ESPN College Football Recruiting

New England is not usually regarded as a hotbed for top national football talent, but in 2009, the area is well-represented. Traditionally, Massachusetts and Connecticut produce most of the region's upper-echelon prospects, with the latter usually getting the nod in overall talent over The Bay State.

However, this year Massachusetts is competing for the top spot as the state has close to 10 FBS prospects. The quality may be better as well as tight end Arthur Lynch (Dartmouth, Mass.), offensive tackle Brennan Williams (West Roxbury, Mass./Catholic Memorial), receiver Joshua Adams (Cambridge, Mass./Cheshire Academy), fullback Shane DiBona (Duxbury, Mass.) and safeties Jim Noel (Everett, Mass.) and Chris Lopes (Brockton, Mass./Tilton) should all sign with BCS programs next February.

But where is all this good talent headed? While highly-rated national prospects are usually scarce, in previous years, the Eagles did a good job maintaining their homegrown BCS talent. Interestingly, BC and UConn are both coming off perhaps the most successful seasons in their program's histories but are collectively struggling to retain their elite in-state prospects despite not having any direct competition within their own borders.

Massachusetts natives Lynch and Adams are two prolific pass-catchers, but both have accepted verbal offers out of state. Lynch originally committed to the Eagles in May but subsequently decommitted less than a month later and then pledged to Georgia in August. Following his commitment, Lynch told us he had great respect for BC's academics and football program but wanted to spread his wings a bit and fell in love with Georgia on his unofficial visit that summer.

Adams played at Cambridge Rindge and Latin in Massachusetts before transferring to Cheshire Academy in Connecticut after his junior season. The 6-foot-4 receiver committed very early and was greatly influenced by Tar Heels assistant coach John Blake, one of the better recruiters in the country. It should also be noted that his former head coach at Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Paul Gonnella, was later hired by UNC to be an assistant recruiting coordinator.

Head coach Randy Edsall also has to be disappointed in losing transplant Adams as well as ESPNU 150 quarterback Jordan Reed (New London, Conn.), the state's top-rated player and arguably the best QB prospect to come out of Connecticut in recent years. Reed follows Aaron Hernandez, Connecticut's No. 1 overall prospect in 2007, to Florida and could be the third consecutive top-rated player to leave the state. In '09, the Huskies have lost their top-five in-state prospects, not a good sign for a fairly young program still trying to build a solid foundation.

Jordan Reed, quarterback
New London HS (Conn.)
Verbal commitment: Florida
While Reed may lack his passing and overall skill set, physically and athletically, this future Gator does draw comparisons to current Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Reed is still a bit raw in his mechanics and we question his competition at times, but there is no second guessing his powerful release and impressive arm strength.

Reed shows flashes on film where he fits the ball into tight spots of coverage and can drive it downfield with great velocity. He also impresses us with his poise and ability to stay in pocket with his good feel and strength to ward off the rush.

We feel Reed will only get better when enters Florida's wide-open offensive attack and polishes up his tools under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Dan Mullen. The signal-caller has the upside to develop into a great SEC quarterback, and his coach at New London High School Jack Cochran agrees with our assessment.

"Jordan has a great future ahead of him as a quarterback as his best years are yet to come," said Cochran. "He reads the triple option and does a great job with it. The University of Florida is very fortunate to have him for 4-5 years."

Andre Lawrence, outside linebacker
Hartford HS (Conn.)

Verbal commitment: Boston College
While Boston College's 2009 class has been a major disappointment up until this point, we do think it has a commitment from a great sleeper prospect out of the state of Connecticut in linebacker Andre Lawrence. Defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani annually produces one of the nation's stingiest run defenses led by his linebacker unit. Lawrence should help continue that tradition when he arrives in Chestnut Hill.

At 6-1, 195 pounds Lawrence lacks great size, which could have deterred some programs, but he can run, is very explosive and still has a ton of physical developing to do. He has good range, covers a lot of ground quickly on his pursuit and has the athleticism needed to match up with quicker D-I skill players in space. Boston College excels in its zone blitz scheme, and Lawrence displays the intensity, first-step quickness and closing burst off the edge to shine in Spaziani's pressure packages.

Boston College, six commits (Oct. 21)
Interestingly, the Eagles are already offering a handful of 2010 prospects but only have a paltry six commitments in late October for 2009. There should be some concern at The Heights as last year's national success (11 wins) does not appear to be paying dividends on the recruiting trail, even in-state. Boston College has the lowest amount of the commits in the ACC; Duke, which lost 11 games last year, already boasts 25.

BC has two quality back-seven defenders who can run and hit in Massachusetts native Noel at safety and outside linebacker Lawrence from bordering Connecticut.

While time is running out, the Eagles still have a few upper-tier prospects listing BC as one of their top schools of interest like ESPNU 150 quarterback Tajh Boyd (Hampton, Va./Phoebus) and No. 2-rated center Mark Brazinski (Somerville, N.J./ Immaculata).

Connecticut, 12 commits (Oct. 21)
The Huskies are similar to BC in the fact that they have not cashed in on their 2008 success on the recruiting trail. UConn has adequate numbers this year but the overall quality is very marginal. Leon Kinnard (Baltimore/Loyola Blakefield) is a small but quick-footed athlete with good speed, vision and body control.

While Connecticut plucked a potential sleeper out of Maryland in Kinnard and hard-nosed in-state 'backer in Mike Osiecki (Seymour, Conn.), the rest of its class is comprised of very average talent.

Billy Tucker is a recruiting coordinator for Scouts Inc. and has close to a decade of coaching experience at the college and high school level. Tucker has served as a recruiting coordinator for two nationally ranked Division II colleges. Most recently, he was the associate head coach and defensive coordinator for Merrimack College, which advanced to the Sweet 16 in the 2006 NCAA Division II playoffs.