I've been without a computer since coming back from Chicago this weekend after it crashed on me, but wanted to post some thoughts on Penn State DE commit Daniel Joseph after covering his game on Saturday.
Joseph plays on a Lake Forest Academy team that is not very good. They are a boarding school bringing in players from all over the world, so you have guys like Joseph and three-star OT Thomas Schaeffer playing alongside guys who are 5-5, 120 pounds and only about 30 players on the team. Joseph is definitely the vocal leader and essentially runs the show. He even sent a sub back to the sideline when he didn't feel like coming out. And, Jospeh almost never comes out of the game. Besides his role as a DE/OLB he also plays tight end, kicks off, punts and is on the kick return team.
I was actually very impressed with what Joseph did on offense. He is an athletic kid with some ball skills and had a nice 15-yard TD catch in the second quarter. I'm not projecting him to TE at the next level because I see him fitting DE in the Big Ten more effectively, but it was a nice look at his athleticism and movement skills.
Defensively Joseph kind of lined up wherever he wanted. A lot of times that was standing up in more of an OLB role. He tried coming off the edge from a more conventional DE spot, but heard him yell to his coach after a few plays there that he did not think he was very effective from that spot and was going back to a two-point stance. I have had some concerns about his size in the past, but that was less noticeable on Saturday. Not sure if it was the guys around him or if he just grew a little, but did not see his length or bulk posing a concern long term. Overall, would say his stock ticked up slightly after this most recent eval.
Joseph plays on a Lake Forest Academy team that is not very good. They are a boarding school bringing in players from all over the world, so you have guys like Joseph and three-star OT Thomas Schaeffer playing alongside guys who are 5-5, 120 pounds and only about 30 players on the team. Joseph is definitely the vocal leader and essentially runs the show. He even sent a sub back to the sideline when he didn't feel like coming out. And, Jospeh almost never comes out of the game. Besides his role as a DE/OLB he also plays tight end, kicks off, punts and is on the kick return team.
I was actually very impressed with what Joseph did on offense. He is an athletic kid with some ball skills and had a nice 15-yard TD catch in the second quarter. I'm not projecting him to TE at the next level because I see him fitting DE in the Big Ten more effectively, but it was a nice look at his athleticism and movement skills.
Defensively Joseph kind of lined up wherever he wanted. A lot of times that was standing up in more of an OLB role. He tried coming off the edge from a more conventional DE spot, but heard him yell to his coach after a few plays there that he did not think he was very effective from that spot and was going back to a two-point stance. I have had some concerns about his size in the past, but that was less noticeable on Saturday. Not sure if it was the guys around him or if he just grew a little, but did not see his length or bulk posing a concern long term. Overall, would say his stock ticked up slightly after this most recent eval.
