US Army AA Game Notebook

Braden Gall
Athlon Writer
January 08, 2008
The U.S. Army All-American Bowl was played last Saturday. The high school All-Star game is a collection of some of the nation's top senior athletes from around the country. With that we tap into Athlon Sport's recruiting guru Braden Gall who will be giving us periodic looks at recruiting through over the next few months. You can catch more of Braden at The Unofficial Visitor Heading into this game I really felt that the offensive skill position players were better on the West team and that the defensive front seven was better on the East team. That was pretty much how the game played out with one exception. No one can stop Terrelle Pryor. There is no substitute for supreme talent. It was a clean sweep from the top prospect in the nation. He took home not only the win today but also the games' Most Valuable Player and the US Army National Player of the Year award too. It is very easy to see that he is clearly the best player in the nation. Some random thoughts.... The athleticism was very apparent at the quarterback position for the East team with Pryor, Star Jackson and MarQuies Gray. The West had no answer for the speed at the QB position. Miami defensive tackle prospect Marcus Fortson was dominate as the East shut down the West ground game. The linebackers were all over the field led by another Miami defender Arthur Brown. There is no way Brown plays in the middle. He was noticeably smaller than guys like Steven Filer and Etiene Sabino. Brown will be a fabulous weakside backer. The wide receivers for the West were phenomenal. D.J. Shoemate, Dan Buckner, Jameel Owens and particularly Michael Floyd played well. I would have liked to see Shoemate used more out of the back field. I am very high on all four of these kids. Gerell Robinson is very raw and very good. He is a smart, well-spoken kid that has freakish size and athleticism. He may want to redshirt at Arizona St to learn the subtleties of the wide receiver position. He is gifted enough to play right away though. Speaking of the Pac-10. The west coast had a great day landing three of the kids announcing on Saturday. Robinson is headed to ASU; Solomon Koehler leaves Hawaii for the desert and Arizona; Covaughn Deboskie chose Cal. Alabama and Georgia are in a heavyweight bout for the SEC recruiting race. After stealing A.J. Harmon from Clemson, the Bulldogs are making a strong push for not only the SEC crown but maybe the top class in the nation. With Gray's commitment to Minnesota, Tim Brewster has found a piece to build a future around. The Gophers' class is very strong as the Big Ten doormat has dipped into Texas, Chicago and now Indianapolis to snag a lot of solid prospects. ANNOUNCEMENTS: AJ Harmon - Georgia Patrick Johnson - LSU Shayne Hale - Pitt MarQuies Gray - Minnesota Ryan Williams - Va. Tech Solomon Koehler - Arizona Gerell Robinson - Arizona St Covaughn Deboskie - Cal Brandon Smith - Michigan

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