By NICK SLOAN,
NJSloan212@gmail.com
Believe it or not, the first indication of the 2012 football season is around the corner.
Offseason and spring workouts will be upon us and planning for the season will begin.
One of the things we're hoping to do here is work on some college prospect lists and doing a ranking system of sorts.
Whether that's a unified list between the staff members here or individual rankings lists (which might be a little more fun), we're hoping to generate some debate and exposure for the football athletes.
That out of the way, if I were to do a Top 25 to 30 list of athletes in KCK who will likely be playing football next year, Schlagle Stallions big man T.J. Wallace would be on the top of my prospects list.
Measuring in at 6'5 and around 340 pounds, he's certainly the biggest piece to the puzzle for the Stallions offensive line.
Why is T.J. #1 for me?
I'm glad you asked.
• Simply put, his size is unbelievable for a KCK football player. David Brox and I were talking about how small some of the players at the award ceremony were. Wallace was not included in the discussion. He's one of the few athletes who's around my eye-level (I'm 6'5") and don't let that weight fool you - it's not a "fat" 340 pounds. That may sound like an oxymoron, but there's a difference between a fat and sloppy 340 pounds (Gilbert Brown) and an athletic 340 pounds (Shaquille O'Neal). This leads to my next point...
• He moves very well for a player of his size. He won't confuse anyone for J'veyon Browning, but he moves very well off the line of scrimmage as both an offensive lineman and a defensive lineman. He just doesn't occupy space, though that probably helps.
• His abilities on defense. I've had a lot of fun writing about the "Schlagle Hogs" offensive line and how T.J. Wallace is the "Boss Hog" of the offensive line. However, one thing that's incredibly underrated about Wallace's game is his abilities on the defensive line. He may actually be better on defense based on the games I saw him in. Against a solid offensive line in Bonner Springs, Wallace quickly plugged in multiple holes and took down Johnathan Jackson on a few 3rd and 1 plays. If you look at Jackson's stats this year, that did not happen a lot. He's a great short-yardage defensive lineman and he can really be an enforcer on the line. Wallace had 40 tackles this year on the defensive line, which is amazing for a lineman at the high school level. Most times you see lineman around 30 tackles. Wallace was around 40, some of which were for losses.
• His character. This one may be a bit unfair, but I know Wallace and I know he's a type of young man who listens to coaches and will do anything to improve his game. That's not to say he's the only one, but he's a classy and mature athlete. He handles success very well and I know more and more recruiters are looking for character in recruiting. Wallace is one of the nicest, classiest and hard-working athletes you will come across. Those are three quality characteristics.
Wallace, should he remain healthy and work to gain even more strength in the weight-room, is someone who should be on the radar of Division One schools.
He should absolutely be on
The Kansas City Star's radar of someone who can be an "all metro" offensive lineman.
