KyPreps Radar Scan: 2021 prospects who are on schedule

Football analysts and coaches alike try to identify top prospects as early as eight grade in order to assess his potential, follow his development, and to develop relationships with him, his family, coaches, and trainers. Curmudgeons, cranks, and killjoys often express outrage and general sardonic sourpussery when a 6-foot-4, 290-pound eight grader picks up an offer from a Power-Five program, but where is the harm in that? If the kid doesn't pan out the university isn't bound to that verbal offer and if he becomes a national recruit, the school that offered early has a long standing relationship with him. It's a win-win scenario and to mix metaphors, the early bird gets the 5-star offensive tackle.

The truth is simple, the recruiting industry is a never ending arms race to get young athletes to pledge loyalty to an athletic program, athletic apparel brand, and in my case a recruiting analyst who is going to be there with them as their story unfolds. These young men are commodified as soon as they hit certain physical and athletic landmarks and you can bellyache about it all you want but millions of dollars ride on the ability of college coaches to identify and recruit top players earlier and earlier every year. To quote rogue LAPD Detective Alonzo Harris, The sooner you can match whats in your head with whats going on in the real world the better you're gonna feel." What's going on in the real world is that identifying college level players at a young age isn't rocket science, it's more of an art or a social science, if you will.

From a social-scientific standpoint, empirical scholars started studying the physiological and psychological development of children after the industrial revolution. Because developmental traits vary widely from one person to the next, trying to make an exact scientific claim one way or the other is like trying to nail jelly to the wall. Currently there are two main views on how people develop: the normative view and the discontinuity view.

Some scientists theorize that develop is a continuous and cumulative climb where change is gradual over time and thus forms our bodies and minds on a sort of "schedule" that can be charted, this is called normative development.

Other scientists claim that development is more abrupt, like a set of stairs rather than a gradually yet smoothly elevating ramp. This theory is called the discontinuity view and suggests humans grow at stages where they may spend more or less time at one stage before progressing to the next, which explains things like growth spurts. Other factors like nature (e.g., genes) and nurture (e.g., diet) also play key factors in physical development.

Those of us here at Rivals prefer prospects who develop according to the continuous and cumulative scale proposed by the normative theory. Those are your prospects like Leonard Fournette, Myles Garrett, and Jadeveon Clowney who were big as eight graders and continued to fill out over high school as one would expect. That makes rating them and projecting them to college and the NFL a whole lot easier than someone like Louisville Central's Keelan Cole.

Cole arrived at Central as a 5-foot-5 freshman, graduated as 5-foot-9 athlete, then grew four inches over the summer going into his freshman year at D-2 Kentucky Wesleyan. He didn't even have a Rivals profile. Cole is currently heading into his second year in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars after catching 42 passes for 738 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie. Empiricists who support the discontinuity view would point to Cole and say "this is what we're talking about."

For the purposes of this article, the normative view will be used to project which 2021 prospects are "on schedule" to fill out physically and start as sophomore.

Here are the 2021 Kentucky football prospects currently on KyPreps' radar:

Jordan Dingle is the younger brother of 2018 4-star Georgia Tech commit Justice Dingle. Football runs in his blood. The Rivals' staff got to see him at the Nashville Three Stripe Camp this season and the analysts on hand were very complimentary of his ability to get deep and make plays on the ball. He already holds an offer from Western Kentucky and started last year as a Freshman for Bowling Green. He will be a major cog in the Purple's offensive machine this season and a favorite target of 2019 QB Beau Buchanan. Dingle is: Ahead of Schedule.

Lavell Wright already holds an offer from UAB and he is firmly on in-state schools' Louisville and Kentucky's radar. He's already bigger than most running backs in his class and he may very well end up being an Aidan Robbins sized back before his Senior season. Wright is a big time prospect and should be a top ten prospect in the state around this time next year, he's clearly: Ahead of schedule.

Cox one of the biggest 2021 running backs in the class, nationally. The question is whether he translates to the next level as a running back, linebacker, or defensive end? Kentucky has already extended an offer to the Pulaski County standout and they (as well as the rest of the nation) will have three more years to figure out where he will play in college. As of right now he is: Ahead of schedule.

Weedman received an offer from Kentucky on June 12th without camping and only taking snaps at the varsity level as a long snapper. That may have been different if new head coach Phil Hawkins was there last year instead of at Doss and all expectations for this year is that he will be a major part of the offense as a tight end and on defense at defensive end.

"My coach, Phil Hawkins, has been getting my name out a lot, sending out pictures of me and things like that," Weedman told Cats Illustrated. "Letting people know my height and weight. He just talked around and I don't know how it happened but he got me an offer (from Kentucky)," said Weedman in an interview with catsillustrated.com

There is no Hudl video for Weedman and I've never seen him in person but Kentucky liked him enough to offer and all reports were that he looked the part at both Louisville and Kentucky summer camps this off season. Ahead of schedule .

Bates, like his teammate Weedman earned his offer with a solid performance at one of Kentucky's summer camps. He has no film from last season but the big guys get the offers before everyone else so apparently Bates looks the part of a future SEC lineman to the Kentucky staff. With one SEC offer in his pocket, Bates is: Ahead of schedule.

Frederick Douglass is building a powerhouse program and college coaches are gravitating to its players. Dekel Crowdus is evidence of this as the 2021 prospect was recently offered by Western Michigan after observing him in Spring practice as well as Kentucky after camping in June. Crowdus started as a fourteen-year-old freshman for Douglass last season and will be one of 2019 Cincinnati QB commit's favorite targets. Obviously, Crowdus is: Ahead of schedule.

Dixon got some playing time as a freshman all over George Rogers Clark's offensive line at guard and tackle. This year head coach Dr. Oliver Lucas confirmed Dixon will play at both center and guard depending on need.

"He is great at either (center or guard). He weighed in at 6-foot-5, 315, he will play on Sundays. To me he is second coming of Ed King who played at Auburn. You get one like him every seven to ten years as a high school coach," proclaimed Dr. Lucas.

That's high praise from an esteemed coach who has almost three decades of coaching experience under his belt. That being said, Dixon will have to shed some bad weight and prove he can dominate at this level before we start discussing the NFL. That being what it is, Dixon will start as a Sophomore and thus, he is: On Schedule

Sheron would most likely have started as a freshman for Somerset last season had he not suffered a season ending injury in August of 2017. He is fully healthy now and from all reports has looked great in various camps and 7v7 performances and he's projected to start for the Briar Jumpers as a sophomore in 2018. The hype I'm hearing is bordering on grandiose so expectations will be high the season for the 6-foot-3 sophomore who doesn't even have a drivers license yet, but is nonetheless: On Schedule.

Azariah Israel looks like the most explosive home run threat in the 2021 class and maybe the second most explosive offensive weapon in Kentucky behind 2019 4-star athlete Wandale Robinson. He's only 5-foot-9, 160-pounds but man is he fast and he has the base to bulk up to about 190 by his senior season. I'm extremely high on him and his spring-game film is the reason why. He will split reps with powerful 2019 running back Nitavius Thomas this season. He doesn't hold an offers yet but he is still: On schedule.

Last year Babin saw significant tick at running back and outside linebacker and is poised to take the bulk of the running back carries for the Centurions in 2018. Even if he does well at running back I'm not sure he translates better there or as a safety at the next level. Regardless, Babin played significant minutes on varsity as a freshman, he will start this year as a sophomore. He is: On Schedule.

Justice Thompson showed a lot of promise as a freshman as he started every game for Ballard last season and was one of the Bruins' leading tacklers. I've seen him in a few games, most notably against Central, where he made the type of big hits that made the crowd grown in unison. With 2019 four-star inside linebacker Jared Casey next to him between the hashes this season, expectations couldn't be higher for the Bruins defense as well as a boost in Thompson's already impressive production, putting him squarely: On Schedule.

Nalley started 12 games as a Freshman at left tackle for Daviess County's high powered offense. The Panthers fell short in the quarter-finals against Central Hardin but Nalley is part of a returning core of athletes that has fans in Owensboro expecting big things this season. Nalley plays in a fast paced spread attack. Most lineman in Kentucky play in some variation of Tubby Raymond's Wing-T but the reps Nalley will get the next three seasons as a pass protector should set him up to be a complete offensive tackle with plenty of film for college coaches. With a year on varsity under his belt and three more years in a pass happy offense, Nalley is: On Schedule.

All indications from the Trinity's camp point to Ely wining the starting inside linebacker job as a sophomore for the back-to-back state champs this season. He's definitely on schedule. I got to see Ely perform at both Louisville and Kentucky's prospect camps this year and he stood out at both, particularly at UK where I saw him make two interceptions in one on one drills against running backs. He's a smart player who will probably end up being a captain and has the size and athletic ability to become a power-five prospect in the future. If he wins the starting inside linebacker going into the 2018 season he is: On schedule.

Dearinger is listed as a tight end but also plays as a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker for Anderson County. On film the majority of his highlights come from his play on defense. He looks smart and instinctive setting the edge as a five-technique who creates problems in opposing backfields with his get off. I'm not sure how good his competition is because he was regularly untouched off the line but he does a good job staying home as well as blowing up the edge when he is engaged with blockers. His listed height and weight is also unverified but he has put together solid freshman film putting him: On Schedule

Ellerly weighed in at 210 pounds this summer at the Nashville combine and ran a 4.74 on the laser. He played varsity last season at running back and put together a nice montage of powerful runs on film. If he can get a step faster he has the frame and tough running style to be an FBS level back. Ellery is: On Schedule.

Early reports out of Trinity indicate that Roman White, the younger brother of Vanderbilt corner and former Shamrock Ryan White is a serious contender to land a starting position at corner. The younger White is technically sound, comes from a football bloodline, and if he is able to impress on film he will be on schedule.