With the help of a list compiled by Greg Riddle of The Dallas Morning News and Rivals.com's Barton Simmons, I've put together some of my top players of the incoming senior class, and today we'll start looking at linebackers with the top two of the class coming tomorrow.
5. Caleb Lavey, Celina HS - This guy has been an absolute monster throughout his career, and the only thing that knocks him down -- fair or not -- is the fact that he plays in Class 3A against some lesser competition. But make no mistake, the 6 foot 4, 210-pound linebacker can flat-out play. He runs a 4.5 40-yard dash, has a 27-inch vertical and squats nearly 500 pounds, but let's look at the numbers that count. 104, 114, 200. That's the number of tackles he's had in each of the previous three seasons, dating back to his freshman year. He has 15 Division I offers with some of the higher-profile ones coming from Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas.
4. Tevin Jackson, Garland HS - This kid had just two offers before making his oral commitment, but those two offers are about as big as it gets, especially in this part of the country. Jackson had offers from Texas and Oklahoma, and Mack Brown & Co. won out as they landed the prized linebacker on Feb. 8. The Owl senior had 85 tackles and five sacks last season using his 4.5 speed.
3. Dominique Patterson, Dallas Skyline HS - One of many Skyline players on these lists, Patterson is a monster in the Raiders' defensive backfield. At 6 foot, 210 pounds, Patterson is a bit undersized but could end up playing as a rush end hybrid type linebacker with his sub-4.5 speed in the 40. He has standing offers from Iowa, Minnesota and Texas A&M, but is also getting interest from Kansas, LSU, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Texas Tech.
Tune in tomorrow when the Top 2 linebackers in the Class of 2010 are revealed.
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He seriously is over this cold, rainy weather.
