The Essentials

• High School: Dayton Thurgood Marshall
• Position: Defensive End
• Height: 6'6"
• Weight: 230
• Consensus Rank*: 80 (***)

* As determined by 24/7 sports composite algorithm which combines and weights the rankings of 24/7, Rivals, Scout and ESPN to come up with one number.

As detailed during our signing day coverage Landon Brazile is a really fascinating character for this team. Like a couple of other guys in this class, (Chris Ferguson and Hakeem Allonce) Brazile came up as a basketball player before coming to football very late in the game. All of these guys realized, perhaps belatedly, that there isn't a bright future for 6'6" post players.

I have no idea what kind of football player Landon Brazile will become, putting trust in this coaching staff my inclination is to say a good one. But I do know that Brazile is a great athlete. I had the chance to watch him play basketball at the state tournament in Columbus. His game as a basketball player is solid, but not really spectacular.* What's really enticing about Brazile is how agile he is and how well he can run, and I don't mean that he can run well for a defensive linemen. He runs well by any standard, and his agility is very impressive considering his size

*  His teammate Derrick Daniels was the one who really caught my eye.

Brazile is a bit of a project for this coaching staff. After a redshirt and year in a college strength and conditioning program, not to mention the training table he will have all the physical tools needed to compete at this level. I mean right now Brazile doesn't really look like a football player, but he will in time. The question for Brazile will be how quickly he can figure out the higher aspects of the game mentally. Defensive line is not the most intellectually rigorous position on the field. Its probably nearer the bottom of that list than the top. That doesn't mean that it is without its quirks. Brailze will need all of his redshirt year just to get his head to stop spinning. Granted that is generally true of the majority of freshman, but as someone with 10 games of football to his name the chasm between high school and college football can be enormous.