Under Armour All-America: Day 1 Eye-Catchers

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Under Armour All-America Game practices kicked off on Friday evening. Around 100 of the nation’s top football prospects from the 2023 recruiting cycle were at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Florida for the week’s first practice. On3 was on hand to take in the action. 

Practices will run until Monday. The game is to be played on January 3 at 5 P.M. eastern at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

FULL 2023 UNDER ARMOUR ALL-AMERICA GAME ROSTER

The roster is divided into two teams – Team Speed and Team Phantom. Both teams had simultaneous non-padded practices on adjacent fields. Contact was limited and unlike past years, this first day primarily consisted of individual drills and team walk throughs. There were not any full-speed 1-on-1, 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 periods. Even though the action was slow-paced, several prospects caught our eye at practice.

WR Noah Rogers, Ohio State

Noah Rogers showed a side of his game that you may not see in watching his senior film. The Ohio State pledge’s reputation is a deep ball threat is well established given his ability to take the top off of defenses on Friday nights and in the 7-on-7 setting. On Friday, Rogers showed some nuanced route-running skills, flashing the ability to get in and out of his breaks quickly and efficiently. His twitch and burst off the line of scrimmage also stood out in what is a deep and talented receiver group. Rogers looked to be an easy tracker of the football and made every catch look effortless in routes-on-air.  Given what he showed on Friday, we’re eager to see how he performs in 1-on-1 and 7-on-7 periods in upcoming practices.

Rogers ranks as as a five-star and the No. 18 overall prospect in the On300.

EDGE Adepoju Adebawore, Oklahoma

On a field full of gifted athletes, few, if any have the combination of length and movements of Adepoju Adebawore. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder has exceptionally long arms with a lean, muscular build. Adebawore has a high-end burst and showed some eye-catching quickness and twitch in position work. In addition to the unique dimensions and burst, Adebawore also showed the ability to dip and bend in bag drills. The five-star Sooner signee should be a speed mismatch for the Team Speed offensive linemen when things go live on Saturday.

Adebawore ranks as the No. 7 overall prospect and No. 3 EDGE in the 2023 On300.

S Derek Williams, Texas

Friday was our first opportunity see Derek Williams in person. The Texas safety signee passed the eye test. Williams is a big-framed safety, looking to be at or taller than 6-foot-1 with long arms and big hands. Perhaps even more notably, we liked what we saw from a coverage standpoint in the limited action. Williams looked comfortable and relatively refined in his drops. We’ll see more when action goes live in the coming days, but Williams had the look of a well-rounded, big safety on Friday night.

The New Iberia (La.) Westgate standout ranks as the No. 32 overall prospect and No. 3 safety in the On300.

DL Jordan Renaud, Alabama

Along with Adepoju Adebawore, Jordan Renaud and Georgia signee Samuel M’Pemba were the Team Speed defensive linemen who stood out from a physical perspective. Both Renaud and M’Pemba are very physically developed with filled out, muscular builds. Renaud continued to impress in individual drills showing quickness, bend and strong hands. The Tyler (Texas) Legacy product also showed well in the skills competition with a notable burst.

Renaud ranks as the No. 74 overall prospect in the On300.

LB Suntarine Perkins, Ole Miss

Suntarine Perkins continues to stand out in all-star settings. The Ole Miss signee had a stellar showing at the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game and looks primed for a good week at Under Armour. Perkins has the best length of any linebacker, not only at Under Armour, but perhaps nationally. At a practice where not much was asked of the linebackers, we thought Perkins stood out from a build and movement perspective. Saturday should provide more of a test, but Perkins showed some positive traits on Friday night.

Perkins ranks as the No. 78 overall prospect in the On300.

DL Will Norman, Florida

Will Norman was among the most disruptive players during the team period for Team Speed. The Florida signee notched a tackle for loss, a sack and a pass breakup at the line of scrimmage. Norman used violent hands and a quality swim move that we expect to see more of throughout the week. The Connecticut native has plenty of mass and should benefit from time in Florida’s strength and conditioning program.

Norman ranks as the No. 215 overall prospect in the On3 Consensus.

TE Duce Robinson, unsigned

Duce Robinson immediately sticks out with his stature, looking to be over 6-foot-6. He stands head and shoulders above most others on the field. The Phoenix native has a big frame with room to add substantial mass once he’s in a strength program. Robinson is a solid mover with length that creates a sizable catch radius, which he showed off in the skill challenge. He’ll need to continue honing his routes, but Robinson has the tools to be a mismatch in the passing game.

The five-star pass catcher ranks as the No. 21 overall prospect in the On300. USC and Georgia lead in his On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine.

OT Zalance Heard, LSU

Zalance Heard may have been the most college-ready looking prospect among the offensive linemen on Friday. The LSU signee has tremendous arm length and carries his weight well. Heard showed off his light feet and knee bend during the individual period of practice. He later flashed tenacity and brute strength at the point of attack during the team period. We’ll see more in upcoming practices, but Heard appears to have made some technical progress with his technique as a run and pass blocker.

A five-star prospect for On3, Heard ranks as the No. 15 overall prospect in the 2023 On300.

TE Khamari Anderson, Kentucky

Khamari Anderon was among the more pleasant surprises on Friday night. The Detroit native has good size and is physically developed. Anderson was fluid in his routes, showing wiggle and ability to get in and out of his breaks during routes-on-air. He also looked to be a natural catcher of the football with strong hands. He later flashed some high-point and tracking ability during the team period.

Anderson ranks as a three-star prospect by On3 and the On3 Consensus. He was a one-time Cincinnati commit prior to signing with the Wildcats.

WR Makai Lemon, USC

Makai Lemon may have come down with the most receptions during the team period for Team Phantom, proving to be a reliable target in the short and intermediate areas of the field for JJ Kohl and Avery Johnson. The USC signee showed strong hands in coming down with a pass in traffic despite tight coverage. He continued to showcase the ball skills by winning the hands portion of the skills contest, catching balls out of a JUGS machine that were clocked at 45 miles per hour.

Lemon ranks as the No. 88 overall prospect in the 2023 On300.

Additional notes

+ Four On300 quarterbacks – Oklahoma signee Jackson Arnold, Florida signee Jaden Rashada, Kansas State signee Avery Johnson and Iowa State signee JJ Kohl are on hand. While there was a relatively low number of live throws on the day, we were able to get a glimpse of each. Arnold has a developed build and does not look far off from being able to see the field as a freshman, from a physical perspective. The five-star passer showed off his quick release on Friday. Rashada and Johnson are both thin at the moment and will need to spend time in their respective strength programs and at the training table. Throwing alongside Arnold for Team Speed, Rashada flashed his arm strength, which registers among the best in the cycle. Kohl had a nice showing in the team portion, hitting some tight window passes over the middle of the field.

+ We got a quick look at several of the running backs on hand. Texas signee Cedric Baxter has a big frame and room to continue filling out at around 6-foot-1.5, 215 pounds. Baxter showed a nice burst in the team walk-through period. Alabama signee Richard Young has a readymade physical build. Fellow Team Speed running back and Colorado signee Dylan Edwards is the smallest runner on hand in Orlando, checking in around 5-foot-8, 155 pounds. Both Young and Edwards had some ups and downs caching routes-on-air from the strong-armed Arnold and Rashada. Unsigned running back Ja’Vin Simpkins looked like the most natural pass-catcher among the Team Speed running backs.

+ Nyckoles Harbor‘s combination of size and track speed is well-known at this point. It should not come as a surprise that Harbor looked like a freakish jumbo athlete on Friday night. A two-way prospect, Harbor is working at tight end this week. He’s relatively undeveloped as a pass catcher and has had some ups and downs in that area as a senior. With that said, we’re closely watching Harbor this week. On Friday, he looked comfortable working underneath and in the intermediate area of the field. He was a little spotty in tracking the ball downfield in the small sample. We’ll continue to track Harbor in the coming practices. Michigan leads in the Washington D.C. prospect’s On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine.

 Freakish specimen. Playing tight end at this event and showed off his twitch and long speed in routes-on-air and in the individual period. Comfortable looking in passes at the underneath and intermediate levels, but struggled to track the ball downfield in the vertical passing game a bit. Huge opportunity for him to show off his mismatch ability later in the week during the 1-on-1 and 7-on-7 periods.

+ In addition to Suntarine Perkins, Georgia signee Raylen Wilson stood out among the linebackers. Wilson has continued to add mass and looks to be around 6-foot-1, 225 pounds. A plus athlete with 10.9 second speed in the 100 meters, we’re looking forward to seeing how he plays the rest of the week.

+ We were able to get a more extensive look at the Team Phantom defensive backs. Alabama signee Desmond Ricks may be the tallest corner on hand, looking to be around 6-foot-2. While things were not full speed, Ricks looked comfortable on Friday night. Georgia safety signee Joenel Aguero also caught our eye with his twitchy movements on the back end.

On3’s Cody Bellaire contributed to this article.