BYU Recruiting Recap

Bronco Mendenhall has introduced a new mentality to football recruiting at Brigham Young University:

Early bird gets the worm.

Last season BYU had essentially wrapped up its recruiting class before Fall camp even began. This season, while going a bit slower, has also gathered some top talent in the area and in the country. This early process of identifying athletes, students and young men that fit the mold is allowing BYU to get some great talent they might not have otherwise been able to recruit. Examples of such are JJ DiLuigi and Ryan Kessman. Both are non-LDS talent that committed early and maintained that commitment, despite being recruited by BCS schools.

Last season, Scout.com rated BYU as the best recruiting class among non-BCS schools at 42. This season, BYU is the only non-BCS school to have a verbal from a Top 100 recruit at this point. So far, BYU has received 5 verbals:

1. Austin Holt(6'5, 225)TE: Holt is the above mentioned top 50 recruit. He is currently rated a 4 star but will probably be a 5 star in the coming weeks if he can improve his 40 time (4.8) He was named to the Desert News 5A All-State team after his junior season after scoring 4 touchdowns on 21 catches for 372 yards (17.7 ypc) Holt committed shortly after signing day in 2007, nearly a year before he will sign an official Letter of Intent. Bronco has developed a great formula in finding great athletes that want to play at BYU. Holt should continue the trend of NFL caliber TE's at BYU.

2. Daniel Sorensen (6'2, 205)S: There was a mini-debacle several months ago where some news media reported he committed when he actually hadn't. Long story short, they reported that he said he would, not that he had. He did committ several weeks later while visiting BYU. Sorensen is a great hitter and will be a great addition to the Cougar backfield. I am actually more excited about him than I am about Gary Nagy who is coming to BYU this year. Sorensen should be a great addition when both starting safeties graduate after this season.

3. Justin Sorensen (6'2, 215)K: Hard to get too excited about a kicker that last name isn't Payne, but he will be a welcome addition in the years to come. He was also on the Deseret News 5A All-State team. He has a powerful leg and regularly boots the ball out of the endzone.

4. Cameron Comer (6'0.5, 170) CB: Comer is a rare over 6'0 CB to come to BYU. Last year's recruiting class the CBs were 5'10 (Brannon Brooks) and 5'9 (G Pittman.) Comer is fast and is a great cover corner.

5. Jerry Bruner (6'3, 225) RB: Bruner is the latest addition to the team, having just recently given a verbal commitment. Bruner has flown under the radar of most scouts having been injured for most of his Junior season. The 5 games that Bruner did play he scored 11 touchdowns and ran for 800 yards. That is over 2 touchdowns a game and 160 yards. It gets better.
Did I mention that Bruner also runs a 4.4? At his size, that is freakish. Im sure you have heard of Chris Henry, the Arizona running back who is slated to be drafted as the 4th RB with a CAREER total of 892 yards. He ran a 4.4. Henry is 5'11, Bruner is 6'3 and they both weight 225. Calvin Johnson, arguably the best player in this years draft, is a little taller and runs between a 4.3 and 4.4.
Some people are clamoring for him to play LB with his size, but I believe he will stick to offense and contribute by pounding the other defense or simply running around them.