Today there was a handful of commitments, so here are my thoughts on each player and their commitment.
Jack Nickel
2022 Milton TE
Michigan State
Scoop: Nickel’s ability to carry tacklers and get extra yardage after the catch really makes him an enticing recruit to watch. He is probably one of the best combo blockers/receivers in the country at his position. He gets a flat back while blocking and shows good leg drive. Should pack on the weight really easily, and expect him to be around 250-260 at the college level. Still, he is a good receiver, runs solid routes. Pretty quick coming out his breaks and shows soft hands. There is still room for improvement breaking tackling, mostly getting lower with his pad level and utilizing a stiff arm to get additional yards down the sideline. Nickel has a lot of experience on the varsity getting reps as a freshman on the 2018 state title team and being one of the top tight ends in the state for a few years now. Michigan State offered last year on April 29, and over the last 3 years, Nickel had received offers from colleges across every P5 conference and was well coveted. Nickel is listed at 6’4″ and should slowly fill out his frame into the 250’s as he grows in the Spartans system. Definitely, a very good commitment for Michigan State; to land a TE in what we consider the best TE class that we have ever covered here in Georgia, it’s definitely an accomplishment. A lot of schools are wishing they got this commitment.
Savion Riley
2022 Kennesaw Mt. WR/ATH
Duke
Riley jumped on our radar watching Kell at a Corky Kell 7v7 game going into his sophomore year, and Riley really stood out as a P5 caliber athlete even back then. He has very good ball skills, and there was one player where he made a diving catch over the middle for an interception that was insanely quick. Fast forward to his junior where he is getting a lot of reps at receiver at Kell, but at a pretty crowded receiver corps. Riley has solid balance for his frame. He breaks a good bit of tackles, makes quick cuts into the open field and shows very good acceleration. Initially, we have always thought of Riley as an athlete, his frame just screams elite safety, most of his production has been at receiver in high schools. He’s a great athlete nevertheless, and the spring film we saw of Riley at Kennesaw Mountain shows his explosive playmaking where he can take a ball to the house from 90 yards out. Duke has themselves a stud athlete, who didn’t initially get the early P5 interest, but once his recruitment heated up this spring Riley ripped off double-digit offers. The 6’3″ senior is a great athlete who is set for a big senior year at Kennesaw Mountain. For Duke, we do see in his commitment that it says athlete, so it’ll be interesting where Riley lines up at the college level. My instincts still say defense, but we’ll see in the coming years. Never the less Riley is a P5 caliber athlete and will make an impact at the college level.
Caleb Wooden
2022 Archer S
Auburn
Wooden was a no-doubt P5 football player in our eyes the moment we saw his sophomore year. Just from watching his film back in 2019, we were extremely impressed. His older brother was one of the best pass-rushers in his class (woah, he started at DT last fall and 3rd in the SEC in TFL’s), and it looks like Caleb Wooden at Archer has all the makings of being one of the top FS’s in this class. He’s continuing to grow, adding two inches and 15 lbs. over the last year. Now at 6’1″. Wooden plays with great energy. He is always around the football, just love his activity. Very good tackler. Does a really good job of lining up the tackle. Backpedal is okay, could be lighter, but reacts quickly to the play and doesn’t look like he gets beat too easily. Wooden’s feel for the game is really impressive, cannot teach some of the stuff he does out there. Gets downhill quickly against the run and able to contain the outside really well. We expected him to load up with P5 offers during the 2021 offseason, and that’s exactly what happened. Wooden can still work on his man coverage skills, but he’s a smart player in a zone making smart reads consistently. Archer has one of the best defenses in the state of Georgia, and Wooden plays a vital role in how they attack an offense giving him a ton of responsibility playing the deep middle. Anyone who has been following our page on Twitter knows we have been ultra-bullish on Wooden, so seeing the offer from Auburn on June 28, it didn’t surprise us too much to see Caleb joining his older brother, Colby, at Auburn. Personally, we think Auburn is getting a steal here in Wooden – he should be a very good player for them.
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