Gradey Anthony is a tackle whose star seems on the rise for North Oldham. @GradeyAnthony @BryceGrady1 @CSmithScout @FootballNohs @HopkinsCentral @_CoachManning @1776Bank @minguabeefjerky @kyhighs @HLpreps @MaxPreps @PrepSpin @KyHighFootball

Sophomore Grady Anthony is framed out just the way big-time programs like

Framed out offensive tackle sees his recruiting heating up quite quickly

If you like them framed out, this is your guy right here. He is tall (6’5″), he is lean (231-pounds), and he is long. He’s recently back from the Best of the Midwest (BOTM) combine where he really studded out in austere company. With D’1’s already circling, look for this kid to garner top of the class (’25) notoriety from the major recruiting services covering the Bluegrass.

HB Lyon, Scouting Division, KPGFootball

We got into a spirited debate on Facebook regarding whether a high school football team could beat a small college team (NAIA, NCAA-D2 or D3). Football parents all think their son’s high school team would give a Hell of a game to whatever small college program has the temerity to be recruiting their son (who is way too good to go there).

We hear this all the time. It is the latest installment of how misinformed “Football parents” really are.

Gradey Anthony

The truth…there isn’t a high school team in Kentucky beating any of the 17 or so colleges or universities fielding football teams across the Bluegrass; not Trinity, not Frederick Douglass, not St. Xavier, no one, period. Maybe we can arrange a game and call it the Loser has to Shut the Hell up Bowl.

We’re kidding. We don’t think an insurance carrier would agree to underwrite that game, talk about your liability headaches.

We did have one interesting comment during the debate. One guy actually said if the high school team didn’t start a kid under 17 and had plenty of legal 19’s on the roster, with five (5) FBS, Power 5 recruits across its offensive front and four to six (4-6) Power-5 DL’s in the rotation, then it would be a competitive game.

First of all, show me a Kentucky HS roster even remotely resembling that. Secondly, it still wouldn’t matter, the small college would still wipe up the field with the high schoolers. It is the anatomical difference between “developing” and “full grown.” Perhaps some of you, still holding out hope, should consult a Doctor.

There is an anatomical difference between “developing” and “full grown”

Fletcher Long, Senior Sports Writer, KPGFootball

Besides that, routinely across the Bluegrass, programs (regardless of level of competition) start sophomores up and down the lineup. This year’s sophomore class are ’25’s and almost as many ’25’s started across Kentucky in ’22 as ’23’s who were in the starting lineup.

One such top-25 is today’s feature, Gradey Anthony from North Oldham. Anthony plays both Lacrosse and Football. In football, Anthony is slotted at OT.

Anthony has the frame to play there at the next level. Next level programs are evaluating him hard.

Anthony has herd from Auburn, Purdue, Louisville, Bowling Green State, and Arizona State. Anthony attended the BOTM and really “studded” at that yearly, prestigious event.

Anthony was 3rd among OL at the 40-yards dash (5.31-seconds), 3rd in the pro-agility shuttle (5.03-seconds), and 3rd in the broad jump (93-inches or 7’9″). He performed well in the one on ones and was among the better framed young linemen at the event. Anthony’s been invited to Prep Redzone’s Prospect Tour, if that is any indication of the offseason he is in the midst of enjoying.

As for frame, well Anthony checks all the boxes. Anthony is tall (6’5″). Anthony is lean (231-pounds), a characteristic we will expound on further momentarily. Anthony is athletic (See above times plus have we mentioned “Lacrosse[?]”). Anthony is aggressive (Lacrosse was played to prepare Native Americans for war…and was sometimes used to settle disputes).

Now lean is important to colleges recruiting young “bigs.” We have been told by more than one college OL coach that he prefers getting long, tall, OL who are on the thin side so the program can get by with adding “good weight” as opposed to having to put the recruit on a diet before adding back “good weight.”

Takes less time they tell us. The prospects is ready for play quicker and the program gets more return on its investment.

The ‘Tangs could have been 7-5 as easily as they were 5-7

KHSAA statistical website

North Oldham had an interesting year in ’22. The Mustangs finished 5-7, but the final margin was one score or less in two of those losses. The ‘Tangs could have been 7-5 as easily as they were 5-7 with some breaks going North Oldham’s way.

This coming Fall promises to be different. One reason is the long-armed, tall, thickening, and physically maturing, D-1 prospect the Mustangs have to slot along its offensive front.

This is Fletcher W. Long, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!

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About Fletcher Long 1631 Articles
Two-time winner of Kentucky Press Association awards for excellence in writing and reporting news stories while Managing Editor of the Jackson (KY) Times-Voice

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