05 Oxford NIKE CAMP Sweet 16 Playmakers*  

SUNDAY - MAY 15, 2005

OXFORD, Mississippi - Although I'm trying to find some great players that I may not have known about, it's difficult to know where to start, so I tried to find the great looking physical specimens to play in my All-American Bowl Game Classic.

The first group that I went to was the linebackers where I found at least five of the best players at this NIKE Combine, including Derrick Odom, Roshaad Byrd, Martez Smith, Jamon Hughes, and Chico Hunter, who all may play in the NFL.

Before I tell you about these linebackers, I need to back up to Monday so everything will fit and fall into place.

MONDAY - MAY 9, 2005

COVINGTON, Louisiana - "Dad, tonight was just not our night, said my son Eric, when he called me on his cell phone from Shreveport. "We lost our second game in the Louisiana 5A State baseball playoffs to Shreveport Captain Shreve as their 6-9 left-handed pitcher kept us off balance all night and their right-fielder robbed us of two homeruns as he leaped up and grabbed not one, but two would-be homeruns before they went over the fence."

SUNDAY - MAY 15, 2005

COVINGTON, Louisiana - It's a little after 5:00 A.M. and I just can't seem to wake up, but I've got to get up and get out of here, because I've got to drive to Oxford, Mississippi for the OXFORD NIKE CAMP. It's now around 6:00 A.M. and I'm finally up and I'm on my way to Oxford. 

It's now around 7:30 A.M. and I'm going through Brookhaven, but I'm real sleepy and my back that I had two major lung surgeries in 2003 is really killing me. At this point, I was seriously thinking about turning around and going back home.

When you are driving in Mississippi, the clearest radio stations are always going to be the Country and Western stations and this Sunday morning was no different as I'm listening to one out of Jackson. I have always been a pretty versatile music listener, but lately, I have not been listening too much to C&W. On this fine Sunday morning, this C&W station was the only station that I could get clearly and I listened to it for the better part of my trip, coming and going.

I again was seriously thinking about turning back when a new song came on by the name of "That's What I love About Sunday" by a new C&W singer named Morgan Craig. Here's the lyrics:

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/morgan-craig/thats-what-i-love-about-sunday-14712.html

As I listened to the song, I started to think about what I was doing in my car and headed to the NIKE CAMP in Oxford on this Sunday morning.

The message was pretty clear to me! I was going to Oxford, although I was very sleepy and hurting, to find some new players to write about and try to give them some added publicity that they might need to help get a college scholarship.

So I kept driving!

OXFORD, Mississippi - It's around 11:00 A.M. and I finally make it to Oxford for the NIKE CAMP. I will admit that it's a little farther to Oxford than I had first thought, but I'm finally here!

Now, back to those fabulous linebackers!

In this group, there were some unbelievable physical specimens, including Derrick Odom of Jackson Callaway; Roshaad Byrd of Meridian; Martez Smith of Camden Velma Jackson; Chico Hunter of Vicksburg Warren Central; and last, but not least Jamon Hughes of Belzoni Humphreys County. All five of these super linebackers are from the State of Mississippi.

In the three NIKE CAMPS that I personally have been to, the only player who vaguely compares to the physique of Odom was Lamar Houston of Colorado at the NIKE CAMP in Fort Worth. When you look up chiseled in the dictionary, Derrick Odom needs to have his photo by that definition.

 Odom was sensational in the drills and he obviously looked like he could play for any team in the SEC as a true freshman. He measured 6-2 and 210; ran a 4.49 and a 4.53 in the forty; had a 4.35 in the pro-agility shuttle; and recorded a very good 34.2 in the vertical jump. He did not participate in the bench press, but his personal best is a 330 bench press and he has also done 22 reps of 185 pounds. He already has offers from LSU, Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Southern Miss. I was so impressed with Odom, I called his Coach and extended to him an invitation to play in our 2006 All-American Bowl Game and he has accepted.

Byrd was also very impressive in the linebacker drills. In a linebacker "strip the ball loose" drill, I saw him strip the ball out of the hands of a running back. He was the only linebacker that I saw that accomplished this feat. At 6-4, with long arms, and a tremendous work ethic, Byrd will be an exceptional linebacker in college. He ran a very good 4.28 in the pro-agility shuttle, had a fine 32-inch vertical jump; and did 12 reps on the bench press, although he was nursing a hurt wrist. Byrd has offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, and ULM. I invited him to play in my 2006 All-American Bowl Game Classic and he has accepted.

Hunter was also very impressive in the drills as he worked out with the linebackers. He played strong safety and linebacker as a junior, but he could also play either position in college. He ran a mind-boggling 4.0 flat in the pro-agility shuttle. Many NFL cornerbacks can't run a 4.0 flat in the shuttle, so you can see how amazing this feat really is for a linebacker or safety. I really like this kid.

Hughes was just about as great of a physical specimen as Odom and he was exceptional in the linebacker drills. You could really tell, buy watching him, that he was a tremendous defensive team leader. I also really liked this kid and I would love to see him get a chance to play in my All-American Bowl Game Classic, but positions are getting very hard to find for the East Team. He has offers from Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

 Smith was another complete surprise to me before the Oxford NIKE Camp. He was very impressive during the drills and he was also very impressive in the testing phase as he recorded a very good 4.51 in the forty and had an eye-popping 42-inch vertical jump. This kid was a terror on the football field as a junior when he logged 139 tackles and 12 sacks. Of those 139 tackles, an unbelievable 39 tackles were for a loss. He also had 11 forced fumbles and scored two defensive touchdowns. I'm going to try to get this kid into my All-American Bowl Game Classic, but right now, I have to find a position for him.

Two defensive ends that I really liked and they are both from Louisiana were Jonathan Hollins of Baton Rouge Redemptorist and Jarius Wright of Baton Rouge Tara. These two players were fabulous physical specimens and they were also impressive in the drills.

 Hollins (6-3, 228, 4.65) was a 4A All-State performer as he recorded 68 tackles and 7 sacks. Wright (6-1, 220, 4.65) actually plays fullback for Tara, but he could become a great defensive end of linebacker in college.

Pete "Re-Pete" Smith (6-1, 220, 4.6) of Hoover, Alabama was another defensive end who was a great physical specimen and also impressive in drills. Kentrell Lockett (6-4, 230, 4.7) of Hahnville, LA was also impressive.

It's around 1:00 and the players are splitting-up into their position groups. I wanted to take a look at the quarterbacks and receivers, so I went up on the hill to watch them work out. As I walked up to the hill, I immediately asked the group of scouts and fans if their were any impressive wide receivers who were looking great in the drills.

"Yeah, that bald-headed white guy has caught everything that has been thrown," said one scout. As I started watching him, he caught a wounded duck pass and then one thrown behind his back and then another that was about ten feet in the air. As I watched him, I could see that he had a L. West on his shirt so I asked him to meet me in the center of the field after the Camp was over and he did.

"My name is Lance West and I'm from Shreveport Captain Shreve," he said. I told him that my son lived in Shreveport and that he was an assistant baseball coach at Shreveport Evangel.

"Yeah, we beat them in the second round of the playoffs," said West.

 West put-up some pretty staggering stats for a wide receiver when he did 25 reps in the 185-pound bench press. He also did a 4.67 shuttle; a 4.5 in the forty; and a 27.7 in the vertical jump. His personal best in the forty is a 4.42. I was so impressed with this kid that I invited him to play in my 2006 All-American Bowl Game Classic and he accepted.

When I got home, I told my son about this kid and I come to find out that he was the right fielder who reached over the fence and robbed two Evangel players of a home run, back on Monday.

I know that it sometimes is a small world and I know that strange things do happen in sports, but when I found out that this kid, who I have never met or seen, helped beat my son's high school team in the 5A baseball playoffs, plus his high school baseball coach, Ronnie Coker, also coached my son in Junior College, and then he was so impressive in the pass-catching drills; I don't know about you, but I got a real eerie or weird feeling. Maybe this was one of the main reasons that I did not turn around and go back home when I was thinking serious about doing so.

West, Odom, and Byrd were given invitations to play in the 2006 All-American Bowl Game, and they all have accepted, while RB Cordara Eason of Meridian, MS; RB Terry Grant of Lumberton, MS; RB Charles Scott of Jonesboro Hodge, LA; QB Matthew Malouf of Oxford, MS; and RB Michael Franklin of Warrior Hayden, AL were already in the game. We'll touch on all of them later.

Finding West, Odom, and Byrd were three of the main reasons for me to keep on driving to Oxford, but there were many others. That is why that I had to extend the Dandy Dozen Playmakers to the Elite 18 Playmakers.

There were some other great wide receivers up on the hill and one of the best ones was Kendrick Lewis of New Orleans O. Perry Walker. Lewis is an early verbal committment to Ole Miss and he really put on a pass receiving clinic as he grabbed everything that was thrown to him. I really love this kid and I think that the Rebels got themselves an early steal in him.

Michael Townsend (6-1, 195, 4.6) of Forest, MS; Terry Levy (6-1, 196, 4.6) of Kosciusko, MS; Torris MaGee (6-3, 197, 4.51) of Oak Grove, MS; and Jared Mitchell (6-1, 190, 4.5) of New Iberia Westgate, LA all looked great and made some great catches in the passing drills. Levy is another early committment to Ole Miss.

Mitchell, in fact may be a real phenom. He played quarterback and free safety for his high school as a junior, but he worked out with the wide receivers at this NIKE CAMP. He was aggressive and he was a real "Playmaker" in the pass receiving drills. As a pure athlete, there may not have been many better at this Camp. I called his coach about him playing in the 2006 All-American Bowl Game Classic, but I have not been able to make contact with him yet.

Clayton Chambers (6-5, 228, 4.8) was a good-looking tight end from West Monroe, Louisiana who put-up some impressive numbers in the testing phase. Chambers recorded a very good 29.3 in the vertical jump; ran a 4,62 in the pro-agility shuttle; and he did a tremendous 29 reps on the 185-pound bench press.

 Scott is one of the top tailbacks in the country. He was a phenom as a linebacker as a sophomore, but as a junior, he emerged as a National Recruit as a power-running tailback. Scott was measured at 5-11 and he weighed 220 and ran a 4.6 in the forty. His personal best in the forty is a 4.47.  He did 19 reps on the 185-pound bench press and he recorded a 29.9 in the vertical jump. He already has offers from LSU, Oklahoma, Auburn, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Texas A&M.

 Eason is in the same category as Scott. He measured 6-0 and weighed 240 at this NIKE Camp. He also ran a 4.6 in the forty, although he has run in the 4.4's, he is probably a legit 4.5 guy. He did 12 reps on the 185 pound bench press, but his shoulder was bothering him and he did a 30-inch vertical jump. Eason has offers from Auburn, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Oklahoma State.

Grant was pretty awesome at this Nike Combine. He ran in the low 4.4's, but he ran a 4.29 at the Florida State NIKE CAMP last year. He also is a very acomplished receiver coming out of the backfield and he was very impressive in the pass receiving drills. He will play inside receiver in our All-American Bowl Game to take advantage of his pass-catching skills. He did 20 reps on the 185 pound bench press and his personal best is 15 reps of 225 on the bench press. He did a 31.5 on the vertical which is the first time for him to ever try it. Grant has offers from Clemson, Florida State, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.

 Anthony Dixon from Terry, MS was another huge surprise as he wowed scouts and fans all day in the running back drills. Dixon looked like he could play for any team in the SEC. Dixon already has offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Alabama.

 Franklin (5-10, 173, 4.4) is very impressive on film and he was also impressive in the running back drills. He ran a 4.5 at this NIKE Camp but he has a personal best of 4.4. He did an excellent 4.25 in the pro-agility; a 30-inch vertial jump; and he recorded 14 reps on the 185-pound bench press. He is a great receiver coming out of the backfield and he will also play inside receiver in our All-American Bowl Game Classic.

There just were not very many impressive linemen at this NIKE Camp on either side of the football, but there was one great defensive lineman. L.T. Walker from Wynne, Arkansas who was like a "man among boys" at this Camp. He manhandled all of the offensive linemen that he faced and it is no wonder why his team won the Arkansas 4A State Championship with him playing havoc on defense. He already has offers from Arkansas Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Oregon.

Carlos Cole of Memphis Kingsbury, Tennessee was very impressive in the secondary. He worked out with the safeties and he was outstanding in the drills. He got to Oxford late and he did not get tested, but he went straight to the drills and was very impressive as he picked off at least two passes as I was watching. Cole has offers from Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas, and Kentucky. 

Jai Eugene (5-10, 170, 4.4) of Destrehan, Louisiana was another "high-profile" player who did well in the drills. I saw Eugene play cornerback as a sophomore, but he played quarterback as a junior. He has early offers from LSU, Miami, Auburn, Tennessee, and UCLA.

Max Lerner (5-10, 187, 4.5) of Hoover, Alabama is a very aggressive free safety who was a starter on the 6A State Championship team in Alabama. He looked quick in the defensive back drills. He is recovering from shoulder surgery and he did not do the bench press, but he recorded a 29.6 in the vertical jump.

Two other defensive backs who looked good in drills were Ken Fulliove (5-11, 180, 4.45) of Memphis Melrose, TN and C.J. Bailey (5-11, 180, 4.52) of Moss Point, MS.

There is only about twenty minutes left in this NIKE Camp and I'm going to head back up the hill and take a look at the quarterbacks. To be honest, up to this point, I have not seen a really great quarterback.

I'm now looking at two potential Bluechip quarterbacks in Mitch Mustain and Matthew Malouf. I have watched both of these two young quarterbacks on game film, but I have thought that they both needed some work on their mechanics, but today, they both look vastly improved.

 Mustain, in particular, has improved his delivery and his overall mechanics has improved greatly since my last game film evaluation. "Mustain is an exceptional quarterback," said NIKE CAMP quarterback guru Bob Johnson. "He has worked with me for about four days and now I believe that he is one of the best quarterbacks in the entire country."

I talked with his mom after the NIKE Camp and I asked her if he did any of the testing and she said that he did run a 4.2 in the pro-agility shuttle, but he did not do any other testing. That 4.2 in the shuttle may be the best in the country for a dropback quarterback, so you can see how he ran for over 100-yards against Shreveport Evangel in his junior season opener.

Mustain has close to 30 offers so almost every top team in the country has already offered him. The skuttle-butt around this NIKE Camp is that he is secretly committed to Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns.

 Malouf is a great athletic quarterback who has tremendous leadership skills and he can also run the football if he is needed to do so. He was not asked to pass the football that much as a junior, so he does not have a lot great passing stats, but he will be asked to pass more as a senior. His dad,

Bill Malouf, a former Ole Miss Rebel, has arranged for Matthew to work out with my quarterback guru, John McGregor in Oxford for four days starting on May 23. Malouf may come away from this training from Coach McGregor and become a real phenom, because he has all of the quarterback tools to be a great one.

OXFORD ELITE 18 PLAYMAKERS

(SPECIAL NOTE: Personal best time in the forty is listed)

1. QB Mitch Mustain, 6-3, 200, 4.6, Springdale, AR
2. QB Matthew Molouf, 6-2, 210, 4.5, Oxford, MS
3. RB Charles Scott, 5-11, 220, 4.47, Jonesboro Hodge, LA
4. RB Cordara Eason, 6-0, 240, 4.5, Meridian, MS
5. RB Terry Grant, 5-9, 180, 4.31, Lumberton, MS
6. RB Anthony Dixon, 6-1, 229, 4.5, Terry, MS
7. WR Lance West, 6-3, 195, 4.42, Shreveport Captain Shreve, LA
8. WR Kendrick Lewis, 6-0, 185, 4.45, New Orleans O.P. Walker, LA (OLE MISS VERBAL)
9. DE Jonathan Hollins, 6-3, 228, 4.65, Baton Rouge Redemptorist, LA
10. DT L.T. Walker, 6-4, 290, 4.9, Wynne, AR
11. LB Derrick Odom, 6-2, 210, 4.47, Jackson Callaway, MS
12. LB Roshaad Byrd, 6-4, 220, 4.58, Meridian, MS
13. LB Martez Smith, 6-0, 205, 4.51, Camden Verma Jackson, MS
14. LB Lamon Hughes, 6-1, 220, 4.65, Belzoni Humphreys Co, MS
15. FS Carlos Cole, 5-10, 190, 4.45, Memphis Kingsbury, TN
16. SS Chico Hunter, 6-1, 205, 4.5, Vicksburg Warren Central, MS
17. ATH Jared Mitchell, 6-1, 190, 4.4, New Iberia Westgate, LA
18. ATH Jarius Wright, 6-1, 220, 4.65, Baton Rouge Tara, LA