Eric Wiafe Commits to Rutgers

Defensive End Eric Wiafe of Egg Harbor Township High School (Egg Harbor, NJ) became the sixth class of 2013 prospect to verbally commit to Rutgers, last Tuesday. Wiafe attended the Big Man Academy (a  football camp just for high school lineman) at Rutgers a couple weeks ago, and received an offer three days later. He is from the same high school as redshirt freshman cornerback Tejay Johnson.

Measurables: 6'5'' 258 lbs 4.94 40 yard dash

Offer Sheet: Buffalo and Massachusetts were his only other FBS offers. Boston College, Pitt, Temple, Penn State, East Carolina, Florida, Iowa, Miami, NC State, Clemson, Maryland, and Syracuse were also recruiting him, but they have yet to offer him a scholarship. He may pick up some more offers this summer, as he is still going to attend some of their camps, but he seems like a back up option for most schools. If  Tashawn Bower of Immaculata did not commit to Auburn last Tuesday, Rutgers may not have offered him.

Stars:

Rivals	Scout	ESPN	247
3 star SDE, #26 in NJ	3 Stars, #34 DE	N/A	2 stars,  #64 SDE, 73 overall rating, #40 in NJ

Scouting Report: Wiafe is a great athlete and has very long arms, but he is extremely raw as a football player. He fires out of his stance way too high and often times he is just standing straight up. He is pretty strong, delivers a good punch, and is able to bat down or other wise alter a number of passes, but he needs to extend his arms more while engaged with the opposition in order to use his wing span to his advantage. Wiafe does a solid job wrapping up as a tackler, but he needs to get lower and coil his hips in order to deliver a more solid blow.

Video: here

My Take: Wiafe is an interesting prospect because he is a great athlete, but extremely raw. He is a player who will need a lot of coaching and development before getting a chance to see the field. Jim Panagos is one of the best defensive line coaches in the nation, and he will have his work cut out for him in trying to turn Wiafe into a useful player. But, with other targeted defensive line recruits headed elsewhere and an excess of available scholarships, it's ok to take a risk on a player like this.