Versatility and Talent Make Marshall a Key Junior Prospect in the Midlands

The players that could be hurt the most with regard to college football recruiting are the juniors, but I think Jalen Marshall is a "can't miss" out of St. Thomas Aquinas in Kansas.

DURANT -- As we start to see states begin making decisions or delaying decisions on the upcoming high school football season, the state of Kansas is in some limbo. The governor has executed an executive order to push the start of school to after Labor Day. States surrounding Kansas, like Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa, are looking to start their seasons on time.

Oklahoma announced on Thursday they are still on schedule, but monitoring conditions with COVID-19. From a recruiting standpoint this will hurt the juniors, the Class of 2022, the most. That is a year where players really mature and show their talents with regards to being potential college student-athletes. 

At the ESPN UnderArmour Underclassmen All-American Camp, we saw a lot of juniors, a lot of talent, and one I don't think needs to prove much with regards to his future is St. Thomas Aquinas defensive lineman Jalen Marshall. 

The 6-4, 265-pound Marshall looks the part and I loved what I saw of him in the combine drills working under the hot Oklahoma sun after driving in from Overland Park, Kansas. 

"Yeah, it was about a six-hour drive, but I slept most of the way, so it wasn't that bad," Marshall told me. 

He was able to sleep on the drive because over in the bleachers at the Durant Multipurpose Athletic Facility was his dad, Karl, he too loves football and walked on at Oklahoma State back in 1996. Marshall has a little bit of an OSU connection. He also has an offer from the Cowboys along with Arkansas, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, and Nebraska. 

"I would love to go visit schools, but I visited Missouri on a virtual tour last week and I have one with Nebraska this week." he said.

As for Oklahoma State? He did do a virtual tour earlier this year and he has been there in person.

"My dad went there and I went to there camp last summer and it was a good camp," Marshall told us. "They're good. Both (Joe Bob Clements and Greg Richmond) are recruiting me."

More import, Marshall is good. Last season as a sophomore for St. Thomas Aquinas that went 10-1 on the season and was 7-0 in their conference, Marshall had 36 total tackles with 22 unassisted and 2.5 sacks. He was soft selling his performance in the camp as I thought he was one of the best looking and athletic of the some 30 defensive linemen there. That included an Oklahoma junior in Tulsa Edison's Chris McClellan, who we believe is really talented. They have some of the same offers in recruiting and I think if you got both those kids in your 2022 class then you did well. 

"I thought I did decent, but I could have done better," Marshall said being humble about how he did in Durant. "You can always do better. The heat, this is tough, but I thought I did decent."

He prides himself on his versatility and I can tell you that for his size he moves really well. In the drills he may have come off a little too high, but he was quick with the first step. He used his hands well and he showed mobility both forward and backward, but also side to side. He can play anywhere on the defensive line from zero or one-technique all the way out to an edge end as a seven-technique and anything in between. 

"Yeah, I think I can play defensive end, defensive tackle, and nose guard," Marshall agreed. "I think I can play every position."

He says using his hands and his speed are areas of improvement for him. He looks pretty good, but those are two skills that you can always get better with. 

If they get to play St. Thomas Aquinas will be good again. A "big" part of it on defense will be Jalen Marshall.