Defensive end Pierre-Paul: 'I'm very excited'

Another busy day with Super Bowl stuff, but I got a call back this afternoon from Jason Pierre-Paul, the five-star defensive end from Fort Scott Community College who committed to USF earlier this week. Nobody was able to get Pierre-Paul initially, as everyone had gotten the news from his coach at Fort Scott, so this was the first chance to get the news straight from the commitment himself. A few things ...

-- His weight. He's been listed at 280 pounds a few places, which surprised me, because he was listed around 230 two years ago when he signed with Central Florida out of high school. Pierre-Paul said Friday that he's 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, which puts him at a good weight to be a college defensive end.

-- The competition: Pierre-Paul said the other schools he strongly considered were Nebraska, Kansas State, Arizona and Kansas, in that order. Geography helped the Bulls, as he's from Deerfield Beach and likes the idea of his mother, father, brother and sister being able to drive to his home games. He said he and Fort Scott linebacker Jacquian Williams, another USF commitment, have found a lot in common since the end of the season -- both great athletes who had to leave the state to get the degrees they needed to get a scholarship back in their home state.

-- Pierre-Paul said the chance to play with senior George Selvie was a major plus, and his goal now is to earn the starting job opposite Selvie and learn as much as possible from him this fall. "He's an All-American, and hopefully it'll be me and him coming at people from both sides," he said.

-- Sunday's paper will have a feature on Lake Mary's Demi Thompson, a great story that stands out in a ridiculously talented class of defensive linemen coming to USF. It's interesting that USF is ranked by Rivals.com as having the nation's No. 2 group of defensive ends in the country in this year's class. That ranking, however, includes Leslie Stirrups as a defensive end, but he's been a defensive tackle at East Mississippi and I have no reason to think he'll be anything but a tackle at USF. With Stirrups, Khyri Thornton and Anthony Hill, the Bulls have eight defensive linemen in this class, clearly a strength in what's shaping up as a top-25 class nationally.

Comments

[USFMikeB]

So, ucIF doesn't want a 5 star DE. Yep, that's the logic flowing out of Orlando...

[Steve]

no sarcasm at all... They have the 4th highest ranked class on scout (http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=14&yr=2009)... Which is absolutely amazing considering they are in CDOA...

[Frank]

Steve,
You wouldn't be using a bit of sarcasm, would you? But, don't forget, UCF has Cee on offense. He is a heck of a drawback. Also, very talented wide receiver. He's open on every play.

[Steve]

Of course they wouldn't take him Greg... They've got 4 and 5 star lineman lined up to sign next week... They're gonna have to turn some of them away and then maybe, just maybe we can pick up some of their scraps, which is where JPP falls in... it must be nice to be UCiF... They're a burgeoning powerhouse who can be as picky as they wanna be in recruiting...

[Greg Auman]

Ken, given the lack of outside linebackers, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these lighter ends wind up at linebacker -- they might see an easier path to the playing field as well. Right now, the most likely change I've seen is some of the bigger ends (like Demi Thompson) potentially bulking up and moving inside to tackle.

Stephen, are you saying UCF wouldn't take Pierre-Paul this year if it could? Seems like if he was good enough to sign two years ago, there'd be an interest now, given the success he's had. Right?

[Stephen]

Fact is, UCF did not recruit him very hard. Take his baggage, there is much to know. UCF will be very happy with a DE that has all four years and will announce his intentions for UCF later this week.

[Ken]

Impressive. How are we going to make positions for all of them to play? Any of these DEs going to play LB?

[Jim]

What a surprise that USF pulled in such recruits. I wish our OL was as strong.

[Sam]

We must be doing something right. Orlando sentinel blogged about it and practically rubbed salt in the wound at UCF!

Gotta love the UCF comments of, "We didn't want him anyway," or "probably couldn't make our standards." They are the paradigm example of sour grapes!

[Steve O'Neal]

I'm excited too! I had a dream last night about tailgating and football games for next year. I can't wait for the season to start. I'll be at splitsville wednesday. GO BULLS!

[Windbane]

Stephen, ESPN doesn't update their rankings very often. After signing day we'll see their final rankings.

We are 24th on Scout, though.

[Jonny]

It would be interesting if we slid a couple of our faster ends into OLBs in a 3-4 base a few times a game to give the opponent a really different look. Would also allow more than two of them on the field at the time.

[David Weber]

Ben, we actually already have one- Claude Davis from last year. He'll be the only one though.

The Giants won the Super Bowl last year primarily because of the pressure generated be their DEs. It seems to be a pretty good model. I think that we should have one of the best collections of DEs in the country next season.

[Uncle Ben]

Nice update. I don't think we'll even need to recruit a single DE next year...

Okay, so I'm not saying that we have to slide JPP inside as I love his size at DE. But, imagine a 3rd and long situation, late in the season when Giddins has gotten his feet under him. We have Selvie and Giddins on the ends, with JPP and either McClain or Stirrups splitting time on the inside. I can literally smell the fear.

[Stephen Blackehart]

ESPN had it (the incloming class) ranked #24 yesterday, though that's still behind Rutgers and I believe WVU in the Big East.

Great to see us getting some of the big guys we're targeting this year. Now, let's see who qualifies!