Kent State commit Tyrece Speaight was among the many well-known names at the recent Blue-Grey Regional Combine at the home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Safe to say, and after making more than a few stops there in years past, it was nice this past weekend to be back at Cincinnati Bengals’ Paul Brown Stadium for the Blue-Grey Regional Combine.
As always, there was no shortage of talent when it came to the prospects out on the field. Many prospects, in fact, left a lasting impression. That said, here’s a closer look at the best of the best.
Alex Wisnyai, QB, (OH): After an eye-opening debut right around this time last year, the 6-foot-3 and 210-pound junior delivered a well-rounded encore effort.
Nate Embry, QB, North Hopkins (KY): The 6-3 and 205-pound junior looked the part and played the part, too. The bottom line is, he possesses plenty of upside.
Jack Tirmonia, WR, Jackson (OH): A big target in the red zone, the 6-3 and 185-pound junior also did a good job on the sideline, underneath and down the field.
Isaiah Ebarb, WR, Conner (KY): The 6-foot and 190-pound junior made the difficult catch, often times, appear effortless. He caught everything thrown his way.
Justin Ellis, LB, John Hay (OH): Big and strong, his game seemed to be best suited for the second level and the 6-1 and 202-pound junior impressed throughout.
Tyler Jensen, LB, Plainfield South (IL): The 6-2 and 195-pound junior did not shy away from big stage. Same thing can be said about teammate Mitch Ganassin.
Andrew O’Bryan, LB, Paul Glazer (KY): The 6-3 and 225-pound junior has the type of frame desired by most coaches and scouts from schools at the next level.
Bryce Obeng, LB, Akron Firestone (OH): With a motor that simply didn’t stop, the 5-10 and 221-pound junior had one gear and went full-speed from start to finish.
Keeshon Brent, LB, South County (KY): The 6-foot and 200-pound junior was the fastest prospect in attendance. Mind you, that was regardless of size or position.
Tyrece Speaight, DB, Upper Arlington (OH): With a commitment to Kent State already in place, the 5-foot-10 and 167-pound junior put on quite a show for everyone.
Treyvon Akins, DB, John Hay (OH): The 6-foot and 171-pound junior is a jack-of-all-trades type and he proved to be capable of playing on both sides of the ball.
Royce Colbert, DB, Whitmer (OH): Certainly no stranger to this kind of environment, the 5-9 and 165-pound junior did well for the second time in as many years.
Mitchell Larsen, DB, Fairfield (OH): The 6-foot and 180-pound junior did not back down from any of the many challenges presented to him by the coaching staff.
Deonte Wells, DB, John Hay (OH): Aggressive, also eager to make a name for himself, the 5-11 and 155-pound junior turned out to be willing to put in extra work.
Bryce Workman, DB, Paintsville (KY): The 5-10 and 170-pound junior matched up again the top pass-catchers on hand. He held his own, too. And then some.
Demetrius Holt, DB, Louisville Male (KY): Not afraid to mix it up, the 5-foot-8 and 160-pound junior did well in bump-and-run coverage by being physical and fast.
Tyler Stiers, DB, Marysville (OH): The 5-11 and 190-pound junior turned some heads during the skills testing, and then, there was no drop-off during the one-on-ones.
Brandon Hagerdon, OL, Jefferson (OH): One of strongest recruits to show up, the 6-2 and 275-pound junior had little, or no, problems, with winning his exchanges.
Kaleb Slaven, OL, Delta (IN): The 6-5 and 255-pound junior displayed a mean streak, and in our book, there’s nothing wrong with playing a little, or a lot, of attitude.
Matt Prewitt, DL, Little Miami (OH): The 6-3 and 250-pound junior was seemingly without peer when it came down to players at his spot on the field. He dominated.
I thought trey binder competed very well. Won all his one on one match ups but 1.
A couple of our WRs said they liked how QB #16 in yellow threw the ball, said he threw a very good ball and thought he was the best throwing QB there. Also enjoyed how he picked up the players as they were out running routes. Said he was having FUN and tried to make others have FUN! Just wish we knew what player names went with each jersey # so we could track down QB #16 and follow him this fall.
I was surprised to see so many DB’s on this list. I watched both combines and found almost all of them unable to cover any of the receiver with out holding onto the jersey of the wide out. Most wide outs owned the DB’s but couldn’t get un-done from the constant egregious holding 10-15 yards deep into a route.
Nate, I think it is a fair statement to say the DB’s out there were sub par (except a few that completely stood out) for the level they compete at. I saw a couple of DB’s that had a pretty good showing against the WR’s. I saw two lock down DB’s, in which you did not mention, I saw great technique out of one DB – open hips, eye – hand, toe-toe coverage and exceptional speed. In fact! won two of the three combine metrics out of ALL the other competing athletes. When you make statement like “‘almost all of them unable to cover'” and “‘the constant egregious holding 10-15 yards deep into a route'” you made, generalized ALL the DB’s into rather overstated opinion if not from the field but of yourself as well. As for the receivers…C’mon MAN! they didn’t show up!
So, needless to say, what I saw and your comments don’t seem to add up.
Henry Larsen
April 30, 2015
I must say number 27 & 41 RBs were stood out A LOT! The linebackers could not stop them! Very impressive!
Davonte Kenney did very well despite the fact that he had an injury to his Achilles and tore it during the combine.