Posts: 1,065
Threads: 80
Joined: Aug 2017
Four dimensional analysis on Brandt:
Services: 247 composite #454 (#53 DL), On3 consensus #390 (#46 DL), 247 #38 DL (35 are in the top 247), On3 #54 DL, Rivals #23 DT (5.7 grade, same grade as Tobin Phillips, Andres Fox, Michael Williams, Dylan Jackson, Wesley Annan, Henry Anderson, Eddie Plantaric, Matthew Masifilo, Levirt Griffin), ESPN NR
Offers: Stanford, Cal, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Washington State, Boston College
Production: As a junior for Sierra Canyon playing against one of the tougher schedules in the nation (top three percent of all Shaw recruit schedules), Brandt had 4.3 tackles per game (eighth on the team), 11 tackles for loss (third), and 5.5 sacks (third). As a sophomore for St. Bernard in a four game pandemic-shortened season, Brandt had 3.5 tackles per game (tied for fifth), 9 tackles for loss (four way tie for first), five sacks (tied for first), and one fumble recovery. For both years, it's worth keeping in mind his young age for his grade. He turned 17 in May, so he will be just turning 18 when he finishes high school (or be 17 for multiple months when he enrolls on campus if he enrolls early). Stereotypically this would mean that he's not as developed as some peers and could have more upside ahead, though of course it always depends on the individual.
Highlights: The sophomore St. Bernard highlights show some of the raw material but the player in the junior Sierra Canyon highlights took such a significant step forward he's almost unrecognizable. That and the late blooming nature of the recruitment (almost all the Pac-12 schools heavily pursuing him but only starting to after the junior season) supports the hope this is a young player still developing. Given the level of competition, you can trust that the highlights are generally against excellent high school teams. At least eight of the 11 opponents had future major college football players and at least six had numerous (3+, in many cases more than that). However, the OL lining up directly against him were not big prospects. Against Oaks Christian, Brandt took on guards and centers rather than Stanford OT commit Luke Baklenko (often tantalizingly close to Brandt in highlights but never squaring off directly). In that game, Brandt's highlights were most notable for pursuit, including a run play coming from the backside where he chased down 3-star RB Johnny Thompson (expected to go to one of the top Pac-12 teams) for a tackle for loss as part of a swarm. Similarly, against Arizona superpower Saguaro Brandt didn't square off with incoming Washington OL Parker Brailsford. In that one, Brandt got robbed of a half sack of incoming Idaho QB Ridge Docekal on a play where Brandt initially bit on the play action, quickly diagnosed his mistake and did a spin move to evade the center, and ran toward the play to help bring down Docekal (who admittedly was already starting to get wrapped up). The Saguaro game also featured a half tackle for loss of incoming Arizona State WR Javen Jacobs on a handoff where Brandt was second to the ball but nonetheless showed inside speed. The best thing from that game might be that Docekal and Jacobs' highlights show the same non-stop motor and pursuit that Brandt showcases on his highlights. Like Baklenko and Brailsford, the other high-profile OL on Sierra Canyon's schedule, incoming Washington State OL Zack Miller, also played OT and thus did not match up against Brandt. But there were several games against extraordinarily talented teams, just not ones with interior linemen of Brandt's caliber. Servite and Corona Centennial were top 10 teams nationally and Mission Viejo and Norco were top 15 teams in California. As we almost always see, the teams against top powerhouses tended to be Brandt's least productive games. But that doesn't mean he didn't impress. Against Servite, Brandt had three great highlights: a bull rush that helped collapse the pocket and forced incoming Arizona QB Noah Fifita to move up in the pocket into the arms of another defender for a sack, a play in which he immediately shed a blocker and athletically met Fifita for a stuff of no gain on a QB draw in the red zone, and defeating a double team to stuff a run play for short gain on another play in the red zone. On the flip side, the highlights of that game show a high school standout but not college prospect (because too short) Servite lineman sealing Brandt off to spring a 42 yard touchdown run. Fifita's 64 yard touchdown pass to incoming Arizona whale WR Tetairoa McMillan didn't bother me as Brandt was double-teamed (a very common occurrence if you watch other players' highlights) and still was the most disruptive DL on the play. Brandt was quiet against Corona Centennial but he mustered two pass rush and one run defense highlight. In the Norco game, incoming Cal 4-star RB Jaydn Ott got completely bottled up (2.2 yards per carry) and his only good play was on a catch where Brandt's rush forced incoming San Diego State QB Kyle Crum to check down to Ott, who raced down the sideline for a big gain until our old friend Kamari Ramsey could knock Ott out of bounds. Brandt also had a play in that game where he initially bit on a play action to Ott but then corrected quickly and athletically to chase Crum down from behind on the QB sweep (arguably should have been a tackle for loss but one of those judgment calls on who to credit). Brandt was extremely disruptive against Mission VIejo, which is nice because they're a great team and all the notable Diablo players were offensive players. Most fun was beating a double team to sack Boise State QB commit Kadin Semonza for a 12 yard loss but those highlights show the full complement of skills with a few tackles for loss in the run game, staying with plays once the ballcarrier got by Brandt's teammates, etc. On one of Semonza's long touchdown passes Brandt was double-teamed, although he got neutralized in one-on-one protection on the other. On one of Semonza's long runs Brandt was double-teamed and on the other Brandt tripped on his get-off (I'm sure the OL will remember it as a pancake!).
This is a big get given how DL recruiting has fallen off in recent years and how poor DL play has been even with the formerly highly-touted recruits. Among 2023 matriculators, this is my new favorite recruit in the class. I won't let myself get my expectations too high as even 4-star DL are 50/50 crapshoots and it really does seem to be the hardest position to evaluate and project. That everything I observed above was against linemen not projected to be major college football players tells you why - Power Five DL are really men against boys at the high school level, much more so than other positions, so it's just so hard to forecast who will be good and who won't. That being said, that's why you need competitive volume at DL to hedge your bets and this now makes eight DL in the three most classes in the pipeline with a very good possibility for a ninth, a really brobdingnagian amount for a position that only has two people on the field at once. Frankly, it's ostentatiously overboard and, sadly, probably a reflection on the individuals not being very good. But Brandt looks legitimately like somebody to be excited about. I really can't find anything I don't like.
