Dude must not have any speed

(12-27-2013 09:58 AM)MemTGRS Wrote:  He must have some type of size issue working against him?

The Jackson Sun named him the West TN Player of the Year. He playss both ways and the Defensive MVP in the state title game despite Adamsville losing the game. He has two picks in the East/West state all-star game (one for a 73-yd TD). He gained over 1,800 yds on the ground and has done incredible things for three years.

The Sun listed a month ago that he visited Memphis for the Cincy weeknight game and that we have had an interest in the past. But ... that he's even struggling to receive a full offer from Harding, a Division II school?????

I know he probably does not fit the FBS template in size. But at some point, proven football ability and achievement (at the extreme level for him) should offset a lot.

Thanks!

Are his grades ok ?

(12-28-2013 12:54 AM)tigergeorge55 Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 12:17 AM)downsouth Wrote:  

(12-27-2013 07:48 PM)blutgr39 Wrote:  I have long wondered why more West Tn. kids are not signed in Div. 1. I have talked to local coaches here in Jackson and many fans... nobody seems to have the answer...way to many good players in high schools in our area.

Because West TN football sucks.

Yes, there's "good" players in our area, but overall West TN high school football as well as high school football across the state is pretty weak.

That was a broad statement to be from down south :) I would take this serious. It's untrue.

Yeah, what you said.

(12-28-2013 01:30 AM)oldtiger Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 12:54 AM)tigergeorge55 Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 12:17 AM)downsouth Wrote:  

(12-27-2013 07:48 PM)blutgr39 Wrote:  I have long wondered why more West Tn. kids are not signed in Div. 1. I have talked to local coaches here in Jackson and many fans... nobody seems to have the answer...way to many good players in high schools in our area.

Because West TN football sucks.

Yes, there's "good" players in our area, but overall West TN high school football as well as high school football across the state is pretty weak.

That was a broad statement to be from down south :) I would take this serious. It's untrue.

Broad and mostly out of line statement in my mind.

Here's a little something.
http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2013/9/...ia-florida

You've watched quite a bit of football judging from your signature so I'm sure you have some Murphy Fair books in storage somewhere that would be more help.

(12-28-2013 01:08 PM)downsouth Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 12:54 AM)tigergeorge55 Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 12:17 AM)downsouth Wrote:  

(12-27-2013 07:48 PM)blutgr39 Wrote:  I have long wondered why more West Tn. kids are not signed in Div. 1. I have talked to local coaches here in Jackson and many fans... nobody seems to have the answer...way to many good players in high schools in our area.

Because West TN football sucks.

Yes, there's "good" players in our area, but overall West TN high school football as well as high school football across the state is pretty weak.

That was a broad statement to be from down south :) I would take this serious. It's untrue.

Yeah, what you said.

(12-28-2013 01:30 AM)oldtiger Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 12:54 AM)tigergeorge55 Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 12:17 AM)downsouth Wrote:  

(12-27-2013 07:48 PM)blutgr39 Wrote:  I have long wondered why more West Tn. kids are not signed in Div. 1. I have talked to local coaches here in Jackson and many fans... nobody seems to have the answer...way to many good players in high schools in our area.

Because West TN football sucks.

Yes, there's "good" players in our area, but overall West TN high school football as well as high school football across the state is pretty weak.

That was a broad statement to be from down south :) I would take this serious. It's untrue.

Broad and mostly out of line statement in my mind.

Here's a little something.
http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2013/9/...ia-florida

You've watched quite a bit of football judging from your signature so I'm sure you have some Murphy Fair books in storage somewhere that would be more help.

I think that most would agree that the term/description "sucks" is too broad and out of line for a state that doesn't produce a ton of players, but ranks in the top 30% (according to the reference you provided) of all states in producing college football players.

We're not TX, PA, or FL; but we do "OK".

"OK" doesn't equal "sucks".

(12-28-2013 11:21 AM)TIGER DENO Wrote:  Are his grades ok ?

Good question ... have no idea regarding though.

Sorry if it's been mentioned in this thread before, but I believe that he's currently being asked to walk on.

(12-30-2013 02:45 PM)downsouth Wrote:  Sorry if it's been mentioned in this thread before, but I believe that he's currently being asked to walk on.

I hope that can happen. It also could be a situation where if players a, b, c, don't materialize, then a late scholarship might be on the table. We do seem to be filling up though.

I'm the radio guy for Adamsville football. So biased, but educated when it comes to Neary. Here's my assessment:

His size is about 6'1" or 6'2" and about 185 pounds. He has a good frame that could carry another 20 pounds easily. His father is large and Zak may still grow another inch or two. Size is not an issue.
He has the grades and has already made his test score. Qualifying is not an issue.
Not sure what his official 40 time is. I'm guessing he's around 4.6. He did not have blazing speed, but he was rarely outrun from behind.
He is a strong kid. Frequently drug multiple tacklers on his runs and moved the pile forward.
He has a field vision that I haven't seen since Jabriel Washington was at TCA. Finds the seams, takes the correct angles, good timing through the holes BTW, Jabriel signed with Alabama.
He is extremely coachable. Adamsville's head coach loved him. He would play rb, db, lb, qb, spec teams - whatever you wanted him to play.
He loves physical football and will absolutely light you up.
He is a winner. For the last three years, his teams went state semi-finals, finals, finals. So he's not a player with just inflated stats on a lousy team.
He has been all-state, senior bowl defensive MVP, state championship defensive MVP, Jackson Sun West Tennessee POY.

Honestly, I come up with no negatives on the kid. He truly seems like Fuente's kind of hard nosed player. He will probably play defensive back in college and I could see him as our strong safety in about 2 years. I understand we've offered him a preferred walk-on, but his family wants a scholly. Currently he has some NAIA offers. I expect UT-Martin might offer soon. I really wish we would offer.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention he's a workhorse too. He played both ways this year since his likely college position will be on defense. The coach didn't want to overuse him on offense during the regular season, so his carries were often limited to the teens. But once the playoffs arrived, Zak got the ball. In the state semi-finals, he had 40 carries for 372 yards and 5 td's.

Thank you very much. This is the first hand knowledge I was hoping to receive.

I hope we offer as well.

(01-06-2014 01:18 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  I'm the radio guy for Adamsville football. So biased, but educated when it comes to Neary. Here's my assessment:

His size is about 6'1" or 6'2" and about 185 pounds. He has a good frame that could carry another 20 pounds easily. His father is large and Zak may still grow another inch or two. Size is not an issue.
He has the grades and has already made his test score. Qualifying is not an issue.
Not sure what his official 40 time is. I'm guessing he's around 4.6. He did not have blazing speed, but he was rarely outrun from behind.
He is a strong kid. Frequently drug multiple tacklers on his runs and moved the pile forward.
He has a field vision that I haven't seen since Jabriel Washington was at TCA. Finds the seams, takes the correct angles, good timing through the holes BTW, Jabriel signed with Alabama.
He is extremely coachable. Adamsville's head coach loved him. He would play rb, db, lb, qb, spec teams - whatever you wanted him to play.
He loves physical football and will absolutely light you up.
He is a winner. For the last three years, his teams went state semi-finals, finals, finals. So he's not a player with just inflated stats on a lousy team.
He has been all-state, senior bowl defensive MVP, state championship defensive MVP, Jackson Sun West Tennessee POY.

Honestly, I come up with no negatives on the kid. He truly seems like Fuente's kind of hard nosed player. He will probably play defensive back in college and I could see him as our strong safety in about 2 years. I understand we've offered him a preferred walk-on, but his family wants a scholly. Currently he has some NAIA offers. I expect UT-Martin might offer soon. I really wish we would offer.

I just don't get it. You get a few 4 stars and a lot of kids like this and you have a team.

I think it we are making a huge mistale if we don't offer.

(01-06-2014 02:37 PM)MGR Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 01:18 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  I'm the radio guy for Adamsville football. So biased, but educated when it comes to Neary. Here's my assessment:

His size is about 6'1" or 6'2" and about 185 pounds. He has a good frame that could carry another 20 pounds easily. His father is large and Zak may still grow another inch or two. Size is not an issue.
He has the grades and has already made his test score. Qualifying is not an issue.
Not sure what his official 40 time is. I'm guessing he's around 4.6. He did not have blazing speed, but he was rarely outrun from behind.
He is a strong kid. Frequently drug multiple tacklers on his runs and moved the pile forward.
He has a field vision that I haven't seen since Jabriel Washington was at TCA. Finds the seams, takes the correct angles, good timing through the holes BTW, Jabriel signed with Alabama.
He is extremely coachable. Adamsville's head coach loved him. He would play rb, db, lb, qb, spec teams - whatever you wanted him to play.
He loves physical football and will absolutely light you up.
He is a winner. For the last three years, his teams went state semi-finals, finals, finals. So he's not a player with just inflated stats on a lousy team.
He has been all-state, senior bowl defensive MVP, state championship defensive MVP, Jackson Sun West Tennessee POY.

Honestly, I come up with no negatives on the kid. He truly seems like Fuente's kind of hard nosed player. He will probably play defensive back in college and I could see him as our strong safety in about 2 years. I understand we've offered him a preferred walk-on, but his family wants a scholly. Currently he has some NAIA offers. I expect UT-Martin might offer soon. I really wish we would offer.

I just don't get it. You get a few 4 stars and a lot of kids like this and you have a team.

I think it we are making a huge mistale if we don't offer.

So a lot of you think it will be some big mistake if we don't offer this kid, but even now he doesn't even have an offer from a d2 school. So are the other 3 D1 schools in the state making a big mistake too? I just don't get the infatuation with this one kid. Maybe we do offer later, but I sure don't see it as some big mistake since there is not much to base that on.

(01-06-2014 03:08 PM)TigerEdward Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 02:37 PM)MGR Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 01:18 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  I'm the radio guy for Adamsville football. So biased, but educated when it comes to Neary. Here's my assessment:

His size is about 6'1" or 6'2" and about 185 pounds. He has a good frame that could carry another 20 pounds easily. His father is large and Zak may still grow another inch or two. Size is not an issue.
He has the grades and has already made his test score. Qualifying is not an issue.
Not sure what his official 40 time is. I'm guessing he's around 4.6. He did not have blazing speed, but he was rarely outrun from behind.
He is a strong kid. Frequently drug multiple tacklers on his runs and moved the pile forward.
He has a field vision that I haven't seen since Jabriel Washington was at TCA. Finds the seams, takes the correct angles, good timing through the holes BTW, Jabriel signed with Alabama.
He is extremely coachable. Adamsville's head coach loved him. He would play rb, db, lb, qb, spec teams - whatever you wanted him to play.
He loves physical football and will absolutely light you up.
He is a winner. For the last three years, his teams went state semi-finals, finals, finals. So he's not a player with just inflated stats on a lousy team.
He has been all-state, senior bowl defensive MVP, state championship defensive MVP, Jackson Sun West Tennessee POY.

Honestly, I come up with no negatives on the kid. He truly seems like Fuente's kind of hard nosed player. He will probably play defensive back in college and I could see him as our strong safety in about 2 years. I understand we've offered him a preferred walk-on, but his family wants a scholly. Currently he has some NAIA offers. I expect UT-Martin might offer soon. I really wish we would offer.

I just don't get it. You get a few 4 stars and a lot of kids like this and you have a team.

I think it we are making a huge mistale if we don't offer.

So a lot of you think it will be some big mistake if we don't offer this kid, but even now he doesn't even have an offer from a d2 school. So are the other 3 D1 schools in the state making a big mistake too? I just don't get the infatuation with this one kid. Maybe we do offer later, but I sure don't see it as some big mistake since there is not much to base that on.

preferred walk-on

(01-06-2014 05:23 PM)NDTiger Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 03:08 PM)TigerEdward Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 02:37 PM)MGR Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 01:18 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  I'm the radio guy for Adamsville football. So biased, but educated when it comes to Neary. Here's my assessment:

His size is about 6'1" or 6'2" and about 185 pounds. He has a good frame that could carry another 20 pounds easily. His father is large and Zak may still grow another inch or two. Size is not an issue.
He has the grades and has already made his test score. Qualifying is not an issue.
Not sure what his official 40 time is. I'm guessing he's around 4.6. He did not have blazing speed, but he was rarely outrun from behind.
He is a strong kid. Frequently drug multiple tacklers on his runs and moved the pile forward.
He has a field vision that I haven't seen since Jabriel Washington was at TCA. Finds the seams, takes the correct angles, good timing through the holes BTW, Jabriel signed with Alabama.
He is extremely coachable. Adamsville's head coach loved him. He would play rb, db, lb, qb, spec teams - whatever you wanted him to play.
He loves physical football and will absolutely light you up.
He is a winner. For the last three years, his teams went state semi-finals, finals, finals. So he's not a player with just inflated stats on a lousy team.
He has been all-state, senior bowl defensive MVP, state championship defensive MVP, Jackson Sun West Tennessee POY.

Honestly, I come up with no negatives on the kid. He truly seems like Fuente's kind of hard nosed player. He will probably play defensive back in college and I could see him as our strong safety in about 2 years. I understand we've offered him a preferred walk-on, but his family wants a scholly. Currently he has some NAIA offers. I expect UT-Martin might offer soon. I really wish we would offer.

I just don't get it. You get a few 4 stars and a lot of kids like this and you have a team.

I think it we are making a huge mistale if we don't offer.

So a lot of you think it will be some big mistake if we don't offer this kid, but even now he doesn't even have an offer from a d2 school. So are the other 3 D1 schools in the state making a big mistake too? I just don't get the infatuation with this one kid. Maybe we do offer later, but I sure don't see it as some big mistake since there is not much to base that on.

preferred walk-on

Yea, I know. I just don't get all the clammering about offering a kid who is not getting any other offers. His stats are good but against low level competition at the high school level. It is just an example of a really good athlete playing at a level he could dominate. Even after watching the highlight tape, he would not have stood out very much if he had played against an Olive Branch, MUS, Whitehaven, South Panola, etc where they have multiple kids with this kids' speed and athleticism. Not all of them get D1 offers either. You have to look at the competition as well as determine where he could contribute on the field. I just don't see it at the d1 level.

What is a "preferred walk-on?"

(01-06-2014 10:07 PM)danny1 Wrote:  What is a "preferred walk-on?"

Invited to walkon. Staff usually has conversation that if certain milestones are achieved in 2yr timeline, scholly may be awarded.

UofM has done well with these in past
DE Marquis Bowling
DB Reginald Howard
RB Gerard Arnold

Well I am an Adamsville guy, so I have the admitted local bias. I have also attended Tigers games for 30 years and I think Neary can compete.

Worried about the competition he's played against? Fair enough for a 2A school. But rather than simply dismiss all kids from 2A schools, Patrick Willis says to dig a little deeper. That's where the metrics help - size, speed, strength, academics. Zak will compare favorably in all categories.

You can also look at what he's done in the big games. TCA is a team who beat Mitchell and St. George's from Memphis. Zak had 372 yards when he faced them in the semi-finals. Hardin County is a 5A team who plays competitively against some Memphis teams - including Melrose. Zak had 174 yards against Hardin County and also threw for a td. And the competition doesn't get much more legit than Trousdale in the state championship game. Zak had over 100 yards rushing and was the game's defensive MVP. He also played in the Toyota state all star game against the best players across all divisions. The game included Whitehaven's Ramadi Warren, Brentwood's Brandon Taylor, Siegel's Denzel Harding, Fulton's Xavier Hawkins, East Hamilton's Tre Herndon, Overton's Kenneth Williams, and Mitchell's Ladarius Hare. Zak was the defensive MVP with 2 interceptions (returning 1 for the td).

And there's no truth to the rumor he's not getting any other offers. He's holding out for the D1 offer. He has the preferred walk-on invitation from Memphis, but I think the family will end up going with the best full-ride offer he gets.

Will our recruiting class implode if we don't sign him? Absolutely not. I have complete faith in CJF. But I have seen Zak play over 40 games and I'm convinced he can play here. And I've seen us settle for less from non-local kids. So I'd like to see the local kid get his shot at Memphis.

Sign the Dude!!!

(01-06-2014 10:22 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  Well I am an Adamsville guy, so I have the admitted local bias. I have also attended Tigers games for 30 years and I think Neary can compete.

Worried about the competition he's played against? Fair enough for a 2A school. But rather than simply dismiss all kids from 2A schools, Patrick Willis says to dig a little deeper. That's where the metrics help - size, speed, strength, academics. Zak will compare favorably in all categories.

You can also look at what he's done in the big games. TCA is a team who beat Mitchell and St. George's from Memphis. Zak had 372 yards when he faced them in the semi-finals. Hardin County is a 5A team who plays competitively against some Memphis teams - including Melrose. Zak had 174 yards against Hardin County and also threw for a td. And the competition doesn't get much more legit than Trousdale in the state championship game. Zak had over 100 yards rushing and was the game's defensive MVP. He also played in the Toyota state all star game against the best players across all divisions. The game included Whitehaven's Ramadi Warren, Brentwood's Brandon Taylor, Siegel's Denzel Harding, Fulton's Xavier Hawkins, East Hamilton's Tre Herndon, Overton's Kenneth Williams, and Mitchell's Ladarius Hare. Zak was the defensive MVP with 2 interceptions (returning 1 for the td).

And there's no truth to the rumor he's not getting any other offers. He's holding out for the D1 offer. He has the preferred walk-on invitation from Memphis, but I think the family will end up going with the best full-ride offer he gets.

Will our recruiting class implode if we don't sign him? Absolutely not. I have complete faith in CJF. But I have seen Zak play over 40 games and I'm convinced he can play here. And I've seen us settle for less from non-local kids. So I'd like to see the local kid get his shot at Memphis.

What position would he be able to play and contribute at? I see a lot of biased opinions but nothing that sells me on him being signed to a scholarship. He seems like a hard hitting and physical kid (for his size) but even in his highlight videos he doesn't get much separation in the open field which you would expect to see for a D1 athlete playing at that level of high school football. So don't get defensive, but tell me who we have already committed that Zak would be better at than the kids being signed. If I was his parent, I would be look at a smaller school where he might can get a scholarship and be able to play. I just don't see him getting a Memphis offer. He would be a good get for the Tigers if he did walk on. Might eventually get some PT on special teams.

This kid will probably sign with UT Martin or MTSU and in two or three years he'll rip us for 250 yards and five TDs.