Notebook: Preferred walk-ons can become stars, too
The 2017 National Championship game came and went on Monday night this week with the Clemson Tigers pulling off the upset versus the Alabama Crimson Tide. In a game loaded with four and five-star talent across the board, it was walk-on wide receiver Hunter Renfrow who made the game-winning touchdown grab with :01 remaining to stun Alabama 34-31.
In 2014 Renfrow had very little offers coming out of high school (four lower-level offers to be exact) but the 5.3 two-star prospect did receive (and accepted) a preferred walk-on offer to Clemson and has made the most of his two seasons with the Tigers – racking up 77 catches for 987 yards and 11 touchdowns – and has been an even bigger force on the big stage, racking up 17 receptions for 180 yards and four touchdowns in two National Championship games versus Alabama.
Moral of the story? While a kid might not be immediately good enough out of high school to earn an offer, these same kids have talent that can be developed and can absolutely be contributors down the road.
Kliff Kingsbury and Texas Tech have been firm believers in the PWO approach and have made multiple PWO offers to the 2017 class, already garnering a few commits as well. While these guys may not be immediately good enough to earn D1 offers, they may have the size or the raw tools to make them contributors down the road.
Could any of Tech's PWOs be the next Hunter Renfrow equivalent? Who knows.
Let's take a look at the candidates for the 2017 class:
**Click on names to be taken to HUDL pages.
THE COMMITS
OL/DL Tyler Carr – 6-foot-6, 250-pounds
Carr is an interesting prospect for a lot of reasons. Due to family-related job changes, Carr bounced around from Canadian High School to Amarillo High School and back to Canadian for his senior season. He has played blocking tight end, offensive line, and defensive line (for the first time this year) throughout his career. When Carr came to a Tech camp over the summer, though, it was his technique on the defensive line that stuck out to coach Kevin Patrick, despite Carr never playing on defense.
Carr was eventually offered a PWO spot and is actually enrolling in the spring and will be at Tech in just a few short days. Carr has a massive frame and while they will give him a shot on the defensive line first, he could become a contributor at a variety of spots on offense or defense. He earned All-District first team honors on offense this season.
ATH Landon O’Connor – 6-foot-3, 185-pounds
O’Connor committed to the Red Raiders back in mid-December after picking up a PWO offer. He has played a variety of positions for Edna High School, most notably quarterback and even some defensive back.
O’Connor racked up 855 yards passing and seven touchdowns with another 856 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns. He also recorded 24 tackles. He earned first team All-District honors at QB and as a utility player this season. He is actually being recruited to be a deep snapper for the Red Raiders.
THE OFFERS
WR Nate Shelton – 6-foot-1, 185-pounds
The Sachse wide receiver has been very productive for Sachse over the past three seasons, and he racked up 46 receptions for 990 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior. Tech recently offered the wide out a PWO spot, one of Shelton’s first offers of any kind. He earned first team All-District honors this past season and has earned two other All-District honorable mention nods.
DL Dillon Springer – 6-foot-1, 235-pounds
Springer, a productive talent just down the road at Midland High School earned a PWO offer in December. Springer and coach Kevin Patrick are very familiar with each other as Springer has visited Tech on multiple occasions and has camped with Tech, too. He racked up over 100 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and 23 QB hurries this past year. Springer earned first team All-District honors and was an honorable mention All-State selection.
DL Brooks Talkington – 6-foot-4, 240-pounds
Talkington was one of the first players to receiver a PWO offer back in November. His dad, Bart, played at Tech in the late 80s and his grandfather, Ken Talkington, is currently in the Texas Tech Hall of Fame (played football from 1957-1959). Brooks could play linebacker or defensive end for Tech, as he has played both in high school. He recorded 102 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks this past season.
WR Rowdy Warner – 6-foot-4, 205-pounds
Warner picked up a PWO offer from Texas Tech this past week. The Jones (Okla.) High School receiver recorded 66 receptions for 1,287 yards and 13 touchdowns for 15-0 State Champion Jones. He also recorded 18 carries for 117 yards and 10 touchdowns.
NAMES TO WATCH
LB Dayne Douglass – 6-foot-2, 220-pounds
Douglass played football at Canyon High School and recorded 150+ tackles this past season. He’s visited Lubbock a few times this season and is one to watch later on in the cycle as someone who could receive a PWO offer.
Michael Ewton (Kicker) and Josh Grant (Kicker) received PWO offers at various points throughout the season.
Around the Big 12
**Commits since December 20th
-Baylor has added seven recruits over the past two weeks or so. The new staff for the Bears has added two 5.5 recruits (an RB and a QB), three 5.6 recruits (a DB, DE, and a WR), a 5.7 DB, and a four-star defensive back from New Jersey. The Bears currently have eight commits and have the 89th ranked class in the country.
-Oklahoma added to their 5th ranked class this past week when they received a commitment from mammoth Rivals250 OL Adrian Ealy. Ealy chose the Sooners over 14 other offers.
-Oklahoma State picked up their 20th commit a couple weeks ago when JUCO TE Sione FineFeuiaki committed to the Cowboys.
-Texas has picked up their recruiting with the recent hire of Tom Herman, as they have added five new recruits since December 20th. They added a 5.5 rated TE, a 5.6 rated RB, flipped a 5.7 OL from Oklahoma State, and added a 5.7 TE and LB. The Longhorns now have 13 total commits and the No. 45 ranked recruiting class.