College football teams who recruit the DMV should know all about Bryan Bresee (and these 16 other players)

I spent Sunday at an Under Armour recruiting camp just north of Baltimore. These camps are good opportunities to watch highly sought prospects in the classes of 2019, 2020, and even 2021. They’re limited as an evaluative tool, and they tend to be better for confirming that Johnny Four-Star is good than deciding you’ve found a diamond in the rough. There are no pads, and the contact is mostly limited to hand-checking. Still, players can show out.

Here’s a position-by-position look at the camp, with some observations on who played well and some reporting on players’ future plans. This is a non-exhaustive list, but a lot of the best performances were from 2020 players — current high school sophomores. That’s shaping up to be a stronger year for D.C., Maryland, and Virginia than 2019, I think.

This position group goes first, because the best player in the camp and one of the best high school prospects I’ve ever seen was part of it. You should know about Bryan Bresee.

Bresee is the early No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2020, according to the 247Sports Composite. That spot will probably change hands a few times between now and his National Signing Day two winters from now, but Bresee will continue to be a big deal in the recruiting world. He looks like the most five-star of all five-star recruits.

Bresee is a preposterous blend of size, power, and short-area quickness. He could play three-technique defensive tackle if he wants to, but most colleges see him as a defensive end. At 6’5 and a little less than 300 pounds, his future is probably on the edge. He models his game after J.J. Watt, as do, like, 96 percent of high school defensive linemen. But he’s the closest thing you’ll find to the real thing in a high school setting.

There’s no bull-rushing allowed at these camps. Bresee can run over people, for sure, but in this setting, he just had to go past offensive linemen like they weren’t even there.

He’ll have his pick of every major program in the country, and the schools that don’t offer him scholarships will only pass because they don’t feel like wasting time. Bresee hasn’t tipped his hand much about his plans, and he didn’t when I spoke with him, either.

Bresee plays his high school football in Damascus, Maryland. He’ll have a top-10 list out in the fall. Ohio State will probably be in that group, and I’d guess nearby Maryland would be, too, though it’d be quite an upset if DJ Durkin’s program were able to keep him home.

Other D-linemen who played well included 2019 Gonzaga (D.C.) four-star Joseph Weté and 2020 St. Vincent Pallotti (Md.) Coziah Izzard.

(Bresee’s name is pronounced “breezy,” by the way.)

The player I kept noticing was Michael Alaimo, a 2020 pro-style passer from St. Joseph (New Jersey) Regional. Alaimo still looks really young (and he is), but he has a 6’4 frame and effortlessly throws a long, accurate ball. I watched him stand at the numbers on one side of the field and thrown directly down the 30-yard line with a three-stop drop, always with a lot of mustard on his throws and never requiring his receiver to move to catch them. His target was standing at the numbers on the other side of the field. The throws were majestic.

Alaimo told me he has offers from North Carolina, Rutgers, Pitt, Temple, and Boston College. He’s certainly a Power 5 QB, and I think he’ll draw interest over the next year from some schools more in the blue-blood neighborhood. He’s plotted visits to Penn State, UCLA, Stanford, Georgia, and maybe Michigan and Ohio State. Alaimo said a Penn State or UCLA offer would change the dynamic of his recruitment.

In the 2019 class, three-star Joachim Bangda from D.C.’s St. Frances Academy stood out. He’s a short but powerful back, and he was smooth in receiving drills. He has listed offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Maryland, and more. Bama offers lots of running backs and is pretty selective about actually taking them.

Another running back with an Alabama offer, four-star Keilan Robinson, didn’t work out a few weeks after rolling an ankle. But Robinson, out of St. John’s College High School in D.C., is regarded as a huge talent. He has 25 offers in total. Bama, USC, Florida State, Maryland (“because they’re the home school”), and Penn State (“which means a lot in this area”) stand out at the moment. Robinson is insistent, even more than most recruits, that he takes every offer he gets seriously. His recruitment is open, and it’s hard to peg a favorite.

Robinson could commit whenever he feels like it. He’d like to wrap things before this fall, but isn’t beholden to that timeline. Robinson places significant value on playing near home, and that’s potentially great news for Maryland.

Blake Corum, a 2020 prospect from St. Vincent Pallotti in Maryland, played really well. He’s another guy with a powerful build that suggests he can run between the tackles and a certain fluidity in his route-running that suggests he’s versatile.

Three players stood way, way out:

Jarrett isn’t more than an even 6 feet, but he’s a mean route-runner with hands. Sainristil is listed as a cornerback by the major recruiting agencies, but he made acrobatic catch after acrobatic catch in receiver drills. Justin Fuente should use him there! Jacobs is one of those wideouts who turns 50/50 balls into 90/10 balls with his size, speed, and hands.

Jarrett will visit Alabama on June 1 and Florida and FSU later in the summer. Those two Florida schools have offered, and Alabama hasn’t yet. Jacobs will be in a lot of demand over the next year in a half. Maryland and Penn State are prominent in the race early.

The 2019 standout here was Jakai Moore, a four-star from Virginia. Penn State is the runaway favorite for Moore on the 247Sports Crystal Ball, over South Carolina. Moore has 22 offers, he told me. I didn’t hear anything that would make anyone think he’s not going to Penn State, though he did mention Virginia Tech first when I asked which schools stood out. (Yes, college football recruiting coverage is inherently silly in some ways.) Ohio State, South Carolina, and Virginia also drew mentions. Moore plans to release a top-eight list in July and wants to take unofficial visits to Pitt, Ohio State, and Penn State.

2020 players Altrique Barlow (from Virginia) and Jordan White (from Maryland) both shined. Barlow was one of my favorite players at the camp. He’s a guard/tackle swingman who spent his afternoon just burying people into the artificial turf. An absolute unit. Barlow told me he has offers from Georgia, Auburn, Virginia Tech, and — a Group of 5 school that’s done it’s scouting — Charlotte so far. He can muck it up with pretty much anyone.

This group included a couple of big names. Five-star 2019 Alabama commit Shane Lee is everything you’d guess based on that description. He’s huge, fast, and athletic for an inside backer. He could anchor the heart of Nick Saban’s defense for several seasons.

2020 four-star Mekhail Sherman is going to draw tons of hype as his signing day gets closer. (Really, he already is.) He’s visited Georgia and Penn State recently, and he’s planning trips to Ohio State and Auburn. More top programs will try to get involved.

Tony Grimes is a freshman. He can’t sign for two and a half years, but he has 13 offers. Duke, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Michigan, Purdue, and Maryland are among them. He’s a long way from any decisions, but he might’ve been the most impressive DB in a setting that isn’t easy for DBs. He could play cornerback or safety down the line, but he has the size and agility for outside corner and should get a lot of looks there.

2019 three-star strong safety Dean Ferguson from Potomac Falls (Va.) stuck out, too. Ferguson has 13 offers, with Virginia Tech and West Virginia in contact most at the moment.

Lol. Kickers, punters, and long snappers don’t get invited to these things. But they should!