2021 Pokes Report Recruiting Hot List: Cowboy Backs (TE/FB)
STILLWATER -- We start this hot list with a negative and it why we have jumped into the hot lists right now. This late spring and early summer there are no camps, no official visits, no unofficial visits, and no coaches on the road for evaluations. It is all virtual, all phone calls, all zooms, and little old fashioned recruiting. The COVID-19 has created a little bit of cabin fever and maybe a little recruiting panic as prospects that once said they would wait are jumping into commitments.
At the cowboy back position, the hybrid tight end/fullback spot, Quentin Moore of Independence Community College in Kansas just pledged to Washington picking the Huskies over the Cowboys. The top-rated junior college tight end for 2021 is the son of Oklahoma State two-time All-American strong safety Mark Moore. I heard it right away on Tuesday, "how could the Cowboys lose Moore.? He's a legacy."
I will tell you how, after a couple of years in Independence, Kan., Moore is ready to get back to the Northwest and Seattle where he grew up. I think if Moore had been at a junior college on the West Coast, Oklahoma State would have had a better chance. Independence and what has been going on there can definitely encourage a guy to get out of the Midlands.
Now the Cowboys have this trio on their hot list for cowboy back and they are guaranteed to get one of them, maybe more.
Gunnar Helm is staying patient. The big 6-6, 230-pound tight end from Englewood (Cherry Creek), Colo., is already a defending state champion. He has 26 offers and just bumped up to four-stars on one recruiting website. He told me at the start of the pandemic that he was going to stay patient and he wanted to take official visits. Oklahoma State and Nebraska were two he said he would take for sure and he wanted to get South s Auburn, Georgia, and LSU are high on his list.
Watching video and you can hear the comments from myself and Marshall Levenson, Helm is a former quarterback and it shows. He presents a great target to the quarterback and almost always has himself in position for a pitch and catch, no defender in between him and the passer. He has ball skills and goes and gets the ball when it is up and when it is down. He is a QB safety blanket, for sure.
His blocking is more like screens in basketball. It is not real physical, but he is effective and has solid technique. If you get the job done that is all you need.
Demetrious Crownover has Oklahoma State high on his list but he also has Texas A&M there and older brother Ernest is a 2020 freshman running back for the Aggies. The 6-6, 235-pound Crownover also has Ohio State and Oregon high on his list. He is a four-star and a good player. He runs a 5.0 in the forty, but can play faster and you see that more on defense where as a defensive end pass rusher, he closes on quarterbacks with a cat quick approach. The Grandview Zebra also has a state championship with the Class 3A Division I crown and he was All-District at defensive end.
Watching video, he uses his size well and shows good ball skills, good hands, and supreme confidence. His conversion to college will be dealing with defenders and opposing players as big and even stronger than he is. His blocking is good, but he is overpowering players that can't stack up physically and his technique will need work. I love his eagerness and that will serve him well.
Luke McEndoo is rated a three-star and two-star by recruiting sites, but my guess is none of those folks rating him have seen him play. Let's see, what do you really want a tight end and fullback to do most. The answer is blocking and McEndoo has a highlight tape that is 80 percent blocking. He has excellent technique, is very strong (400 pound bench) and 500 pound squat), and a real desire to get physical with opposing defenders.
McEndoo is good with the ball in his hands and even better blocking for someone else.
Pokes Report photographer and reporter - Marshall Levenson
McEndoo is 6-1 1/2, 240-pounds, but I believe with his size 14.5 feet that he will grow as much as two more inches. His dad is 6-5 and his mother is tall too.
He has good hands, presents a good target and always makes the catch. He has a good stiff arm, is a physical runner, and is never taken down by the first tackler. He typically makes a short catch for Stillwater, turns up field and gains 10-15-yards, moving the chains.
Watch the video and tell me you don't want Luke McEndoo on your team.
McEndoo and either Helm or Crownover would make a strong cowboy back class.