Inside recruiting/Running Backs - college football

Recruiting analyst Bobby Burton ranks the top 25 senior prospects.

                                           Town/High school
                                     40    (schools player is
Rk.   Name               Ht./Wt.    Yd.    considering)

 1.   Kevin Jones         6-2/200   4.23   Chester, Pa./
                                           Cardinal O'Hara
                                           (Va. Tech, Penn St.,
                                           Wis., Tenn., Mich.,
                                           Fla. St.)

Widely considered the nation's top overall prospect, Jones
has speed, power, balance and sharp instincts--all the tools
necessary to be a great runner. How great? His 4.23 40 at a
Florida State summer camp broke the record held by NFL star
Randy Moss.

 2.   Jabari Davis        6-0/230   4.5    Stone Mountain,
                                           Ga./Tucker
                                           (Tenn., Ga., Texas,
                                           Ala., Miss. St.)

 3.   Derrick Tinsley     6-1/180   4.4    Marietta, Ga./
                                           Marietta
                                           (Tenn., Miss. St.,
                                           Fla., Fla. St.,
                                           Ala., Aub., Neb.,
                                           Mich. St.)

 4.   Kelly Baraka        6-1/185   4.4    Portage, Mich./
                                           Northern
                                           (Mich., N.D., Tenn.,
                                           Neb., Mich. St.,
                                           Ohio St., Pur., Wis.)

 5.   J.R. Lemon          6-2/217   4.5    Tyrone, Ga./
                                           Sandy Creek
                                           (Clem., Ga. Tech,
                                           N.C., Mia.,
                                           N.D., Fla. St.,
                                           Stan., Neb.)

 6.   Carnell Williams   5-11/192   4.42   Attalla, Ga./
                                           Etowah
                                           (Ala., Tenn.,
                                           Fla. St., N.D., N.C.
                                           St., Mich., La. St.,
                                           Mia.)

 7.   Cedrick Houston     6-0/200   4.4    Clarendon, Ark./
                                           Clarendon
                                           (committed to
                                           Arkansas)

 8.   Cedric Benson       6-0/195   4.5    Midland, Texas/Lee
                                           (committed to Texas)

 9.   Eric Shelton        6-3/236   4.5    Lexington, Ky./
                                           Bryan Station
                                           (Tenn., Fla. St.,
                                           Fla., Texas, Mich.,
                                           Ohio St., N.C.)

10.   Maurice Hall       5-10/185   4.35   Columbus, Ohio/
                                           Brookhaven
                                           (Mia., Penn St.,
                                           Tenn., Fla. St.,
                                           Ohio St., N.D., Wis.)

11.   Thez Robinson      5-11/185   4.5    Lyons, Ga./
                                           Toombs Co.
                                           (E. Caro., Clem.,
                                           Ga. Tech, Tenn.,
                                           Fla. St., Fla.,
                                           Ga., Aub.)

12.   De'Arrius Howard   5-11/220   4.45   West Memphis,
                                           Ark./West Memphis
                                           (Aub., Miss., Mich.,
                                           Mich. St., Ken.,
                                           Tenn.)

13.   Tramain Hall       5-11/180   4.47   Deerfield Beach,
                                           Fla./Deerfield Beach
                                           (Mia., N.D., Fla.
                                           St., Ind., Fla.,
                                           Neb., Mich.)

14.   Daryl Poston       5-11/180   4.28   Huntington Beach,
                                           Calif./
                                           Huntingdon Beach
                                           (USC, Cal, UCLA,
                                           Wash. St.)

15.   De Andre Belin      6-0/230   4.49   La Verne,
                                           Calif./Bonita
                                           (Tenn., Ohio St.,
                                           Wash. St., Texas
                                           A&M, USC)

16.   Donta Hickson      5-10/185   4.4    McKinney, Texas/
                                           McKinney
                                           (Fla. St., Neb.,
                                           Mich., Mich. St.,
                                           Texas A&M)

17.   Anthony Johnson     6-0/185   4.45   Jefferson, Texas/
                                           Jefferson
                                           (Kansas St., Texas,
                                           Texas Tech, Colo.,
                                           Okla.)

18.   James Buchanan      6-2/235   4.6    Sarasota, Fla./
                                           Cardinal Mooney
                                           (Texas, Fla., Fla.
                                           St., B.C., Mia.)

19.   David Underwood     6-0/219   4.38   Madisonville,
                                           Texas/Madisonville
                                           (committed to
                                           Michigan)

20.   Damien Nash        5-11/195   4.3    East St. Louis,
                                           Ill./East St. Louis
                                           (Fla. St., Ill.,
                                           Ga., Neb., Mich.,
                                           Ohio St., Ga. Tech)

21.   Brandon Brokaw      6-1/225   4.54   Pennington, N.J./
                                           Pennington
                                           (Penn St., Neb.,
                                           Ohio St., N.D.,
                                           Iowa, Pur., Wis.)

22.   Ayo Saba            6-0/255   4.75   Blackwood, N.J./
                                           Highland
                                           (Syr., Kansas St.,
                                           Penn St., Wis.,
                                           Tenn., Fla. St.,
                                           Iowa)

23.   Brandon Jones       6-1/215   4.5    Peru, Ind./Peru
                                           (committed to
                                           Purdue)

24.   Seymore Shaw        6-0/210   4.4    Shawnee, Okla./
                                           Shawnee
                                           (Okla. St., Okla.,
                                           Kansas St., Neb.)

25.   Thomas Plummer      6-2/218   4.5    Toronto/Henry Carr
                                           (Stan., Ohio St.,
                                           N.D., UCLA,
                                           Northwestern)

Bobby Burton is the editor of Rivals100.com, a member of the Rivals.com network. For a free recruiting magazine, call 877-Go-Rival.

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Many consider Jabari Davis a clone of former Texas RB Ricky Williams--and why not? Like Williams, Davis is big, strong and speedy. He even put footage of Williams on his own highlight tape.... Georgia has enjoyed more than its fair share of talented runners over the years (Herschel Walker and Garrison Hearst among them), but this could be the Peach State's best year ever, with Davis, Derrick Tinsley, J.R. Lemon and Thez Robinson all in the nation's top 15.... Eric Shelton has the size (6-3, 236) and talent to play at almost any position. Just how good is he? A number of top schools have him rated the No. 1 prospect in the country--as a line-backer.... Why is a big-time back like Brandon Jones going to a pass-happy school like Purdue? Jones has said he likes the Boilermakers' wide-open style and thinks it only complements his game-breaking abilities--not to mention his hometown of Peru is just 60 miles east of West Lafayette.

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