Penn State’s future at defensive end was on display Saturday, as 2017 prospects Damion Barber and Yetur Matos, as well as 2018 prospect Micah Parsons, all made the trip to Piscataway for the Rivals/Under Armour camp. Out of those three, I thought Parsons had the best day. As most of you know by now, his combination of strength and speed puts him in a special class. He used both to his advantage yesterday, showing why he’s a legit five-star candidate.
Don Bosco Prep sophomore Tyler Friday walked away as the D-Line MVP, but Parsons wasn’t far behind. Friday was basically the only person that had any success against elite offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson. Parsons never faced Wilson. From what I saw, that’s basically the only thing that really separated the two. I thought Parsons looked excellent.
Yetur Matos also showed why he’s one of the best in the region. I thought he did a good job at using his length to his advantage. When he was able create some separation, Matos beat his man nearly every time. He’s also developed a pretty nice swim move already. That’ll only improve as he gets stronger.
When it comes to Barber, he performed as I expected. He’s still pretty raw with his hands, but one thing I did notice throughout the day is that he understands the importance of leverage. The clips below don’t really show that - Barber only got a few reps during one-on-ones - but I noticed the coaches acknowledging his ability to get low and drive guys earlier in the day.
Below are the offensive lineman that Barber, Matos and Parsons faced in clips below. I'm also working on a video with D'Andre Swift and Mark Webb for tomorrow morning.
Damion Barber
#189 - Christopher Mayo - St. Augustine Prep - 2019
#176 - Samuel Vretman - Cheshire Academy - 2017 - UConn, Rutgers, Temple
Yetur Matos
#190 - Andrew Stueber - Darien - 2017 - 14 Offers, including PSU, Duke, UNC, Northwestern, Pitt, Tennessee
#176 - Samuel Vretman - Cheshire Academy - 2017 - UConn, Rutgers, Temple
#180 - Noah DeHond - The Peddle School - 2017 - Committed to Clemson
Micah Parsons
#175 - Aidan Rafferty - Gonzaga - 2018
#180 - Noah DeHond - The Peddle School - 2017 - Committed to Clemson
#176 - Samuel Vretman - Cheshire Academy - 2017 - UConn, Rutgers, Temple
#190 - Andrew Stueber - Darien - 2017 - 14 Offers - PSU, Duke, UNC, Northwestern, Pitt, Tennessee
Don Bosco Prep sophomore Tyler Friday walked away as the D-Line MVP, but Parsons wasn’t far behind. Friday was basically the only person that had any success against elite offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson. Parsons never faced Wilson. From what I saw, that’s basically the only thing that really separated the two. I thought Parsons looked excellent.
Yetur Matos also showed why he’s one of the best in the region. I thought he did a good job at using his length to his advantage. When he was able create some separation, Matos beat his man nearly every time. He’s also developed a pretty nice swim move already. That’ll only improve as he gets stronger.
When it comes to Barber, he performed as I expected. He’s still pretty raw with his hands, but one thing I did notice throughout the day is that he understands the importance of leverage. The clips below don’t really show that - Barber only got a few reps during one-on-ones - but I noticed the coaches acknowledging his ability to get low and drive guys earlier in the day.
Below are the offensive lineman that Barber, Matos and Parsons faced in clips below. I'm also working on a video with D'Andre Swift and Mark Webb for tomorrow morning.
Damion Barber
#189 - Christopher Mayo - St. Augustine Prep - 2019
#176 - Samuel Vretman - Cheshire Academy - 2017 - UConn, Rutgers, Temple
Yetur Matos
#190 - Andrew Stueber - Darien - 2017 - 14 Offers, including PSU, Duke, UNC, Northwestern, Pitt, Tennessee
#176 - Samuel Vretman - Cheshire Academy - 2017 - UConn, Rutgers, Temple
#180 - Noah DeHond - The Peddle School - 2017 - Committed to Clemson
Micah Parsons
#175 - Aidan Rafferty - Gonzaga - 2018
#180 - Noah DeHond - The Peddle School - 2017 - Committed to Clemson
#176 - Samuel Vretman - Cheshire Academy - 2017 - UConn, Rutgers, Temple
#190 - Andrew Stueber - Darien - 2017 - 14 Offers - PSU, Duke, UNC, Northwestern, Pitt, Tennessee
