Ibrahim talks Pitt offer, top-2

Still not sold on Ibrahim yet. For starters, the competition he is playing against is subpar. It's the lesser known private school competition -- many of them very small programs. Certainly not the powerhouses in the DC area. Just to show you how 'off the map' this program is -- the school is not even in Bethesda, it's in Gaithersburg, MD -- but every recruiting site continues to reference it as in Bethesda. I'm surprised coaches were able to find Veii and Ibrahim given the lack of attention brought to teams in this conference in comparison to the programs around them.

A 170lb. back with 4.7 speed would impress me a lot more if he was putting up these numbers against Dunbar, Dematha, etc.

Todd, honestly, some of the players you mentioned are playing against better competition than Avalon on a given week. They truly are an unknown commodity in the area. Some of the schools they are playing against would be 1A or 2A in size in Iowa and I would take some of the Iowa players over some of the private school kids at these schools any day. Many of these kids are there strictly for the academics. I'm not sure there is a school in their conference known for its football program on a consistent basis. There are only 32 players on their entire varsity. Veii and Ibrahim probably singlehandedly are the reason Avalon has won their conference two years in a row.

Nate Meier had game film against this competition and he was 6'1 235lbs of pure muscle. Kid ran a 4.55 40 and was cleaning 320 pounds, benching 385 pounds and squatting 430 pounds.

Drew Ott shows great potential with his 6'4 245lb frame. It might be a bit till they get weight packed on that but I could see why they liked him with his athleticism offensively and defensively. Not to mention he had a championship abilities in H.S. for track and basketball. Plus Gatorade named him POY for the state.

Nathan has a great frame 6'2 275 and is an amazing wrestler undefeated into states.

My point is Todd, give me a good sell on Ibrahim. Does he have an amazing deadlift, was he on a state track relay team, can he run a shuttle time?

I was hoping for something extra like he's a basketball stud.

As for his numbers, I believe Nate went to state track so Im sure those numbers are accurate. And his lifting stuff isnt too amazing for someone his size of pure muscle. I know a kid thats a 155lbs and benched 330lbs in high school. Heck Cole Hessiel had amazing HS numbers and a buddy of mind coached him and wouldnt lie to me about his squat or cleans. He was smaller than Nate and did about the same for the weight room stuff, minus the bench.

But I agree. Numbers arent everything. Christian French is a good example of this. If he was so good, why did the coach pull him when the team was down? Why did someone else have to field his catches on punts and hand it off to him and why did he feel the need to tackle from the side on every play. ARob would be another example, he didnt have world class anything but yet he always hit the right hole and played with enough heart to move the pile.

Todd, I hope you see this is not me questioning your analysis of this kid or the fact that you like him as a player. Just leery because he is 170lb kid, with average speed, playing against weak competition.

Since RB is such a huge need given Iowa's current state, I'm really hoping if they take Ibrahim, that they also look at taking another RB as well. Obviously you aren't the only one who liked his tape if BC, Iowa and Pitt have offered.

If the coaches think they can get him up to 6'2 215, they would be good numbers for him. He does have fairly good vision and a nice change of direction. If he could become a back that just overpowers other ones, I would enjoy him on the roster.

I'm with ya!

Keep in mind that a lot of these kids have no idea how to dead lift properly, and their squat and/or clean form may be pretty rough as well. So a kid may have the strength to put up some impressive numbers, but his technique doesn't allow him to. Or, as with the squat example I gave, his totals are extremely inflated due to improper technique.