Bully Max Elite Prospects to Watch

The Atlanta based seven-on-seven organization has some untapped talent for college coaches to watch.

Author:
Stephen Leonard
Publish date:
Feb 8, 2022 7:53 AM EST

A Special thank you to Mariah Sindel with Viera Photography for numerous great photographs this weekend. ~ Brian Smith

DAVENPORT, Fla. - With the wide array of teams coming to the DRSportz seven-on-seven tournament this past weekend, there were bound to be a few shining stars that emerged that many college football fans had not heard of yet. Bully Max Elite, a team from the Atlanta area, absolutely dominated in the later Saturday games, as their games against C3 Elite and Team Lynch took center stage.

Bully Max Elite quarterback Tristan Gabrels showed off the ability to make every pass on the field, with an effortless flair. He knew to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers to let them and how to lead a team, overall showing why he’s going to be a quarterback to watch in the class of 2024.

Gabrels is a 6’1", 190-pound quarterback for Buford (Ga.) High School who recently won the 6A Georgia State Championship. Gabrels played as the team’s second string quarterback, coming into the games and showing flashes of his natural arm talent and elusiveness in the pocket. He doesn’t yet hold an offer, but has interest in schools like Duke, Miami of Ohio, and the University of Central Florida.

BullymaxElite’s star wide receiver DeAndre Buchannon from Atlanta (Ga.) Carver came to play in a big way. He continued to rise score touchdown after touchdown, shouting “Waffle House. 24/7,” as he celebrated in the endzone. Buchannon’s elite jumping and route running make him dangerous to leave in single coverage, but even double teams couldn’t stop him from going up and getting the ball out of the air.

This next catch is probably even better:

Buchannon is also an electric receiver ffor Carver where he puts that fluid route running together with pure physicality while in pads. Standing at 5’11" and 160-pounds, Buchannon is on the lighter side for the collegiate level, but he does play above his weight class, using his aggression to counteract larger players. During his junior season for Carver, Buchannon recorded over 1,000 all purpose and nine touchdowns, as both a receiver and returner.

Buchannon holds offers from Akron, Austin Peay, Indiana, the University of Alabama-Birmingham, and Western Kentucky. After his game fellow reporter Andrew Johnson and I caught up with him and talked about his collegiate opportunities. He said “I really want to go to a school in Florida, any school in Florida offers me, I’m committing.”

Multiple UCF staff members do follow Buchannon on Twitter, and he’ll definitely be someone to watch as an under the radar receiver for the Knights in the class of 2023.

The offensive duo was joined by a breakout player on the defensive side of the ball too, Kari Burroughs is a hybrid linebacker from Atlanta (Ga.) Mays. He impressed during the tournament. Burroughs is a late bloomer, as an unsigned member of the class of 2022. He never burst onto the scene during his high school career. However, that wasn’t down to poor play as he recorded 51 tackles, four turnovers including a fumble returned for a touchdown, and one sack in nine games as a senior.

When competing at the tournament that same knack for finding the ball showed, recording a crucial interception against Team Lynch to kill all momentum, and finishing the game with a victory. That ball-hawking ability was also shown with multiple deflected passes, and is a major asset for him at the next level. So far he’s received interest from FCS school Presbyterian College, Division III school North Carolina Wesleyan, and prep school Northeast Georgia Prep Academy.

If you’d like to follow the players named in this article, @Tristangabrels1 @BuchannonBeast and @kari_burroghs are their Twitter handles.

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