'08 PA WR/TE Jonathan Baldwin (Pitt Verbal)

[Irish Envy]

Jonathan Baldwin - WR (6'6"/235lbs)
Aliquippa High School (Aliquippa, PA)

Combine
Forty: 4.4
Bench Reps:
Bench Max:
Squat Max:
Shuttle:
Vertical:
GPA: 3.35

Star Ratings
Rivals.com:
Scout.com:

Rankings & Accolades
Rivals and Scout 100
Rivals #2 TE
Scout #13 WR

Statistics
2006
-Receiving: 21 Rec 370 Yds 17.6 Avg 5 TD
-Returns: 5 Ret 44.4 Avg
-Defense: 23 Tkl 10 Solo 2 Sck 1 Int

Schools of Interest:
Michigan
Notre Dame
Georgia Tech
Michigan State
Pittsburgh
West Virginia
Florida
Florida St.
Penn State
Clemson
USC
Alabama

Media
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [Local Press]

 

[Irish Envy]

 

[Irish Envy]

Ranked the #14 prospect in the 2006 SI HS Football preview issue.

 

[Irish Envy]

Jeter threw a touchdown pass to Jonathan Baldwin, who caught six passes. Both Jeter and Baldwin intercepted passes.

http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17147108&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478614&rfi=6

 

[jsully84]

I've been hearing rumors that Baldwin is a silent to Pitt.

 

[Jason Pham]

Junior two-sport star names favorites

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=rivals-85821&prov=rivals&type=story_recruiting

 

[GoshenGipper]

Jonathan made Rivals 100 to watch list, and he has been recieving heavy interest from ND.

 

[Jason Pham]

Profile updated to reflect Local Press and Statistics.

The ability to play both basketball and football seem to be a significant factor in Baldwin's decision as he looks to be a stud on his basketball team.

Baldwin reports a 3.3 GPA.

 

[Ricochet]

Does anybody know what ND's is recruiting him as, a WR or TE ?

It seems as they are recruiting him as a WR but I don't have a much of a feeel on the Baldwin recruitment.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Does anybody know what ND's is recruiting him as, a WR or TE ?

It seems as they are recruiting him as a WR but I don't have a much of a feeel on the Baldwin recruitment.

They are recruiting him as a WR. See...

Jonathan Baldwin - Wide Reciever

I haven't heard much lately as well. I do know ND is among his favorites, along with Michigan, USC, Pitt, and Alabama, but he isn't sure if he wants to play football, basketball, or both in college, and some are really concerned about his passion for football because in their opinion it can at times affect his effort on the field.

 

[benneboy]

he is one of the most confusing prospects in my opinion. I don't understand why you don't here is name that often. If the numbers posted are even close to correct 6'6 with a 4.4 forty, it's hard to understand why he wouldn't be a top 10 prospect. Those are Calvin Johnson type numbers.

 

[rockne19]

I agree.I think we take 2-3 wrs this year.

 

[IrishCalves]

One man's 6'6", 225 lbs with 4.4 speed is another's 6'4", 190 lbs with 4.7 speed. I've seen both posted as his measurables and 40 times. Probably means that somebody is fibbing, so try not to get caught up in stuff you get from a combine, and focus on what you see on the game tape.

 

[benneboy]

I took that into account, but right now these nubers are kind of all we have to go on most of these guys. I still haven't seen tape of any other of our WR prospects besides Odoms. Also I took it as more credible because Rivals and Scout both had the same numbers listed.

 

[knute]

he is one of the most confusing prospects in my opinion. I don't understand why you don't here is name that often. If the numbers posted are even close to correct 6'6 with a 4.4 forty, it's hard to understand why he wouldn't be a top 10 prospect. Those are Calvin Johnson type numbers.

The numbers are wrong. You're correct, if he was really 6'6 with a 4.4 forty he'd be the number 1 prospect in the country with offers from every school. The numbers are wrong.

He's still a good player, otherwise he wouldn't have received an offer from Weis, but he's just not _that_ good. The numbers are wrong.

 

[IrishCalves]

Almost all HS coaches do something like it. Joseph Fauria went from 6'7" to 6'9" at a recent combine and disputed the latter. And are you going to tell me that David Grimes is in reality an inch away from being 6 feet tall? I also read on scout.com that Robert Blanton, cornerback prospect, said he recently posted a 4.3 or low 4.4 forty. Then I read his combine results: 4.6 range. Its bound to happen.

 

[rockne19]

i hope we start get some top wr this year to go along with the top notch wr we already have on our roster.

 

[goldenlid]

Why not go to ND if you are a great wideout. You have good qbs, rbs, tightens and a good line not to mention CW as a coach. You're on television every week, so when you make a big play the stage is so huge everyone will know about it.

 

[rockne19]

mr. floyd,tate,baldwin,alexander come on down.top notch qb,te,ol,coaching!
john goodman is jeff s. clone.

 

[rockne19]

a little off topic but who will committ this weekend?

 

[Ricochet]

The numbers are wrong. You're correct, if he was really 6'6 with a 4.4 forty he'd be the number 1 prospect in the country with offers from every school. The numbers are wrong.

He's still a good player, otherwise he wouldn't have received an offer from Weis, but he's just not _that_ good. The numbers are wrong.

Why are the numbers wrong and why would how tall and fast he is make him the #1 WR? Those are great numbers on paper but that doesn't mean that he's a better football player or even a better athlete than the guy that 6'3 and has the same time in the 40. There is alot more that goes into being a good player, hands, smarts, body control, route running, desire and motor, toughness etc. He's a very, very good player not top 5 but a top 10 type but the point is that it should be judged on height and speed alone if thats the case Jerry Rice would have only been an average WR.

 

[knute]

Why are the numbers wrong and why would how tall and fast he is make him the #1 WR? Those are great numbers on paper but that doesn't mean that he's a better football player or even a better athlete than the guy that 6'3 and has the same time in the 40. There is alot more that goes into being a good player, hands, smarts, body control, route running, desire and motor, toughness etc. He's a very, very good player not top 5 but a top 10 type but the point is that it should be judged on height and speed alone if thats the case Jerry Rice would have only been an average WR.

So I used a little hyperbole, that's what web logs are for...

The numbers that are posted on Jonathan's scout and rivals page are not combine numbers, I believe they are either reported by the player or perhaps come from his coach. They are notoriously inaccurate.

BTW: It's not fair to use Jerry Rice as an example, he's unique. Lessons learned from Jerry Rice don't apply to normal people like you and I or Jonathan Baldwin.

 

[GoshenGipper]

he is one of the most confusing prospects in my opinion. I don't understand why you don't here is name that often. If the numbers posted are even close to correct 6'6 with a 4.4 forty, it's hard to understand why he wouldn't be a top 10 prospect. Those are Calvin Johnson type numbers.

Even if the nubers are completely correct, which I doubt, there is more to it than that. Johnson has absolutely great hands, plus a WR needs to learn how to adjust his body during the route and in the air to shield the defender from the ball, especially the big recievers. All on top of knowing which route to run in the first place or when to break it off, and then going out and doing it. I've heard from Rick Mirer's best friend that, that was actually one of Keyshawn Johnson bigger problems. Announcers on TV would sit around and critizie the QB's for not finding Johnson because he was wide open, but what they didn't know is that he often ran the wrong route, so the QBs often didn't have any idea where he was on the field. One crucial play during a Monday night game while they were both on the Jets comes to mind, but that's mostly because I hear about it the next day during Tues's afternoon practice.

 

[GoIrish41]

Free article on Baldwin

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/636762.html

 

[knute]

Free article on Baldwin

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/636762.html

So there you go, I need to eat my words. Sounds like he has legit speed and offers from all the big schools after all. I guess Charlie was just in on him first.

Now here's to hoping I get to eat my words re: our current receivers.

 

[Jason Pham]

Free article on Baldwin

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/636762.html

Er... they start talking about Butler half way through the article. Scout's writing makes me want to jump off something tall.

 

[benneboy]

So there you go, I need to eat my words. Sounds like he has legit speed and offers from all the big schools after all. I guess Charlie was just in on him first.

Now here's to hoping I get to eat my words re: our current receivers.

You're not the only one.

 

[irishunclebill]

Er... they start talking about Butler half way through the article. Scout's writing makes me want to jump off something tall.

Allen Wallace strikes again, he is an idiot. That story is all screwed up, the quote attributed to size and speed could just as easily have been meant to apply to Butler as well as Baldwin. Only the mind of Wallace knows for sure, and the quotes are probably inaccurate anyway. Plus Baldwin was offered months ago, the size and speed quote seemed to be in the context of a recent offer like Butler's. Who knows?

 

[irishunclebill]

Here's another free Scout story on Baldwin by Allen Wallace. At least this one is coherent, and all about Baldwin. He is apparently making an unofficial visit to ND the weekend of May 18, which is commencement weekend, so he should be duly impressed. He is also quoted in the article as saying he does not have a leader but favors Notre Dame, Michigan, Pittsburgh and USC. Sounds promising, but it still seems like a long shot to get Baldwin away from the Wolverines. This is a different situation than Clelland or Blanton because Baldwin is a life long Michigan fan, but getting him on campus, and having him quoted as saying ND is one of his favorites certainly is not bad news.

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/642065.html

 

[irishunclebill]

Since ND seems to be on a beat Michigan recruiting roll, and Baldwin still showing interest in ND, it should be noted that even though all of the recruiting boards list Baldwin as a TE, he is being recruited to play WR by ND and just about everyone else. The obvious reason for this is Baldwin is apparently a legitimate 4.4 40 guy, and the thought of a 6'6" 225 lb. wide out running downfield faster than the 6 inch smaller CB's trying to cover him would seem to cause instant drool to appear at the corner of the mouth of every college head coach in America. Baldwin also wants to play right away, and at WR for the Irish he would definitely have more of an opportunity to do that than at TE, but he would also most likely have that oppotunity wherever he goes with the possible exception of Poodleland.

Baldwin's stock slipped a little on some of the boards because there was talk he was more interested in basketball, but that seems to have changed recently as he is indicating football is his first choice. He has never been on any of the Scout 100 lists, even though he is a 4 star there, but has always been on the pre-season Rivals 100 lists, where he may end up as a 5 star. He is also the #14 ranked national recruit on the ESPN 150, so we are talking about an elite national recruit here. Because he has been so quiet, Baldwin has sort of flown under the ND WR recruiting radar with all the focus on Floyd & Butler, but there does seem to be an indication growing that ND has a legitimate shot here and may always have been in the hunt. Baldwin also does not sound overly enthusiatic about the Florida schools , who have all offered him as well. This is one where the longer it goes on, the better shot the Irish would seem to have, and if he really wants to play right away for an elite program, at the end of the day this should come down to a choice between ND & Michigan, with ND currently still the underdog.