The first trip KSO took to watch prospects this season was to Coffeyville, Kansas on Thursday night to check out the season-opener between Iowa Western Community College and Coffeyville Community College.
Our observations on the several top prospects to take the field follows:
IOWA WESTERN
WR JaVonte Richardson: The Ohio native was probably one of the best three prospects on the field. He may have had close to 10 receptions on the night, and most of the damage was done in the first half. He got open a lot and took advantage. He has great size, a large catch radius, decent hands and is pretty quick and a strong route runner. Richardson committed to Kentucky out of high school. In ways, he reminded me somewhat of Byron Pringle.
DE Malcolm Lee: The Nebraska native is a Husker legacy.He has nice size and looks the part on the edge for the Reivers. He has a very high football IQ, is one of the leaders on the defensive side, has a heck of a motor, good quickness and a lot of strength. He’s not the biggest or the longest player but a guy that is probably a Power Five talent. Iowa and Nebraska are both interested.
DT Perrion Winfrey: This is Winfrey’s first year playing for Iowa Western, and he’s going to be special. In fact, he might already be. However, he has another year of junior college football after this one. On a line of many standouts, he may be the best prospect of them all. It would not surprise me to see him contend for at least four-star status as a 2020 recruit. He was unblockable and has all the size you look for in an interior lineman. His snap discipline isn’t there yet, however, and he jumped offsides in the third quarter Thursday night much to the dismay of his coaches. He shouted across the entire field immediately afterwards, letting them know he would make up for it on the next play. He did exactly that.
DT Elijah James: He committed to Central Michigan out of high school before having to go the juco route. James is a powerful defensive tackle and one of a number of outstanding prospects for the Reivers in the front seven.
DT Atlias Bell: The Iowa native should be eligible in December. He is another wide-body and powerful defensive tackle who knows how to move a line of scrimmage. If everything checks out he’s probably a lower-level FBS prospect.
LB Chester Graves: Winfrey was really good last night, but Chester Graves was better. I wouldn’t argue or second guess if someone told me he was rated as a five-star. He was super active, super quick, hits hard, can chase down just about anything and is explosive. I’d be shocked if there’s another junior college linebacker better than him. The Kansas City native (Park Hill alum) committed to Ole Miss out of high school but considers himself uncommitted and available to any suitors.
LB Tre Hubbard: The bounce-back from Virginia Tech was someone I was eager to watch perform, but he got hurt near the end of the first quarter and never returned. He’s not as big as I anticipated.
CB Jerod Alton: The former Missouri signee plays with a lot of spirit. He’s not all that big, but he’s very competitive and a guy you can tell that just loves to play football.
S Korey Hernandez: He’s a bit undersized for a safety, but he makes a ton of plays. The Arkansas bounce-back was probably the most productive player in the secondary for Iowa Western, and he has a complete game. He was instrumental defending the run, delivering some nice hits, and he also had an interception as the deep safety in the second half. Kansas State has some interest.
S Rodney Owens: The Nashville native committed to Louisville out of high school and has already committed to Middle Tennessee. He’s much bigger than Hernandez but not as fast or quick. He’s more along the lines of a Kendall Adams-type safety but probably doesn’t run as well.
COFFEYVILLE
WR Andre Thomas-Cobb: We liked Thomas-Cobb quite a bit when we saw him for the first time at the junior college prospect camp in Lawrence over the summer. He’s a big target with a great set of hands, and he’s explosive out of his breaks. He may not be the fastest guy but his size, catch radius and suddenness out of his cuts makes him attractive. He was good in the few opportunities he had Thursday night. He caught a streak down the left sideline after he burnt the corner the rest of the way for a 70-yard score.
S Markquese Bell: He’s probably easily the best prospect for the Red Ravens. Bell would have ended up at Ohio State or Michigan out of high school if he had everything in order, but ultimately chose to stay home and play for Rutgers. He then had to switch up those plans and attend Maryland but never got on the right track. The New Jersey native is fast, has good size and probably is more of an in-the-box type safety, because he’s better coming downhill. He knocked off a few helmets in the season opener on Thursday against Iowa Western.
