While we wait for the Seattle Times to bring the heat, we did get some good news last night. Cougfan broke the story that Idaho prep linebacker Darren Markle has cast his lot with Paul Wulff and company, committing to the Cougars. Here’s some highlights of Markle:
- Rated as the 29th ranked player in the Northwest top-100, ranked as #57 in the West top 150. Also ranks as the #32 middle linebacker prospect in the nation. Had over 100 tackles as a Junior MLB last season. Currently a 3-star talent ranking from Scout. I wonder how long until Chris Fetters of Dawgman fame drops him to a 2-star after this news? Just kidding….sort of.
- Excellent size for a high-school senior-to-be, 6-1, 230. Not lightning fast with a 4.59 40-time, but still, not bad for a projected future middle linebacker. Strength? Off-The-Charts Ridiculous. From the Scout.com profile:
Won the 2007 US High School Powerlifting Championships today and broke the National Total Record in the 242-pound weight class that has stood for nine years. He claims a current bench press of 365 pounds and squat lift of 550 pounds.
US High School Powerlifting champion?? Benches 365 and squats 550?? WOW.
- ESPN.com had a good write-up of Markle, based on a Scouts, inc. evaluation. If you are too lazy to click the link, check out the content here:
Markle is good-looking middle linebacker prospect with the great size and physicality sought-after at the position. He possesses prototypical middle linebacker size at the position and should add continue to add another 10 of good bulk to his already impressive thickly-built frame to handle the punishment of playing the middle at the next level. More of a short-range backer showing good initial quickness and burst when filling his middle run gaps. Plays with good pad level and a wide, solid base at the point of attack. Difficult to turn out of the gap when he attacks downhill with square shoulder pads. Shows great strength and power from his hips and upper-body knocking blockers upright while stacking and shedding the cutoff block. Solid tackler flashing good explosion driving through ball carriers. Lacks the hips to mirror quicker skill plays in space but can close quickly on the football with an adequate-to-good burst. However, range is limited outside the tackle box and he flashes plays where he looks a bit stiff in the hips when redirecting and pursuing laterally. Can stack the run but needs to work on slipping under the cutoff and not opening up his whole body for engagement; will be harder to consistently shed bigger offensive linemen at the next level. Shows he can close and blanket his underneath zone but his depth on his drops is inconsistent. Good blitzer with his size and deceptive acceleration in the short area, but he tends to guess gaps at times and diagnosing skills will need some polish. Overall, Markle is a tough, middle run plugger who is valuable to a team at the next level struggling to stop two-back, power running schemes. Could be limited to situational run and short-yardage duties versus wide open spread teams.
Finally, your obligatory Youtube video of Markle.
Pretty impressive. You can see his strength and at times, he appears unblockable. I was also impressed by some of his “closing speed” on a few of those plays. He’s not a burner, but you can see that he not only has a nose for the ball, but he has good football speed if you know what I mean?
And now, some powerlifting highlights.
That, my friends, is MAN strength. Welcome to the family Darren! Excellent “get” coach Wulff. Markle and Meinken are a great start to a class that will be so vital to the future.
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