The Opening - Parsing the SPARQ Results

One of the benefits of a big-time camp like The Opening is that true measurements of recruits takes place, and recruitniks (like myself) get some actual data to analyze. It's common knowledge that recruits love to exaggerate their numbers to their benefit - every WR, DB and RB will tell you they run under a 4.5 forty time (and they'll usually tell you they are in the 4.3 range; every lineman will add an inch or two to their height; every LB will inflate their bench press numbers.

But thanks to the excellent coverage of The Opening by SBN's own Bud Elliott, Wescott Eberts and Rodger Sherman, we have recruiting experts on hand to provide their own analysis, and we have the cold hard numbers from the SPARQ testing today.

Let's take a look at how the Husky targets and commits did:

Just to refresh, the current Husky commits from that list are TE Chase Blakely and DB Jonathan Lockett. WR Erik Brown is expected to announce his decision tomorrow or Wednesday, and it's widely believed he'll choose Washington. DB John Plattenburg has decided to delay his decision for a few weeks, but the Huskies are one of his favorites. Of the rest, the Huskies have good shots with DB Budda Baker, OL Kammy Delp, RB Joe Mixon and DT Ainu'u Taua.

Of the 146 players that underwent full testing, Baker and Lockett did the best of the above list, coming in #43 & #48 respectively. Mixon was in the top half at #61, and Plattenburg nearly so at #81.

Blakely shows good size at TE, measuring in at 6'4.5" and 241 lbs; Brown measured in a hair above 6; Lockett still has a bit of filling out to do, weighing in at 168 lbs. Taua is a low-center-of-gravity bowling ball, coming in at 5'11.5" and 271 lbs. Mama is probably a longshot for the Huskies, but man - he's a monster out there, coming in at 6'4", 370 lbs.

The forty times are always fun to look at from controlled, electronically timed events like these. Of the 152 kids that ran, only 3 registered in the 4.3 range, and 16 in the 4.4 range. The fastest of the likely Husky targets were Baker at 4.51 (25th fastest), Mixon at 4.53 (36th) and Lockett at 4.55 (38th).

The vertical leap is a strong indicator of explosiveness, and Baker and Plattenburg led likely Husky targets with jumps of 35", which placed them tied for 45th. Also worth noting that Taua - at 271 lbs - cleared 31" (tied for 93rd), just a hair behind Mixon (31.3") and Lockett (31.2").

Of course, the measurements only go so far in telling you how good a kid is - you have to see them in action. Here's a few selected bits of analysis from the day.

From 247sports, their top performers:

Defensive line

3. Ainuu Taua, DT, Lompoc (Calif.) Lompoc – At under 6-feet tall, Taua always has something to prove at elite events but he left no doubt that he belongs on Monday. He was extremely quick and physical getting to the backfield and will only get better when the pads come on.

Wide receiver

2. Chase Blakley, TE, Coeur D’Alene (Idaho) High School – Maybe the most sure hands at the entire event, Blakely caught every ball he touched and despite a big body, really moved and changed directions with ease.

Defensive backs

4. Jonathan Lockett, CB, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei – A recent Washington commit, Lockett was quick out of his backpedal and drives on the football with authority. He was very competitive and though he doesn’t test through the roof, he is a big-time player where it counts.

From the Twitterverse:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Seattle Seahawk DB Richard Sherman just said his top corner of the day for him was <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Washington&amp;src=hash">#Washington</a> commit Jon Lockett</p>&mdash; Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregBiggins/statuses/351787701898452992">July 1, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Damien Mama handily wins his two one on ones against Joe Henderson. His initial punch is lights out...</p>&mdash; Brandon Huffman (@BrandonHuffman) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrandonHuffman/statuses/351781522631692291">July 1, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>4-star RB Joe Mixon said &quot; I know this guy is going to be blocking for me in college&quot; (Check the link) <a href="http://t.co/qCnctlkhSm">http://t.co/qCnctlkhSm</a></p>&mdash; Justin Hopkins (@JHopkins247) <a href="https://twitter.com/JHopkins247/statuses/351804177124564993">July 1, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Guys who stood out on the DL: Ainuu Taua, Andrew Williams, Garrald McDowell, Andrew Brown and Chad Thomas</p>&mdash; Todd Huber (@ToddHuberSS) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToddHuberSS/statuses/351798673249812482">July 1, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Washington&amp;src=hash">#Washington</a> TE commit Chase Blakley beats Derik Calhoun deep.</p>&mdash; Justin Hopkins (@JHopkins247) <a href="https://twitter.com/JHopkins247/statuses/351783380234420225">July 1, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>"<a href="https://twitter.com/SBNRecruiting">@SBNRecruiting</a>: Damien Mama may be the most fantastic athlete <a href="https://twitter.com/TheOpening_2013">@TheOpening_2013</a>. Running a sub-6.0 40 &amp; 4.84 shuttle at 370 pounds. Crazy."</p>&mdash; JC Shurburtt (@jcshurburtt) <a href="https://twitter.com/jcshurburtt/statuses/351842558432903168">July 1, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In case you missed the link on the front page, here's the homepage for all of SBN's Opening coverage:

The Opening 2013