IMG Academy Football Recruiting News
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Article photo of defensive lineman TJ Lindsey; credit Brian Smith.
The IMG Academy football program has been a prep football goliath. To that point, check out the production for the Ascenders during their nine years as a program.
***52 Under Armour All-Americans
***17 postseason All-Americans
***2020 through 2023, four consecutive NFL Drafts with a first round pick
***2023 NFL training camp: 22 IMG Academy players participating
The 2023 IMG roster will be loaded again. Having watched practice today, a few observations among numerous players that will play in the Power 5. Let’s start with a few 2024 recruits.
Offensive tackle Jordan Seaton will be as technically sound as any 2024 prospect that moves on to a major college program. In particular, watching Seaton’s kickstep, that’s impressive.
Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Miami, and many other schools have been recruiting Seaton.
Another offensive lineman that looks that part would be Frederick Hinton. He’s flying a bit under the radar; cannot teach his natural frame.
There’s also Ole Miss offensive line commitment Jimothy Lewis. He’s come a long way since enrolling at IMG, and he’s reshaped his body well.
Tennessee tight end commitment Jonathan Echols fits the profile of a flex tight end. The length, height and natural movement skills were once again obvious as he went through practice.
Texas running back commitment Jerrick Gibson showed off his tremendous leg strength once again as he powered through a ridiculously talented IMG front seven.
Speaking of the front seven, the defensive line looked as good as ever. There’s Oklahoma commitment Jayden Jackson at nose guard, David Stone at 3-technique, and newly brought in all-around defensive lineman TJ Lindsey from the state of Arkansas.
Jackson and Stone form arguably the nation’s best interior duo. Their advanced technique and athleticism showed out as usual. Stone will announce on Aug. 26 and all signs point towards the Sooners.
After talking to Stone, it's still apparent that the Hurricanes are going all-out to land him though. Check out this picture from the following Twitter post:
How cool is this? 5-star DL recruit David Stone showed me his 6-year old brother’s edit from the #Miami Hurricanes. #TheU | @iamdavidstonejr pic.twitter.com/SERm4BMPE1
— Brian Smith (@fbscout_florida) August 11, 2023
The new guy, Lindsey, looked “trim” at a self-reported 270 pounds. He’s set to announce his college decision tomorrow. Auburn and Texas have been the most likely landing spots, and there’s no reason to expect anything different based on the chatter here at IMG.
The backend of the defense has continued to be loaded, and Georgia cornerback commitment Ellis Robinson IV leads the way. He’s as twitchy as it gets. Texas safety commitment Jordan Johnson-Rubell was his talkative self today. He’s happy about his chance to go play for the Horns.
Robinson made it clear that UGA will be hard to beat, but that Miami and Alabama were the two teams he'd like to see this fall.
Moving on to the underclassmen, here were some players to know among a long list.
2025 Running back Anthony Rogers, also known as "Turbo" among the recruiting analysts and friends of his, that's a player with a burst. Alabama already locked up the prospect that originally came from the Montgomery, Ala. area.
Arguably the nation's most polished slot receiver regardless of grade, Winston Watkins, Jr., he continued to play hard and show off his speed. The 2025 prospect, he's heading to Colorado to play for Deion Sanders.
2025 linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, wow! He impressed the last couple of times he was witnessed here, and today was another example of why his offer list has exploded. Name a program, that school probably already offered the speedy linebacker. Owusu-Boateng’s instincts proved to be just as good as his athleticism, too. That’s what has made him special.
As for recruiting, Owusu-Boateng's phone has went crazy since the Aug. 1 date for college coaches to contact him directly. Miami, Notre Dame, Florida, Florida State, and several others were football programs he mentioned quickly. Ironically, he still has yet to earn offers from Clemson, Alabama, and Georgia. Those were the only schools that Owusu-Boateng could remember as not already extending an offer.
2025 linebacker Gavin Nix did not participate today, but was his usual positive self and was working on the sidelines. He’s hyped about the upcoming 2023 season. He's looking at a host of schools including Miami, Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Texas, Oregon and North Carolina, among others.
The secondary has plenty of young talent. Of course, there's 2026 Miami commitment Ksani Jiles. He's excited about the chance to come to The U. Life-long fan and he's locked in.
2026 safety Amari Jones and 2026 safety Zechariah Fort have both earned several offers. Each of these young men bring an explosive first step and the ability to run down a receiver from behind. Rare to see young safeties with as much of a second gear as these two; both have already developed into national recruits.
Overall, this was just a partial list of IMG’s primary targets. There were more, certainly. Every FBS program should and probably does recruit IMG.
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Fan Nation High school football recruiting analyst covering the state of Florida, as well as across the Southeastern United States and the state of Texas.
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