Best Player in NorCal
- Thread starter Qazwsx123
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One and/or both of Folsom's Ngata brothers need to be on this list for consideration...DLS's To'oto'o is playing great at this point of the year.
The answer: Anyone being heavily recruited by Alabama.
More of a who is the best player in the NCS poll.
I would rank the best players in NorCal as follows:
1. To'oto'o
2. Joseph Ngata
3. Daniyel Ngata
4. Jay Butterfield
5. Evan Williams
I would rank the best players in NorCal as follows:
1. To'oto'o
2. Joseph Ngata
3. Daniyel Ngata
4. Jay Butterfield
5. Evan Williams
How many have actually seen all of these nominees play in order to determine who’s the best player?
I personally think Joe Ngata and To'ooto would start for virtually every Top 25 college in the country right now. And I think Ngata is a lock for a big time NFL career assuming he stays healthy. You can't teach his size, speed, agility, and hands. I've seen plenty of pro's play in HS and he is in that 1% of them. I said Jonah Williams would be a 1st round pick when he was a JR at Folsom. Certainly looks that way as well.
I know a lot of you guys forget about the Central Section, but D1 rolls up to NorCal for the Regional playoffs and Fresno/Clovis tends to be considered part of NorCal more than SoCal anyway.
Having conveyed that, any top player list must include RB Kendall Milton from Buchanan HS. He's a junior that played up on Varsity as a Frosh. He's a 5 star prospect currently rated as the #1 or #2 RB in the class of 2020 -- depending upon the recruiting service you buy into -- and is rated higher than Daniyel Ngata (both players are tremendous).
He's listed at 6'2" and 'around' 215-220 lbs. He's got a tad of Najee Harris to him with the size, power and speed combination. He doesn't run through defenders as often as Najee did, but he can when needed.
Here's a short (but not the greatest) highlight package:
Having conveyed that, any top player list must include RB Kendall Milton from Buchanan HS. He's a junior that played up on Varsity as a Frosh. He's a 5 star prospect currently rated as the #1 or #2 RB in the class of 2020 -- depending upon the recruiting service you buy into -- and is rated higher than Daniyel Ngata (both players are tremendous).
He's listed at 6'2" and 'around' 215-220 lbs. He's got a tad of Najee Harris to him with the size, power and speed combination. He doesn't run through defenders as often as Najee did, but he can when needed.
Here's a short (but not the greatest) highlight package:
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To'oto'o gets my vote because he plays both ways, and is pretty much one of the top 1-3 offensive/defensive players in any game he's in.
With DJ Williams and now Henry To'oto'o, it's a feather in the cap of Sacramento that 2 of DLS's best 2-way players ever are from the area. And we all know that the Spartans program has turned out some phenomenal players besides them.
Like DJ, I think To'oto'o has a great shot to be playing on Sunday's.
Like DJ, I think To'oto'o has a great shot to be playing on Sunday's.
Well, I'm sure most are skeptical that he will. Aside from one long TD run that was called back via penalty, Najee Harris was held in check pretty well by the Spartans D (different team, I know, but this defense is pretty good too). I'm expecting more of the same this weekend. But elite talents like this are one missed tackle/assignment away from a big play. Ngata made a couple long runs against DLS, but he had other elite weapons drawing attention. IDK that DJ Stevenson, Levi Williams, Jalen Cropper and Tanner Blount will scare them enough to draw attention from Milton. We shall see.
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I don't believe he's anymore of a lock than Kendall Milton. I don't know how anybody can say that either is more of a lock than the other. Like Ngata, Milton has great size, power and speed for his position. He may not dazzle against DLS this FRI (not many do, even Ngata) but keep an eye on him for the rest of this season and in 2019.
I also think @Hatchball has a great point about To'oto'o being a star 2-way player. He's gonna play LB at the next level, but at the HS level not many have the impact he has on both sides of the ball. That's certainly a factor to consider heavily.
One thing I believe we can all agree on is that they are all phenomenal talents that we are fortunate to be able to see in our own backyard.
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I think Ngata will play on sunday’s. But IMO he’s not a lock. He does have all the tools but Folsom has played one good team since he’s been there. I know he did very well against a 5* corner at Helix. But I can tell you they had no idea how to play Ngata. They stayed to far back and rarely touched him at the line. He’s a great route runner with speed but when he played a very well coached team (dls) he didn’t do so well.
Football is all about staying healthy and getting better with time. Some people have all the physical tools but lack the drive. They excel in HS because they are so gifted. If any of these kids named above continue to work hard, stay healthy & hungry they will get a shot at playing on Sundays. I remember watching Donte Stallworth in HS and in College. Tremendous player period. But personally NGATA at this stage is ahead of Stallworth to me. Different times I know but Stallworth had a nice long NFL career and was a 1st rounder.
Obviously we are getting ahead of ourselves but when you watched KIDD or LEBRON play in HS you pretty much knew stardom was coming at any level. I feel same with To'oto and NGATA.
Obviously we are getting ahead of ourselves but when you watched KIDD or LEBRON play in HS you pretty much knew stardom was coming at any level. I feel same with To'oto and NGATA.
Yup, you also never know who's going to develop into a star. One recent NorCal player that stands out is Davante Adams. I watched him in the CCS Open playoffs his senior year and while he was one of the better players on the field he didn't scream NFL or even D1 stud (the best D1 prospect on the field that day was Kevin Anderson). Ngata is way ahead of Adams at this point, but he'll still need to compete and earn his reps at Clemson.
Even though I voted for Ngata, NOBODY coming out of high school is a lock for the NFL IMO. Lot's of outstanding players stop loving football in college and simply quit.
So True... College turns the sport into business - a transitional predecessor to the world of high stakes NFL business. Quite of few talented players miss the team cohesiveness and selfless passion of the high school football environment. Also, the playing field changes when you are no longer the "few of a kind" star athlete but simply one of many good athletes competing for a spot on the depth chart.
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My vote is with Joseph Ngata but I am bias. I think he may be the best player the region has seen in a long time. There are also a few other worthy players this year in NorCal. I think the best player conservation is a bit top heavy this year, as I don't think there are a bunch of candidates like there would be in previous years.
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Ngata definitely the best in SFL. I take To'oto'o because of his play on both sides of the ball.
There’s so many talented players it’s hard to say. I was watching Johnson (Valley Christian, Texas) ball the other day and thought to myself how he wasn’t that hyped up on this board. He was talked about but he was one of many that were talked about to have potential at the next levels. My point is everyone on this list is legit. When they move onto the next levels that when we see separation. For now it’s a fun debate that will be answered in a couple years.
Ngata
Ngata
for some reason studs from the CCS seem to get less love around these parts.........
That’s because we don’t have near as much CCS representation on this site. The majority of regulars don’t see those teams/players as much. Same goes for NS and CS.
At first I thought it was the offense Johnson played in or something but looked at his numbers and they were nice. Then I saw he got hurt his senior year which could of had something to do with it. I'd say the CCS as a whole gets less love but the WCAL is well represented.
One problem: Some high school teens are already men with little or no chance of adding much speed, strength or power. They dominate, for awhile. Other guys catch up and pass those early stud muffins who later discover they can't overwhelm their opponents with sheer physicality and brute strength anymore.
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I would also say the CCS is down this year. I had Evan Williams of St Francis on my list and Luke Bottari or Serra could be in the mix too.
....and where you were use to leading in the daily grind of workouts, you are now competing among the best of the best in each and every repetion, sprint, lift, drill....just another body trying to get to the front. A real wake up for many kids making the transition from HS to College team.
A great example
A great example: Jack Dreyer from Serra, a 6-9 300-pound OL who mainly sat and watched as a Stanford backup. As a teen giant, he could dominate the preps. Not so much at the Division I level.
A great example: Jack Dreyer from Serra, a 6-9 300-pound OL who mainly sat and watched as a Stanford backup. As a teen giant, he could dominate the preps. Not so much at the Division I level.
Similar situation for Dublin's OL Matthew Gutwald. He passed up full rides to other schools for a walk on spot . He has since quit playing football, making me wonder if he used football to simply gain admittance to Stanford?
Skill level can be masked at the prep level if you just have high level physical tools. You have to have a keen eye to see things like OL technique. route running, QB field progression, DB footwork, etc
No player is a lock for the NFL. One of the best players I ever saw DLS' Kevin Simon (other than DJ Williams) looked like a lock in but injuries did him in and no NFL. It is a tough road to the NFL and an injury or two can derail that goal. One of my roommate after college who was Danny Ainge's roommate at BYU gave up his college scholarship to play in miners and an injury derailed what was thought to be a clear path to the MLB. Just an example of how fort6unate players are even to get to the level. Lots of factors to making it to the pros.
Also, lance Briggs from Elk Grove was a beast in HS, college, and the nfl. I think he had something like 323 yards as a fullback in his championship game his last year in HS. He was every bit as good or better than DJ Williams. He’d carry 3-4 defenders on his back for 8-10 yards per carry. An absolute beast as a linebacker, which he player for the Chicago bears.
Kendall Milton just showed up against DLS. He's playing both ways so their spelling him on offense, but he just broke off a 72-yd run right up the gut -- I think untouched. The break away speed was apparent. The kid is legit.
DLS returned the opening kick 96 yards and added another TD to lead 14-0, but Milton's TD closed the gap to 14-6 (Bears went for 2 for some reason and failed).
The Bears just stopped To'oto'o on 4th and 3.
Here's a live stream:
DLS returned the opening kick 96 yards and added another TD to lead 14-0, but Milton's TD closed the gap to 14-6 (Bears went for 2 for some reason and failed).
The Bears just stopped To'oto'o on 4th and 3.
Here's a live stream:
Milton just broke a 50-yarder on a 3rd and long screen pass. The kid looks like a men among boys so far -- which is saying a lot considering the opposition. I think this kid is as good as anyone I've seen in NorCal, maybe in CA.
They rotate him on both sides of the ball. The D is having problems stopping the veer with or without him. Might as well use all his energy on offense and hope to go blow for blow with DLS. As it stands he looks like their only hope of scoring.
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