2014 Under Armour All-America: News on Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook, other 5-stars

The rain held off enough to have a strong practice session with some of the best athletes in the country. Here are the top performers and the latest on their recruitments.

By Bud Elliott Dec 29, 2013, 5:05pm EST

Dalvin Cook

"I'm done with my recruiting. I know where I'm going," the five-star running back of Miami (Fla.) Central said. Cook said that UF defensive back commitment Quincy Wilson is recruiting him the hardest. The Florida commitment is also considering Florida State and Miami.

"Soon, coming up," Cook said when asked if he will be committing at the Under Armour Game. "It's some stuff they're going to talk to me about, but it'll be up there, though."

Cook said that ESPN did not tell him he must decommit in order to commit on TV, but that the hangup is that the spot was filled, though they would work it out. Cook said that he will tell the staff to which he is committing a day or two before and that he is happy to have his recruiting over and peace of mind.

Leonard Fournette

The top running back recruit in the country told me that he did not know where he was headed, but that he would know by Thursday for his announcement on ESPN and will sit down and talk with his parents.

Adoree' Jackson

I spoke with five-star cornerback/receiver/athlete Adoree' Jackson Sunday. He maintains a top eight list of Florida, USC, Florida State, Tennessee, LSU, Illinois, Oregon and UCLA, in no specific order. He has already visited Florida State, Tennessee, LSU and Oklahoma, and the remaining out-of-state schools are in the running for his final official visit.

Jackson, who was in attendance for USC's Las Vegas Bowl win over Fresno State, insists that all schools are even.

Interestingly, Jackson said that Florida is recruiting him at receiver, USC at receiver or defensive back, and LSU at defensive back and returner, "in the Patrick Peterson role." He did not name the position at which other schools are recruiting him.

Jackson also said that he is "50-50" between football and track, and any program that wants to sign Jackson must excel in both, because Jackson is an Olympic hopeful in the long jump.

Rashaan Evans

The five-star linebacker from Auburn is still considering Alabama, Auburn and several other schools. He said that he plans to decide on Jan. 17, and that his feeling of comfort and his mom's opinion will matter in his recruitment. He also noted that Georgia might also get a visit on the 24th, and that Auburn is still recruiting him the hardest.

Evans said that he would not have considered the Tigers as much as he has without Gus Malzahn's great success in Year 1. "It would have been much different," Evans said when asked what would have happened if Auburn had gone 6-6 or 7-5 after a rough 2012 campaign.

Tony Brown

The five-star cornerback from Beaumont (Texas) Ozen High School will be committing Thursday, most likely to LSU, though Alabama, Ohio State and others are theoretically in the mix. He clarified some earlier comments to James Smith of Nola.com (see video).

Malachi Dupre

The five-star receiver from New Orleans is still considering LSU, Florida State, UCLA and Alabama, though most expect him to pick the Bayou Bengals eventually. Dupre said that five five-stars picking LSU Thursday on ESPN, which seems possible or even likely, would make the school even more attractive. He is working on setting up his official visits to the other schools, and thinks he will visit LSU on the 17th, Florida State on the 24th and UCLA on the 31st.

Ermon Lane

The five-star Florida Gators receiver commitment will officially visit Florida State right before National Signing Day, he told Luke Stampini ($).

"At the end of January, I will go to Florida State," Lane said, before confirming a date of January 31st.

...

"They are getting a visit because the last couple months they have been recruiting me hard, harder than all of the other colleges," Lane said of FSU.

Lane, who calls himself "85 percent committed," says Tim Brewster is pitching playing time in Tallahassee.

Brewster's biggest pitch to Lane is replacing a current Seminole that may make the jump to the NFL.

"He is just telling me like they need a receiver to come in and replace Kelvin Benjamin," Lane said of Brewster's message.

Bo Scarbrough

The five-star Alabama running back commitment told me that he is "95 percent committed" to the Tide. I asked him which schools comprise the other five percent, and he indicated Ole Miss, Florida and Florida State.

Scarbrough said that he has a great relationship with Ole Miss coaches [Hugh] Freeze and [Derrick] Nix, and enjoyed his visit to Ole Miss. Scarbrough even called Ole Miss "perfect," but maintained that he is sticking with Alabama.

Scarbrough does not think he will visit Florida State, because he already visited for the Syracuse game, but may visit Florida.

I also asked Scarbrough about the possibility of playing defense in college, and he said that he would only consider running back or receiver, because he needs to have the ball in his hands.

Marlon Humphrey

Five-star defensive back Marlon Humphrey, of Hoover (Ala.) High School, has Alabama and Florida State in front, and will try to officially visit the pair along with UCLA and Mississippi State in January. The Florida State visit should be on Jan. 17.

Humphrey's connection to Alabama is obvious, as he is the son of Alabama legend Bobby Humphrey and plays just down the interstate from the school. His connection to the Seminoles is strong as well, as he told 247Sports ($).

"Probably Coach Pruitt- probably Coach Pruitt for sure. It's a pretty good (relationship). I called him yesterday just to talk about one of the guys here. It's pretty good- I usually call him up and ask him about guys along with the other coaches. In the last two weeks, I played in the Alabama-Mississippi game and asked him about a receiver who had been committed to FSU, but decommitted (Markell Pack). I was looking up his highlights and stuff like that, so just wanted to get some other opinions."

Track is also a major factor in Humphrey's recruitment.

..."I'm really close with the FSU track coaches- Coach Ken (Harnden)[/b], Coach (Brandon) Hon, Coach (Bob) Braman. I'm close with them and a lot of their athletes. With the Bama track coaches, I'm not that close with them, but I talk with Coach (Dan) Waters. He calls me every once in a while, just to talk about track, so I'm pretty good with both of them.

"I'm trying to run 110 and 400 (meter hurdles) in college. Both of the track coaches I've talked to have said they want me to do both. I was wondering which one I was going to do- the shorter or longer- but both said they want me to do both."

Top performers

I focused on Team Highlight Sunday, and plan to watch Team Nitro Monday.

Team Highlight has several excellent receivers. Five-star Speedy Noil, of New Orleans (La.) Edna Karr, stood out as one of the top players with his speed and ability to make sharp cuts and leave defenders grasping. Travis Rudolph, of Palm Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Newman, was his usual smooth and sure-handed self, and made some nice catches against the excellent defensive backs on hand. Noil and Rudolph are uncommitted. Alabama commitment Cameron Sims, of Louisiana, impressed me a lot and was the surprise of the day. Sims is not a fast player, but he has excellent size and length, and huge hands. And he was an extremely natural ball catcher, never letting the ball get into his chest.

The defensive backs were equally good. Auburn commitment Stephen Roberts, of Opelika (Ala.) High School, who some believe will be a cornerback, showed great range at safety and could play early in college. And five-star cornerbacks Adoree' Jackson, (California, uncommitted), Marlon Humphrey (Alabama, uncommitted) and Jalen Tabor (Washington D.C., uncommitted) were impressive as well. Jackson has exceptional change of direction and speed, Humphrey is the best high school cornerback in the country with a blend of speed and physicality, and Tabor has exceptional strength for a corner, presenting a physical challenge to the receivers all day.

Humphrey is mainly considering Alabama and Florida State, while Tabor is considering Alabama and Arizona, and Jackson is down to eight schools, as profiled above.

Team Highlight did not use its running backs much Sunday, which was highly disappointing considering it has two five-stars in Leonard Fournette and Racean "Roc" Thomas.

The linebackers on Team Highlight are enormous. Kain Daub (FSU), Jacob Pugh (FSU), Tre' Williams (Auburn) and Rashaan Evans (uncommitted) all have college-ready size. I didn't see one specific linebacker stand out Sunday, though, and believe this group is better at run stopping or pass rushing than it is in pass coverage.

Two offensive linemen really stood out to me Sunday: Alabama five-star tackle commitment Cameron Robinson, of West Monroe (La.) High School, and four-star tackle Casey Tucker, of Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton High School. Robinson is perhaps the best recruit in the country and one of the best offensive line recruits in a long time. Tucker is not one of the top-25 offensive tackles in the country according to some experts -- an opinion I believe will change before the week is over. Tucker is primarily considering Stanford and Arizona State. I was also impressed by Alabama commitment Ross Pierschbacher, who is extremely athletic and tenacious.

The defensive line was also impressive. The man causing trouble on the inside was Andrew Brown, a five-star Virginia commitment of Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith High School. Brown's length and quickness is much better than anything the opposing blockers have ever seen. I also came away very impressed with Myles Garrett, a five-star Texas A&M commitment at end from Arlington (Texas) James Martin High School. Garrett is bigger than I expected, and can be a 6'5, 265-pound terror off the edge in time. He even beat Robinson on a rep Sunday. Gerald Willis, teammate of Speedy Noil, was also quite impressive, and has college-ready size right now. Willis is uncommitted and is considering Florida and LSU.

On the other side of the field, I heard a lot of good things about safety Jamal Adams, guard Roderick Taylor and defensive end Chad Thomas. I'll see them for myself Monday.