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This Wednesday, February 5, 2014, is the day college football recruits will sign their National Letter of Intent and fax it to the school of their choice. As Jon Morse noted on Monday, all indications are that K-State will sign its highest-rated recruiting class of Bill Snyder's second tenure in Manhattan. The other BOTC authors and I are previewing K-State's probable signees. You may notice a theme in this post, and there's a reason for that: I live in the same school district as three-fourths of the probable signees in this post. No, I do not follow them around. I never actually saw any of them play, other than watching part of one game online.
Dalvin Warmack
Running Back
Blue Springs High School (Blue Springs, Missouri)
5'9", 185 lbs, 4.41 40
Among the probable high school signees, Warmack is the most acclaimed. The running back is a three- or four-star prospect depending on which service you're looking at. This year, he became the first player to win the Thomas A. Simone Award twice, recognizing the top high school football player in the Kansas City metro area. Warmack led the Blue Springs Wildcats (their logo should look familiar) to their second consecutive Missouri 6A state championship at this year's Show-Me Bowl in St. Louis. Blue Springs finished the season 14-0, with an average scoring margin of 40.5 - 11.1. In fact, Blue Springs only had two close games on the year, against perennial powerhouse Rockhurst and Missouri 5A state champion Lee's Summit West. Blue Springs is 27-1 in its last two seasons.
Warmack carried the ball 238 times for 2,152 yards (9.04 yards/carry) and 30 touchdowns in 2013. He added 20 receptions for 347 yards (17.4 yards/reception) and three receiving touchdowns. Believe it or not, that production was down from his 2012 numbers, in which he had 254 carries for 2,294 yards (9.03 yards/carry) and 39 touchdowns, plus 20 receptions for 269 yards (13.45 yards/reception) and six receiving touchdowns. On average in his junior and senior seasons, he carried the ball 17.6 times per game for 158.8 yards.
Warmack steps into a void at running back in Manhattan. Two-year starter John Hubert has exhausted his collegiate eligibility, and no returning running back had more than five carries last season (DeMarcus Robinson). In a K-State offense that will likely be led by Jake Waters at quarterback, Warmack's playing time next season will likely be heavily dependent upon how quickly he picks up pass protection packages in the Wildcat offense.
Elijah Lee
Outside Linebacker/Weakside Defensive End
Blue Springs High School (Blue Springs, Missouri)
6'3", 210 lbs, 4.56 40
OK, no need to tout Blue Springs' accomplishments again. But let's focus on the defense this time around. As noted above, the Wildcats held their opponents to 11.1 points per game in 2013, notching three shutouts. The numbers weren't quite as impressive in 2012, when Blue Springs recorded zero shutouts and allowed 19.1 points per game. But that points per game average is a little inflated by an 84-62 shootout with Lee's Summit High School. And the defense stepped up when it counted, holding DeSmet and Francis Howell to 10 points total in the Missouri 6A semifinals and the Show-Me Bowl.
Lee exhibited consistent output in his junior and senior seasons, totaling 77 tackles in 2013 and 72 in 2012. Befitting his ability as both a linebacker and rush end, he had 32 tackles for loss in 2013, which was actually down from his 33.5 TFL in 2012. Oh, and throw in 24.5 sacks over the last two years (nine in 2013, 15.5 in 2012).
With a 4.56 time in the 40-meter dash, Lee should have the speed to match up against spread passing attacks in the Big 12. He could very well fit in the mold of a Justin Tuggle in Manhattan, playing both at linebacker and as a stand-up defensive end.
With Tre Walker and Blake Slaughter graduating this year, there will be openings at the top of the linebacker depth chart. But Lee will face an uphill battle at the position, with Jonathan Truman and Charmeachealle Moore returning, underclassmen competition from Trent Tanking, Nick Ramirez and Dakorey Johnson, and highly touted junior college transfer D'Vonta Derricott.
Kaleb Prewett
Safety
Blue Springs High School (Blue Springs, Missouri)
6'1", 195 lbs, 4.40 40
Are you tired of me talking about Blue Springs prospects yet? Fine, then go watch them beat Columbia Rock Bridge High School, 35-14, to win their second consecutive Show-Me Bowl (you should be able to watch them win the 2012 state title at that link, too). Prewett notched 53 tackles, including three tackles for loss in 2013. He also intercepted five passes, broke up another five, and forced two fumbles. As usual with high school defensive backs, he also played wide receiver, so let's hope those ball skills transfer.
Assuming he plays safety at K-State, the Wildcats have a gaping hole with Ty Zimmerman's departure. Prewett obviously won't fill that gap immediately, but the sooner he can contribute, the better. As we saw this year, K-State isn't exactly deep at safety behind Zimmerman.
Sam Sizelove
Inside Linebacker
Argyle High School (Argyle, Texas)
6'2", 225 lbs, 4.60 40
We move from the state where I currently live to the state where I used to live. Argyle is an outer suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, just south of Denton. Continuing with the trend above, Sizelove played for a state championship team, as Argyle won the 3A, Division II state championship this season. Argyle finished the season 15-0, with one shutout and seven more games in which they held their opponents in single digits (16.9 points per game).
K-State beat out Baylor, Iowa State and Houston in Sizelove's recruitment. As mentioned above, there are opportunities at linebacker with 2013's departing seniors, but there's also plenty of competition at the position. Sizelove will join fellow Argyle (Liberty Christian) product David Smith, who will be a senior linebacker on K-State's roster next season.
WATCH Sizelove's highlight video at hudl.com.
NEXT: Wildcat00 checks in with four more commits.
