Mike Bobo and his boys are putting together an amazing recruiting class for Colorado Sate Rams football in 2017.
The class just got bigger, and more explosive Thursday morning when 3-star wide receiver Warren Jackson committed to CSU.
100% committed #RAMPAGE17 pic.twitter.com/4B5iYe1hxy
— Warren Jackson (@WideOutNation18) January 26, 2017
Apparently, Colorado State is about to become “wideout nation.”
Jackson, a high school senior out of Mission Hills, California, was originally committed to play for the Arizona Wildcats of the Pac-12. CSU, a G5 school in the Mountain West, was able to flip Jackson and gain his commitment less than one week before National Signing Day.
According to 247Sports, he’s rated as a 3-star wide receiver, a 0.8397. He was offered by Arizona, CU, Fresno State, UMass, Washington State and Wyoming, but chose Colorado State over all of them.
In his senior season, Jackson racked up 955 yards with seven touchdown receptions.
The 18-year old stands at 6’5″ and 185 pounds. From his highlight tape on Hudl, he’s a deep threat who can stretch the field vertically with his speed. It’s not just that he’s fast, due to that long stride coming from his lanky legs, he can also go up and get the ball at its highest point. Since he’s 6’5″ and has a basketball background, jumping up and snagging the ball out of thin air seems to come natural to Jackson and skying high over much shorter defensive backs suits him well.
Send him on a “go” route and watch the kid go get the ball. He’s simply taller, stronger and faster than anyone he played against at the high school level.
Of course, Mike Bobo has a history of working with great receivers, including A.J. Green, who now plays for the Cincinnati Bengals, at Georgia. Besides him, the Rams have seen talented wide receivers, like Rashard Higgins, who was coached up by Alvis Whitted and now plays for the Cleveland Browns.
Last year in Fort Collins, Michael Gallup exploded onto the scene, becoming a first-team All-MW wideout after transferring from a junior college. And, with the tutelage of Bobo and Whitted, Bisi Johnson was able to set a single-game CSU record in the Potato Bowl.
Demarre Kitt is the only other receiver of this class, but Preston Williams joins CSU, too, in the spring. The former 5-star wideout who transferred from Tennessee, will bring up the level of competition in practice, Bobo said recently, although he can’t play until 2018.
Wideout nation, indeed.
Besides Jackson, who was a huge flip from a P5 school, the Rams landed 3-star defensive lineman Ellison Hubbard out of Grayson, GA on Thursday morning as well.
Everyone it's here! I'm committed to finish my education and my football career at Colorado State University❕❕✅🐏 pic.twitter.com/FDVAjIn5be
— Ellison Hubbard (@ellisonFhubbard) January 26, 2017
Hubbard has great explosion off the line, powering through would-be blockers. And when he doesn’t make a play immediately, his pursuit and motor are top-notch. The kid doesn’t give up on a play, allowing him to make extra tackles and save extra yards which could have been given up. Seems to have a high football IQ, allowing him to guess where the play is going, and uses active hands to push offensive linemen off of himself.
Hubbard will be right at home with fellow 3-star defensive lineman David Porter, who committed to Colorado State yesterday. Porter is incredibly powerful and looks to make plays behind the line of scrimmage.
All three players, Jackson, Hubbard and Porter visited Colorado State together last weekend.
Yesterday, CSU was ranked No. 62 overall for their 2017 class by 247sports.com. Today, they’ve moved up to No. 60, behind only one G5 school in Memphis, and ahead of all their MW rivals like Boise State. Wednesday, Feb. 1 brings National Signing Day when these young men can officially become part of the school.
Image credit: Warren Jackson/Twitter