College Football Recruiting 2013: Picking Positions for the Top 10 ATHs (2024)

In recruiting, you'll often see a recruit be labeled "ATH" by some publications, as this means "athlete."

Yes, all these players are true athletes and have athletic ability, but we mean differently when they have the "ATH" tag as their position.

This means the recruit is such a versatile player that he can do so many things, and that anywhere is possible where he lines up. It's a tag for us evaluators that kind of tells the college coaches, "You guys decide, because this guy can play an array of spots."

Well, for this read, I'm going to take the top players with the "ATH" label and pick a college position for them.

From Louisiana and committed to LSU, Brazil is a very sudden player at 5'10" and 185 pounds. He has extremely quick feet and great stop/start ability.

I can see Brazil excelling as slot WR and doing similar things Odell Beckham does. However, he can also play some CB. His leaping ability, loose hips and speed could make him a great cover man.

In all, though, I just can't seem to get past seeing Brazil as a slot WR.

An Atlanta native, Toboada is a 6'4", 235-pound walking blank canvas. He shows great athleticism, natural movement skills and can excel on offense or defense.

I think, offensively, tight end would be the way to go for him. He could easily tack on a few more pounds and let his athleticism make him an excellent intermediate terror in the passing game. He's also strong enough to hold up as an in-line blocker.

Defensively, he could play DE or stand-up OLB and play with a lot of range, yet TE could be his prime position in college.

A Florida native, Folston is a 5'9", 190-pounder who can double as a runner or DB. He has excellent feet, great speed and patience to set up blocks with the ball in his hands.

He's savvywithhe ball and gets to pay dirt with speed. Yet, Folston also has the athleticism, feet and ability to project well as a cover corner in college.

This is a tough one, but I think Folston could be a great corner. Don't be shocked to see him play RB, though.

Kearse is the nephew of Jevon Kearse, and he has his uncle's athletic talent. He's 6'4" and around 200 pounds, hailing from Florida.

Kearse has the lengthandspeed to play the WR position, showing gliding athletic ability in his routes and length to pluck balls all around his frame. Yet, he's also athletic and physical enough to play OLB, with great range and speed.

I'd take Kearse as an OLB first, then WR.

Bailey is a 5'11", 175-pounder from Florida who is a quicker-than-fast athlete. He has cornerback skills due to his great athleticism and short-area quickness to close on the ball.

However, Bailey shows the traits of a great slot WR prospect. He can get off the line, avoid press with quickness, sharply cut and detach coverage with quickness. He also is heady enough to slide to voids versus zone schemes.

Bailey's hands are fine, and he can gain yards after the catch. Count him as a slot guy with returner value.

Terry, from South Carolina, is committed to Georgia, standing 5'11" and 193 pounds. He has value to a team as a RB, WR or DB.

Terry has excellent speed and quickness,showingthe ability to skatearoundthe field and be veryeffectiveon the perimeter. He can do damage as a WR, being great off the line and speedy on the flanks.

His instincts and playmaking ability take over as a runner with the ball, and he can play some Wildcat QB. As a corner, he has great size and firmly attaches himself to the hip of a WR with athleticism and hip quickness.

Yet, Terry is at his best on offense as a WR.

An Ohio native, Thomas is a Michigan commit who has the ability to factor in many different ways. He stands 6'0" and 185 pounds on the hoof, and he can play with some physicality.

Thomas can play RB by running with some strength, popping arm tackles and toting with good speed.

Yet, this guy is a safety—period.

Thomas can come up and tag a ball-carrier from the back end, but he also can stay back and patrol the back end. You can deploy him all over the field, and his speed, range, instincts and ability factor in the box.

A Texas native, Gonzalez is just an excellent football player. He stands 5'11" and 175 pounds, and he has fantastic play speed. He's the type of player where you just get him the football and get out of his way so he can work his magic.

Gonzalez can play RB, WR or CB, yet I don't think his hands are consistent enough to pluck balls out of air, and he doesn't have the bulk to tote the rock inside with the big boys.

CB could be his spot, but he's too good with the football not to be on offense.

I think Texas A&M should use Gonzalez as a jack-of-all-trades guy, mainly as a RB. Scheme him to work on the edges and perimeter, mix him with the slot passing game and have him return kicks and punts for the Aggies.

Beckwith probably is the biggest player on this list, as he is 6'2" and around 225 pounds, give or take. He can do so many things thanks to his versatility and pure athleticism.

Beckwith plays QB right now, but I don't see him lining up there. He can play WR or RB, but his best value likely comes on defense in college.

You can play Beckwith as a DE, sure, but to me he looks like a great OLB prospect. He has the size, is athletic enough to factor with range, is fast enough to pursue with speed and sees the ball well to track it for a stop.

Marshall plays QB right now for his Ohio high school team, and he could very well play QB in Urban Meyer's spread option offense at Ohio State.

However, I don't think seeing this guy retreat away from the end zone by dropping back to pass is what you want.

Marshall needs to be attacking the end zone, because the 6'0", 190-pounder is a sheer playmaker. He can play RB or WR, thanks to great speed, quickness and natural run instincts. He just finds a way to get upfield with the ball and looks to score each time he has it.

Edwin Weathersby has worked in scouting/player personnel departments for three professional football teams, including the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena League. He spent a year evaluating prep prospects and writing specific recruiting and scouting content articles for Student Sports Football (now ESPN Rise-HS).

A syndicated scout and writer, he's also contributed to WeAreSC.com, GatorBait.net and Diamonds in the Rough, Inc., a college football and NFL draft magazine.