Good copyandpasta al.kum write up on Auburn verbal/eventual Bama flip, Josh Casher.
No one who has talked with St. Paul's offensive lineman Josh Casher would come away with the impression that he is mean. Polite, engaging, and enthusiastic, Casher comes across in conversation as quite the opposite of mean - he's a nice guy.
Except when he gets on a football field.
Described by Rivals.com analyst Woody Wommack as "meaner than a junkyard dog," the Auburn commitment reportedly dominated one-on-one drills at the Rivals Camp Series event in Hoover last Saturday, earning offensive line MVP honors at the event.
"He chewed up every defensive lineman he faced," Wommack wrote. "He took on all challengers, showing great technique and finishing every one of his blocks. Casher's most impressive reps of the day came when he stonewalled three-star defensive tackle Charles Mosley on back-to-back reps, winning both in impressive fashion."
Mosley, while a three-star prospect according to Rivals, is rated as a four-star prospect by 247 Sports and is reportedly leaning to Alabama. The Brighton, Tenn., lineman stands 6-foot-5, 350 pounds. Casher is 6-1, 297.
"I have so much of a chip on my shoulder because I'm 6-1," Casher said. "Just because you're bigger than me, I'm going to work harder than you and I'm going to dominate. When I go to a camp, I want to be the best at the camp."
In film clips of the one-on-ones available at Rivals.com, Casher is seen walling off several bigger defensive linemen in pass protection drills, slinging one to the ground and driving another off-balance and backward to the turf.
"I love pass protection," Casher said. "That's probably the thing I love most about offensive line."
Casher, who had been rated as a three-star prospect going into the camp, said he was told by Rivals organizers that he was likely get a fourth star in their next evaluations. He said he also used the experience to pick up pointers from other offensive linemen there, such as Jackson (Miss.) Callaway four-star guard Rod Taylor.
"I noticed how quick he was. That's what helps me as an offensive lineman," Casher said of Taylor, a 6-foot-4, 306-pound Alabama target who was also cited by Wommack as being among the camp's top performers. "He caused me to push myself."
Casher said he also enjoyed working against Mosley, adding that he and Mosley were "cool as ever" after their competition. And he took the opportunity to do a little friendly recruiting on Carver linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton, who is set to announce his commitment next week.
"I was messing with Shaun Hamilton: 'I want you at Auburn with me. I'm not playing,'" Casher said.
Casher's St. Paul's teammate, four-star linebacker Tre Williams, also performed well at the camp. Rivals.com analyst Kynon Codrington wrote that Williams "proved he could play in space to go with his excellent instincts. Williams closes well and excels re-routing running backs coming out of their junction point."
Williams said the ability to play in space with proper technique was what he wanted to show at the camp.
"The first thing I was worried about was technique, the agility drills, so I worked really hard on those," said Williams, who was invited to Rivals' Five-Star Challenge Camp in Atlanta in June. "I played some safety my sophomore year, so that really helped me out in one-on-ones, but I know I need more work so I tried to get as many of those as I could.
"I think I did pretty good. I'm not as fast as a running back, but I knocked a couple balls down and played real good defense."
Casher said he believes he is done with camps for the summer, but he's not done working. Even with camp MVP honors, the chip is still on his shoulder.
"They told me at the camp that I'm likely to be moving up (to four stars)," he said. "Now I've just got to move up to five. There's always room to improve."