Dante Booker recruit scouting report: Instinctive linebacker

Dante Booker is one of the top linebackers in the nation, and has been recruited by a host of schools for his services as he prepares to graduate high school

Booker attends St. Vincent-St. Mary (Ohio) High School, and hails from Akron. He plays linebacker, and is listed at either inside linebacker or outside linebacker on the four major recruiting services. Booker is listed at 6’3, and weighs in at 212 pounds.

ESPN, Rivals and Scout all list Booker as a four-star recruit, while 247sports has him rated as a five-star. 247sports ranks him as the top outside linebacker in the class, Rivals has him as the fourth-best inside linebacker, ESPN considers him the seventh-best outside linebacker and Scout lists him sixth at outside linebacker. The 247sports composite rates Booker as a four-star recruit, considering him the fourth-best outside linebacker in the country, the second-best player in Ohio and the 57th-best prospect in the class.

Booker holds offers from Ohio State, Louisville, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State and Tennessee, among others. He can be found on Twitter at @D_Book47.

Bud Elliott, National Recruiting Analyst: Booker is one of the more instinctive players in the class of 2014. He quickly diagnoses run or pass, and then really gets after the ball carrier. He actually looks faster than he is, because he doesn’t waste a lot of time going the wrong direction and then correcting.

Booker does not have the biggest linebacker frame, and I would not project him to play above 230 pounds. Because of that, he projects to be somewhat position limited, with weak-side linebacker being his best fit. Even there, he must become more physical against the run.

That said, I believe Booker can be a very good player in college, and a versatile one as well, being able to be a true weapon in pass coverage.