Lincoln's Dehonta Hayes: A Gem being Overlooked?

Lincoln's Dehonta Hayes: A Gem being Overlooked?

The outstanding play of Dehonta Hayes warrants more attention from the Pac-12, write James Christianson from Under the Radar.

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DonaldJones

James, why do you suppose OSU, Boise State. and WSU didn't show interest?... just curious to hear your theory, thanks.

Its crazy how recruiting works sometime. He didn't get offered by those schools partly because WSU or UDUBB didn't offer in my opinion. I see it happen all the time when one kid gets an offer from a school thats on the same level, influences other schools to pull the trigger.

Last year we got a call from a Pac 12 coach that has to decide between 2 players to offer a scholarship. He asked us who we thought was the better player. That showed me that these decisions are real close sometimes.

Here is a better example. Check this article out.

http://recruiting.scout.com/story/1296265-scott-emerges-as-elite-db-prospect?s=73

We discovered Jamal Scott last year as mentioned in the article by Greg Biggans. The young man came to us last year desperate because he had no offer going into his Senior Season. My partner Daniel Thomas redid his Highlight film and sent his tape out to all the schools in the Pac Ten.( I keep saying Pac ten for some reason)

Washington or Colorado offered first. A few days he had an offer from every school in the Pac 12. Now this kid was a beast on film and was about 6'3. But it still shows how things work sometimes in the recruiting world.

HuskyInAZ

Most of us are former dm.c subscribers. Other that a few who deny their financial support for the site, the rest have have jumped ship. As a result, any content behind their pay wall is a no go. How about throwing up his UTR video for us to see?

Doogles

Most of us are former dm.c subscribers. Other that a few who deny their financial support for the site, the rest have have jumped ship. As a result, any content behind their pay wall is a no go. How about throwing up his UTR video for us to see?

Do your own research, he redshirted last year at ASU and they have high hopes.

DonaldJones

Most of us are former dm.c subscribers. Other that a few who deny their financial support for the site, the rest have have jumped ship. As a result, any content behind their pay wall is a no go. How about throwing up his UTR video for us to see?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVqIbnW4Dh0

HuskyInAZ

Thanks for the link. Kid sure looks like a beast.

JamesChristianson

James, why do you suppose OSU, Boise State. and WSU didn't show interest?... just curious to hear your theory, thanks.

I think it's the little attention that Lincoln HS gets itself (for whatever reason that is).

It could be partly that Lincoln is in the "hood" where there's plenty of troubled youth. If you watch any YouTube videos about Jon Kitna and the praise he gets from Principal Patrick Erwin, Kitna was feeding players who came to school without having eaten breakfast and/or with no lunch. He was counseling kids whose own parents were telling them to run the streets, sell drugs and get the family some money. So, I think Lincoln HS itself may have a bad rap, as full of troubled kids.

No one like Lawyer Milloy has come out of Lincoln since that time, so I guess it's not worth the press's time to come down there. There was literally no press coverage of Lincoln outside of the Tac News Tribune until the O'Dea game (of course a traditional powerhouse, so media wants to be there for that one). A couple of WSU coaches were there that game but they were only looking at Warren (who has the typical build and body and physical tools for that position, as well as the STATS in sacks that helped him get attention). They hadn't really heard much about Dehonta from our convo.

This is also is partly how UnderTheRadar got started. The original founders coached at Inglewood high school in Southern Cal (another "hood" school). The players were not getting attention from scouts and the press and no one cared to go there and cover the high school. So, the coaches made their own highlight tapes for players and it caught on with other players/schools and UTR was born.

Also, Kitna had so much athletic talent across the board that Dehonta was not used to the fullest. They spread the wealth. I talk to a Lincoln opponent coach after the season and he said, "That #2 was killing us in the first half. I don't know why they didn't keep using him as much." So, players coaches and opponents all knew of his talent. It's just that the casual onlooker only saw him a few times a game make breakaway plays. If he was the featured RB (he grew up playing RB), he could have had 200 yards per game during the season.

Like I said in the article, a lot of what Dehonta brought to the table was the intangibles...ball hawking, swarming to the ball, football savvy and feel for the game and anticipation--those come into play on defense at a position that doesn't get alot of attention unless you have a lot of picks or lead your team in tackles...and there were plenty of good, athletic players on defense.

So, it was a couple combinations of things. I saw a post somewhere on the internet that said there were no former 5-star players starting in the Super Bowl and less than 10 four-star players on both teams total. So, obviously the scouting "system" gets it wrong a lot.

One thing that I wish was different about last season was the WIAA's bracketing. There's no way Lincoln, O'Dea and Eastside Catholic should have been in the same bracket. Lincoln dominated EC in most of the first half. Every EC player I talked to about the Bellevue game said that Lincoln would have beaten Bellevue. I wish the scouts would have gotten things right last year, but also the WIAA.

Of course, my sources now confirm that the bigger schools did not even ask for or look at film on Dehonta until it was too late in the game and after they all made their offers and were out of them or were "stuck with" what they had already done. Hence, some admit to having made a mistake in overlooking him.

JamesChristianson

Most of us are former dm.c subscribers. Other that a few who deny their financial support for the site, the rest have have jumped ship. As a result, any content behind their pay wall is a no go. How about throwing up his UTR video for us to see?

This is another great benefit that UTR offers players, coaches and fans. Since we have a media department and that our primary work, we provide footage to the public of games, spotlights, etc.

RoadDawg55

I agree that guys from Lincoln players can be overlooked (like every other school in Tacoma), but they have had some pretty good players since Lawyer Milloy. Lawyer Milloy is a pretty high standard. Tacoma and Seattle public schools typically aren't very good at football. Every now and then there are exceptions like Wilson with Trufant and Stevens and the recent Lakes teams. Lakes and Curtis are not Tacoma schools and Curtis hasn't been a true power since the mid 90's. They are much better at basketball.

@JamesChristianson, how long have you been following Lincoln? I know the narrative was that Lincoln wasn't shit before Kitna, but it's simply not true. Lincoln had a down stretch before Kitna, but they were a State team from 2004-2007. Dick Zatkovich, the Lakes coach when Reggie Williams played, was Lincoln's coach and DJ Dobbins did well immediately after Zatkovich left. Kitna is a great coach and he was taking them to new heights, but they were good back when I played in the fairly recent past. They were easily the best Tacoma Public school.

Not to diminish anything, but the schedule for Lincoln last year was a cakewalk until the playoffs. They don't play Bellarmine and Olympia anymore and instead play easy schools from across the bridge like Shelton, North Thurston, and Central Kitsap. The powers that be messed things up with the new realignment. 3A and 4A schools are in the same division, the Narrows is split up funky. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

JamesChristianson

I agree that guys from Lincoln players can be overlooked (like every other school in Tacoma), but they have had some pretty good players since Lawyer Milloy. Lawyer Milloy is a pretty high standard. Tacoma and Seattle public schools typically aren't very good at football. Every now and then there are exceptions like Wilson with Trufant and Stevens and the recent Lakes teams. Lakes and Curtis are not Tacoma schools and Curtis hasn't been a true power since the mid 90's. They are much better at basketball.

@JamesChristianson, how long have you been following Lincoln? I know the narrative was that Lincoln wasn't shit before Kitna, but it's simply not true. Lincoln had a down stretch before Kitna, but they were a State team from 2004-2007. Dick Zatkovich, the Lakes coach when Reggie Williams played, was Lincoln's coach and DJ Dobbins did well immediately after Zatkovich left. Kitna is a great coach and he was taking them to new heights, but they were good back when I played in the fairly recent past. They were easily the best Tacoma Public school.

Not to diminish anything, but the schedule for Lincoln last year was a cakewalk until the playoffs. They don't play Bellarmine and Olympia anymore and instead play easy schools from across the bridge like Shelton, North Thurston, and Central Kitsap. The powers that be messed things up with the new realignment. 3A and 4A schools are in the same division, the Narrows is split up funky. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

That's something else I should have pointed out...their easy, cakewalk schedule and weak league probably had people thinking they'll wait to check them out when they play real talent.

JamesChristianson

Watch at 7:24 of the highlights of the game (2nd video). A player on Lincoln drops a pick and the ref calls it a fumble that Lincoln returns for a score. I wish Lincoln would have won the game, but that was probably the worst call I have ever seen.

I wish the best for Dehonta too. I hope you get the Pac 12 offer, but you have some pretty good offers to be grateful for. The NFL is full of players that went to smaller schools.

I just came across this view and remembered your comment on here. It looks like a close call, either exactly straight down the 36 yard line or slightly forward. The "lateral" is at 1:56....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syoslN47hW8