by Zachary Williams
It’s no secret that Middle Tennessee has been producing some of the best college football athletes in the last few years. From punters (Corey Fatoney, Mizzou) to running backs (Jalen Hurd, Tennessee) big conference teams, especially SEC schools, can’t seem to get enough of these three, four, and five star recruits.
BA: Building Athletes
Quite possibly the most successful high school football program in the state, Brentwood Academy has led numerous players into Division I football programs in the past decade. Though they’ve been sculpting young athletes into college-ready players for many years now, it seems they’ve quite literally gotten ahead of the game the past few seasons.
The two best examples of this recent superiority are Jalen Ramsey (Cornerback, Florida State) and Derek Barnett (Defensive End, Tennessee). Both of these players have seen vast success in the NCAA to date, and both are likely to be drafted into the NFL.
Ramsey is projected universally to go in the top five of the 2016 draft at the end of April and Barnett, going back to school in 2016, would be a lock to go in the first few rounds.
To date, seven Brentwood Academy alumni made it to the NFL (the most notable being King Dunlap, Offensive tackle for the San Diego Chargers). Ramsey and and Barnett look like numbers eight and nine.
From his freshman year, Jalen Ramsey has excelled above and beyond what was expected. In the 2013 season, he recorded a staggering 49 tackles with both an interception and a sack to boot. Not only was he a starter for the National Champions as a true freshman, he was the first true freshman cornerback to start for the Seminoles since Deion Sanders in ’85. That year he was also selected for the College Football News Freshman All-America First Team, CampusInsiders.com Freshman All-America First Team, and 247Sports.com True Freshman All-America First Team.
His sophomore season was perhaps his best to date; he recorded 80 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 12 passes defended. His numbers this past year were not quite as impressive with 52 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery, and 9 passes defended; however, his stats were still impressive enough for him to enter The 2016 NFL Draft.
Experts, from ESPN to SB Nation, predict he will go early in the first round, possibly as the 6th overall pick to the Baltimore Ravens. Other mock drafts predict the Cowboys taking him with their fourth pick.
Either way, this would make him the first ever Brentwood Academy alumni to be drafted in the first round of the draft.
Derek Barnett of Tennessee has also been a key player since his freshman year. In the 2014 season, he put up 9 sacks, 47 solo tackles, 26 assisted tackles, 20.5 tackles for a loss, and 1 fumble recovery. His tackles for a loss were not only the 2nd most for any player in the SEC, but the 7th most in the NCAA.
Though he had a slow start in the 2015 season, he still made waves and showed his versatility with 10 sacks, 44 solo tackles, 25 assisted tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass defended, and 1 forced fumble.
If the 2016 season goes as well for him as UT fans across the state are hoping it will, Barnett will likely win himself a spot in the 1st or 2nd round of the 2017 Draft.
Maybe the early success of these players stems from Brentwood Academy Coach Cody White’s mentorship; maybe it lies entirely in the talent they were born with and the hard work that they put in day in and day out on the gridiron. Either way, both of these players are on a one way train to the professional game.
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