With Texas missing on two of its top 2014 linebacker offers,
La Porte’s Hoza Scott and Gilmer’s Josh Walker, and trailing A&M for yet
another offer at the position, Dallas Carter’s Cameron Hampton, UT will be
forced to go deeper into the evaluation pool than in years past when they had
the pick of the litter.
Two options that may emerge for Texas are Allen teammates
Christian Sam and Tay Evans, near dopplegangers when it comes to size and
ability. In a team when length and athleticism at the position are at a premium,
I expect both of these players to see their stock ascend in the coming months.
The duo is in the 6-2/6-3 range and around 200-205 pounds.
They may not be quite as explosive as current Texas commitment Deoundrei Davis
from Cypress Springs but there are definitely some similarities in how they
project.
In a state deep with talent reserves, no team was deeper
than Allen. DeSoto coach Claude Mathis said it best, after his team fell to
Allen 51-36.
“We’d get their first group tired and were about to take
advantage of our speed like we had done all year, but their second group would
come in and they were just as big and good as the first,” Mathis relayed to me.
Despite the breaks in play for Sam and Evans, they both
finished with stats that indicate the type of players they are.
On the year, Sam had 57 tackles, 11 sacks, three tackles for
loss one interception and one defensive touchdown.
Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Evans had 76 tackles, seven
sacks, seven tackles for loss, three pass break ups, one interception and two
defensive touchdowns.
As you can tell from the stats alone, both are active on the
negative and positive side of the line of scrimmage with the type of range that
lends itself to defending the spread.
But you can see for
yourself. Here’s proof:
Christian Sam: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1605586/#highlights/20754381
Tay Evans: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1298873/#highlights/21236373
Even the highlight tapes in Allen are cinema quality. I half
expected them to be narrated by John Facenda software.
I caught up with the two integral cogs recently, and even
their recruitments are similar. So far they each have an SMU offer, with
interest picking up from around the region and beyond.
Sam had this to say, “SMU offered me in late November and
I’ve been hearing from Oregon and Iowa State.” He followed that up with his
thoughts on Texas, “I’ve never really liked one school, but they’re the state
school so I follow them. I really started to pay attention to them after the
Alabama game.”
I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
Evans has a bit different story about Texas, “My dad hates
them. He played basketball at OU. But that’s my dad, not me. I’d have no
problem going to Texas.”
Evans’ dad is a 6-9 former post, Bobby Joe Evans. Tay tells
me there’s a chance he’s not done growing yet and could get up at 6-5. If so,
he may be in line to play defensive end full time, or perhaps even tight end.
With numerous underclassmen back and not just Sam and Evans,
the Allen Eagles could yet soar once more. We’ll keep you posted.
