Spotlight on the East Coast: Comparing top prospects to NFL stars

Prospect comparisons at all times generate a variety of dialog, and — because the 2025 and 2026 courses start this week’s rating conferences. – now is a good time to take a step again and examine a few of the present prime prospects to some school or NFL stars.

First, listed here are 5 comparisons for a few of the prime recruits within the East area.

Jones was a unbelievable offensive prospect popping out of highschool. He had little or no dangerous weight, like a promising schoolboy, and from a distance it was laborious to inform how large he was. As you bought nearer to him, he bought larger and greater, and that is precisely what occurs with Dean.

The North Carolina native is a really lean 269 kilos, however is a few inches shorter than Jones. The 2 offensive linemen have very lengthy arms and the flexibility to beat defensive linemen with higher physique energy.

One other similarity: Dean may find yourself signing with Georgia like Jones did.

If Harrison was enjoying protection, the comparability can be straightforward Julius Peppers as a result of each are from North Carolina and have carried out as basketball gamers and on the soccer subject. As an alternative, Harrison is extra like Jimmy Graham, one other North Carolina native who performed basketball at Miami for 4 years earlier than switching to soccer.

Each Harrison and Graham are listed at 6-foot-7 and primarily bend to the skin of the offensive formation. Like Graham, Harrison desires to play basketball in school, however he’ll principally concentrate on soccer.

Huge prospects like Iheanacho are very uncommon, so the variety of gamers he will be in comparison with is sort of small. Orlando Brown Jr. reminisced after assembly Iheanacho final weekend. Each are about 6-foot-7 and about 340 kilos. The hulking linebackers may play on the left or proper facet of the road, utilizing their immense measurement to chop off outdoors hitters and their overwhelming energy to include defensive linemen who beat them inside.

Brown wasn’t as technically developed as he wanted to be when he entered school, and Iheanacho, likewise, has components of his sport that can must be refined earlier than he sees the sector on the subsequent degree.

Peterkin might not be as well-known a prospect as Higgins, however the North Carolina native shares lots of the similar traits as the previous Clemson standout. Piotrkin, like Higgins, has a powerful basketball background, and you’ll see that once you activate the movie.

At 6-foot-4, Peterkin is a protracted runner who excels at working routes down the sector, very similar to Higgins did throughout his highschool profession. When Higgins got here out of highschool, he was barely taller and extra bodily developed than Peterkin at this level in his profession, however he nonetheless has time to bulk up earlier than he heads to school.

It was a straightforward comparability to make as a result of Sanders has already talked about how he loves watching Johnson and modeling his sport after the previous Ohio State star. At this stage of their careers, each forwards had related frames and even an analogous fashion of play – utilizing their size and pace to their benefit.

As Johnson has gotten older, he is bulked up, and Sanders is doing the identical heading into his senior season.