Jeff Grimes dipped into the state of Louisiana for his newest offensive line prospect. Yesterday, the Tigers hosted a small off./def. linemen camp, with a few prospects in attendance, including LSU commit Adrian Magee, and 2017 Evangel prospect Ethan Harvey. One other notable player in attendance was Matt Womack of Hernando, Miss. Today, word came through that Womack pulled the trigger on committing.
Womack is a composite 3-star OT with an .8344 rating.
110 - 101 = Franchise Player. One of the best players to come along in years, if not decades. Odds of having a player in this category every year is slim. This prospect has "can’t miss" talent.
100 - 98 = Five-star prospect. One of the top 30 players in the nation. This player has excellent pro-potential and should emerge as one of the best in the country before the end of his career.
97 - 90 = Four-star prospect. One of the top 300 players in the nation. This prospect will be an impact-player for his college team. He is an All-American candidate who displays pro-potential.
89 - 80 = Three-star prospect. One of the top 10% players in the nation. This player will develop into a reliable starter for his college team and is among the best players in his region of the country.
79 - below = Two-star prospect. This player makes up the bulk of Division I rosters. He may have little pro-potential, but is likely to become a role player for his respective school.
247Sports themselves, rank him slightly higher as an 88. He holds offers from both in-state powers, State and Ole Miss, as well as South Carolina and a bevy of small schools. Womack stands at 6'7" and weighs 320 pounds. On the hoof, he's certainly big and broad shouldered, but his body is a bit softer in the middle than I'd hope it would be. The bloom is not yet off the rose with Jeff Grimes, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in regards to offering a prospect with relative little clout at this point. Let's take a look at some film and see what type of prospect Womack is.
Womack must be awfully impressive in camp. To me, considering his body (which can be reformed) and tape, this guy doesn't at all look like a high D1 level prospect. That said, he holds offers from four SEC schools, all coming within the last two months. I can't honestly get a great feel for what his skills are. There's very little pass protection on tape. He is not dominant at the point of attack. He plays high. He appears to play pretty light competition in Mississippi as well.
So what am I missing? Well, there's not a ton of tape of him moving. His offense basically asks him to down block over and over and over again. In a camp setting, where they put players through agility drills and have them try different techniques, you may get to see some of that untapped athleticism.
Frankly, for this one, I have to put trust in Jeff Grimes, because to me, this doesn't look like a prospect we should be taking in July of the recruiting cycle.
UPDATE
It's come to my attention the above highlights are from several years ago. Here's tape from last year:
Take back everything I said above? This tape has flashes of a flat-out dominant OL. Super impressed with how well he moves his feet for a 320-pounder. He can reach, he can down block, he can get to the second level. He brings some nasty with him, too, often flopping on top of his victims, much like 2014 signee Will Clapp.
Still don't love the soft gut, but it's not like he'd be the first lineman to play with that physique. Considering his current camp tour and growing offer list, my guess is that he won't remain so lowly ranked for much longer.