Saturday, June 28, 2008

the recruit: dominique wallace

Second in a series. So right to it. Dominique Wallace committed in February (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star) just a couple short weeks after the class of '08 was official. Since then he's taken this whole recruiting thing very seriously (Rivals $):


Reports from other recruits of Wallace's recruiting prowess have been rampant, including those from eventual commitments Quintin Hunter and Corey Lillard.

"I love talking to people about Virginia and why I made my decision to go there. I want this class and the entire program to be strong. If I can help out, I will gladly do so."

Needless to say we are talking about a solid commitment. Here are the vitals:

Name: Dominique Wallace
Position: RB/FB
Hometown: Fredericksburg
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 231
40: 4.48 - 4.55

ESPN grade: 76
Rivals grade: 5.9, four stars, #1 fullback
Scout grade: three stars, #83 RB

Wallace can also be seen on YouTube here. He is the player wearing #48 and not being tackled. His highlight videos show a player who has decent but not great speed; however, the fact that defensive backs sometimes catch up to him does not necessarily mean they can tackle him.

The obvious comparison is to Keith Payne; Wallace already weighs roughly the same. The above Rivals article compares him to Cedric Peerman, but Peerman already gives up nearly 15 pounds and Wallace hasn't even begun his senior year.

What to make of the mixed rankings handed out to Wallace? I'm not sure. Scout and ESPN are consistent in ranking him a mid-grade running back; Rivals gives him a 5.9, which is one decimal point shy of drooling, places him on the Rivals 250 at #137 (our only commit on said list) and calls him the #1 fullback in the country, ahead of hyped-up OSU pledge Carlos Hyde. You could chalk up Rivals' high ranking to calling him a fullback and not rating him up against most other running backs; Wallace's offer list says otherwise. Wallace had offers in hand from NC State, Penn State, Fattypants the Turtle, and impressively, LSU. Tech, naturally, was also interested, as was Notre Dame.

Offer list being, to me, the most reliable measure of a recruit's worth, I think we should expect Wallace at the very least to challenge for a starting role, and sooner rather than later.

No comments: