Going out to see sophomore OT Ralph Frias play, and measure whether he's a viable D1 prospect was sort of an exercise in futility when you consider the level of play at D3. As a fan of high school football, I love it, but when you're trying to evaluate a big man's talent, you usually take his competition into account. On Friday, Frias was matched up against 6-1, 195-pound DE Alex Avakian. So, as far as that goes, Frias did what he was supposed to. Avakian ran around him once, but Frias beat on him the rest of the night, as anyone with a 135 pound advantage and a modicum of athleticism probably should.
Let me pretend you have questions about Frias and then answer them for you.
Is he really 6-7, 330?
Yes. Yes he is.
How does he carry the weight?
Believe it or not, proportionally. He's not an overweight lineman- I'd put him in the vein of a Westerman, Douglas or Teofilo, without the insane brute strength (yet).
Is he athletic?
To an extent, sure. He can run, and moves well, which is good. His first step off the line in run blocking is a tad slow, as is his reaction to the pass rush, but a lot o that can be attributed to the fact that he's aiming for/trying to stop much smaller targets, so for him, it's about precision and making sure people don't take advantage of the comically large size difference by getting too low for him.
Is he strong?
Maybe. I say this because his acceleration isn't that great, so there's no real pop when he hits a defender, and he leads with his ridiculously long arms out in front, so if he gets his hands inside someone's shoulder pads, it's all over, because even if he's not overly strong, he has average strength for his size, which is still overwhelming for anyone in D3.
Big fish in a small pond- character issues?
The two times I've met him and his family they have been the most pleasant people to be around. They're so new to all the attention, and even with recruiters calling, emailing and texting, they're still insulated from a lot of the in-person media stuff. They don't go out of their way to promote him, he doesn't hide from the fact that he's being recruited because he's big, and he really likes to talk about what his teammates are doing- not in a deflective way, but in a "I'm really excited to be here with them" way. He stopped in the middle of our interview to play catch with his little brother and his family got on his case about it, but I thought it was great.
ASU interest?
Yes. He's on an unofficial visit to New Mexico State right now, where his sister plays volleyball. It's his first ever visit. Michigan has invited him to a camp they'll have after the season, and Ohio State has been kicking the tires. Frias says he's stay in contact with ASU, and depending on which game ASU says him and his family can come to, between Oregon, Washington and Arizona, he'll be making a visit next month. Frias still doesn't have an official offer, but his grades are good, and you have to figure it's just a matter of time.
Verdict
Without seeing him take on any elite pass rushers, its hard to tell where he's at and how far he needs to go, but you can't teach someone to be 6-7, 330 with a great frame, long arms and a good attitude. If I had to guess, I'd say he continues to garner more and more attention, and the local schools end up battling it out for the right to bring him in, redshirt him, and see if they can turn him into a starting caliber tackle.
Let me pretend you have questions about Frias and then answer them for you.
Is he really 6-7, 330?
Yes. Yes he is.
How does he carry the weight?
Believe it or not, proportionally. He's not an overweight lineman- I'd put him in the vein of a Westerman, Douglas or Teofilo, without the insane brute strength (yet).
Is he athletic?
To an extent, sure. He can run, and moves well, which is good. His first step off the line in run blocking is a tad slow, as is his reaction to the pass rush, but a lot o that can be attributed to the fact that he's aiming for/trying to stop much smaller targets, so for him, it's about precision and making sure people don't take advantage of the comically large size difference by getting too low for him.
Is he strong?
Maybe. I say this because his acceleration isn't that great, so there's no real pop when he hits a defender, and he leads with his ridiculously long arms out in front, so if he gets his hands inside someone's shoulder pads, it's all over, because even if he's not overly strong, he has average strength for his size, which is still overwhelming for anyone in D3.
Big fish in a small pond- character issues?
The two times I've met him and his family they have been the most pleasant people to be around. They're so new to all the attention, and even with recruiters calling, emailing and texting, they're still insulated from a lot of the in-person media stuff. They don't go out of their way to promote him, he doesn't hide from the fact that he's being recruited because he's big, and he really likes to talk about what his teammates are doing- not in a deflective way, but in a "I'm really excited to be here with them" way. He stopped in the middle of our interview to play catch with his little brother and his family got on his case about it, but I thought it was great.
ASU interest?
Yes. He's on an unofficial visit to New Mexico State right now, where his sister plays volleyball. It's his first ever visit. Michigan has invited him to a camp they'll have after the season, and Ohio State has been kicking the tires. Frias says he's stay in contact with ASU, and depending on which game ASU says him and his family can come to, between Oregon, Washington and Arizona, he'll be making a visit next month. Frias still doesn't have an official offer, but his grades are good, and you have to figure it's just a matter of time.
Verdict
Without seeing him take on any elite pass rushers, its hard to tell where he's at and how far he needs to go, but you can't teach someone to be 6-7, 330 with a great frame, long arms and a good attitude. If I had to guess, I'd say he continues to garner more and more attention, and the local schools end up battling it out for the right to bring him in, redshirt him, and see if they can turn him into a starting caliber tackle.
