Running Back Gerrid Doaks Commits to the Cincinnati Bearcats

What can you say about Cincinnati's coaching staff? After hitting the road hard last month for recruiting, the time and effort is paying off in a big way this week with four verbal commitments, all coming from enticing, top talent from the Midwest.

First, it was running back Jeremy Larkin last Sunday, then offensive linemen Laim O'Sullivan and Zach Bycznski on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Now, Cincinnati adds yet another three-star talent with athlete/running back Gerrid Doaks, making him the 10th player to commit for the Bearcats' 2016 recruiting class. Boy, it's shaping into a good one.

Proud to say that I have committed to the university of Cincinnati for football and to further my education#bearcats pic.twitter.com/pTcbbBHErM

— Gerrid Doaks (@gdoaks23) June 20, 2015

Doaks, an Indianapolis, Ind. native (Lawrence Central), is 6 feet tall, weighs 190 lbs and is a consensus three-star recruit across most recruiting networks. 247Sports gives Doaks an 85 as a player and gives him an 85 for his composite score - determined by compiling rankings from different recruiting databases from across the web. According to 247Sports, Doaks is number 63 in the nation as an athlete and the 12th best player in the state of Indiana for the 2016 class. Rivals considers him a three-star recruit as well and ranks him 5.5 out of 6.1 with their ranking system. MaxPreps considers Doaks the 11th best player in Indiana for 2016.

Doaks is another recruit who has generated significant interest in the recruiting world, fielding offers from Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Indiana, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo, Western Kentucky and Western Michigan.

On the Field

Doaks is another high-quality, exciting addition to the Bearcats 2016 class. He isn't a big running back, but has a little more size to him at nearly 200 lbs. I really like how he uses that size too. He runs with a sort of "no nonsense" mentality. He breaks tackles and, although he is shifty enough to make people miss, he isn't afraid to initiate contact at the second level or throw out a stiff arm. He does a great job navigating traffic and has good vision. He also has enough speed to beat defenders to the sideline and then breakaway, if given space. Additionally, he seems to possess good hands and there is at least one clip below of him delivering a blow to a blitzing defender in pass protection, which is something you really want to see at the high school level.

Doaks is classified as both an athlete and a running back by most recruiting websites and I think that sentiment shines through with his film. He is clearly a capable running back who seems to be very talented in a variety of things, with the natural ability to be a weapon, whether at running back or in some other capacity.

I continue to be impressed by the quality of athletes Cincinnati is receiving verbal commits from in the 2016 class and Doaks fits the bill as yet another great add. He is a little bigger as running backs go and plays with the edge and decisiveness you like to see from larger backs, but also has the speed to win foot races. This is another win for the Bearcats.