With the likes of Michael Daniels, Jackson Richards, David Johnson, Reggie Wilson and Daniel Noble already having been revealed, who are the top two defensive linemen around? And who passed Wilson, who is ranked by many recruiting services as a can't-miss 5-star guy?
According to The Dallas Morning News' Greg Riddle and Rivals.com's Barton Simmons, Wilson is the top defensive lineman in the area, but in this list he was relegated to third -- not too shabby when you consider his company.
So make that drumroll sound that I can't make with your mouth and hold on to your hats because here goes nothing... The Top 2 are revealed:
2. Taylor Bible, Denton Guyer HS - This guy is an immovable, card-carrying man beast. Having seen him play about 15 times, he's the most dominant defensive lineman I've seen with my own eyes. His stats are more than eye popping. Check it: 88 tackles, with a whopping 42 behind the line of scrimmage. Again, 42 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Bible committed to Texas back at the beginning of February, turning down offers from Texas Tech, Arizona, Baylor, Kentucky, Tennessee, Nebraska and Oklahoma State. In the recently-released Rivals 100, which is the Top 100 players in the 2010 class in the country, regardless of position, Bible is the No. 68 prospect, and the second-ranked defensive tackle. The pinnacle of last season, when he helped lead a Guyer run defense that was simply impossible to run on, to the Class 4A Division I state semifinals after a 1-19 cumulative record in the school's first two seasons of varsity play, was when he went up against his future Texas teammate Mason Walters in the state quarterfinals against Wolfforth Frenship. Walters, one of the country's top offensive linemen this past season, couldn't contain Bible, who just about single-handedly helped the Wildcats claw out of a 21-0 deficit.
1. Jackson Jeffcoat, Plano West HS - I've never seen him play, but the pedigree and stats speak for themselves. Jeffcoat, the son of former Cowboys great Jim Jeffcoat, is a dual-sport star at Plano West, where he also controls the middle on the basketball team, and rumors say he has a future in college on the hardwood as well. But this kid was born to play football, and last year as a junior, he compiled 94 tackles, 11 for loss and seven sacks in just 10 games from his rushing defensive end position. The 6 foot 5 inch, 230-pound junior is the No. 6 player in the Rivals 100 and the top-ranked defensive lineman, which makes it difficult to have him ranked anywhere else but here. He hasn't committed anywhere, and though his father is an assistant coach at the University of Houston, I doubt he'll be a Cougar. He has bigger prospects in mind: Georgia, LSU, Nebraska, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Oklahoma, USC, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M and TCU.
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He's currently at 35,000 feet, on his way home from Seattle.
