Recruit Rashan Gary is No. 1 with a bullet, but will he live up to the hype?
There is no suspense this year regarding the best high school recruit in the country. He is a 6-foot-5, 292-pound defensive lineman who runs a 4.8 in the 40-yard dash.
By
Dennis Dodd
•
5 min read
There is no suspense this year regarding the best high school recruit in the country. He is a 6-foot-5½, 292-pound defensive lineman who runs a 4.8 in the 40 -- the rarest of college football commodities.
He is Rashan Gary, No. 1 with a bullet.
“By far,” said Ryan Bartow, 247Sports national recruiting insider.
Now comes the juicy part. A week before national day, the world wants to know where Gary will land.
The juicier part. Gary has 30 offers. According to 247Sports he is mainly considering Michigan, Southern California, Auburn, Clemson and Ole Miss. The drool factor over top prospects is ratcheted up to a new level in Gary’s case.
It’s hard to tell what can transform a team more profoundly -- an elite D-lineman or that overall No. 1 prospect. Gary is both.
Look what Robert Nkemdiche -- the No. 1 overall recruit in 2013 -- did for Ole Miss. The Rebels’ previously porous defense became the "Landsharks," part of a program that beat Alabama in consecutive seasons.
Look what Nick Saban did for the Tide -- assemble perhaps his best defensive front, a group that became the foundation for a national championship.
“That’s the difference-making position. D-tackles that are also athletic are the hardest thing to find in the country,” Bartow said. “I’ve been up to see Rashan four times. He is your typical Deep South war daddy.”
War daddy. That’s the highest compliment football evaluators can bestow on a lineman. Except that Gary has been tearing it up in the Northeast. The Southeast typically pumps out elite defensive linemen like Brazil develops World Cup strikers.
Nevertheless, the prospects are bright for Gary if history is an indicator. The last overall No. 1 recruit not to be drafted was Penn State’s Adam Taliaferro (2000), who suffered a debilitating spinal cord injury in college. Since then, no overall No. 1 has been drafted lower than the fifth round.
Six have gone in the first round. Five became All-Americans. Two (Vince Young, Adrian Peterson) were named to Pro Bowls.
Over the past decade, seven of the 10 overall No. 1s have come from the Southeast. Five times in the past decade, that player has been a defensive lineman from an SEC school.
Gary?
While he holds 30 offers, the favorites are Michigan, USC, Auburn, Ole Miss, Alabama and Clemson. There is one final official visit to be decided upon this weekend, and Gary is deciding between going to Alabama or Clemson, according to Bartow. He may even visit both.
But only one of those teams has hired Gary’s former high school coach. Michigan linebackers coach Chris Partridge arrived from Paramus Catholic a year ago. He already had an existing relationship not only with Gary but also current Wolverines Jabrill Peppers and Juwann Bushell-Beatty, also from Paramus Catholic.
Partridge has proved his worth mining the rich load of talent back in New Jersey. If you want to suggest Jim Harbaugh had the forethought to hire Partridge to gain favor with Gary, go ahead. There’s nothing wrong with it.
“You see these high school coaches getting college jobs, these guys are skipping steps on the way up the ladder,” Bartow said. “In this instance, Chris did a great job and hasn’t even produced a big fish yet.
“He’s got a chance for national recruiter of the year.”
In fact, Partridge is one of three Michigan assistants among the top 23 in line for that award, as handed out by 247Sports.
Until the ink is dry on the National Letter of Intent, no deal is done yet. But Patridge was promoted recently to a role as an on-field position coach out of his previous role of director of player personnel. He already has five New Jersey commits credited to him.
A pair of top-100 Paramus Class of 2017 prospects, linebacker Drew Singleton and DT Corey Bolds, have already been offered by Michigan.
“Michigan,” Bartow said, “can get anyone they want from New Jersey.”
But can it get Rashan Gary?
Here’s how 247Sports’ last 10 overall No. 1 recruits have fared …
2015 -- Trent Thompson, defensive tackle (Georgia): First start was Week 5 vs. Alabama ... impressive freshman season with 25 tackles and 2.5 sacks
2014 -- Myles Garrett, defensive end (Texas A&M): The Aggies’ highest-rated prospect ever broke A&M’s sack record in only six games in his first season ... recorded 11.5 sacks (second in the league) as a freshman ... followed up as a sophomore with 12 sacks and 18.5 TFLs in 2015
2013 -- Robert Nkemdiche, defensive tackle (Ole Miss): Foundation of the Rebels defense that beat Alabama in consecutive seasons ... a rarity in that Nkemdiche can apply quarterback pressure from the tackle spot ... biggest Ole Miss recruit since Eli Manning in 1999 ... draft prospects dimmed when he fell out of a fourth-floor window in December.
2012 -- Mario Edwards, defensive tackle (Florida State): Only freshman to start on FSU’s defense in 2012 ... contributed greatly to the 2013 national championship team ... eight career sacks ... drafted in the second round by the Raiders, currently on IR.
2011 -- Jadaveon Clowney, defensive end (South Carolina): A unanimous All-American under Steve Spurrier, Clowney was the No. 1 overall choice of the Texans in 2014 ... 4.5 sacks in two years as a pro ... most famous for a viral video knocking the helmet off Michigan’s Vincent Smith.
2010 -- Ronald Powell, defensive end (Florida): Never lived up to the hype but started 20 games in his final two seasons on field (2011, 2013) ... in 2012, Powell tore his ACL twice ... drafted in the fifth round by New Orleans, he is currently with Tampa Bay
2009 -- Matt Barkley, quarterback (USC): Became one of the best quarterbacks in Trojans history, leading the program through a turbulent time due to NCAA penalties ... in 2011, set the USC single-season records for completions, yards and touchdown passes ... Barkley has been an NFL backup with the Eagles and Cardinals
2008 -- Da’Quan Bowers, defensive end (Clemson): The first Tigers commitment to be named the No. 1 overall prospect ... in 2010, Bowers was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year ... he has been with Tampa Bay since it drafted him in the second round in 2011
2007 -- Joe McKnight, all-purpose (USC): Hailed as one of the best high school players ever to come out of New Orleans, McKnight never attained big-time stardom at USC ... hailed as the next Reggie Bush, he definitely wasn’t
2006 -- Andre Smith, offensive guard (Alabama): Hard to believe this unanimous All-American spanned both the Mike Shula and Nick Saban eras ... Smith’s college career ended ignominiously when he was suspended from the 2009 Sugar Bowl for having dealings with an agent ... has started 65 of 74 games since being a first-round pick of the Bengals
