'08 FB Class Review: OL

Information from recruiting services and my own personal knowledge about OL is scarce, particularly the latter. This will be short.

John Paul Alford
Ht: 6'3" Wt: 275
Scout	*** #14 C, #24 in Mississippi
Rivals	*** #10 C, #16 in Mississippi
ESPN	67 #37 C

Scout doesn't list any other offers. This could be due in part to the fact he committed to Mississippi State very early on. Alford was invited to the MS-AL All Star Game before tearing a ligament in his left knee in the final game of the year. He still hasn't fully recovered from the injury and he'll be redshirted this year unless something strange happens.

Phillip Freeman
Ht: 6'6" Wt: 290
Scout	***
Rivals	**** #23 JUCO
ESPN	N/A

Other offers included: North Texas, UAB, Southern Miss, Boise State, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State. Freeman enrolled early and went through spring practices. The original plan was to redshirt him, but the departure of Michael Brown changed that. He will now be competing for the RT spot and will be needed for depth.

Tobias Smith
Ht: 6'3" Wt: 292
Scout	*** #66 OT
Rivals	*** #34 OG, #9 in Mississippi
ESPN	N/A

Other offers included: Alcorn State, Jackson State, Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, Baylor. Smith was completely off the radar entering his senior season. He started to catch peoples eyes with an outstanding year and dominating in the MS-AL All Star Game. This could be one of those late bloomers that flew under the radar. Heck, even Mississippi State didn't start getting interested until late November or December. It's likely he will redshirt.

Overall Grade: B
It would be a B+, but Alford's knee injury scared me off. If Alford recovers 100%, he seems to be a good prospect. Freeman can hopefully help out immediately and I just like Smith for some reason.