Sacramento Bee’s Joe Davidson on Shaq Thompson: “ferocity and fury”

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Even if you have just a passing interest in recruiting, particularly in the Northern California hotbed where the Ducks acquired John Boyett, Byron Marshall and Avery Patterson, among others, you have to follow Joe Davidson, a blogger and beat writer for the Sacramento Bee.

Davidson nails it, day after day. He’s prolific in the paper, his blog and on Twitter, and his insight into the recruiting game and athletes is superb. His evaluations are spot on, his information is timely and incisive, and he writes with clarity and evident good humor. Follow his prep blog here and on Twitter here.

This is what Davidson had to say about Shaq Thompson, one of the gems of this year’s PAC-12 recruiting class, who’s in the midst of deciding between Oregon, Washington, Cal and UCLA:

Why the continuous talk on Thompson? He’s on the shortest list of all-time prep greats I have ever seen with his ferocity and fury, his open-field speed, his closing speed in hammering ball carriers, his desire to lead, to learn, to improve and his message of being a campus and community role model. Other all-time greats I have seen include: Tedy Bruschi of Roseville, who went on to win three Super Bowls with the Patriots; Onterrio Smith and Dante Stallworth of Grant, who both landed in the NFL; D.J Williams of De La Salle, a linebacking terror at all levels; and Lance Briggs of Elk Grove, headed to his 7th NFL Pro Bowl at linebacker with the Chicago Bears.

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