'09 AZ DE Devon Kennard (USC Verbal)

[johnnd05]

Devon Kennard - DE (6'2"/225lbs)
Desert Vista HS (Phoenix, AZ)

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[johnnd05]

 

[johnnd05]

Class of 09 standout racks up offers

By Rick Kimbrel, Recruiting Analyst – Rivals.com

There is a good argument that defensive end Devon Kennard (6-3, 235, 4.8) from Phoenix (Ariz.) Desert Vista could be the most sought after defensive end in the western region for the class of 2009. He sure getting serious attention.

"Devon is being recruited by everyone in the Pac 10," Derrick Kennard, Jr., Devon's older brother and an assistant coach at Desert Vista said. "He is also being recruited by Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Colorado and Nebraska.

"Devon has offers from everybody in the Pac 10 except for Stanford and USC," Kennard said. "USC said they are going to offer him on September 1st.

"Michigan, Michigan State, Colorado, Nebraska and Notre Dame have also offered Devon," Kennard said. "They all saw Devon's tape and they were impressed with his play.

"Devon has a natural knack for finding the football and making big plays," Kennard said. "He uses his hands extremely, has outstanding lateral quickness and is very explosive.

"Devon attended camps at ASU and USC this past summer," Kennard said. "USC was very impressed with how he exploded off the ball.

"At ASU it was the same thing," Kennard said. "The Sun Devils love how Devon moves and reacts to the football.

It is apparently clear that the younger Kennard is following in his father's and his older brother's footsteps as a D-I player.His father, Derrick Kennard, Sr. used to open up holes for Emmett Smith and provide pass protection for Troy Aikman for the Cowboys and even earned a ring while he played in Dallas.
Derrick Kennard, Jr., now an assistant coach at Desert Vista was a standout defensive tackle for Nevada and played a season in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts.

Kennard earned all-city and all-region honors after racking up a team leading 91 tackles, eight sacks and two interceptions from his defensive end position.

Another thing that will open up the eyes of D-I schools besides his size at the age of 15 is his quite heady and carries a 3.9 GPA.

Updated on Thursday, Aug 9, 2007 5:28 pm, EDT

 

[GoshenGipper]

profile updated and piucture added.

 

[Irish52]

'09 Defensive end recruit

'09 Defensive end recruit

Devon Kennard, DE, Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, AZ will likely be the #1 DE in the country next year. ND has talked with his coach and watched him play and is highly impressed with him. We need to extend an offer and NOW. Already, eight schools have offered including FL, LSU, USC, OR. His coach has held him up as the best player he ever saw on the field. His GPA is 3.8 and has made only 1B in high school thus far. We need to get our oar in the water fast if we expect to have any chance with this young man.

 

[Pete]

only 1B in high school thus far

What's 1B?

 

[johnnd05]

What's 1B?

I think he meant that he has made only one "B" in high school ...

 

[Pete]

I think he meant that he has made only one "B" in high school ...

thanks

 

[GoshenGipper]

We now have multiple souces that Devon picked up an official written offer from ND.

 

[daytonirish]

This would be a great one for the Irish to pick-up. I know it's still early but GG what kind of chance do you think we have with him.

 

[SoCalDomer]

I don't think for 2009 we're going to have as much success at getting early commitments like we did for 2008. With fewer scholarships to hand out, and a longer line of highly recruited players already playing for or commited to ND, I don't think CW can sell the playing time your freshman year as easily.

 

[NDGirlzRock]

I don't think for 2009 we're going to have as much success at getting early commitments like we did for 2008. With fewer scholarships to hand out, and a longer line of highly recruited players already playing for or commited to ND, I don't think CW can sell the playing time your freshman year as easily.

Yo SoCo!!! I still think that he will get the good one's just like he did this year!!!

 

[SoCalDomer]

Sorry, I didn't meant to imply we won't get good recruits, just that we won't get as many early recruits. The timing was my focus. We had something like 15 commits (more? less?) before summer for 2008, and picked up 6 more during summer and the season.

But if I'm wrong and we get early commits again for 2009, I don't mind being wrong.

 

[daytonirish]

But doesn't it seem like every year more and more of the top kids are choosing their schools earlier and earlier. I think thats one of the reasons behind Charlie wanting an early signing period .

 

[ChicagoIrishfan]

I just saw this kids highlights and I am so impressed. What a natural player. He is now the #1 person I hope we get next year. And hes smart!!


Devon Kennard - Football Recruiting

 

[KamaraPolice]

He goes to a good school that also produced raiders H-back Zack Miller.

 

[laxkid23]

I don't know if I've ever seen anyone get off the line as fast as he does. Watch his new highlights, hits hard and is extremely quick.

 

[Ricochet]

What's ND recruiting him as? He may be the #1 DE in the nation for '09 but those rankings usually are generic and are based for 4-3 defenses.

The kid is amazing and his explosiveness is extremely impressive but I think something get lost in translation if he's playing DE in 3-4.

In the 3-4 I see him more as that OLB/DE hybrid that would be a OLB in ND defense. I think he gets to a max of maybe 260 before the weight changes his game ad because of that ir makes since to be a OLB instead of DE.

 

[SoCalDomer]

Brophy Prep defeated Desert Vista 34-21 for the Class 5A Division I championship.

Brophy is where our snapper JJ Jansen graduated from. It is also where my wife's cousin's husband teaches.

 

[daytonirish]

My wife's cousin's husband sounds like who we get recruiting info about Omar from.

 

[BDIrish4ever]

Sorry, I didn't meant to imply we won't get good recruits, just that we won't get as many early recruits. The timing was my focus. We had something like 15 commits (more? less?) before summer for 2008, and picked up 6 more during summer and the season.

But if I'm wrong and we get early commits again for 2009, I don't mind being wrong.

I'm with you on that one SoCal. With a significantly fewer number of scholarships to give this year, he will have to focus primarily on the truly elite prospects. These kids will have plenty of offers and will probably take more time to study their options.

 

[greenandblue]

i wouldnt mind waiting longer so we can get 15 players at the same skill level as floyd, crist, and hunter. As long as we get them

 

[Epitome]

i wouldnt mind waiting longer so we can get 15 players at the same skill level as floyd, crist, and hunter. As long as we get them

It sure would be nice to get 15 next year with a break down something like this.

seven-5* and eight-4*

Is that to greedy?

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

No, but why stop there, I say we also win the NC, and have Jimmah win the Heisman.

 

[daytonirish]

Well I say we join the sec during Dec-Feb. so we can sign 30 players a year. It seems to work for them. And the so called experts don't have any idea why the sec is so strong yr.in and yr. out. Then after signing day we go back to being Independent and the world is right agian.

 

[NDsuperfan09]

This kid is going to be awesome. Too bad he will probably be playing for the trojans in the fall of '09.

 

[tko]

i agree. i say ND has less than 5% chance of landing this kid. he's trojan all the way but stranger things have happened. maybe urban will steal him away from sneaky pete in the 11th hour and add him to their depth chart of 11 DE's including a bench-warming JT.

 

[SoCalDomer]

Sackmaster up to 19 offers
By Rick Kimbrel, Recruiting Analyst
4 hours, 47 minutes ago

It has been said once, it has been said 1,000 times, the best pass defense is when the quarterback has been knocked on his butt by a hostile defensive lineman. Whether a quarterback is sacked or is merely getting pressure can disrupt a passing game.

click the link for the full, free story: Sackmaster up to 19 offers - NCAA Football - Yahoo! Sports

 

[BDIrish4ever]

click the link for the full, free story: Sackmaster up to 19 offers - NCAA Football - Yahoo! Sports

Great Work, SoCal! You got us a two-for-one. After you link to the Kennard article if you look into the video section on that page at Yahoo!, DE Anthony Lalota has a highlight video and this kid looks impressive. Great size, speed and a very good motor. I would have put in Lalota's thread, but I could not find one. :footballh

 

[IrishGrizz]

Am i the only one who is just a little worried about Kennards size- little on the small size for DE? I guess I am not used to the 3-4, where the DEs and OLBs often are interchangable - sometimes with their hand down, sometimes up?