The Rivals and 247Sports “analysts” have come out with the top 8 ranked college football prospects in the class of 2021. They had some, like Dekel Crowdus and LaVell Wright, with whom we too are impressed. Both Crowdus and Wright were toward the top of the two prospect-lists. KPGFootball feels there were some glaring omissions whom would have appeared on our list had we been charged with compiling one.
There is an easy answer for why that is. At KPGFootball, in every list of players we have ever published or any All-State team we have compiled, we are NOT grading college prospects, we are evaluating high school football players. There is a difference.
For instance, we wrote about a fantastic prospect from Michigan just last night who has been offered by the University of Michigan though only just completing his freshman season. Now the kid has a fantastic frame, comes from a fine football pedigree stocked with both college and NFL players, and someone Jim Harbaugh felt comfortable offering. Coach Harbaugh, in offering him, is wagering the kid will develop into a fine player for him in four to six years.
As for the prospect’s on-field performance in 2018, he didn’t play a single down of varsity football at his high school. Had we compiled a best of the class of 2022 players in Michigan, he wouldn’t have been on it. We don’t care whether he’s a prospect because we aren’t a ratings service. This “prospect” didn’t play varsity football in 2018. KPGFootball lists and ranks players, not prospects. We believe some people should be rewarded for what they have accomplished not just for what they may be able to someday accomplish.
Now, we can’t tell you what kind of prospect Russ Beshear is from Princeton, Kentucky (Caldwell County High School). What we can tell you is he is one Hell of a football player and someone who should have been on the KPGFootball, sophomore, All-State team. We missed on him when we failed to include him and all we can say is LB is 2021’s deepest and most impressive position from a standpoint of players who have produced on Friday night. It isn’t that Russ had a better season than any of the four LBers on our team and should have been listed to one of their exclusions; it is just that he should have made the team too. Our bad.
Now, Princeton will open play in the 2A classification after having been in the 3A classification in 2018. If you think that makes the path any easier you are completely deceived. Classification in Kentucky is meaningless in football. There are both good and bad teams and both play in all six of Kentucky’s classifications. Caldwell will still have to get through Mayfield and Murray High School to advance deep into the Class 2A playoffs and buddy, that ain’t no skip through the park.
While still playing Class 3A football, Beshear was the 7th highest QB “sack-master” in the classification with 11 QB-sacks in 11 games played. He was No. 20 in the classification in total tackles (92) and 2nd in 3A for tackles behind the line of scrimmage with 22. Thankfully, he is back in 2019 to help lead a defense returning most of its playmakers along the first two-levels.
What will be different for Beshear in 2019 is he will likely start for the Tigers at QB on offense. Now this is the same offense which has been filling the skies with aerials under QB’s Sindelar, Burns, and Jaggers so the first thing Tiger fans will say is they didn’t know the 5-10, 170-pound “hit-machine” was such a pin-point down-field passer. Well he may or may not be, but it is pretty much a given the staff is going to tweak the offense, in 2019, to fit Beshear’s skill set and not try to cram any square pegs in any round holes.
The word out of Princeton, Kentucky is the staff feels having a head-hunter like Beshear at the QB slot will make the offense more of an athletic, rough and tumble, pound the ground type attack than it has been in the recent past. What KPGFootball likes about the strategy is, in high school football, when you don’t have a polished passer like a Joby Jaggers, it is a sound decision to take the best football player and put him at the offensive controls. We believe that is exactly what the Tigers are doing.
It will be an exciting time at Caldwell County High School on the offensive side of the football and we believe Russ Beshear will do well running the offense the staff entrusts to his operation. Why shouldn’t he? Though only entering his Junior season in 2019, Beshear sure has done everything else they have asked of him and done it better than pretty much anyone else in the entire commonwealth. You know why he’s had so much success? It’s because the kid is a football player, that’s why!
Reporting for KPGFootball, this is F.W. Long, reminding all of you ballers out there to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE.
If you enjoyed this article and wish to gain full-access to the site, then subscribe monthly to Kentucky Prep Gridiron by following the prompts!
© The information contained on this site is the copyrighted intellectual property of KPGFootball. Any unauthorized dissemination of this material without the author’s express written consent is strictly prohibited!
Leave a Reply