Ranked by some as the nation’s best wide receiver, Urbandale (IA) High School prospect Allen Lazard has been drawing coaches and scouts to suburban Des Moines for months. The 6’5, 200-lb. Lazard figures to be one of the most coveted recruits in Iowa high school football history. Hudl has multiple Lazard highlight videos available.
Allen Lazard recruit scouting profile: Red zone threat
Lazard is the top-ranked wide receiver recruit in the nation, and #25 overall prospect, according to Rivals. The other services are not quite so high on Lazard, but he is ranked as a four star prospect by all four major scouting services. 24/7 Sports ranks Lazard as the second-best player in the state of Iowa.
As of May, Lazard has received offers from Iowa State, Iowa, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Cal, Oregon and Stanford. His father played linebacker for Iowa State. His older brother is also a Cyclone football player, currently playing linebacker for Paul Rhoads’ squad.
Bud Elliott, National Recruiting Analyst: Lazard is one of the 10 or 15-best receiver recruits I have seen in the class of 2014. He can eventually play at 215 or 220 pounds and 6’5, and physicality will be a big part of his game.
Lazard has good, but not great speed. He is a long-strider who can run by some defenders at top speed. But speed is not really a key part of his game.
That’s OK, though, because Lazard has a lot of other skills that make up for his lack of elite speed. The first is that he is excellent at making contested catches, either by going up to get the football with his excellent leaping, or by boxing out a defender on an inside route with his excellent length. And his fantastic hands are implicit in all of these contested catches.
I think Lazard can get better at running interior routes by making his feet quicker, but this is a 6’5 receiver who is not going to be asked to run a lot of inside option routes.
If all goes well, Lazard can be a beast in the red zone and a multiple starter who demands double teams at the BCS level for several years.
