Breaking Down Toledo's 2014 Recruiting Class

Lima, Ohio athlete, Mykale Rogers is the highest
rated recruit in Toledo's 2014 recruiting class.
Photo Courtesy: www.berecruited.com

Twenty-three signed letter of intents for the Toledo Rockets 2014 recruiting class. Fourteen of those twenty-three letter of intents come on the defensive side of the ball, where the biggest improvement is for this season's Rockets. After allowing over 28 points per game last season, Toledo will look to lower that number under first year defensive coordinator, Jon Heacock. Last season's 7-5 overall record without a bowl invitation can be seen as a bit of a disappointment. This year's recruiting class is rated as the second-best recruiting class in the MAC by Scout.com and 247sports.com and the third-best in the conference by Rivals.com. Since 2010, Toledo's recruiting classes have been ranked top-two in the conference by all three major recruiting sites. However, Matt Campbell is extremely high on this particular class.

“I think this may be the best and deepest class we’ve signed since I’ve been here,” said Campbell. Campbell is now 17-9 as head coach of the Rockets after serving for three seasons as UT’s offensive coordinator. “We specifically tried to bolster the depth on both sides of the ball. We’ve recruited young men with great character who are committed to academics. We have players who will play a big role for us in the future, as well as some guys who could see action for us next fall.”

As for the specific areas that Campbell and his staff try to recruit, Campbell says they are building a nice hotbed in Florida as well as the Baltimore area. “We will always get the bulk of our players from within a four-hour radius of Toledo, but we’ve created a good niche in the Tampa Bay area ever since we signed Bernard Reedy out of St. Petersburg four years ago,” said Campbell. “The Baltimore/DC area has been good for us lately, as well, and we are starting to recruit the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We’re always going to defend our home turf, but we’re in a situation now where we can go out and bring in players into our program from areas that have great football traditions and coaching.”

The highest rated Toledo commits by the recruiting sites are Tampa Bay, FL linebacker, Anthony Davis who is a three-star by all three of the major sites. Aside from Davis, athlete Mykale Rogers of Lima Catholic Central in Ohio is also listed as a three-star and may be an underrated three-star at that. The last three star is a commit who signed on National Signing Day, tight end Davion Riley of Lake Wales, FL. Riley and his high school teammate, defensive back Dedric Brinson committed to Toledo in a package deal. Brinson is a three-star on Scout and 247 Sports, but Rivals has the cornerback listed as an underrated two-star. Jamal Woodland rounds out Toledo's top five as far as top commitments. Woodland is a 6'2, 185 lb. defensive back from Lanham, Maryland.

Complete list of Toledo commits in the 2014 Class:

Name                          Pos.        Ht.       Wt.       Cl.       Hometown-High School / Transfer or Prep

Adeniyi, Olasunkanmi DE/OLB  6-2       225        Fr.        Richmond, TX-Fort Bend Bush
Alexander, Devin        DB          6-0       205        Fr.        St. Louis, MO-Ritenour
Atariwa, Yazeed          DL          6-4       257        Fr.        Sterling, VA-Dominion
Berry, Mike                 OLB        6-3       205        Fr.        Beavercreek, OH-Beavercreek
Brinson, Dedric           CB          6-2       180        Fr.        Lake Wales, FL-Lake Wales
Davis, Andrew             WR         6-4       185        Fr.        St. Petersburg, FL-Lakewood
Davis, Anthony           LB          6-0       210        Fr.        Tampa, FL-Chamberlain
James, Tré                   LB/DE    6-0       250        Jr.        Baltimore, MD-Baltimore City College / Snow College
Johnson, Jon’Vea        WR         5-11     183        Fr.        Gary, IN-West Side
Mathis, Trevon            CB          5-11     163        Fr.        Pittsburgh, PA-Woodland Hills
Mattison, Cameron      DB          6-1       185        Fr.        Charlotte, NC-Mallard Creek
Olekanma, Richard      LB          6-1       217        Fr.        Downers Grove, IL-North
Pfeiffer, Alex              OL          6-5       281        Fr.        Cincinnati, OH-Anderson
Reynolds, Brandon      DE/LB    6-2       207        Fr.        Solon, OH-Solon
Riley, Davi’on             TE           6-3       207        Fr.        Lake Wales, FL-Lake Wales                                               
Rogers, Bernard           CB          5-11     170        Fr.        Tampa, FL-Plant
Rogers, Mykale            WR         6-1       180        Fr.        Lima, OH-Central Catholic
Spielman, Noah           DL          6-0       278        Fr.        Upper Arlington, OH-Upper Arlington
Swanson, Terry            RB          5-9       183        Fr.        Aliquippa, PA- Aliquippa
Thompson, Cody         WR         6-1       187        Fr.        Huron, OH-Huron
Weber, Bill                  OL          6-4       325        Fr.        Coppell, TX-Coppell
Whitfield, Marcus        WR         5-11     165        Fr.        Massillon, OH-Washington
Woodland, Jamaal       CB          6-2       190        Fr.        Lanham, MD-Duval

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