Boise State-Washington Prospect Preview:
Boise State:
DJ Harper, RB- Harper looks like a solid back to me. He is compact like Doug Martin was, though he isn’t as strong and isn’t as good. He is listed at 5’9”, 205 pounds and has more than enough leg drive and strength to run through arm tackles and demonstrates this consistently. In watching some highlights and clips of him earlier in his career it seems that, not surprisingly, he has lost significant explosiveness and top-end speed as a result of his two ACL injuries. He still has some burst and can make subtle cuts without losing speed, but I don’t think he’s going to run any faster than a 4.5 in the 40. He has experience pass blocking and is solid in that department and isn’t a bad receiver out of the backfield either, but his injury question marks are serious ones and that will hurt his stock. To me he is a mid-late day 3 pick that has a chance to stick, but isn’t going to be a quality starter at the next level.
Matt Miller, WR- Matt Miller is the name of a NFL Draft analyst (@nfldraftscout) but he is also a sophomore wide receiver on Boise State’s offense. He has been their most productive receiver this year as the 6’3”, 215 pound wideout produced 60 receptions, 679 yards and 5 touchdowns. He may be matching up with Desmond Trufant today, so I’m interested to see how he does.
Holden Huff, TE- Huff is Boise State’s leading receiver at tight end despite only being a freshman. He’s listed at 6’5”, 213 pounds so he is essentially just a really big receiver at this point, but as he fills out his frame he could become a very intriguing joker tight end prospect. He only had 15 receptions, 215 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he is still only a freshman. Keep an eye on him in the future.
Demarcus Lawrence, DE- Lawrence and Ukwachu are two players I am very excited about. Lawrence is only a sophomore but he led Boise State in tackles for loss and sacks this year, his first with the program. He has 8.5 sacks, 5.0 TFL, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery (returned for a TD), an interception and a blocked kick. He is listed at 6’3”, 242 pounds and has some burst off the ball. I haven’t seen enough of him to have a great feel for his game, but he stuck out to me immediately when I watched Boise State a couple weeks ago. He’s may already be their best defensive player already despite only being a sophomore. ****UPDATE**** According to @IDS_BroncoBeat Lawrence has been sent home for a violation of team rules and will miss the bowl game against Washington. This is Lawrence’s second suspension. Huge loss for Boise State and concerning for such a talented player.
Samuel Ukwachu, DE- Ukwachu stuck out to me just as quickly as Lawrence did and he is only a freshman. He is listed at 6’4”, 222 pounds and had 4.5 sacks as well as 2.5 TFL, 1 forced fumble and one pass break-up. He’s not a starter yet, but he is explosive off the ball and seemed to have impressive length when I saw him earlier this year. These two are going to be a dynamic pass rushing tandem for the next two years if Lawrence stays in school until he’s a senior. If not, next year they could be one of the better young tandems in the country.
Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, DT*- I haven’t paid attention to Tjong-A-Tjoe much when I’ve watched Boise State, but his name alone is intriguing. Add in the fact that he is an athletic 6’2”, 296 pound defensive tackle and the fact that he is only a junior who is originally from the Netherlands and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on him today. He’s flashed burst off the ball, some intriguing hand usage and he seems to have a good motor. I’ll be keeping a close eye on him today, but it seems that Boise State has certainly reloaded as far as their defensive line talent is concerned.
JC Percy, ILB- Percy is an undersized linebacker that likely won’t be a NFL Draft pick, but the 6’0”, 227 pound middle linebacker is a productive tackler who may not be a fantastic athlete, but could contribute on special teams and perhaps as a back-up linebacker at the next level. If he doesn’t make a NFL roster I think he may get CFL looks.
Jamar Taylor, CB- Taylor is a potential top 100 draft pick for Boise State. He is listed at 5’11”, 196 pounds and as far as I know he hasn’t been invited to the Shrine Game or the Senior Bowl yet. That surprises me a little bit, but hopefully he will be at one of them. I’m not that familiar with his game, but he is one guy I am definitely going to keep an eye on today. He is likely Boise State’s top 2013 prospect.
Darian Thompson, CB- Thompson is only a freshman but he has a lot of upside in my opinion. He’s listed at 6’1”, 197 pounds, he had 25 solo tackles this year, 3 pass break-ups, 3 interceptions and a fumble recovery. This will be my first game to really key on him, but I’m excited to see if he gets to match up with Kasen Williams at all today. They’re both talented young players, so keep an eye on Thompson.
Washington:
Keith Price, QB*- Price was a popular name as he took the Pac-12 by storm as a sophomore last year and capped it off with a terrific performance against Baylor’s pathetic defense in Washington’s exciting loss in the Alamo Bowl (video courtesy of @jmpasq, follow him on Twitter). This year he has underwhelmed and it is reflected in the win column for Washington and on Price’s personal stat sheet. He doesn’t have great arm strength, though I do think it is above average, as is his accuracy. He looked like a potentially special player last year, but he has come back down to Earth this year. He’s athletic and he has a flair for the improvisational play, but his decision-making could use improvement and while he still has a year of eligibility left it’s hard to project him as anything beyond a Day 3 pick at this point. Still, he has more than enough talent to be a quality college starter, and if Boise State sleeps on him he could surprise them with a performance reminiscent of his game against Baylor last year. He’s got plenty of weapons to choose from, most notably Austin Sefarian-Jenkins and Kasen Williams.
Bishop Sankey, RB- Sankey is a player that I am not at all familiar with, but in replacing Chris Polk this year the 5’10” 200 pound sophomore has produced 1,234 rushing yards (4.76 ypc) and 15 touchdowns as well as 175 yards on 27 receptions through the air. If Boise State can slow him down it will make Washington one dimensional and put a lot of pressure on Keith Price to carry the load, but if Sankey makes plays and Boise State has to put an additional safety in the box Price is going to take deep shots down the seam to Sefarian-Jenkins and on the outside to Kasen Williams. Much like Polk was last year, Sankey is the cog that makes this offense go.
Kasen Williams, WR- Williams is a sophomore receiver that I really, really like. He is listed at 6’2”, 216 pounds and he has impressive athleticism, hands and he has been making plays since he was a freshman last year. He has 6 touchdowns this year (matching his production as a freshman) and he gives Washington a dynamic duo of pass catchers between himself and Sefarian-Jenkins. They’re both future NFL Draft picks, though ASJ will likely go higher. Still, Williams is a very impressive talent and I can’t wait to see him against Jamar Taylor today.
Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, TE- Sefarian-Jenkins, or “ASJ”, is the best tight end in the country. I love Tyler Eifert, but ASJ is better in my opinion. He isn’t eligible for the draft this year, but I think ASJ is going to be a 1st round pick next year barring injury and he reminds me so much of Tony Gonzalez. He stuck out immediately when I watched Washington last year to get a look at Chris Polk and he has become incredibly popular ever since. I’d like to think I was one of the earliest on his bandwagon, but regardless of how early I was or wasn’t a fan of his it’s blatantly obvious that he is a very special talent at tight end. He is a player that Boise State just won’t have an answer for on defense and if Washington wants to win they need to get him the ball early and often.
Josh Shirley, DE/OLB- Shirley is a player that stuck out a lot against Baylor and RGIII last year and he has a lot of explosion off the ball to threaten the edge with the speed rush. I’m interested to see how Boise State deals with the talented sophomore because he could give Southwick a lot of problems off the edge. He’s undersized at 6’3”, 230 pounds though so if you run at him you can wear him down. I imagine that is the gameplan for Boise State today with DJ Harper. He has 15 sacks the past two years (6.5 this year) though, so don’t be surprised if he gets another one today.
Andrew Hudson, DE/OLB- Hudson is a player I’m not as familiar with as Shirley but he is a talented pass rusher as well. He’s more filled out than Shirley at 6’3”, 249 pounds and registered 3.5 sacks as a freshman before totaling 6.5 this year to tie Shirley for the team lead. These two are both just sophomores but they have plenty of upside and I’m very interested to see them play against a balanced offense like Boise State today. If they can hold up versus the run and put some pressure on Southwick they will have a chance for an upset.
Danny Shelton, DT- Shelton is yet another talented sophomore on Washington’s defense, but Shelton has been tasked with replacing Alameda Ta’amu after he graduated last year, leaving a gaping hole at nose tackle (literally). Shelton is still very young, but the squatty 6’1”, 317 pound defensive tackle played a key role in upsetting Stanford earlier this season and if he continues to progress he is going to be a very appealing 3-4 NT at the next level. He hasn’t offered a ton of pass rush thus far, but if he can plug up the run and force Boise State into 3rd and longs Washington will have a great chance at an upset today.
Desmond Trufant, CB- Trufant is a talented senior corner with a NFL lineage thanks to his brother Marcus. He will likely be a Day Two pick (2nd-3rd round) and I am looking forward to seeing him today and in person at the senior bowl. He is Washington’s top NFL prospect, so I am looking forward to seeing him match up with Kasen Williams on the outside today. He’s listed at 6’0”, 186 pounds and has NFL caliber athleticism and is a talented man coverage corner. He only has 7 pass break-ups and 1 interception this year, but that likely has to do with teams avoiding him and testing other Washington corners instead. He has impressive ball skills and looks like a quality NFL starter to me.
Sean Parker, S*- I’m not very familiar with Parker’s game, but he is one of the Huskies’ starting safeties and he has a knack for coming up with interceptions. He has 7 in his young career, including 6 the last two years (2 this year, 4 as a sophomore). He is listed at 5’10”, 190 pounds and is from Los Angeles, California but has been overshadowed by the dynamic talent of Shaq Thompson this year. I think Parker has some talent of his own though, so I’m interested to see how he does today.
Shaq Thompson, S- Plenty of people are familiar with Thompson, but in case you aren’t he was one of the best players in California and one of the best safeties in the nation coming out of high school and he has predictably made an immediate impact as a true freshman this year. I hope you’re sitting down, because the 6’2”, 215 pound safety has 66 total tackles (40 solo, and he packs a punch as a hitter), 6.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 3 pass break-ups, 3 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery and a blocked kick. Don’t be surprised if this dynamic safety is making plays all over the field today. However, he is still young, so it will be interesting to see if he makes any freshman mistakes against a historically disciplined Boise State team.
