Jared Cohen
Zach Bauman has had a chip on his shoulder since high school. Out of Hamilton High School, he was told he wasn’t big enough and not fast enough. Then shut a lot of nay-sayers up after setting record after record in his time with the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.
Now Bauman has his sights set on the NFL. I caught up with him about a month back while he was working out gearing up for all the NFL Draft process has to offer. He was just on the outside looking in at an appearance in the NFL Combine, so instead all things pointed to his opportunity to work out in front of NFL Scouts at NAU’s pro day a couple of weeks ago.
What Bauman gave on pro day blew everyone away. He ended up running a 4.43 and a 4.45 second forty yard-dash. I was told that after his performance that Bauman could land in the sixth round of the draft or maybe even earlier. Keep the valley product in mind once May comes around.
On the high school end, we have known that there is more than one Rodriguez in Tucson on the football field. Rich Rodriguez running things on the campus of U of A. His son Rhett Rodriguez was the starting quarterback for a high school north of campus at Catalina Foothills on varsity as a freshman. Quietly, the Falcons went 8-3 and fell to a good Shadow Ridge team in the first round of the division III playoffs.
From what I have learned in the high school recruiting world, it’s hard to tell how much a player will be recruited when they are so young. But I recently spoke with a college coach who told me he watched Rhett’s film from last year and was “pleasantly surprised.” The name helps his cause, but if he has the film to start backing it up, watch out for Rhett Rod in the 2017 class.
Were talking Class of 2017?? Man I feel old!
There is another member of the 2017 class that people keep reminding me of. We know Saguaro is stacked. Christian Kirk, the most recruited player in Arizona and the west coast, is back for his senior year. Jason Jewell and I have talked about the Lyles brothers on the Recruiting Roundup. Older brother Karé is taking over at quarterback for the great Luke Rubenzer as a junior. Younger brother, OL/DL Kayden made headlines as being the first member of the 2017 class to receive an offer. And it wasn’t just any off, it was was from Bob Stoops and Oklahoma.
The player people keep mentioning to me is another member class of the 2017 named KJ Jarrell. KJ looks to be a two-way starter as a sophomore for the Sabercats as a defensive back and wide receiver and at the age 14 or 15, is already 6-2 and growing. Coach Jason Mohns told me that KJ will be a Division I player when all is said and done.
