Commit Alert: Rutgers Football gets verbal pledge from 3-star Tyreem Powell

The new Rutgers football coaching staff is simply on fire for the 2020 recruiting class. The Scarlet Knights secured a verbal commitment from their highest rated prospect yet, Tyreem Powell of Vineland on Thursday after Greg Schiano visited his school in a helicopter:

Rutgers was the 2nd power five conference school (after Virginia Tech where he flipped from) to offer Tyreem per 247sports this fall. At 6’4” and 205 pounds, Powell is a high three-star prospect, the 18th best in New Jersey and 47th best athlete nationally for the 2020 class according to the 247 composite which includes other sources. 247 itself has him as the 10th best player in New Jersey.

Tyreem is an intriguing prospect because he could definitely play on either side of the ball. On defense he reads plays well on the ground and in the air from the safety spot and “lays the boom,” “delivers the wood,” or whatever other phrase strikes your fancy. He pretty much is a risk for giving an opponent a concussion on every legal hit, that’s how powerful he is without being dirty or a headhunter. He has a good feel for where plays are going to snag interceptions on well thrown balls, tipped balls, or basically anything in the air.

On offense, he played quarterback some as a junior mostly as a wildcat and was a tremendous runner. He simply runs through tackles with good balance, body control, speed, and a punishing stiff arm. As a senior he threw the ball more, but if Johnathan Lewis isn’t a Big Ten quarterback, don’t expect Powell to be. As a blocker on the perimeter, he is elite. As a pass catcher, he ran more different types of routes than I expected: flys, fades, curls, posts, even screen passes. Yes screen passes to a 6’4” dude where he easily secured the catch and then accelerated for yards after it. He has very good, strong hands already. And just as he does on defense, tracks the ball extremely well. For those who read the site regularly, you know I am driven insane by the fade route to a lot of different players (forget the throw reliability from recent RU QBs which is another story), but Powell is someone I would trust because of his ability to get off the jam, track the ball, reliable hands to secure the reception, and body control to stay in bounds.

Like many other commits Rutgers has received in recent days, the key is if Powell has elite enough speed at the Big Ten level to be an above average starter on the defensive side of the ball. If not, then he would slot to outside linebacker and if so there may be a period of adjustment for him to have to react to plays in less time than he had as a safety. His tackling may need a little tidying up at the college level because in his school he can either just destroy people or engulf them with his long arms rather than needing to form tackle. Offensively, I think he is somewhere between a wide receiver and a tight end which if he’s good could be effective as both like Mohamed Sanu, but if not just another depth guy tweener like a Myles Nash (which still isn’t a tragedy). Powell throws a nicer ball than you would expect as a quarterback in his senior highlights, but doesn’t have a rocket launcher attached to his shoulder like Sanu.

Powell is at worst a very high three-star prospect who will compete hard in practice and provide depth at WR/DB like Tejay Johnson or DE/TE like Myles Nash did in their careers. Tyreem most likely will be able to get some action and at least be a solid tight end like Shamar Graves, outside linebacker like Jamal Merrell, or safety like Zaire Kitchen. Best case Tyreem is a superstar receiver like Mohamed Sanu or all-conference safety like Courtney Greene.

I like the pickup because well, he’s awesome and Rutgers already has two players from Vineland on the roster, Isaih Pacheco and Nihym Anderson. There is a spot on every Power Five team for a player like Tyreem. My questions about him are grasping at straws or digging for flaws because is a very complete player with skills in every area of the game of football other than kicking maybe (not sure if he kicks also). There is a strong chance he could be a superstar and as long as he doesn’t get seriously injured will be on the two-deep no matter what by his second year.

Powell is the third athlete in this 2020 Rutgers recruiting class. The thirteen total verbal commits thus far each have a 3-star rating in the latest 247 composite rankings. With so little time and few scholarships this cycle, it’s obvious the coaching staff knows that they need talent at every position and if guys can possibly end up at multiple different positions that would help tremendously.

Check out some highlights:

Welcome to the banks Tyreem!