2008 Recruiting: CB Ryan St. Julien

via www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net
Ryan St. Julien
Catholic-New Iberia
New Iberia, Louisiana
6'1" 169#
4.58 second 40

I really love the cornerbacks in this class, and St. Julien is the first of the true corners that we will profile.  If you want a comparison for Ryan St. Julien, I would say that he is very similar to Jonathan Zenon.  St. Julien is a good but not great athlete, but with a serious nose for the ball when it is in the air.

As a consensus 3-star, St. Julien is not the most heralded of the group of corners we have coming in this year.  That honor goes to Patrick Johnson, who looks to be a guy who the coaches will have a hard time keeping off the field.  St. Julien is more of a project.  His speed will not wow you, though I think his 4.58 number is honest.  His videos show him running receivers and backs down from behind, which, when you consider that a difference of 0.2 seconds over 40 yards is the equivalent of about 2 steps, to be able to run down anyone from behind when the other person is going full speed, you have to have pretty good speed yourself.

St. Julien has good height for a corner, though he will have to get bigger without losing speed.  His best asset seems to be his hands, however.  His videos show him breaking up a ton of passes and making several interceptions.  The kid can just get after it when the ball is in the air.  

When you think about it, corners don't really actually get a hand on the ball very often.  Most corners, even the really good ones, mostly just force the QB into a bad throw that the receiver can't catch.  St. Julien tracks the ball down, whether it is well-thrown or not.

Of course, there's no telling if he'll be able to do that at the college level, but remember, this coaching staff chose St. Julien over 4-star in-state player Robby Green, who went to Bama.  St. Julien has his work cut out for him, as he'll have to beat out some other very good and more heralded players at his position, not only from this recruiting class but from the next one (and the previous one).  If he develops though, he could end up being the real surprise of this class.