomy- now this is who you go out of state for- a size prospect that doesn't always exist in-state. I'm 99% sure he ends up inside because guys his height tend to put on weight pretty easily, but he has the frame for 290 and uses his hands. He also sets his edge, so if he stays at DE, that is something we've been sorely lacking.
Evan Ward- I like the size and the blitzes, but a lot of his highlights are chase downs. On one punt coverage, he blasted the returner in the back 20 yards downfield, but he could have just downed the punt before it bounced and saved his team 15 yards. Pretty easy to see him getting to 240 though and being a grown-up sized LB, but it's worth mentioning he's bigger now than Mike Love as a recruit and Love ended up in the 260s. At that point, he's got his hand on the ground and I'm not sure about the instincts and block shedding.
Jeremiah Jones- nothing was jaw-dropping, but he has prototypical size and should play at 195-200. If you're going to take under-the-radar guys, take them from here. I think Mekhi Lapointe is a really good comparison- lightly recruited, very similar size, and while Lapointe was the victim of bad coaching, if we had a real coach, he would have been a player.
Khalil Collins- see Poret.
On the class as a whole, I really like what is happening in the secondary. With good coaching I think Antavious Richardson is going to be a playmaker. D-line as well, though there is a lot of size projection there (I have Hines and Bellomy growing into inside guys, and possibly Jones). I don't really understand the WRs- I really like Bartley and Koger is fine, but Pettigrew and Cole feel like Skip/CJS recruits to me. We'll need to see who the RB is, but on the whole, Hewlett, a good RB with Kubay and Bartley is a nice offensive haul if one of the taller WRs proves he can turn his hips. Chase Garnett runs like Darius Tice and is probably a step faster. He wasn't jaw-dropping, but it's not a size profile that lends itself to crazy agility or trucking a lot of people. It's just a solid guy who can move the ball in traffic. On the OL, I don't worry too much about size (unless everyone is 6'2"), and it seems like we have three guys who can play inside and two who can play tackle. I'd also like to see a big stand-up off-ball LB. I'm not sure if the plan is to teach Bowden or Ward to play off-ball, but Ward is the same size. A big boy DT would be nice to start prepping for life after Blue-Eli, but I'm guessing that'll be a portal guy. Lastly, I'd like to see another WR who can move laterally. Christian Neptune would be perfect.
I must say that I am concerned with the national approach. It's never worked here. It makes sense in specific circumstances to go out of state, especially going to Georgia for size prospects, but in general I only like doing it for a guy who has a slew of G5s. I don't really like being the biggest offer when a guy doesn't have smaller offers from programs that would scout the high school on an annual basis. If you're going to take a guy with a light offer list, take a guy from here. It worked out amazingly well with BB, but that's the exception. Antoine Pozniak is the rule. Pettigrew falls into the Pozniak category for me- you don't see it on tape and the schools around him also don't see it. Fry comes close as well, other than the size projection is there and there's direct connection through BB. Obviously I hope every Bull succeeds, but our best teams have always been filled with Bay Area and Miami-Dade guys. Most of the guys I can see why you'd want them, but there are a few that I am sure you could find a reasonable facsimile of in Florida.
usf.rivals.com
