Right Guard - Barnett - the next Will Shields?

[TGHusker]

Good article on our 4 star recruit. Interview with his coach from Lawton, Ok. The coach also coached Will Shields and Mike Minter. Don't want to count chickens until they are hatched but, it sounds like we have a guy we can really anchor the line around.

 

http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/recruiting/2015-football-recruits/barnett-gives-huskers-more-promise-from-lawton/article_d71963c0-f271-501f-932c-f4b8f1aedadc.html

 

Both coaches said Barnett would start immediately for them, much like Shields did as a true freshman at Nebraska.

That’s partly because Barnett is intelligent — he carries a 3.8 GPA — and partly because he’s massively strong.

Breeze said Barnett bench presses 350 pounds, inclines 350 pounds and wears a size-18 shoe, giving him “a good anchor below him.”

What’s more, Barnett’s mobility is unlike that normally seen from a player of his age.

“When you look at the best linemen in the country, they’re dominating a defensive tackle,” Breeze said. “He can not only dominate a defensive tackle, he gets up field, and he can find linebackers and he can block linebackers in open field.

“Probably the hardest thing we ask a football player to do is tackle somebody in open field, and the next-hardest thing we ask them to do is block somebody in open field. Jalin, even as big as he is, he can find that linebacker in open field and block him. That’s when he’s really, really impressive.”

 

 

 

Also a great compliment on Mike Riley from a current Pac 10 coach:

Barnett learned what Breeze already knew about Riley, whom he calls a “quality, humble” man and one of the “quality coaches in America,” not only from an X's and O's standpoint, but from his values, too.

Breeze recently had a coach from the Pac-12 Conference come through Lawton High. Breeze asked him his thoughts on Riley, now a former league coaching rival.

“He said, ‘Obviously, when my son grows up, he’s going to play for me, wherever I’m coaching, and if I’m not coaching, I’m going to take him to wherever Mike Riley is,’” Breeze said. “I thought that’s about as good a compliment as a guy could give to an opponent he coaches against all the time.”

[DaveH]

I always thought playing a position like o-line well required some level of football acumen. Seems like this kid might have the tools to be smart in the trenches and use his size to his advantage instead of just leaning on it.

[RunMickeyRun02]

I would like nothing more than to see this kid be the next Will Shields and I look forward to seeing this kid play. However time will tell, any number of things can happen both good and bad.

 

I really like the...what would be now?..third hand quote:

 

“He said, ‘Obviously, when my son grows up, he’s going to play for me, wherever I’m coaching, and if I’m not coaching, I’m going to take him to wherever Mike Riley is,’” Breeze said. “I thought that’s about as good a compliment as a guy could give to an opponent he coaches against all the time.”