Eastern Pa. Top Running backs for the upcoming season
- Thread starter lilromeo
- Start date
Easton’s Nahjee Adams is our best college prospect at the position since Ovid Goulbourne in 2004. He was 6A All State last year with 1,863 yards and 26 touchdowns. Not sure of his 40, but he’s 5’11 205 and has good top end speed. Currently has offers from some MAC schools and Temple, recruiting was kind of heating up when the world shut down - I know BC, Syracuse, and Pitt all stopped through to see him for school visits and I’ve been given the impression BC likes him a lot. The team is going to under achieve, but he’s quite good.
The other really good back returning in D11 is Isiah Rico from Parkland. He ran for 1,600 yards and 24 TDs last year. He’s 5’9 200, so probably not an FBS player, but he’s incredibly strong pound-for-pound and will likely be really productive again.
The best back is probably Sam Brown from LaSalle. He’s big (6’2 180 as a sophomore) and has a solid list of offers - Kentucky, Baylor, Michigan State, West Virginia being the top. He’s probably the best running back/receiving threat in eastern PA.
If D3 is considered the East, they have a really good crop. Nick Singleton from Governor Mifflin is one of the best rising juniors in the country. Penn State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Wisconsin have all offered and on 247 he’s a top 100 player in the country. He ran for 1,700 yards and 32 TDs last year and was All State in 5A.
District 3 also has Timmy Smith from Central Dauphin back, who was a 6A All State linebacker last year and ran for 1,350 yards and 20 TDs. I don’t see recruiting attention, but he’s a good size (6’1 195 and wrestles 182) so I would imagine he’ll play somewhere.
In D1, Khalani Eaton from North Penn was all conference last year and is the best guy on that offense, running for 1,600 yards and 19 TDs last year. He’s a huge kid (5’11 210 as a sophomore) and should be the best back in the District.
Im not sure who else D1 has returning, but I’m sure there is somebody big I am forgetting.
I have only seen Brown and Timmy Smith both solid RBs. Derick Davis I understand is another . Im sure there are some under the radar Rbs that should be noted and how about mentioning some of them by our people here that follow teams eg Jack Fallon from last years CB West team that was a super back but not well recognized before the season last year.
If we’re including out west, Davis might be the best back in the state. Going to play safety at the next level, but he’s a monster.
The other big time western pa back in Eddy Tillman from PCC. Rushed for over 2,000 yards last year and I think has a Penn State offer. Little guy in the Eugene Jarvis mold.
Luke Meckler I think is back at Pine-Richland, he’s a track guy who has been incredibly productive in his career.
Adams probably isn’t going to be showcased at all this year in the state, other than maybe if we win D11 he’ll get swallowed up by the SJP defense, but he’s the real deal. Really decisive runner with strong vision, then is big enough to run over guys at the second level. He played slot receiver as a sophomore, and has really good hands in a way that I think will translate to college well. I think he’s fast but doesn’t have elite speed, which is why it’s mostly mid-majors recruiting him, but a really good high school running back. If he played on a better team, he’d be a big star. He’s definitely the best player in the Lehigh Valley - obviously not Saquon by any stretch of the imagination, but probably the best running back up here since Barkley. As a high school player, I’d put him in the class with like Andre Williams, Ahkeem Smith, Ovid Goulbourne, Tosh Riddick (for the older timers), etc.
Barr and Barlow played behind Burrell, Barr will be a junior next year. Here's his Hudl highlights from last year: https://www.hudl.com/profile/9471287/Bryheem-Barr
That makes more sense on Tillman - I knew he was tiny, which is why him having an offer stuck in my head (it was weird), maybe I just saw a picture or something from a junior day and transposed it in my mind as Penn State actually offering him.
I couldn’t remember if Meckler was back, rather than look it up I took a guess. I had to lay off my fact-checker due to the pandemic.
Its a shame that Davis got hurt in the playoffs, I would have liked to see him on the biggest stage. Is Gateway going to be good enough around him again to make a deep run?
Gateway loses their QB and best defensive player as well as a couple glue kids. But overall I think they return about 7 or 8 on each side of the ball. They have a WR withe MAC level offers (Price) and have a couple other nice skill kids. OL returns a bunch too. But lots of two way kids.
Need to find a QB and a couple LBs and they should be really good.
I think they will be able to make a run, but P-R moving to 5A hurts their chances by a pretty big margin IMO.
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Ovid was quite a player - had the chance to watch him in the Eastern Final against the Skins at Bensalem. That game is on YouTube.
He certainly was, great dude too. He played well in that one, such a bizarre game. A weird team too, he was bigger than all of his offensive linemen that year.
The real statewide showcase was the year before, when he torched Cumberland Valley (the Dan Lawlor team) at Hershey Stadium in quarters. I would love for that game to turn up somewhere to watch again. I think he went over 100 against North Penn in the eastern final too. He’s third or fourth at Easton history in rushing yards.
His separator was he was just blazing fast at that size. Like ran a 4.4 at his pro day at West Virginia after he’d bulked up to 235 fast. I think he went to states in the 100 as a sophomore, then stopped running track for football. Nahjee doesn’t have that kind of speed, but he’s about the same size as O was as a junior, and Nahjee has a little more wiggle and is a little more physical as a runner. They’re also really similar in how they can line up at receiver or be a threat catching the ball out of the backfield.
Goulbourne had a nice post Easton career too. He was in the same recruiting class as Steve Slaton at West Virginia, so they moved him to outside linebacker pretty early in his career. He played a lot on those really good Rich Rodriguez WVU teams with Pat White and Slaton that won a couple BCS bowl games and almost played for the national title in 2007. I think he led them in sacks one year as a rush linebacker. He got a cup of coffee with the Ravens in the NFL, and last time I saw him, he was on the strength and conditioning staff at Arizona.
New, I talked to some Pr football folks this weekend. it looks like Johnson is moving out of state. Also heard the Schweiger kid got hurt in an accident and may not be able to play as well. Big losses for PR with what they already do lose. Now have to replace entire secondary as well as a nice receiver. I think things are a little bit more even in 5A now.
I’ve been reading up on gateway a lot this off-season, I think their legit and PR’s biggest threat in 5A. I’ve heard their next QB coming up is better than the last two they had, and they are well coached passing team with explosive athletes everywhere. The price kid is the best receiver in this class from the Wpial imo, and the JR they have may be the best in his as well. Add Davis in the backfield and they look pretty legit again. I think PR’s distinct advantage in 5A will be their play on the lines, they return basically all the kids that saw time last year and they all have experience against the pcc D line, NAs lines, and practice against the guys they had in 2018 as well for the senior linemen. Might be the difference for them. It’ll be interesting though how PR adjusts defensively now, because 5A has a lot more spread offense teams compared to the mostly ground and pound teams PR played up in 6A.
Tulla,
Barr was a senior last year. Barlow should carry the load this season. He'll be a junior. My hunch is that they'll be little, to no drop-off from Burrell.
Good to see you posting my friend, I hope you are doing well.
Thanks for the correction, Huck. It must be my age is catching up with me.
What do you think of the chances for a season?
Hardly an expert on this thing. Also, I’m not going to be ultra optimistic of Mr. Doom and Gloom. Current tea leaves, my own hunch (Not worth much) has me thinking we’ll be ok. However, check back in a week or two. That could change, ha ha
I see some of your posts on the PSU free board. My son and I [mostly my son] are on the lions den. Im still hanging on . When will CRNorth be a player again ?
Impossible to think when either CR school will be a player again. But that might apply to many of the schools in the Bux-Mont area. Level of play and talent has decreased so much in recent years.
I loved this guy since his freshman year at McDevitt and I often think about if he stayed there and played along side Lonnie Rice last year what a combination that would have been. Best of luck to him.