Turner Cockrell, a 6’5″, 210 tight end from Allatoona High School in Georgia has become Derek and the staff’s ninth commitment for the 2016 class. Allatoona High is in Acworth, Georgia, which is in Cobb County, part of the Atlanta metro area. If I’m correct, Cobb County is where the Braves are building their new stadium which will open in 2017.
Turner is an 82 three-star and plays like a really solid three-star; guys you can win with. He’s a heckuva blocker and pass catcher. His film shows him catching everything thrown his way from 10 yards to 20 yard passes. He blocks people to the ground; just finishes them off. He’s got really good toughness. He smashed a guy on a run by his running back.; just buried the guy with force. Turner looks like a really good player. Allatoona went 14-1 last season, his junior year, and made it to the Georgia Class 5A semifinals. Georgia has six classifications and the Allatoona Class (5A) has schools with up to 1,800 students. There are a ton of good players in Georgia and Turner is certainly one of them.
I think his ranking looks a little low from his film. He looks like he could be a really fine tight end for us in the future. He needs to gain some weight, but Strength Coach James Dobson, who could very well be the best in the business coming from Nebraska to VU, can certainly handle that detail. Turner has the toughness and looks like he has major heart and desire,. He’s very talented as well. He caught passes on average for 23 yards last year and as a blocker helped lead the Buccaneers offense to 3,700 yards rushing. Read some of his comments. He loves the academics, he loves Coach Mason and the staff, and he’s pumped about being in Nashville.
Turner joins 88 three-star quarterback Deuce Wallace (6’2″, 200, Sevierville, Tn.), 85 three-star offensive tackle Devin Cochran (6’7″, 305 Norcross, Georgia), 86, three-star running back Sam Brodner (5’10”, 210, Glen Elyn, Illinois), 82 three-star wide receiver Donaven Tennyson (5’10”, 170, Richmond, Va.), 86 three-star safety Austin Quillen (6’1″, 195, Jenks, OK.), 85, three-star defensive tackle Drew Birchmeier (6’4″, 275 Midlothian, Va.), 84 three-star defensive tackle Cameron Tidd (6’3″, 265, Greenwood, Indiana), and 78 two-star cornerback Frank Coppet (5’10”, 177, London, Ontario via St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale).
I like all these players and Coach Dobson will get ’em quicker, faster and stronger and Coach Mason and the coaches can coach ’em up and put us right in the mix for SEC East titles in the future. Jesse Johnson of Vandy 247 is also reporting that we have a couple more coming in the next week. So will keep you abreast of those developments.
Good stuff going on for Coach Mason and the staff. About to watch Derek on Media Days. Will have a report tomorrow. Quarterback competition will be interesting. I really liked Wade Freebeck in the spring game. Wade looks like he has all the tools. Johnny McCrary is highly talented and showed signs of his talent last year, particularly in the Missouri game on the road when he came very close to leading us to victory over the SEC East champs. Johnny is right there in the mix to be the starter along with Wade. Shawn Stankavage (Stank) has a knee issue, but there is word that he may be available for August camp. Stank’s a good player too, and will be in the competition. And I love incoming freshman Kyle Shurmur. Kyle is a four-star and I’ve watched film on him. He’s 6’4″, 215 (Glenside, Pa), and has all the tools to be an excellent passing quarterback in the SEC. He can run well also. Kyle’s dad, Pat, is the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, so he’s well schooled in the game. His football IQ has to be out the roof and the talent looks unlimited. So we’ve got a good situation at quarterback. The guys will battle it out in August and we’ll have four quality guys. Whoever starts will be a very good player.
Will have more tomorrow from Derek’s comments at media days.
Dave Price will get at least an inning of work tonight for the American League in the All-Star game in the Queen City (Cincy). The All-Star game is huge now because the winning league gets home field advantage in the World Series. It’s my favorite All-Star game by a long shot. It’s been an awesome season so far, and the second half promises to be riveting. Hopefully Dave, Sonny and Pedro will be playing highly relevant games in September.