Scouting Prospects from Tampa Catholic and Tampa Berkeley Prep

Tampa Catholic at Berkeley Prep, there will be several prospects to watch including UCF commitment TJ Bullard. Here’s a run down of the prospects that will be closely followed this evening.

Author:
Brian Smith
Publish date:
Oct 1, 2021 2:40 PM EDT

TAMPA - As UCF continues to fill out its 2022 recruiting class, it’s still good to keep an eye towards the prospects that are already verbally committed to the Knights. That’s the primary focus of tonight’s high school football scouting, as hybrid linebacker TJ Bullard will go to battle with his Berkeley teammates against Catholic. He’s just one of numerous college prospects, however, and that’s why tonight’s matchup will be fun to watch.

This game will feature several future college players from the class of 2022, as well as some underclassmen that could be Power Five players as well.

Here are a few of the prospects that Inside The Knights will be paying close attention to this evening, with several other players to be featured in tomorrow’s follow-up article.

Berkeley Prep Prospects

TJ Bullard

Vitals: 6’0”, 185 pounds

Position: Hybrid Linebacker

Class: 2022

Recruitment: Committed to UCF

A speedy and extremely athletic player, Bullard fits the hybrid definition quite well. He’s part safety by physical stature, and yet he plays with a linebacker’s mentality. As he continues to grow, it will be interesting to see which position(s) Bullard plays.

Questions to be answered from tonight’s game:

Does Bullard attack blocks with good leverage? Does he bend well when coming off the edge as a blitzer? Many high school linebackers fail to properly wrap up. Does Bullard show proper tackling technique, play after play?

After seeing Bullard tonight, it will shed light on whether he should be placed at hybrid linebacker long-term or if he could eventually play more in the box as the weak side linebacker. As of now, his body projects him to playing more in space as the hybrid, but there’s also the aspect of how a young man plays. In short, how much does Bullard relish contact? To date, he’s been very physical. Looking forward to seeing more of that tonight.

Keon Keeley

Vitals: 6’6”, 230 pounds

Position: Defensive End

Class: 2023

Recruitment: Committed to Notre Dame

From a physical standpoint, Keeley is the definition of an edge pass rusher. Very long arms, bends extremely well, and he provides explosive movements directly ahead and laterally.

Questions to be answered from tonight’s game:

Keeley’s pass rushing is well documented. It’s hard to find a better pure pass rusher in the country regardless of class. What can he do against the run, however?

Does he forsake his run game responsibilities? What about simple aspects of holding the edge like playing half-a-man in an effort to penetrate into the backfield? Finally, what would be Keeley’s depth of moves to separate from what will be a massive and athletic Catholic offensive line?

Keeley is a rare player, but he’s still young and needs to continue to refine his skills. Tonight will be an excellent barometer of what he can do now and the areas in which he needs to improve.

Catholic Prospects

Lewis Carter

Vitals: 6’0”, 210 pounds

Position: Linebacker/Running Back

Class: 2023

Recruitment: National recruit; will be able to pick his school by the end of this next spring if not sooner. Clemson and Notre Dame are the latest schools to really start getting involved, and he’s been offered by Florida, UCF, Georgia, Texas A&M, Penn State, and Nebraska among numerous others.

Carter’s penchant for being a speed player that also packs serious power when he makes contact is well known. He’s a capable pass defender and one that’s improving in that all-important category for a potential college linebacker. It’s his ability to run the football that’s most intriguing, however.

Catholic has multiple running backs that are injured. Carter will need to play some running back this evening.

Questions to be answered from tonight’s game:

Can Carter be an every-down running back at the Power Five level? How’s his pad level? Does he possess the patience to wait for holes to develop? As a defender, it will be interesting to see if Carter can consistently go one-on-one with either of Berkeley’s running backs and bring them down?

Both Travis Bates and Xavier Townsend (Iowa State commitment) are very talented running backs. There’s no reason to doubt that they will make some big plays, but how many times Carter makes a key stop is an intriguing situation to watch.

Eddy Pierre-Louis

Vitals: 6’4”, 305 pounds

Position: Offensive Guard

Class: 2024

Recruitment: National recruit; numerous offers as a freshman.

The brother of Florida starting offensive lineman Richard Gouraige, Pierre-Louis possesses tremendous natural strength. Now he must fine-tune blocking skills and better understand when and where to use the best possible hand placement. While a work in progress, this is a young man that can be a national top 25 player with the proper self-motivation.

Questions to be answered from tonight’s game:

How consistent does Pierre-Louis utilize good footwork from the moment he comes out of his stance until the whistle blows to signal the end of the play? What’s his effort-level? Does he dominate players below his talent level, or just get by?

Final Thoughts

There are several other big-time players at this game, but one set of eyes needs to focus on a few players. Within tomorrow’s recap article, expect to see some additional names. There’s a long list of talented players on both of these rosters.

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