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William Reed

c/o 2021

6-6” 265 lbs

Offensive Tackle

Eastside Catholic, Sammamish WA

Reed is an offensive tackle who plays for Washington high school FB powerhouse Eastside Catholic. EC has an absolutely loaded roster. Reed started as a junior at “only” 265 pounds beat out three other seniors who were over 300 pounds – so he’s doing something right. He also claims that he’s never given up a sack.

He’s a low 3-star recruit with 26 offers with 11 of those coming from P5 programs. A lot of the Ivies and other academic-focused schools offered him given his 3.8 GPA and 6 years of taking Mandarin. In other words, he’s a Cal type man. Let’s go to his tape:

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11217784/5d8968f70428dc1214da3bd1

Key strengths are that he appears to be a legit 6’6” and the 265 is good body weight. He has a ton of upside with his body frame to add another 30-40 pounds of good weight and a bunch more quickness/explosiveness. His best weapon is his hand game. I would not be surprised if he has martial arts experience, because there were several highlights of him neutralizing his opponents through judo-like slaps/locks/twist/pushes. And it wasn’t the same tricks – a nice variety of tricks and counters. And decent upper body flexibility to attack opponent’s shoulders/momentum with twists. And there’s a little bit of nastiness in his game that I like. I think he’s got a ton of upside.

His challenges are that he was a high school junior still growing into a 6’6” frame, so he’s still developing in overall strength, needs improvement to his footwork, and conditioning issues. Conditioning may also be the root of why his set-up gets sloppy and becomes very easy to read what the next play is going to be. Likewise, he can be explosive, but seems to take plays off to power up. Sometimes he reaches rather than run to an opponent. S&C can fix a bunch of his issues.

He is a project player that you put on the scout team for 2 years to get 3 productive years out of him. But first, he still has his senior year ahead of him – if it ever gets played.

I also looked at the highlight tape of his teammate Jernias Tafia to see how he looked when it wasn’t his highlight reel. It didn’t change my mind, but reinforced my initial thought on his the strengths/weaknesses.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/8586157/Jernias-Tafia

Look… let’s be real. Cal has had several years of really great offensive line recruits who look better on tape and look good with the eyeball test… but tended to underperformed because of a mental mistakes. I, for one, welcome a clearly smart young man onto the team perchance for the online to turn the corner by having a lineman who can make fewer mistakes that blow up plays. Slow footwork can be fixed through training; slow minds cannot.

Welcome to Cal, William.

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Putting that size on. Let’s go 💪🏾

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Yooo the chinese killed me 😂

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Mixing in the 'Big Uglies' with the speed and athleticism of the skill positions. Nice, balanced recruiting. I like the direction JW is taking us.

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I just watched the tape. I like this kid. :-)

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Haven't watched the tape yet, but this kid may only need one year on scout team. He can easily put on 20 lbs. of muscle this year and again next, by hitting weights hard. S&C will get him in shape. If he has nasty if means he's physical, and that is such a great attribute for o-linemen. If he's smart it means he's coachable. Give him a year on scout working on his technique while he muscles up and then a year or two as a backup and this kid might develop into something real special (might!). With his height and wingspan, if he has good athleticism and quick feet, combined with his 'judo' training, this guy could be a solid weak side tackle. As always, time will tell. It's all about his desire and work ethic.

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Yes, Welcome to Cal WIlliam. Nice to see a guy with some academic chops as well (considering the Ivy League interest).

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