Top Talent in each region?

[19GHS87]

I plan on catching quite a few games this year in the Region C and Region D area. Who are some of the top players to watch in these areas? I'd like to catch some good football this season. Also, if you're from Region A and B, throw those names out there too, I'm not one to pass up a good road trip.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

IMO the top 3 players in Region C is 1&2.) JaVon Scruggs and DeVon Graves and 3.) Jaylan Fitzgerald from Dan River. Elite players on the 2a level.

 

[AdvocateOfMany434]

IMO the top 3 players in Region C is 1&2.) JaVon Scruggs and DeVon Graves and 3.) Jaylan Fitzgerald from Dan River. Elite players on the 2a level.

I moved to Hampton, VA recently and going to miss watching my Raiders weekly. Javon and Graves are special talents. Javon is now being recruiting by Liberty U and App State. I think Temple U too.

 

[Ryan4VT]

James Mitchell at Union in Region D is the best player in 2A, IMO. High 4* guy with offers from VT, Clemson, UT, WVU, Georgia and about 10-15 others.

He's worth watching if anyone hasn't. Hoping he comes to VT.

 

[AdvocateOfMany434]

James Mitchell at Union in Region D is the best player in 2A, IMO. High 4* guy with offers from VT, Clemson, UT, WVU, Georgia and about 10-15 others.

He's worth watching if anyone hasn't. Hoping he comes to VT.

HUH? Graves locked that dude down in Appomattox. Im not going to get caught up in the "STARS." Our kicker kicked and punted straight to him and he wouldnt even pick up the ball after the first time he picked it up. The special teams laid they wood on him and he didnt want anymore to do with running back kicks. His QB threw him a ball and Graves picked it off and he didnt even try to make a play on the ball to defend the pass from getting picked, nor did he try to make a descent effort to tackle him. I didnt see much in him last fall and he acted as if he was playing without a heart. I seen his highlights of basketball and he is a monster. He is a much better basketball player that football. Just my 2 cents.

 

[GatorBait1988]

I would agree that Mitchell has the potential to be the best player due to size and upside. 6'5, 230, and runs in the mid 4.6's at TE, that's lethal. We need to remember that these ratings are based off potential and not production/output. Not stating that Mitchell hasn't put up numbers, but his rating is based off what college scouts believe his rating is and what he has the potential to be.

 

[Ryan4VT]

HUH? Graves locked that dude down in Appomattox. Im not going to get caught up in the "STARS." Our kicker kicked and punted straight to him and he wouldnt even pick up the ball after the first time he picked it up. The special teams laid they wood on him and he didnt want anymore to do with running back kicks. His QB threw him a ball and Graves picked it off and he didnt even try to make a play on the ball to defend the pass from getting picked, nor did he try to make a descent effort to tackle him. I didnt see much in him last fall and he acted as if he was playing without a heart. I seen his highlights of basketball and he is a monster. He is a much better basketball player that football. Just my 2 cents.

HA!

You're basing that off of seeing him ONE time. Yes, Appo shut him down. But he was basically all they had at that point. Not hard to shut a team down that only has one true weapon. Same reason y'all beat Richlands 42-7. Not hard to beat a team with only 1 weapon (Howie didn't play so you just doubled Ball). Appomattox was the best team in the state last year and Graves is a big part of that. But you don't get an offer from the defending national champions if you aren't legit. Period.

He's the best player in 2A, and that's no disrespect to Graves.

 

[eh31]

HA!

You're basing that off of seeing him ONE time. Yes, Appo shut him down. But he was basically all they had at that point. Not hard to shut a team down that only has one true weapon. Same reason y'all beat Richlands 42-7. Not hard to beat a team with only 1 weapon (Howie didn't play so you just doubled Ball). Appomattox was the best team in the state last year and Graves is a big part of that. But you don't get an offer from the defending national champions if you aren't legit. Period.

He's the best player in 2A, and that's no disrespect to Graves.

Word.


Also, James Mitchell has been invited to the US Army All-American combine as well as the Under Armour All-American combine. Offers from Louisville, Miami, & Ole Miss among others.

He probably couldn't start for Appomattox though.

 

[AdvocateOfMany434]

HA!

You're basing that off of seeing him ONE time. Yes, Appo shut him down. But he was basically all they had at that point. Not hard to shut a team down that only has one true weapon. Same reason y'all beat Richlands 42-7. Not hard to beat a team with only 1 weapon (Howie didn't play so you just doubled Ball). Appomattox was the best team in the state last year and Graves is a big part of that. But you don't get an offer from the defending national champions if you aren't legit. Period.

He's the best player in 2A, and that's no disrespect to Graves.

Word.


Also, James Mitchell has been invited to the US Army All-American combine as well as the Under Armour All-American combine. Offers from Louisville, Miami, & Ole Miss among others.

He probably couldn't start for Appomattox though.

Im saying the kid played scared and needed a heart check that night!

You D1 and played liked that? Yall swva so I wouldn't expect anything else but a thumbs up for Mitchell. Grave was invited to them to and did rather well. He would start for appo no doubt at TE. Our TE is actually being looked at by LU and JMU. Be on the look out for #10 Drew Mann.

What a joke!!! You say richlands loss due to a one man show missing in action?! Ryan u are a trip.

 

[Ryan4VT]

Im saying the kid played scared and needed a heart check that night!

You D1 and played liked that? Yall swva so I wouldn't expect anything else but a thumbs up for Mitchell. Grave was invited to them to and did rather well. He would start for appo no doubt at TE. Our TE is actually being looked at by LU and JMU. Be on the look out for #10 Drew Mann.

What a joke!!! You say richlands loss due to a one man show missing in action?! Ryan u are a trip.

No, I said we lost by 5 TD because our best player was out. We weren't winning that game either way. I've said that since the day it happened. But with 11 on the field, it would have been a closer, more respectable game. He was the only player on our team that had the same speed as y'all, and that was very evident.

How many times do I have to say that Appo team was maybe the best high school team I've ever seen with my own eyes before you quit thinking I constantly put y'all down?

Not everything is a slight against you guys. I've never seen a team win 30 straight and still feel like they aren't respected as much as you try to point it out.

 

[AdvocateOfMany434]

Im saying the kid played scared and needed a heart check that night!

You D1 and played liked that? Yall swva so I wouldn't expect anything else but a thumbs up for Mitchell. Grave was invited to them to and did rather well. He would start for appo no doubt at TE. Our TE is actually being looked at by LU and JMU. Be on the look out for #10 Drew Mann.

What a joke!!! You say richlands loss due to a one man show missing in action?! Ryan u are a trip.

No, I said we lost by 5 TD because our best player was out. We weren't winning that game either way. I've said that since the day it happened. But with 11 on the field, it would have been a closer, more respectable game. He was the only player on our team that had the same speed as y'all, and that was very evident.

How many times do I have to say that Appo team was maybe the best high school team I've ever seen with my own eyes before you quit thinking I constantly put y'all down?

Not everything is a slight against you guys. I've never seen a team win 30 straight and still feel like they aren't respected as much as you try to point it out.

Ok cool, maybe i looked into what you said too much.

I dont see appo going undefeated this yr. hard to replace fleshman and tre walker in that back field. 4 OLs gone and speed on D will not be there this year. I actually think Heritage and DR gonna give Appo a good game this yr. I see Giles, Union being tough to beat this year. Im in Hampton VA now so i wont be going to games this year. I will catch a few though.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

Not taking any sides but I heard from a couple of Dan River players that Mitchell wasn't as aggressive as some of the other players they played this year. They shut him down the whole game but he did have a huge TD for the win. It happens sometimes in high school sports. His size and athletic ability alone is major D1. He's definitely deserving of all of the interest from major universities, however, I don't think I can say he's the best player in 2a. I'd have to give it to Graves from Appo.

 

[eh31]

Someone that folks outside of SWVA may have not heard about is Taymon Cooke, a WR/CB from Graham. He's was clocked at 4.40 at the USA Football combine and has an offer from UVA, as well as JMU and Campbell on the FCS level. I heard ECU was in Bluefield watching him work out last week too.

 

[19GHS87]

Someone that folks outside of SWVA may have not heard about is Taymon Cooke, a WR/CB from Graham. He's was clocked at 4.40 at the USA Football combine and has an offer from UVA, as well as JMU and Campbell on the FCS level. I heard ECU was in Bluefield watching him work out last week too.

I have heard very good things about him. He was at a camp in Charlotte a few weeks back. Watched Graham play at Giles last season. That kid can fly. Liberty, UNC, Marshall and Tennessee are suitors as well I hear. I'm wondering if Tech has shown any interest in this kid. I would think he would be on their radar.

EH. Is Graham returning a lot of talent? They had a very good team last season. Their line was a little undersized, I think that's what ended up beating them. As far as skill players, I would have put them up against anybody.

Martinsville had some good ball players too, but I think they were mostly seniors.

Ryan, what is Richlands returning?

 

[eh31]

I have heard very good things about him. He was at a camp in Charlotte a few weeks back. Watched Graham play at Giles last season. That kid can fly. Liberty, UNC, Marshall and Tennessee are suitors as well I hear. I'm wondering if Tech has shown any interest in this kid. I would think he would be on their radar.

EH. Is Graham returning a lot of talent? They had a very good team last season. Their line was a little undersized, I think that's what ended up beating them. As far as skill players, I would have put them up against anybody.

You can't teach speed and that's absolutely what Taymon has but he's a good route runner for this level as well. Everything I've heard about him around town says he's a good kid too. His dad makes sure he works hard and he takes him all over the east to camps and combines to show off his talent. I read that he ran the fastest 40 at that camp at charlotte that you mentioned. I'd imagine he will pick up a few more offers in the following months. I'm not sure if VT is looking at him but I do know he was on the sidelines for a game last season. I hope Fuente extends an offer because from my understanding that's where he would like to go.

Graham has a lot of talent returning but they do lose a few that will be hard to replace. Their line was definitely undersized and their biggest lineman is graduating. They have some bigger kids coming up but I'm not sure if they're ready yet. They lose Ben Meade at qb who ran their offense very well. I imagine they'll move Cam Allen to qb from receiver. He's got a good arm and he's hard to catch if he takes off, so I think they'll be fine at that position. The biggest loss is Jamorya Cousin at RB. They have a couple guys that will fill in and I'm sure do a good job but it'll be hard to replace a 2x 1st team all state back that could score anytime he touched the ball. I think they will have to get Taymon in the backfield some to be fully utilize the offense.

Defense wise they return (imo) probably the best LB in the region in Dante Vineyard. They lose Paris Ballard who was undersized but experienced in the secondary. Cousin will also be really hard to replace on D. Logan Surface was 1st team all state kicker and he's gone so hopefully they can get a soccer player in there to pick up where he left off.

Altogether they're a a lot of unknowns for Graham but I think they have the talent to be anywhere from a 6-4 team all the way to 9-1 if the younger guys play up to potential.

 

[19GHS87]

Thanks for the info and yes, Cousin will be a huge loss. I imagine Cooke will be dangerous on the jet sweep and the deep routes. Hopefully, Graham's new qb will have a good arm to get him the ball. As I mentioned earlier. I think that it will be Union, Graham, Richlands and Gate City coming out of Region D as the top 4 teams. Not sure who will come out on top. I'd have to lean towards Union or Richlands right now. Graham should have a lot of speed returning and Gate city was young last season and should return a lot of size, not a lot of team speed with that bunch, however. I'm not sure who else may step up in Region D as a contender.
Richlands should have a strong defense and Mance always has his offense clicking and it's always interesting to see what "new" players show up over there each season. Union has Mitchell, I don't know much more about them, but he is a threat to take it to the house on any given play. Gate City had good size, but not much team speed last season. They made tremendous improvement as the season went on. Should be interesting. I for one am a fan of the Regions and crowning a region champ, who goes to the state semis.

 

[Bo Bob]

HUH? Graves locked that dude down in Appomattox. Im not going to get caught up in the "STARS." Our kicker kicked and punted straight to him and he wouldnt even pick up the ball after the first time he picked it up. The special teams laid they wood on him and he didnt want anymore to do with running back kicks. His QB threw him a ball and Graves picked it off and he didnt even try to make a play on the ball to defend the pass from getting picked, nor did he try to make a descent effort to tackle him. I didnt see much in him last fall and he acted as if he was playing without a heart. I seen his highlights of basketball and he is a monster. He is a much better basketball player that football. Just my 2 cents.

I'll back this.
He may have the abilities and maybe he played sick this game. But after the first kick off and their first offensive series, he wanted nothing to do with the Raiders defense. I distinctly remember the interception and he made a mediocre effort at best to make the tackle.
We had three or four players that looked better then him out of that field that night.

 

[Bo Bob]

He was the only player on our team that had the same speed as y'all, and that was very evident.
.

Not sure about that. From what I remember he MIGHT have been THE fastest player out there. I remember from last year that he had serious wheels!

 

[19GHS87]

Someone that folks outside of SWVA may have not heard about is Taymon Cooke, a WR/CB from Graham. He's was clocked at 4.40 at the USA Football combine and has an offer from UVA, as well as JMU and Campbell on the FCS level. I heard ECU was in Bluefield watching him work out last week too.

To follow up with you. I was told that WVU will be visiting Graham High School next tuesday by one of old buddies. University of Nebraska has also contacted the school, so he must be a big-time prospect. At last Count, around 15 schools have visited the school, my friend tells me. Don't know as much about Vinyard. I'll have to watch him if I get to see the G-Men play. I want to make it a point to see them again this year. Probably be there for the Giles game. Do you know if they scrimmage Glenvar again? My friend said he hasn't seen a schedule yet.

 

[19GHS87]

Not taking any sides but I heard from a couple of Dan River players that Mitchell wasn't as aggressive as some of the other players they played this year. They shut him down the whole game but he did have a huge TD for the win. It happens sometimes in high school sports. His size and athletic ability alone is major D1. He's definitely deserving of all of the interest from major universities, however, I don't think I can say he's the best player in 2a. I'd have to give it to Graves from Appo.

I'm not taking sides either. I've seen a lot of football, didn't see that game. However, it's easy to make one player look bad when you have a team full of talent. I recall seeing Ahmad Bradshaw against Blacksburg in the early 2000s. He was held to negative yardage and I didn't think he was nearly as good as advertised. 2 Superbowl rings later, boy did he prove me wrong.
University of Georgia and Ohio State was on campus looking at Mitchell this week. He has around 15 or 16 D 1 offers. That's probably 15 or 16 more D 1 offers than any of those other guys you all mentioned. Those are the judges of talent that I trust, just saying. Not trying to be antagonistic or anything, but usually those guys know talent when they see it.

 

[Bo Bob]

He's got talent I'm sure. I don't doubt the ability is there.

But, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going".
When it got tough in that game he didn't step himself up.

Yea those guys know talent, but even in the NFL there have been #1 draft picks that were "BUSTS" too.

I also say that #9 on there team was MUCH MORE of a "player" than 82 was that day.

#9 came to play!!!! Ran hard and hit hard!

 

[BullRunFootball]

Bryan Wallace from Clarke. 6'5 245lb DE. Revolving door of schools talking to him on regular basis. Was 1st team all state his 10th and 11th grade year. No different this year. 3 time state champion in wrestling (he will be the favorite to win his 4th at heavyweight)

Simply put he is MAN and anyone who has seen him will attest to it.

All the kids listed are good players with lots of upside

 

[AdvocateOfMany434]

Bryan Wallace from Clarke. 6'5 245lb DE. Revolving door of schools talking to him on regular basis. Was 1st team all state his 10th and 11th grade year. No different this year. 3 time state champion in wrestling (he will be the favorite to win his 4th at heavyweight)

Simply put he is MAN and anyone who has seen him will attest to it.

All the kids listed are good players with lots of upside

That has always been my gripe. Why do the big guys on OL/DL every get nods for best player in an area? Only skill players (Wr, QB, rb, ect.) get the glory. Well until they get to the NFL and got bigger paychecks than the skill guys...LOL, OLs get PAID at elite level.

 

[AdvocateOfMany434]

That's probably 15 or 16 more D 1 offers than any of those other guys you all mentioned.

Now that was a shot in the side on Appo talent. Not to pump Graves up and be narcissistic, but Clemson, Notre Dame and many others I cant remember came by the school in recent weeks. Look.... Graves is truly overly committed and will graduate early December in 2018 to go start at NC State in Spring. He will not even be there for the Basketball or Baseball season, which sucks for Appo and good for Graves. He is pretty strongly committed to Wolfpack and this is turning many schools away. So please stop it with the amount of offers stuff. Graves is definitely not the only talent that could go D1 on the team, many will find that out next season. Graves is the only one that comes up often. All I know is when I was at a game this fall, a CB SHUT down a D1 talent that got 16 plus offers. Not to mention a kicker that kicked directly to him ON PURPOSE to pick up the ball. He had enough opportunity to prove he was a 16 plus scholarship guy.

SO....if RichlandsRyan said Mitchell is best talent at 2A and Graves shut him down last year. What the HECK does he think he would have done to Howie in the state game??? Yall had the POY in 2A at QB. Did ya OLine change up? He had same protection? He had plenty of options with talent for JLA to be successful, even the kid yall got from Graham that wasnt there in 2015?

 

[Bo Bob]

Bryan Wallace from Clarke. 6'5 245lb DE. Revolving door of schools talking to him on regular basis. Was 1st team all state his 10th and 11th grade year. No different this year. 3 time state champion in wrestling (he will be the favorite to win his 4th at heavyweight)

Simply put he is MAN and anyone who has seen him will attest to it.

All the kids listed are good players with lots of upside

3 time and probable 4 time state heavy weight champ is impressive for sure.
No one says the best player has to be a skills guy, that is for sure.

 

[Bo Bob]

HA!

Same reason y'all beat Richlands 42-7. Not hard to beat a team with only 1 weapon (Howie didn't play so you just doubled Ball).

I think Graves pretty much stayed on Ball the whole game. I could be wrong but I think Graves single covered him most of the game.

 

[19GHS87]

Taymon Cooke received an OFFER from WVU today. Just got the text from a friend. Congrats to that young man. I believe it's his 6th or 7th D -1 Offer.

 

[eh31]

Taymon Cooke received an OFFER from WVU today. Just got the text from a friend. Congrats to that young man. I believe it's his 6th or 7th D -1 Offer.

Offered by ECU & Liberty too!

 

[19GHS87]

Offered by ECU & Liberty too!

He performed very well in front of a lot of important folks in that camp a couple of months back. His name got out there very quickly. He had been at numerous camps before, but this was an elite camp and he may have been the top performer there.

 

[Ryan4VT]

Now that was a shot in the side on Appo talent. Not to pump Graves up and be narcissistic, but Clemson, Notre Dame and many others I cant remember came by the school in recent weeks. Look.... Graves is truly overly committed and will graduate early December in 2018 to go start at NC State in Spring. He will not even be there for the Basketball or Baseball season, which sucks for Appo and good for Graves. He is pretty strongly committed to Wolfpack and this is turning many schools away. So please stop it with the amount of offers stuff. Graves is definitely not the only talent that could go D1 on the team, many will find that out next season. Graves is the only one that comes up often. All I know is when I was at a game this fall, a CB SHUT down a D1 talent that got 16 plus offers. Not to mention a kicker that kicked directly to him ON PURPOSE to pick up the ball. He had enough opportunity to prove he was a 16 plus scholarship guy.

SO....if RichlandsRyan said Mitchell is best talent at 2A and Graves shut him down last year. What the HECK does he think he would have done to Howie in the state game??? Yall had the POY in 2A at QB. Did ya OLine change up? He had same protection? He had plenty of options with talent for JLA to be successful, even the kid yall got from Graham that wasnt there in 2015?

You are about the sorest winner I've ever met in my entire life. Hope the move works out for you. God bless.

 

[AntGZee]

TJ Pettway from Martinsville is a player to watch. He's a WR. He only played 3/4 of the year. I saw no team that was able to check him. Keep your eyes on this kid. He's the real deal.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

TJ Pettway from Martinsville is a player to watch. He's a WR. He only played 3/4 of the year. I saw no team that was able to check him. Keep your eyes on this kid. He's the real deal.

I second on Pettway. Kid's going to get some D1 looks this year. My apologies on not having him mentioned with the others I mentioned from that region.

 

[19GHS87]

TJ Pettway from Martinsville is a player to watch. He's a WR. He only played 3/4 of the year. I saw no team that was able to check him. Keep your eyes on this kid. He's the real deal.

I agree. I saw him make a couple of circus style catches in the Martinsville game that I attended.

 

[19GHS87]

Saw on Twitter that T. Cooke of Graham now has 10 D-1 Offers. Latest one from Marshall.

 

[19GHS87]

At last count, James Mitchell had 15 D 1 offers, including Georgia and Clemson. Pretty impressive.

 

[19GHS87]

You can't teach speed and that's absolutely what Taymon has but he's a good route runner for this level as well. Everything I've heard about him around town says he's a good kid too. His dad makes sure he works hard and he takes him all over the east to camps and combines to show off his talent. I read that he ran the fastest 40 at that camp at charlotte that you mentioned. I'd imagine he will pick up a few more offers in the following months. I'm not sure if VT is looking at him but I do know he was on the sidelines for a game last season. I hope Fuente extends an offer because from my understanding that's where he would like to go.

Graham has a lot of talent returning but they do lose a few that will be hard to replace. Their line was definitely undersized and their biggest lineman is graduating. They have some bigger kids coming up but I'm not sure if they're ready yet. They lose Ben Meade at qb who ran their offense very well. I imagine they'll move Cam Allen to qb from receiver. He's got a good arm and he's hard to catch if he takes off, so I think they'll be fine at that position. The biggest loss is Jamorya Cousin at RB. They have a couple guys that will fill in and I'm sure do a good job but it'll be hard to replace a 2x 1st team all state back that could score anytime he touched the ball. I think they will have to get Taymon in the backfield some to be fully utilize the offense.

Defense wise they return (imo) probably the best LB in the region in Dante Vineyard. They lose Paris Ballard who was undersized but experienced in the secondary. Cousin will also be really hard to replace on D. Logan Surface was 1st team all state kicker and he's gone so hopefully they can get a soccer player in there to pick up where he left off.

Altogether they're a a lot of unknowns for Graham but I think they have the talent to be anywhere from a 6-4 team all the way to 9-1 if the younger guys play up to potential.

I would expect an offer from Tech Soon. Cooke ran a legit 4.40 in Blacksburg today!! Wow, this kid can really put on the burners.

 

[eh31]

I would expect an offer from Tech Soon. Cooke ran a legit 4.40 in Blacksburg today!! Wow, this kid can really put on the burners.

I hope Fuente pulls the trigger and offers him.

I read that his 4.40 was the second fastest at the camp. Coleton Beck from Blacksburg High School reportedly ran a 4.29..

 

[19GHS87]

Beck is a Blacksburg kid too. 4.29 is amazing for a kid in Southwestern Virginia. Anything sub 4.5 at a camp like this will raise eyebrows and peak interest.

 

[lucustookis]

Keep your eyes on Pierson Prileau's son, who will be a Freshmen at Radford High. Although Div 1 Radford, he is going to be special and a major Div 1, high level FBS type recruit out of High School. He will start as a Freshmen at Radford this year. Although he will not be the best player in SWVA this year, by the time he's a junior, he will be in the discussion. He's that good.

 

[19GHS87]

I stand corrected. Cooke ran a 4.37. Anybody know if Graham is participating in any 7 on 7's? Blacksburg?