If you’re looking for the most inglorious recruit of the 2014 recruiting class, that distinction could belong to Daniel Gresham. Gresham hails from Fort Worth (Tex.) All Saints Episcopal School and is quite possibly one of the top fullbacks in the 2014 recruiting class.
Daniel Gresham recruit scouting report: Versatile 2014 running back/fullback
Daniel Gresham is ranked as the top fullback in the 2014 recruiting class, but also has some legitimate running back skills.
Gresham weighs in at 225 pounds and stands at 5’11 and is considered a consensus four-star recruit. Gresham is ranked the 224th-best national recruit by 247Sports, the recruiting service also considers him the top fullback and the 30th best Texas recruit. Scout also ranks him as the top overall fullback and ESPN has placed Gresham on the ESPN Watchlist.
As of the start of March, Gresham also held offers from schools like Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. Follow Gresham on Twitter at @DanielGresham33, although you might need permission from him to see his tweets!
Gresham has already made an early pledge, committing to the University of Texas back in August. Wescott Eberts has more on the commitment at SB Nation.
Daniel Gresham’s Highlights (via Daniel Gresham)
Scouting report by SBN Recruiting analyst Wescott Eberts:
On film, Gresham is a willing and able blocker who has the mobility to lock onto second-level targets and the natural strength, flexibility, and overall punch to deliver de-cleating blows. Most impressively, though, is his ability with the football. Natural balance, toughness, his compact build, and leg drive help him run over and through defenders at the high school level -- he’s a true bruiser.That was the brief assessment of Gresham at the time of his commitment to Texas. Since then, he’s put some impressive stuff on his junior film.
What stands out most is that Gresham appears to have increased his speed since his sophomore season with some hard work on explosiveness and may getting a little bit more lean to decrease his mass.
So while Gresham is considered the top fullback prospect in the country and has expressed a willingness to do some of the dirty work there, the reason that the All Saints product has seen his offer list increase in the weeks since National Signing Day for the 2013 is his ability as a pure running back who won’t just get carries on the occasional dive play.
With his solid 225-pound frame, Gresham has the strength in his lower body to step through arm tackles when lined up as a tailback. In fact, he clearly likes to punish opponents -- they take some vicious hits from Gresham even when they are able to bring him down and there were plenty of them in 2012 who were not able to accomplish that feat, with several plays on film when Gresham broke two or more tackles and was able to navigate his way through heavy traffic into the open field.
Once he gets into the open field, he displays a nice burst and pad level. And though his competition level at All Saints isn’t particularly high, he doesn’t get caught from behind and does a nice job of keeping the ball high and tight to his body to ensure ball security, a struggle for many young running backs who are often lucky to have two points of contact on the ball. He can also flash a nice stiff arm.
In terms of his feet, Gresham isn’t a jump cutter, but can slide cut and change directions at time. He won’t ever be mistaken for a 170-pound scatback, but his change of direction ability and overall agility is strong for his size.
Gresham may be the top fullback in the 2014 class, but he’s much more than that as a bruising running back prospect who could demand a significant number of carries in college, especially as a short-yardage back or fourth-quarter bludgeon.
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