Drew Morgan - athlete

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Drew Morgan is arguably the best player in the state of Arkansas. He’s certainly the most unstoppable force with a ball in his hands.

Having moved up to Class 6A this season from Class 5A (but also playing against 7A competition, the largest classification in the state, due to Arkansas’ bizarre new travel rules), Morgan has helped lead Greenwood to 34 consecutive victories, two consecutive State Championships, and the current #1 ranking in Class 6A as the likely favorite to complete the trifecta. If my math is correct, the senior all-purpose back hasn’t lost in his high school career for the Bulldogs, despite playing all the “real†talent from the darker-hued schools on their schedule.

Measuring in at an even 6-feet, and tipping the scales at 180-pounds, Morgan has a personal best of 4.49 in the 40, 4.08 in the shuttle, and a 34-inch vertical. Of course, the in-state SEC school Razorbacks have absolutely no interest in him, as he is “too small†for them. “Weird,†huh? Especially considering that they have several (albeit much darker) receivers on their roster of a similar size.

At any rate, his physical prowess is just a small part of what makes Morgan so phenomenal. His on-field brilliance is almost too impressive to describe. Normally lining up at wide receiver, Morgan is simply uncoverable. However, his versatility enables him to take over games at tailback or on the defensive side of the ball at cornerback, safety, or linebacker. He is, too risk hyperbole, peerless in his home state. Take, for example, a couple of weeks ago when the Bulldogs’ starting tailback went down against what was supposed to be a dangerous (and highly favored) “superior†opponent, and he was thrust into playing tailback. Check out this blurb:

The multi-skilled two-way player rushed for six touchdowns against the Rebels, though he is best known as one of the state’s top pass receivers. Morgan ran 17 times for 214 yards. Oddly enough, he caught only one pass in the game, but it was a big one for 61 yards, setting up Greenwood’s first touchdown. And oh yes, he also intercepted a pass and had multiple tackles on defense, plus two kick returns for over 60 total yards. If it can be done on a football field, Drew Morgan can do it.

The Bulldogs entered the game as the underdog for the first time this season, at least according to Hooten’s Arkansas Football, which favored the Rebels by seven points on the road. All but one of the sportswriters at Fort Smith’s Southwest Times Record newspaper also picked the Rebels over the Bulldogs, as might be expected. But after the victory, Greenwood got plenty of recognition, starting with Luke Matheson of ArkansasVarsity.com, who wrote, “I have to give a shout out to the Greenwood Bulldogs. These guys didn't just open the door and walk into Class 6A from Class 5A, they ripped the door off the hinge and ran inside and started flipping furniture.â€

“They simply dominated Class 7A juggernaut Fort Smith Southside. Arkansas State commit Drew Morgan went into beast mode for the Bulldogs, and let the Class 6A world know that if you are going to win Class 6A, you will have to go through them, despite it being their first year in the classification. Folks, Greenwood and Coach Rick Jones are for real. Period, end of story.

For his performance, Morgan was named the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette State Player of the Week for the SECOND time this season. He is the only player to accomplish the feat more than once this year.

I don’t have his current statistical totals for 2012, but here is what he did last year:

On offense: 77 catches for 1,334 yards and 23 touchdowns; 16 carries for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns; 6 kickoff returns for 246 yards.
On defense: 76 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 4 interceptions, and 2 returns for touchdowns.

His totals this year are likely superior, even though he's spent the second half of most games standing on the sidelines in blowouts.

Here are some of the honors he's received:
- 2011 State Championship MVP
- 2011 Associated Press Super Team
- 2011 5A Player of the Year
- 2011 VYPE Arkansas Big Football Team
- 2011 First Team All-State
- 2012 National Underclassman Combine 5-Star Southwest Showcase Wide Receiver MVP

Despite all this, Morgan has exactly two football scholarship offers. Two! Arkansas State … and Georgetown. Seriously. I mean, WTF?!?

Junior year highlights:
[video=youtube;RUUnht9jm_I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUUnht9jm_I[/video]

He could project to any of several positions at the next level, but will most likely play wideout.

 

[white defensive back]

Drew Morgan is arguably the best player in the state of Arkansas. He’s certainly the most unstoppable force with a ball in his hands.

Having moved up to Class 6A this season from Class 5A (but also playing against 7A competition, the largest classification in the state, due to Arkansas’ bizarre new travel rules), Morgan has helped lead Greenwood to 34 consecutive victories, two consecutive State Championships, and the current #1 ranking in Class 6A as the likely favorite to complete the trifecta. If my math is correct, the senior all-purpose back hasn’t lost in his high school career for the Bulldogs, despite playing all the “real†talent from the darker-hued schools on their schedule.

Measuring in at an even 6-feet, and tipping the scales at 180-pounds, Morgan has a personal best of 4.49 in the 40, 4.08 in the shuttle, and a 34-inch vertical. Of course, the in-state SEC school Razorbacks have absolutely no interest in him, as he is “too small†for them. “Weird,†huh? Especially considering that they have several (albeit much darker) receivers on their roster of a similar size.

At any rate, his physical prowess is just a small part of what makes Morgan so phenomenal. His on-field brilliance is almost too impressive to describe. Normally lining up at wide receiver, Morgan is simply uncoverable. However, his versatility enables him to take over games at tailback or on the defensive side of the ball at cornerback, safety, or linebacker. He is, too risk hyperbole, peerless in his home state. Take, for example, a couple of weeks ago when the Bulldogs’ starting tailback went down against what was supposed to be a dangerous (and highly favored) “superior†opponent, and he was thrust into playing tailback. Check out this blurb:



For his performance, Morgan was named the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette State Player of the Week for the SECOND time this season. He is the only player to accomplish the feat more than once this year.

I don’t have his current statistical totals for 2012, but here is what he did last year:

On offense: 77 catches for 1,334 yards and 23 touchdowns; 16 carries for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns; 6 kickoff returns for 246 yards.
On defense: 76 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 4 interceptions, and 2 returns for touchdowns.

His totals this year are likely superior, even though he's spent the second half of most games standing on the sidelines in blowouts.

Here are some of the honors he's received:
- 2011 State Championship MVP
- 2011 Associated Press Super Team
- 2011 5A Player of the Year
- 2011 VYPE Arkansas Big Football Team
- 2011 First Team All-State
- 2012 National Underclassman Combine 5-Star Southwest Showcase Wide Receiver MVP

Despite all this, Morgan has exactly two football scholarship offers. Two! Arkansas State … and Georgetown. Seriously. I mean, WTF?!?

Junior year highlights:
[video=youtube;RUUnht9jm_I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUUnht9jm_I[/video]

He could project to any of several positions at the next level, but will most likely play wideout.

I am not some hero but he was spotted like 7 months ago. He should play corner but he will not.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Drew Morgan State Championship MVP ... again

for the second-consecutive year, Drew Morgan was named the MVP of the State Championship game for the State Champion Greenwood Bulldogs.

this year it was in the 6A State Championship game, where Morgan finished with 9 carries for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns, 4 catches for 87 yards and 1 touchdown, 3 kick returns for 55 yards, 9 tackles (7 solo), and 1 interception.

he was clearly the most explosive player on the field, despite playing against "all the speed and affleticism" of the all-black Zebras from Pine Bluff High.

additionally, Morgan (who played wide receiver, running back, wildcat quarterback, outside linebacker, safety, and kick returner in the game) accomplished all this despite dislocating a hip in the first quarter after landing awkwardly from being tackled.

he only missed four plays.

yes, despite not being healthy, he still accounted for 225 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns.

this comes just a week after he separated his shoulder in the semifinal win over El Dorado.

not to be forgotten, Morgan helped lead the Bulldogs to 3-straight State Championships (at different classifications) and 38 wins in a row. if i'm not mistaken, he never lost a game in high school.

after the game, he re-affirmed his commitment to play for Gus Malzahn at Arkansas State. the Arkansas Razorbacks, to my knowledge, never even evaluated him. :doh:

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

white defensive back posted this in the 2013 class thread, but i wanted to mention it here, as well.

Morgan switched his commitment from Arkansas State to Arkansas on Monday. you can read more about the details here: http://arkansas.247sports.com/Artic...gan-realizes-dream-commits-to-Arkansas-104922

the important points regarding Morgan are:

#1 - his season totals on offense: 82 carries for 765 yards and 19 touchdowns, and 83 catches for 1,122 yards and 14 touchdowns. (on defense, he finished with 72 tackles and several interceptions but i can't confirm the total. he was also a dynamic kick returner, but again i can't confirm the totals.)

#2 - Arkansas' recruiting coordinator hadn't considered signing him until after his dominant (again) performance in the State Championship game.

one never ceases to wonder how exactly these so-called talent "scouts" actually "evaluate" talent ...

Morgan could project to several different positions at Arkansas, depending on how the "experts" "evaluate" him: tailback, wideout, slot, safety, or corner. he also may get a crack as a returner.

one last thing. the linked article lists Morgan as having "4.4 speed," but i don't know of him actually running that fast anywhere. he's run in the low 4.5s at various combines/camps, however.