For what it's worth....
Deaton & my son are training together this morning. I've been sitting and talking to his father watching the 2 of them for the last hour or so.
Couple of observations....
- Deaton is very athletic for his size. For example, has the moves of a TE & has very quick feet. Pretty good muscle for his age & size. Honestly one of the more all around athletic OL's I've seen in a while.
- he will probably need a red shirt year depending on how much weight he gains his Senior season. Pretty "svelte" for an OL.
- he's a legitimate 6'5"-6'6". His dad is only about 6'1" and maybe 215lbs but said Dawson is still growing.
- The topic of recruiting and offers came up & he shared that Duke had offered this past week & he spoke very highly of them saying that he & Dawson really like their approach to recruiting.
- I asked about other schools like Texas Tech (I wasn't wearing any Tech stuff today, which is rare, so thought I might get a more honest assessment) & all he said was, "well one of Dawson's team mates is committed to Tech right now (Anderson).". Asked if that might play a factor into Dawsons decision & he flatly said, "no". He went on to say "Dawson wouldn't think twice about picking a school 2,000 miles away where he knew no one at all if it was a great, competitive program with the best academics", saying Dawson was very interested in a school/program with a good "academic reputation" like a Duke, USC (those were the 2 examples he used) & that all things being equal that would be one of the deciding factors.
- said he would likely be playing center this coming season. I thought that was of note b/c for whatever reason I had it in my mind that Anderson was the center. If that's the case, I guess they're rotating the line at FHS, idk.
- he indicated that staying in Texas was of no factor and not a priority. They live in Starwood, so money is clearly of no issue at all. Traveling to games for his parents is a non-factor.
Overall kid looks and has the athleticism of a stocky basketball player, pretty impressive. He's a strong kid too. As said, no bad weight on him, which is rare in HS lineman, but I have a hard time believing he's anywhere over about 265lb right now. He has the frame and ability to easily add at least 30-40 more lbs of muscle. He & his father are very nice people.
He & my son will be training together on Sat mornings for the next month or so & I'll share if I get any other pertinent info.
Deaton & my son are training together this morning. I've been sitting and talking to his father watching the 2 of them for the last hour or so.
Couple of observations....
- Deaton is very athletic for his size. For example, has the moves of a TE & has very quick feet. Pretty good muscle for his age & size. Honestly one of the more all around athletic OL's I've seen in a while.
- he will probably need a red shirt year depending on how much weight he gains his Senior season. Pretty "svelte" for an OL.
- he's a legitimate 6'5"-6'6". His dad is only about 6'1" and maybe 215lbs but said Dawson is still growing.
- The topic of recruiting and offers came up & he shared that Duke had offered this past week & he spoke very highly of them saying that he & Dawson really like their approach to recruiting.
- I asked about other schools like Texas Tech (I wasn't wearing any Tech stuff today, which is rare, so thought I might get a more honest assessment) & all he said was, "well one of Dawson's team mates is committed to Tech right now (Anderson).". Asked if that might play a factor into Dawsons decision & he flatly said, "no". He went on to say "Dawson wouldn't think twice about picking a school 2,000 miles away where he knew no one at all if it was a great, competitive program with the best academics", saying Dawson was very interested in a school/program with a good "academic reputation" like a Duke, USC (those were the 2 examples he used) & that all things being equal that would be one of the deciding factors.
- said he would likely be playing center this coming season. I thought that was of note b/c for whatever reason I had it in my mind that Anderson was the center. If that's the case, I guess they're rotating the line at FHS, idk.
- he indicated that staying in Texas was of no factor and not a priority. They live in Starwood, so money is clearly of no issue at all. Traveling to games for his parents is a non-factor.
Overall kid looks and has the athleticism of a stocky basketball player, pretty impressive. He's a strong kid too. As said, no bad weight on him, which is rare in HS lineman, but I have a hard time believing he's anywhere over about 265lb right now. He has the frame and ability to easily add at least 30-40 more lbs of muscle. He & his father are very nice people.
He & my son will be training together on Sat mornings for the next month or so & I'll share if I get any other pertinent info.
