Bolden has included Auburn in his itinerary of visits.
[autotag]KJ Bolden[/autotag], a highly-ranked defensive back in the class of 2024 from Buford High School in Georgia, has scheduled a visit to Auburn.
The visit is scheduled for Auburn’s bye week per Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports.
“Auburn is set for the first weekend in October when Buford is on a bye week.”
The six-foot-one, 185-pound athlete currently holds 40 college offers. Other than Auburn, Bolden holds offers from high-level programs such as Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, and Oregon. Those are all of the programs that Bolden has a “warm” level of interest in according to 247Sports.
Bolden is a five-star recruit with a 0.9957 composite rating according to 247Sports. The Buford, Georgia native is the No. nine-ranked player in the class of 2024, the No. one-ranked safety and the No. two ranked players in the state of Georgia.
Auburn is yet to land a safety commit in the class of 2024, but the Tigers have landed two four-star recruits at cornerback, [autotag]A’Mon Lane[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayden Lewis[/autotag].
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Daniel on Twitter @DanielJLocke
Michigan football has been making a strong habit of chasing recruits from the state of Ohio of late, and one strongly coveted in the 2024 cycle will make his way to campus again soon, though this time it will be in an official capacity.
Hailing from Youngstown (Ohio) Fitch, four-star edge rusher Brian Robinson has been to Ann Arbor multiple times. The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder from secondary coach Steve Clinkscale’s hometown is rated No. 125 overall according to the 247Sports composite and is the 11th-best edge rusher, as well as the fourth-best player in the state of Ohio.
According to On3, Robinson has three official visits: to Michigan on June 2, Kentucky on June 9, and Penn State on June 16.
4-star EDGE Brian Robinson has set his first three official visits🔒
Michigan holds 100% of Robinson’s four 247Sports crystal ball predictions. Kentucky appears to be the primary threat for his services with ace recruiter Vince Marrow taking charge of his recruitment in Lexington.
Prototypical frame and has added good weight throughout the course of his high school career. Has experience playing different positions and roles within a defense but most likely, he will end up playing on the EDGE in college. Growth potential makes it likely he will be primarily hand down despite his experience standing up. Has shaded inside some for his high school and is growing into a body that can do that in college also. Shows closing speed and get-off. Good athlete who can bend and change direction. Works at his craft and improved a lot with his hands and technique from between sophomore and junior year. Did not have much defensive line experience prior to that and has picked up finer points of the position quickly. Projects as a Power Five impact player with the tools to play beyond college.
Michigan has four commitments from the state of Ohio in the 2024 class, though only one (running back Jordan Marshall) has an offer from rival Ohio State.
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[autotag]Aden Holloway[/autotag] has earned his fifth star according to 247Sports. This is the fourth recruiting class in a row where [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] and company have landed a five-star recruit and the fourth time in program history. The nine highest-rated recruits in program history have all been signed during Pearl’s tenure.
Holloway has a composite rating of 0.9931 according to 247Sports, following only [autotag]Jabari Smith[/autotag] who had a 0.9980 composite rating.
The Napa, California native attends Prolific Prep and is the No. 17-ranked player in the class of 2024, the No. three-ranked point guard and the No. 2 player in the state of California.
The 6-foot, 155-pounder was invited to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game where he had the chance to show off his skills on a national stage.
Holloway will join [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Chaney Johnson [/autotag] as new additions to the Auburn roster in 2023.
Jones is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard transfer from FIU and Johnson is a 6-foot-7 forward transfer from UAH.
Auburn is putting together a roster that will have its eyes set on making another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Daniel on Twitter @DanielJLocke
We’re looking at some of the highlights and key takeaways from the Philadelphia Eagles’ first day of rookie minicamp
With the NFL draft and undrafted free agent signings now complete, the Eagles held their first day of rookie minicamps on Friday.
Philadelphia had seven draft picks, nine undrafted free agents, 19 official tryout participants, and a handful of selected veterans or second-year players at the NovaCare Complex for two days of sessions and drills.
With Saturday’s session set to begin, here are highlights and takeaways from Philadelphia’s first rookie minicamp.
From @ToddBrock24f7: When a quad injury spoiled his pro day, the Southern Miss prospect put his talents on tape. The Cowboys fell in love with what they saw.
The Cowboys saw something in Eric Scott Jr., something that spurred them to trade up to the first selection of the sixth round on Saturday to make sure they got the Southern Mississippi cornerback.
Maybe it was his 6-foot size and his wingspan of over 80 inches. Or his nearly 40-inch vertical or his 11-foot-plus broad jump at the school’s pro day. Maybe it was his lights-out performance (five tackles, one pick-six) in an upset win over Tulane last September. Perhaps it was the way he impressed coaches and scouts at the Shrine Bowl, going up against Power Five receivers and shutting them down. By all accounts, his 30 visit to The Star certainly didn’t hurt.
Or maybe it was the video he posted to YouTube and then sent to Dan Quinn.
The 24-year-old corner is thankful for the opportunity Dallas has given him, even if he had to go to extreme measures to get it.
After a college career that took him from Illinois State to Butler Community College to Southern Miss, Scott wasn’t invited to either the Senior Bowl or the NFL scouting combine. Things had started to click for him with the Golden Eagles, but following his super-senior season in Hattiesburg, he wasn’t exactly a hot commodity in pre-draft rankings and projections. Dane Brugler of The Athletic spotlighted 46 college corners in his exhaustive draft guide with full-blown profiles; Scott came in 60th and got a one-line entry.
And then during his pro day, he pulled a quad muscle, spoiling his 40 time and taking him out of DB drills.
So after he recovered, he and his agent took matters into their own hands. They hired a videographer, hit Scott’s high school field in the Kansas City area for a full slate of defensive back workouts and drills, and put the video on YouTube.
They also sent it to Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn shortly before draft weekend.
Scott had gotten a good feeling about the Cowboys during his 30 visit, saying he had “fallen in love” as he toured the facility and met with coaches and staff.
“It was amazing. I was able to meet Mr. [Jerry] Jones and go all the way from the top to the bottom and learn about the culture that Dallas has, the one I’m about to buy into and contribute to. It was just all so surreal. I had ideas [about Dallas], but I never knew it’s as great as it is,” he told reporters during his introductory conference call.
“When I was out there for my visits, I was paying attention to how people interacted with each other and when I was at Dallas the interactions even just between the support staff and the coaches and the players, it’s all a family environment. Everybody loves everybody, and I want to be a part of that.”
Scott apparently made a similar impression on the coaching staff. Defensive backs coach Al Harris came away from that visit a big fan of the Kansas native.
“Everybody I talked to,” Harris said, “I’d tell them, ‘I want to coach this guy.'”
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There’s plenty to like, including that aforementioned height and massive wingspan. But Scott’s film also shows a very physical style of play to go along with ballhawking skills that call to mind a current Cowboys corner with a nose for the football.
“I’ve had coaches that coached me for a long time tell me,” Scott explained, “if the ball was in the air, it’s not a 50/50 ball, it’s our ball.”
That’s the same mentality that Trevon Diggs plays with, and when Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay saw Scott’s YouTube video, it confirmed for him what the scouting department already suspected: Scott might make an excellent complement to Diggs in the back end of the Dallas defense.
Now Scott will have a chance to actually learn behind Diggs, as well as five-time Pro Bowler Stephon Gilmore. Along with Jourdan Lewis, DaRon Bland, Nahshon Wright, and Kelvin Joseph, he’ll look to put those skills to work as part of a Cowboys secondary that’s tied for the league lead in interceptions over the past two seasons.
“You’ve been through the fire,” Quinn told Scott during the phone call to tell him he was about to be drafted, “and you’ve come out the other way as a strong, tough-ass competitor, man. We can’t wait to coach you, bro.”
And so the Cowboys didn’t wait to draft him, dealing a 2024 fifth-round pick to move to No. 178 to get him, possibly before one of the other teams he had visited- Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Minnesota, and New Orleans- did.
Now Scott plans on making that trade worthwhile for the Cowboys.
“I’m just extremely blessed to be in this position,” Scott told 105.3 The Fan shortly after talking with the war room. “I’ve got tears rolling down my face at the moment. I’m just thankful that God has even allowed me to make it this far.”
Just a little farther, and Eric Scott Jr. will have turned being a YouTube star into wearing the Cowboys star.
The newest member of the Browns is ready to get to work
The Cleveland Browns officially have their Ronnie Harrison replacement, except for a version you feel comfortable putting on the field. No longer possessing liabilities at the third level of their defense, the Browns added Rodney McLeod to a one-year deal. The newest safety is already putting in the work, showing excitement to get on the job with the Browns as he tweeted out a workout video.
There are no excuses in 2023 for the Browns as they look to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. They have added strong talent at every position of need, and have added veteran voices to the locker room as well. McLeod looks to be a leader as he has five years of experience working with new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
From @ToddBrock24f7: Zack Martin likes what new OL coach Mike Solari is bringing, an ex-Steeler is joining the Dallas staff, Lamb and Parsons in social spats.
With two full weeks to go before OTAs begin, Cowboys players are talking up their coaches. Zack Martin loves what OL coach Mike Solari is bringing in his second stint in Dallas, and Leighton Vander Esch has the highest of praise for defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Meanwhile, there’s some debate over an exchange captured on-camera between Cowboys wide receivers coach Robert Prince and Tennessee prospect Jalin Hyatt: was it a knock on the youngster’s skills or a nudge to push harder on the field?
Elsewhere, Brandin Cooks could mean big things for Dak Prescott, and Stephon Gilmore is eager to get to work with the Cowboys’ young cornerbacks. We’re picking the steal of the Cowboys’ draft class, and NFL executives are weighing in with what they really thought of last weekend’s picks. An ex-Steeler looks to be joining the Cowboys staff on a temporary basis, and not one but two Cowboys found themselves in social media spats of sorts. Find out what got CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons clapping back later in this edition of News and Notes.
Pita Taumoepenu will work out for the team on Wednesday.
With the 2023 NFL draft in the rearview and offseason workouts ramping up soon the Cleveland Browns will work out the XFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, Pita Taumoepenu, next week. According to the OBR’s Brad Stainbrook, the workout will take place on Wednesday in Berea.
Playing for the Vegas Vipers this season Taumoepenu had a 76.2 overall grade from PFF with a 89.9 pass rush grade. He racked up 38 total quarterback pressures to go with eight sacks. He played some MIKE linebacker with Vegas after playing primarily as an outside linebacker/edge hybrid during his stints in the NFL.
It might be an uphill battle but Taumoepenu might provide for a fun training camp roster battle in the future.
Source: #Browns will host the XFL DPOY Pita Taumoepenu for a workout next week.
Two Browns will participate in the event in two weeks.
The 2023 NFL draft is over and that means that offseason workouts will start to ramp up in preparation for training camps to start this summer. The 2023 NFL Players Rookie premiere will take place May 18-21 in Los Angeles and the Browns will have two of their new players attend. Both third-round pick Cedric Tillman and fifth-round pick Dorian Thompson-Robinson have been invited to the event.
Cedric Tillman has some impressive tape especially during his breakout season in 2021 before 2022 was lost mostly due to injury. Many fans were surprised when the team decided to use a draft pick on a quarterback as the team is looking for a long-term answer to back up Deshaun Watson.
