‘DOGS DISHING OUT EARLY OFFERS

Fresno State head coach Pat Hill is not one for offering many prospects before their senior year.

The 2009 Fresno State recruiting class featured 14 players that signed in February plus three more that enrolled in January for the spring semester. Recruiting for the 2010 class started well before the 2009 class signed, but it picked up as soon as the ink dried on the National Letters of Intent. Of the early offers Hill has extended, one to a former Bulldog’s younger brother stands out.

Jason Shirley had an up-and-down career at Fresno State. Nonetheless, despite playing only in a handful of games his senior year in 2007, he was drafted in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. His younger brother – Josh Shirley – is one of the top recruits in California for the 2010 class.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound standout out of Fontana (Calif.) Kaiser plays the same position as current Bulldog Chris Carter played at Kaiser – hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker. Carter was a three-star recruit in the 2007 class that signed with Fresno State over Pac-10 offers from Oregon State and Washington State. Shirley is rated four-stars by Scout.com and the No. 10 outside linebacker in the nation. He sports offers from San Diego State and Stanford besides his one from the Bulldogs. Many more will follow.

Like Carter, Shirley is an undersized defensive end for the next level. Most BCS schools will recruit him as a linebacker. Fresno State is recruiting him as a hybrid DE/LB as is Stanford.

Fresno State also has an offer out to Scout.com’s No. 4 rated middle linebacker in the country – Chula Vista (Calif.) Eastlake’s Tony Jefferson. The 6-foot, 200-pound standout has offers from major programs throughout the nation including Notre Dame, Florida, Georgia, and USC among others. To say the ‘Dogs don’t have a chance would be an understatement.

But the offers that will catch Valley football fans attention are to Edison defensive linemen Wesley Flowers (6-4, 250) and Rakeem Yates (6-2, 225). Flowers also has an offer from Washington is arguably the top linemen in Central California on both sides of the ball. He finished his junior season with 50 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, six sacks and two fumbles caused. Yates is an undersize defensive tackle, but he has dominated Central Section offensive linemen the last two years.

The defensive line will be a focus for the 2010 class besides Flowers and Yates, Redlands (Calif.) East Valley defensive end Andrew Hudson (6-3, 215) holds a Bulldog offer. Washington has also offered Hudson as well.

The running back class is loaded in California. Of the 12 running backs are rated three-stars or higher by Scout.com, La Habra (Calif.) back Joshua Quezada is not one of them. But that doesn’t mean the 6-foot, 200-pound standout wasn’t one of the top performers in Southern California last season. He rushed for 1,680 yards on 157 carries and scored 18 touchdowns, and he added 21 receptions for 318 yards and three more touchdowns while earning first team all-league, all-CIF, and all-Orange County honors.

For more on these prospects and Fresno State recruiting please visit BarkBoard.com.

2010 Fresno State Recruiting Prospects

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